(Audio Podcast & Show Notes): In this episode of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, Lisa Louise Cooke explores takes a trip down memory lane sharing highlights from the last 300 episodes, and some of her personal favorites.
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Genealogy Gems History
I founded the Genealogy Gems Podcast in 2007. Back then you had to use iTunes on your computer to listen, and you could then sync that with your iPod. Apple’s iPhone debuted that same year, but we were a long way off from Apple’s podcasting app which debuted in 2012.
I thought it would be fun – or maybe just embarrassing – to go back and listen to that first episode. It consists of my explaining how and why I started the podcast, and the first Gem I ever shared. And in fact it’s still relevant today.
Episodes 1 of the Genealogy Gems Podcast featuring Site Search.
Update to Site Search – Site: search can still be used, although these days just about every website has it’s own search engine. However, it’s still worth using when you’re not finding what you need on a large website, because Google’s search engine is likely more than the website’s engine. It’s a great way to get a streamlined results list of everything that matches your search query on the website. In that gem I mentioned the plus sign, and of course that has gone away. Now we use quotation marks around the exact words and phrases we want to find.
My Podcasting Journey
- 300 free Genealogy Gems Podcast episodes
- 218 Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast
- 229 Family Tree Magazine Podcast
- 44 Family History Genealogy Made Easy podcast episodes.
Grand Total: 791 audio podcast episodes.
And I say audio because these days podcasts are published as video as well. Here at Genealogy Gems we’ve been merging the two over time. You can find over 600 videos on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel and a few hundred more on our website.
Celebrity Guests
As I was preparing this 300th episode, I started to review all the past episodes. Talk about falling down a rabbit hole! I have been so blessed to have so many thoughtful, intelligent and talented people on this podcast over the years. Many of them came on early on, before most people even knew what a podcast was. But I think the smart ones understood that it was the future, and it was a great way to reach very niche audiences.
Actress Lisa Kudrow was one of those people. A celebrity known for starring in the iconic Friends TV series, Lisa went on to produce what I think was probably the first genealogy themed television series for a major network, called Who Do You Think You Are?
Lisa Kudrow
Episode 81
Lisa Kudrow and Vanessa Williams
Premium Episode 63
Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky
Premium Episode 43
Henry Louis Gates, Finding Your Roots
Episode 133
Kathy Lennon of The Lennon Sisters
Part 1 – Episode 48
Part 2 – Episode 49
Kathy discusses her passion for family history and the Lennon family tree.
Venice
Episode 38
“The Family Tree” on YouTube.
Tim Russell of A Prairie Home Companion
Episode 50
Ali Selim, Director of the film Sweet Land
Episode 30
The Family Tree of Venice
Episode 38
“The Family Tree” on YouTube.
Darby Hinton, star of the 1960s TV show Daniel Boone
Part 1 – Episode 60
Part 2 – Episode 61
Genealogy Experts
Darius Gray & Stephen Morse
Episode 153
CeCe Moore
Episode 178
Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore about using DNA for genealogy research, adoption, and the Finding Your Roots TV show.
Dr Turi King
Episode 152
Highlights from Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2013 in London including an interview with Dr. Turi King who confirmed the identity of the remains of King Richard III through DNA.
Irene Johnson, Ancestors TV series
Part 1 – Episode 80
Part 2 – Episode 82
Dick Eastman
Episode 107
Future technology predictions from 2011.
Crista Cowan, The Barefoot Genealogist at Ancestry.com
Episode 228
J Mark Lowe
Episode 274
Marriage Records and Gretna Green.
Dr. Robert Leonard, Ph.D.
Part 1 – Episode 89
Part 2 – Episode 90
Forensic Linguistics for genealogy with Dr. Robert Leonard, Ph.D. (Forensic Files TV series guest)
Authors
Lalita Tademy
Episode 186
The author of the book Citizens Creek
Steve Luxenberg
Episode 120
Part 1 of Lisa interview with Washington Post editor Steve Luxenberg, author of the riveting true-story book Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret.
Episode 121
Part 2 of Lisa’s interview with Steve Luxenberg, author of the book Annie’s Ghosts.
Pamela Smith Hill
Episode 183
The editor of the new Laura Ingalls Wilder annotated autobiography, Pioneer Girl.
Rick Beyer
Episode 182
Author of the book The Ghost Army of World War II: How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery.
Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Episode 180
Author of The Lost Ancestor.
Libby Copeland
Episode 239
Award-winning journalist Libby Copeland, author of the new book The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are discusses how DNA testing has changed our world.
Christina Baker Kline
Episode 177
Author of Orphan Train: A Heartfelt Historical Novel Spanning Generations and Friendship.
Fannie Flagg
Episode 204
The author of The Whole Town’s Talking and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Tom Hegg
Episode 259
New York Times best-selling author Tom Hegg reading his beloved Christmas story, A Cup of Christmas Tea.
J.M. Phillips
Episode 265
Lamlash Street,A Portrait of 1960’s Post-War London Through One Family’s Story
Contributors
Michael Strauss, Military Minutes
Diahan Southard on DNA
Melissa Barker, The Archive Lady
Sunny Jane Morton, Genealogy Gems Book Club
Some of My Favorite Stories
Discovering great grandma’s crazy quilt
Episode 39
The Golden State Killer case and the investigator’s use of genetic genealogy websites, and the questions that it raises.
Episode 217
The story of Roy Thran and how his short life story is impacting lives today.
Episode 230
We are all just bit players in everyone else’s show through home movies. David Haas MD shares his family’s history of filming home movies, and the tremendous impact they’ve had on countless other families. You’ll learn how to digitize and share your home movies.
Episode 223
Listeners
Episode 213
Tom Boyer’s Where I’m From poem and video
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