Family Tree Magazine Podcast

In this episode of Best Websites, Lisa Louise Cooke highlights some of the most valuable features of Veridian, an excellent resource for finding historical newspapers.

Best Genealogy Websites: Veridian

In this episode of the Best Websites for Genealogy Podcast, host Lisa Louise Cooke explores Veridian, and its millions of historic newspaper pages searchable and accessible online. Learn what Veridian, the scope of the collections and strategies for accessing the archival content. Whether you’re...

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, Lisa Louise Cooke speaks to Katie Merkley about homestead records and what they can tell us about ancestors.

Feature: Homesteading Records and Research

In this episode, we’re digging into the lives of our American ancestors through land records—specifically, homestead records.

When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law in 1862, it offered settlers a bold promise: free land in exchange for a commitment to improve it...

In this episode of Best Websites, website founder Jenny Joyce of Cite-Builder.com shows the value of a proper citation and how Cite-Builder makes citation more manageable.

In this episode, we dive into the world of genealogy with Jenny Joyce, the creator of Cite-Builder, an online citation generator designed specifically for genealogists.

Discover how Cite-Builder streamlines the often daunting task of creating source citations, making it easier for researchers to track and verify their findings.

Jenny shares...

In this episode, host Lisa Louise Cook interviews David Fryxell about the best online tools for genealogy research.

 Feature: 101 Best Genealogy Websites of 2025

Lisa Louise Cooke and David Fryxell discuss the impact of AI on genealogy, the importance of newspapers as sources, innovative tech tools for genealogists, and international resources.

In this episode of Best Websites, Lisa Louise Cooke walks through the National Archives and all there is to discover.

Best Genealogy Websites: The National Archives

In this episode of Family Tree Magazine’s Best Websites podcast, host Lisa Louise Cook dives into the National Archives website, a vital resource for genealogists. She discusses the vast array of free records available, including census, military, and immigration documents, and highlights unique collections such as th...

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, Andrew Koch offers tips for researching ancestors across the United States.

Feature: How to research ancestors in any US state.

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, host Lisa Louise Cooke welcomes Andrew Koch, the editor of Family Tree Magazine, to discuss the intricacies of genealogy research across the United States. They explore the importance of understanding U.S. history, the significance...

In this episode of Best Websites, Rick Crume highlights some translation tools for making sense of foreign-language records.

Best Genealogy Websites: Translation Tools

One of the biggest challenges that genealogists face is translating foreign-language records, especially if the handwriting is hard to read. Author Rick Crume joins Lisa Louise Cooke on the podcast to discuss navigating a variety of tools that can get the job done.

Read Found in Translation by Rick Crume in the May  / June 2025 i...

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, Lisa talks with Rhonda Lauritzen about to approach sensitive topics when interviewing relatives.

Feature: Handling sensitive family interviews.

It can be a challenge to navigate hard-to-talk-about subjects in family history interviews. Author Rhonda Lauritzen shares interviewing tips from journalists, storytellers, and her own professional experience as a professional biographer at Evalogue.life.

Read Speaking Softly by Rhonda Lauritzen:

In this episode of Best Websites, Lisa Louise Cooke offers tips for using Google Earth for genealogy.

Best Genealogy Websites: Google Earth for Genealogy

Lisa Louise Cooke, author of The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 3rd edition and Family Tree University instructor explains the value of the Google Earth website to genealogists.

Download Google Earth for free.

Discover why Google Earth is an essential tool for every genealogist’s toolkit in this engaging episode. Lisa explores how...

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, Judy Russell tells us what genealogists can expect to find in divorce records.

Feature: Divorce records with Judy G. Russell

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, host Lisa Louise Cooke interviews Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist, about the often-overlooked topic of divorce records in genealogy. They discuss the types of information found in divorce records, the historical context of divorce laws, and the various documents associated...

In this episode of Best Websites, Diahan Southard walks through some of the most recent updates to AncestryDNA and MyHeritage DNA.

Listen for expert advice on overcoming common obstacles in learning about the women in your family tree.

In this episode, Dr. Brendan Scott, manager of RootsIreland, discusses the importance of the RootsIreland.ie website for Irish family history research.

Sunny Morton takes a look at three popular genealogy websites (Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and MyHeritage) and compares them and their features.

Sunny Jane Morton introduces us to WorldCat, a site that allows users to search libraries across the country in just a couple of clicks.

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, photo expert Maureen Taylor offers tips for preserving cherished family photos for years to come.

The Newberry Library’s Atlas of Historical County Boundaries is a free website that helps you identify changing county boundaries throughout history. Listen, and learn how to use this interactive site as well as how to download files for later use.

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine podcast, Editor-in-Chief Andrew Koch reflects on 25 years of Family Tree Magazine and discusses what the future holds.

In this episode, Lisa Louise Cooke’s guest is Stephen Morse, the founder of the One-Step Webpages website. Since 2001 genealogists have been using the site’s innovative tools to more effectively find immigration records, census records and vital records. Morse shares some tips on how you too can use these tools.

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine monthly podcast, YouTuber Lisa Lisson explains what makes a person a cousin and offers tips for determining cousinhood.

Staff historian for the American Battle Monuments Commission shares tips for successfully searching online for information about burials overseas and suggestions for how genealogists can fully utilize ABMC's resources.

In this episode, author Laura Hedgecock explains how to write about places as you tell stories about your ancestors. Also, an interview with Jenny Ashcraft of Newspapers.com.

Lisa Louise Cooke speaks with Katherine Borges of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) about using DNA test results to inform your genealogical research.

In this episode, Robbie Gorr introduces us to the fascinating world of death heirlooms, explaining what they are and what we can learn from them.

In this episode of Best Websites, Lisa Louise Cooke chats with Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, a long-running genealogy blog packed with genealogy tips, stories and even a little bit of humor.

In this episode of the Family Tree Magazine Podcast, Lindsey Harner offers tips for navigating census records before 1850.

In this episode of Best Websites, Lisa Louise Cooke talks with Brooke Schreier Ganz from Reclaim the Records, a group that aims to make genealogical records more accessible to researchers.

Author Rhonda Lauritzen offers tips for writing your ancestors in an engaging, unique way.

Lisa Louise Cooke chats with David Fryxell about some of the highlights from Family Tree Magazine's 2024 list of 101 Best Websites.

In this episode, Sunny Morton shares some tips for finding the best tour companies, libraries and more for your next genealogy trip.

In this episode, genealogist and writer Rick Crume highlights some of the best Google tools for genealogists to use.

In this episode, Steve Little of the National Genealogical Society talks about new tools like ChatGPT and how to use them for genealogy research.

In this episode of Best Websites, Family Tree Magazine editor Andrew Koch walks us through FamilySearch’s full-text library.

In this episode, Lindsay Fulton from American Ancestors speaks with us about the 10 Million Names Project, its purpose and how you can get involved.

DNA Expert Kitty Munson Cooper offer tips for using GEDmatch to better understand your DNA test results.

In this episode, Rachel Christian interviews Professional Organizer Lahni Carney about handling research and inherited items.

Gena Philibert-Ortega offers some tips for using Ancestry Pro Tools to improve the accuracy of your family tree.

In this episode, Eliza Watson provides some valuable tips for researchers looking to overcome obstacles in their Irish genealogy research.

In this episode, New Media Editor and Guest Host Rachel Christian interviews Leah Larkin about an exciting new genealogy tool called BanyanDNA.

In this episode, Family Tree Magazine Editor Andrew Koch interviews Sunny Morton about RootsTech and how to make the most of the event.