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
137 episodes
Continue to Say His Name (with Kelley Dixon-Tealer and Alva Marie Jenkins) | Episode 11
In 1865, Hawkins Wilson, a Texas freedman, wrote letters searching for the family he was torn from as a young, enslaved boy more than 24 years earlier. Though time and distance separated them, his childhood memories remained vivid as he wrote t...
We'll Always Keep Searching (with Emily Paulson) | Episode 10
When Emily Paulson learned that nearly 72,000 WWII heroes remained unidentified, she found her calling...Through her role as a contractor at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Emily combines traditional genealogy research and DNA sci...
One Person's Trash | Episode 9
When an unexpected email unearthed irreplaceable family heirlooms, it reminded me that people—including our own relatives—are often not quite what they seem.My grandpa’s youngest sister, Aunt Madeleine, was always a bit of an enigma with...
L'dor V'dor - From Generation to Generation (with Howard Hochhauser) | Episode 8
Serena never spoke of her life before she married into the Hochhauser family. They knew she was from Eastern Europe and, based on her age and immigration timing, had survived the Holocaust. But how she did so remained a story untold - until nea...
And Then I Heard A Meadowlark Sing (with Sunny Morton) | Episode 7
Genealogist Sunny Morton didn't even know someone was missing from her family tree until a single mention in an obituary led her to a Nun.Sister Mary Bertilla. This single name sparked a search that revealed a remarkable woman who dedica...
This Gathering Place (with Shelly Cowan) | Episode 6
Imagine sitting down at family dinner where a simple table becomes the heart of lasting traditions and deeper connections...When my sister-in-law Shelly Cowan needed a bigger table for her five growing boys, she didn't just buy one – she...
Out of Obscurity (with Kevin Giddins and Camlyn Giddins) | Episode 5
One child, 35 foster siblings, and an AncestryDNA test that changed everything...In this moving episode, I sit down with Kevin Giddins and his filmmaker daughter Camlyn as they share their journey from being keepers of old secrets to tel...
The Whole Tree (with Sunny Mahe) | Episode 4
From the sidelines of NFL stadiums to the heart of Tongan traditions... Meet Sunny Mahe, mother of ten and keeper of powerful family stories. In this intimate conversation with my dear friend, we explore how her family's defining moments—both j...
Bliss It Was In That Dawn To Be Alive (with Eric Allen) | Episode 3
"They're going bad... these photos in your basement are actually eroding." When Eric Allen inherited thousands of family slides, he realized the urgent race against time to save precious memories. As a VP of Marketing at Ancestry, Eric kn...
Grandma's Love for the Theater (with Lisa Elzey and Will Swenson) | Episode 2
Ruth Hale, an icon in Utah theater circles, always dreamed her birth mother was an actress. But it wasn't until her grandson, Tony-nominated actor Will Swenson, took an AncestryDNA test at the urging of my producer, Lisa Elzey, that Ruth's stor...
The Story That Lives In Me | Episode 1
A 30-year quest to find my great-great-grandmother Carrie began with a teenage promise and a stack of yellow legal pads. Follow my journey from hand-cranking microfilm readers to the digital revolution that changed everything in genealogy. But ...