This is probably due to both my age and how I learn but I have never been a big podcast consumer.  I learn primarily through reading and taking notes and I’ve never found it easy to remember things that I hear versus hear and see.

However, one of my goals for 2019 is to learn about podcasts.  They are hugely popular with people in the 20-45 age group.  Those are people we want to use the library so we librarians need to understand and appreciate what is important to them.  To that end I’ve started investigating the universe of podcasts.

I’ve learned from my research that podcasts do have an appeal for me.  There are about a million genealogy-focused podcasts “out there” that have all sorts of interesting information for any genealogist.  I can listen and get ideas for my genealogy research while I’m cleaning house or doing the laundry or walking my dog.  Given that multi-tasking is critical to having some degree of order in my universe, I’m now beginning to get the appeal of podcasts!

I thought I would share the names of several of the genealogy podcasts that I’ve encountered and encourage you to try them also, especially if you have never listed to one before.  First, let’s talk about how you can listen:

  • If you have a Mac or iPad or iPhone, go to the iTunes store. In the upper left corner of the store site, you will see a place where you can click and chose music, movies, tv shows, podcasts, or audiobooks.  Click on podcasts.  You can then search on genealogy or put in any of the following specific podcast names just to get you started:
    • The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke. Lisa is a well-known family historian and her podcasts has lots of great information about the best websites, resources, and practices that will enhance your genealogy research.
    • The Genealogy Guys. Includes news from the genealogy community, book and software reviews, guest interviews, and some fun chatting.
    • Genealogy Happy Hour.  “A place where new family historians can learn how to document their family histories and celebrate their new discoveries.”
  • The easiest way to listen to a podcast on a pc is to open your web browser and go directly to the page for the podcast. You will see a play button on the page (usually for the most recent podcast) and you can listen right from your computer.  Here are the links for the above podcasts:

I hope you spend a few minutes to check out these resources.  Happy research!