LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Genealogy Podcasts

Think you’ve exhausted “the usual” learning opportunities by watching webinars, reading books, and attending seminar lectures? Want to know what you can do to learn even more about genealogy?

Men Listening to a Radio Broadcast 1910: loc.gov

Listen to genealogy podcasts on your cell phone or computer! Webinars, with their images and slide shows, are similar to TV; and, podcasts, with their hosts and invited guests, are just like radio. Keep up with the latest genealogy news, learn about specialized topics, and discover historical background by listening to some of the podcasts listed below. 

“The Genealogy Guys Podcast” with George G. Morgan and Drew Smith is the longest-running, regularly-produced genealogy podcast in the world! They aired their 10th-anniversary show a week ago. Listen at http://genealogyguys.com/. 

“Extreme Genes Family History Radio” is a roundup of weekly news with guests, questions from listeners, amazing stories of research, odd DNA discoveries, and more. You can listen at http://extremegenes.com/. 

“The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke” recently celebrated 1.5 million downloads. The show is available on iTunes and also at http://lisalouisecooke.com/podcasts/.

“African Roots” producer Angela Y. Walton-Raji covers news of interest to African American genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, and Native American researchers. Listen to her podcasts at http://africanrootspodcast.com/. 

“The Forget-Me-Not Hour” on blogtalkradio is hosted by genealogist Jane E. Wilcox. It features interviews with genealogists and discussions about genealogical topics of interest. Listen on demand at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/janeewilcox. 

Library and Archives Canada offers podcasts like “Digging Into the Past: Family History in Canada.” Connect with LAC via RSS or iTunes, or choose your show and listen at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/podcasts/Pages/podcasts.aspx. 

The Library of Congress offers many podcasts at http://loc.gov/podcasts/. 

The National Archives of the United Kingdom offers podcasts (yes, there are some webinars listed, too) on the media portion of their site. “Tracing Railway Ancestors,” and “The Victorian Poor in their Own Words” are just two of the programs available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml.

RESEARCH TIP: Most podcasts are free to download, and, if you subscribe to them, you’ll never miss an episode. Just enter “genealogy” in the search box of your podcast app, and you’ll be amazed by how many different programs are available. Choose the one(s) you want to receive every week, click “subscribe,” and you’re done!