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© 2025 Crista Cowan
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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.
78 Episodes
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🎵 When Jen Iverson said "What I wouldn't give to hear Grandpa's music again," she had no idea what she was about to discover just two days later. Join me as Jen Iverson, a Gen X mom and passionate family historian, shares an incredible story of musical discovery that transformed her family's connection to their Idaho heritage. We explore her great-grandfather Arnold Steed's forgotten legacy in Pocatello and how one unexpected find in a nursing home room became the bridge connecting four gener...
〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️ 🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most. 🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to crea...
When Michelle Ercanbrack volunteered for a Mormon pioneer trek, she thought she'd be helping teenagers learn history. What she discovered instead was a missing piece of her own family story that had been hiding in plain sight for decades. Michelle, a BYU family history program graduate and former Ancestry researcher who worked on television shows like "Who Do You Think You Are," joins me to share how sometimes the most meaningful genealogical discoveries happen not behind a computer screen, b...
〰️ 🌳 🧬 〰️ 🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most. 🖼️ Ready to turn your family discoveries into a beautiful conversation piece? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to crea...
When Stephen Torres's grandfather told him "one of your forefathers was the first European to set foot on New World soil," young Stephen was skeptical—until his college history research revealed a truth that changed everything. Stephen shares what it means to have 400 years of unbroken family history in New Mexico's Taos Valley. From growing up with 50+ cousins to living with his storytelling grandfather, Stephen's family represents something rare: deep, unshakeable roots in one place. When g...
When Lisa Louise Cooke walked into her estranged grandmother's house in Arizona, she had no idea she was about to discover the key to healing a decades-old family rift. Lisa Louise, host of the long-running Genealogy Gems podcast, shares how following an unexpected inner voice led to finding a hidden quilt that would transform her relationship with her father forever. After years of separation following her parents' messy divorces, a mysterious feeling in her grandmother's bedroom guided Lisa...
🏔️ When Jay Marquiss sat down for breakfast at a Southern Utah ranch house, he had no idea a casual conversation would unlock a 130-year-old family mystery. Jay Marquiss, a third-generation Alaskan, grew up expecting to spend his entire life in the Last Frontier. But when his wife experienced her first Alaskan winter, their plans changed forever. Now living in Utah, Jay thought he'd left Alaska behind until an unexpected encounter with a former missionary revealed an incredible connection tha...
What happens when cultures collide and choose connection instead of conflict? To launch our America 250 series and Season 2 of the podcast, I sit down with Mike Daniels — former mayor of Pleasant Grove, Utah and a dear colleague from our early days at Ancestry — to explore his family’s extraordinary journey to and through Hawaii. From war and immigration to love, loss, and discovery, Mike shares how his family’s story became a living example of what it means to build unity through difference....
What if the story of America isn't just in history books, but living right now in your family tree? As we approach America's 250th birthday in 2026, I'm taking you on an extraordinary journey across all 50 states through the intimate family stories that shaped our nation. Starting in July 2025, Season 2 of Stories That Live In Us will reveal how your ancestors' choices and experiences are still echoing through your family today. Over 50 weeks, we'll travel from Hawaii to Alaska, Arizona to Ok...
🛏😴 What if you found out that the bedtime stories you were told as a kid were really true? When Hopwood DePree finally traced his unusual first name to its origins, he discovered something extraordinary: a 600-year-old ancestral estate in England that had been waiting centuries for him to find it. When Hopwood, author of "Downton Shabby," began exploring the childhood stories he dismissed as fairy tales, it led to the adventure of a lifetime. From growing up in Michigan, embarrassed by his na...
🌍 After decades of dead ends and false leads, one $27 payment to a county archive changed everything for Diana O'Connor. She didn’t just get a record. She got a photograph that made her weep with recognition. Diana grew up knowing almost nothing about her family history. Her father was placed in foster care at two years old when his mother died. He then died tragically young and Diana’s own mother’s death followed a short eight years later. With virtually no family stories, no extended relati...
🎂 What do cake and cemeteries have to do with one another? Maybe not much but both have quite a bit to do with family history. Betheny Tomseth, known on Instagram as @BethenyCakes, takes us on a journey through her family’s complex history. From the mysterious circumstances surrounding her great-grandfather Omer's hunting accident in 1921 to the Scottish immigrant family she discovered buried together in an Ogden cemetery. We explore how a 140-year-old cake recipe connects generations of wome...
When Aimee Cross discovered her French ancestor's will in a 1904 newspaper, she found something more precious than gold - a grandmother's heartfelt advice to her children. Professional genealogist Aimee Cross joins me to share how her second great-grandmother Estelle Dumont left behind more than an estate. She left a legacy of wisdom that continues to shape her family today. From Pierre Dumont's journey from France to the goldfields of California, to Estelle's courageous choice to run a busin...
Linda felt there was "something special" in her dad's family but couldn't get answers. She never imagined a single phone call would connect her to relatives she'd never met and a Civil War-era ancestor whose story would change how she celebrates Juneteenth forever. In this deeply moving episode, I sit down with Linda Epps Parker, whose connection to the Hawkins Wilson documentary reveals the extraordinary power of genealogy to heal generational separation. Linda shares her journey from growin...
What if one of history's most famous authors unknowingly documented your ancestor's immigration journey? In 1863, my three-times-great-grandmother Rachel Smuin sailed from England to America aboard the Amazon—and Charles Dickens was there to witness it all. Expecting to find chaos and disorder among 800 Mormon emigrants, Dickens instead discovered remarkable organization, cheerfulness, and dignity that completely challenged his preconceptions. His detailed letter about that day provides an in...
🚢 When 11-year-old Lydia escaped Russia on the last evacuation ship in 1920, she began documenting her extraordinary journey in beautiful handwritten diaries. Tamara Buzyna Adams discovered her grandmother’s childhood diaries during COVID lockdown. What started as a mother-daughter translation project unveiled an incredible story: a young girl who lived on a refugee ship for two and a half years, finding joy and wonder even amid the chaos following the Russian Revolution. Through meticulous r...
What if your ancestors' darkest moment could teach you the most about resilience? While chasing down a DNA match with my dad, I uncovered a shocking story about two sets of my 8x great-grandparents that kept me awake all night. Roger and Anne Park and Andrew and Olive Smith were Quakers who fled England seeking religious freedom in colonial New Jersey, but found decades of land disputes and corrupt officials instead. When my 7x great-grandfather John Park and his brother-in-law, Thomas ...
When Tara Hall discovered her great-uncle Norman had been shot down in WWII, his story became an enigma that haunted her family for generations. In this poignant episode, my Ancestry colleague Tara shares how Norman joined the Army Air Corps as a navigator, following in his older brother's footsteps. Shot down over Germany on just his third mission, Norman's body remained unidentified for twelve years, leaving his family in painful limbo. Through military records and precious letters, Tara un...
When Lisa Elzey discovered her grandfather flew on a B-17 bomber during D-Day, she knew there was more to uncover… In this continuation of last week's DNA revelation, Lisa shares how researching her grandfather's war buddies unveiled an extraordinary military legacy. From discovering rare crew photos to uncovering first-hand accounts of a harrowing mission that earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Lisa's persistence reveals how the stories of those around our ancestors can illuminate their...
When DNA results revealed a puzzling Quebec connection in Lisa Elzey's family tree — everything she thought she knew was called into question... Join me for an intimate conversation with my podcast producer Lisa and her mother Nidel as they unravel a family mystery that remained hidden for over seven decades. Witness how modern genealogy technology unlocked memories long forgotten and reshaped Nidel's understanding of her identity at age 74. This powerful story explores how unexpected ...
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I love this podcast so much and listen to every new episode. I first heard Crista and Roots Tech earlier this year and loved the session I went to with her. This podcast is inspiring and entertaining. It helps solidify my love of family history, especially family stories. Thank you!!!
I was fascinated to learn how Crista started her genealogy passion. I too made a promise to a grandparent to find someone! Stories That Live in Us takes a look into the stories that make us who we are, in part designed by people we never met. But their lived experiences, their choices, their DNA are in us. I have listened to 4 of Crista's podcasts and her guests, their stories of discovery are moving. I can not wait to listen to more.