Stories That Live In Us
What if the most powerful way to strengthen your family’s future is to look to the past?
I’m Crista Cowan, known online as The Barefoot Genealogist. I created this podcast to inspire you to form deeper connections with your family - past, present, and future. All families are messy and life is constantly changing but we don’t have to allow that to disconnect us. I’ve spent my whole life discovering the power of family history and I know that sharing the stories that live in you can change everything.
Tune in weekly to receive inspiration and guidance that will help you use family stories to craft a powerful family narrative, contributing to your family’s identity and creating a legacy of resilience, healing, and connection.
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Want to climb your family tree and uncover your own family stories? Visit my website - CristaCowan.com - and sign up for my free newsletter.
Episodes
105 episodes
Tennessee: A Patriot From the Holler | Episode 103
What would it take for you to enlist in a war, march hundreds of miles in winter, survive one of the worst defeats in American history — and then turn right around and do it again? My own Revolutionary War ancestor, Daniel Jones, went from the ...
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Season 2
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Episode 103
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32:40
Ohio: Family Roots, Foundational Soil | Episode 102
What if the names your ancestors gave their children were actually breadcrumbs leading straight to the neighbors who helped shape their lives? In this solo episode, I trace my own Cowan family line from a young Irish weaver who had to register ...
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Season 2
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Episode 102
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30:26
Louisiana: Red Lipstick, Hidden Heirlooms, and Family Secrets (with Arlene Rome) | Episode 101
What if the most precious pieces of your family history were ones you had to secretly carry home five steps at a time? In this episode, I sit down with my cousin Arlene Rome, a Louisiana native and retired nurse whose story of love, loss,...
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Season 2
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Episode 101
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50:42
Indiana: Been Here All Along (with Lisa Fanning) | Episode 100
What does it mean to be an American when your family has been here longer than America itself? Lisa Fanning, a board member of the National Genealogical Society and DNA expert, has spent decades uncovering a story so layered, so uniquely Americ...
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Season 2
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Episode 100
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51:27
Mississippi: Finding Far East in the Deep South (with Larrisa Lam) | Episode 99
What happens when a California family walks into Mississippi and walks out forever changed?Filmmaker and music executive, Larissa Lam, director of the documentary Far East Deep South, joins me to share how a simple trip to visit...
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Season 2
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Episode 99
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49:46
Illinois: Scoundrels and Scandals (with Sue Talbot) | Episode 98
When Sue Talbot's grandmother casually mentioned items belonging to "Arthur," Sue discovered a family secret buried for decades. But that revelation was just the beginning of a journey that would uncover scandal, betrayal, and tragedy stretchin...
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Season 2
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Episode 98
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34:11
Alabama: Generations of Joy (with Noah Lapidus) | Episode 97
When Noah’s car broke down in rural Ukraine, he discovered something unexpected: the warmth of strangers who knew his ancestors had once called their town home. It's a moment that captures the heart of Noah's journey. As a professional genealog...
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Season 2
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Episode 97
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37:07
Maine: Memories Making History (with Steve Bromage) | Episode 96
What if history isn't just about the past—but about creating connections that shape who we become?In this episode, I sit down with Steve Bromage, Executive Director of the Maine Historical Society, whose childhood road trips to a family ...
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Season 2
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Episode 96
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40:12
Missouri: Disaster in the Heart of America (with Kim Harrison) | Episode 95
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Season 2
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Episode 95
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39:36
Michigan: Broken Headstones & Unearthed Stories (with Justin Frost) | Episode 93
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Season 2
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Episode 93
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47:38
Florida: A Good Deed Is Never Lost (with Meredith Kratzer Sellers) | Episode 92
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Season 2
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Episode 92
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43:54
Texas: Christmas Card Culture Connections (with Sylvia Hernandez) | Episode 91
When Sylvia Hernandez discovered vintage Christmas cards in a university archive, her coworkers didn't understand their significance. But for her, they represented everything familiar about growing up Mexican-American in Waco, Texas.Sylv...
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Season 2
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Episode 91
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42:54
Iowa: A Love of Food and Family (with Rosie Grant) | Episode 90
When archivist Rosie Grant stumbled upon a gravestone with a spritz cookie recipe carved into it, she had no idea it would change her life. What began as a TikTok curiosity during her cemetery internship became a viral phenomenon and, eventuall...
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Season 2
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Episode 90
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48:01
Wisconsin: Great Grandmothers and the Great Migration (with Dani Allen) | Episode 89
When Dani was in eighth grade, she watched her grandmother wash and braid her own mother’s hair. In that moment, she was witness to a ritual passed on through generations of Black women.Join me as Dani Allen, Senior Director of Talent Ac...
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Season 2
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Episode 89
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33:31
California: Stars Shooting Out of Silence (with Candace Dixon Horne) | Episode 88
When Candace Dixon-Horne's husband bought AncestryDNA kits in 2018, she hesitated before sending hers in. Raised by a single mom in Arkansas, Candace spent her entire life with her mom as the only blood relative she knew.One DNA match ch...
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Season 2
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Episode 88
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39:56
Minnesota: Santa Claus, a Corn Cob Pipe, and Nellie Oleson (with Lisa Elzey) | Episode 87
What if your family's pioneer past looked exactly like your favorite childhood TV show? When Lisa Elzey discovered her great-great-grandfather's story, she realized she'd been watching his life every Monday night on Little House on the Prai...
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Season 2
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Episode 87
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48:20
Oregon: Trail of the Unclaimed | Episode 86
When Phyllis Zegers discovered her cousin died alone in Oregon State Hospital in the 1890s, she never imagined it would lead to reconnecting hundreds of families with their forgotten ancestors. In this episode, Phyllis shares how her genealogy ...
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Season 2
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Episode 86
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37:58
Kansas: A Calling From the Ancestors (with Calvin Osborne) | Episode 85
Calvin Osborne, a Washington D.C. attorney and Civil War reenactor, spent nearly three decades studying African American military history before Ancestry researchers revealed a stunning discovery: his great-great-grandfather, William Lacey, was...
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Season 2
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Episode 85
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49:51
West Virginia: Fame or Infamy in the Mountain State (with Mallory Peterson) | Episode 84
When Mallory Peterson discovered she had Scottish ancestry instead of Cherokee heritage, she uncovered something intriguing that has captured her imagination. In the little town of Martinsburg, West Virginia she found a spy. And not just any sp...
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Season 2
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Episode 84
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30:59
Nebraska: Connecting to the Land Through Stories (with Greg Wagner)
When Greg Wagner's great-great-grandmother made her dying wish to be buried not in a cemetery but beneath an oak tree on their Nebraska homestead, she planted more than roots in the soil. Greg is a sixth-generation Nebraskan whose family has ma...
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Season 2
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Episode 82
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40:51
Colorado: Braving the Wild Frontier (with Chris Trainor) | Episode 81
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Season 2
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Episode 81
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30:24
North Dakota: Creating Community (with Sarah Walker) | Episode 80
When Sarah Walker's grandfather checked his mail one last day before leaving for World War I, he discovered a neighbor had intervened to keep him home—a bachelor farmer needed on the home front. That single act of community support changed ever...
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Season 2
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Episode 80
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36:11
South Dakota: Finding the Girl in the Middle (with Marni Sandweiss)
When historian Marni Sandweiss discovered an 1868 photograph of six prominent Civil War generals standing around an unnamed Indigenous girl, she couldn't let go of one haunting question: Who was she? In this episode, Princeton University Profes...
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Season 2
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Episode 79
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42:33