The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show
The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show

The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show

Lisa Louise Cooke

Overview
Episodes

Details

Genealogy Gems Podcast shows you, the family historian, how to make the most out of your family history research time by providing quick and easy to use research techniques. In addition, you will learn creative ways to share your family tree and the legacy of your ancestors. Lisa Louise Cooke guides you through the exhilarating process of discovering your family tree. She scours the family history landscape to find and bring you the best websites, best practices, and best resources available. And Lisa's interviews with the experts in the field of genealogy make the Genealogy Gems Podcast your own personal genealogy conference. Guests include genealogists such as Dick Eastman, DearMYRTLE, Curt Witcher, Arlene Eakle, and the folks from Ancestry.com, as well as celebrities such as Tukufu Zuberi of The History Detectives, Kathy Lennon of the Lennon Sisters, Tim Russell of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, the band Venice, and Darby Hinton of the Daniel Boone TV series from the 1960s. Your family history is world history.

Recent Episodes

Episode 301 Newspaper Research: Elephind and AI
NOV 7, 2025
Episode 301 Newspaper Research: Elephind and AI
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 301with Lisa Louise CookeNovember 2025 GEM: The Return of Elephind.com Imagine having the power to access centuries of history at your fingertips. Elephind.com is making this a reality for genealogists and history enthusiasts alike. In this interview, we explore how this innovative platform is transforming the way we search for historical newspapers. Show Notes for Full Text Search and video replay. GEM: Comparing AI Chatbots for Newspaper Transcription This segment comes from the Premium episode of Elevenses with Lisa called Comparing AI Chatbots for Genealogy. The full episode is available as a video replay and Premium podcast episode and includes a comprehensive downloadable reference cheat sheet. Newspaper Transcription Takeaways: In this comparison, Gemini came out as the winner for newspaper transcription. LLMs are predictive, so they excel at the narrative, where words relate to each other. It struggles with names, where each is random. It leans toward interpreting names based on names that appeared earlier in the text (ex. Bruhn) Bonus Tip: After your initial result ask the chatbot to provide you with a worksheet if it appears there were questionable words. Prompt: Leave a blank space for each name you are unsure about that is large enough to accommodate me writing in the name when I print out your answer. Watch our latest videos on using AI for genealogy: AI: What is it and how to think about it (Premium) Comparing and Choosing AI Chatbots for Genealogy (Premium) AI Vocabulary Terms 10 Powerful AI PromptsAI Research Assistant at FamilySearch 6 Tasks AI Can Do for Your Genealogy (Premium) Nano Banana – Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Creating Location Guides with AI (Premium) AI: Gemini Gems (Premium) The free podcast is sponsored by: Get your DNA kit today. Visit newspapers.com/genealogygems to get 20% off your subscription. Become a Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning Member Gain access to the complete Premium podcast archive of over 150 episodes and more than 50 video webinars, including Lisa Louise Cooke's newest video The Big Picture in Little Details. Become a member here. Follow Lisa and Genealogy Gems on Social Media: Instagram.com/genealogygemspodcast Facebook.com/genealogygems Pinterest.com/lisalouisecooke YouTube.com/GenealogyGems Stay Up to Date with the Genealogy Gems Newsletter The Genealogy Gems email newsletter is the best way to stay informed about what's available with your Premium eLearning Membership. Sign up today.
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41 MIN
Episode 299 FamilySearch's Full Text Search and AI Assistant
SEP 25, 2025
Episode 299 FamilySearch's Full Text Search and AI Assistant
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 299with Lisa Louise CookeSeptember 2025 GEM: FamilySearch's Full Text Search Newly released from FamilySearch Labs, Full Text Search is now available under the Search menu on the website. Show Notes for Full Text Search and video replay. GEM: FamilySearch's AI Assistant in Labs Avoid the pain of easy mistakes and get the most out of the new FREE AI Research Assistant at FamilySearch. Here's the new genealogy research tool featuring A.I. that can help you uncover exciting new genealogy records about your ancestors. Watch to the end for a surprising AI twist and my bonus tip for success. Show Notes for Full Text Search and video replay. Watch our latest videos on using AI for genealogy: AI: What is it and how to think about it (Premium) Comparing and Choosing AI Chatbots for Genealogy (Premium) AI Vocabulary Terms 10 Powerful AI PromptsAI Research Assistant at FamilySearch 6 Tasks AI Can Do for Your Genealogy (Premium) Nano Banana – Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Creating Location Guides with AI (Premium) AI: Gemini Gems (Premium) The free podcast is sponsored by: Get your DNA kit today. Visit newspapers.com/genealogygems to get 20% off your subscription. Become a Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning Member Gain access to the complete Premium podcast archive of over 150 episodes and more than 50 video webinars, including Lisa Louise Cooke's newest video The Big Picture in Little Details. Become a member here. Follow Lisa and Genealogy Gems on Social Media: Instagram.com/genealogygemspodcast Facebook.com/genealogygems Pinterest.com/lisalouisecooke YouTube.com/GenealogyGems Stay Up to Date with the Genealogy Gems Newsletter The Genealogy Gems email newsletter is the best way to stay informed about what's available with your Premium eLearning Membership. Sign up today.
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28 MIN
Episode 298 - Genealogy News You Can Use
AUG 13, 2025
Episode 298 - Genealogy News You Can Use
AUDIO PODCAST SHOW NOTES: In this episode of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, Lisa Louise Cooke explores exciting developments in the world of historical newspapers, including the revival of a beloved search engine and major enhancements to a key U.S. archive. Discover the latest innovations from MyHeritage that can supercharge your family tree research and photo storytelling, along with a spotlight on Ancestry's exclusive new membership program. Plus, Lisa shares a personal interview reflecting on the profound ways genealogy can inspire healing and connection. Genealogy Gems Premium Members Exclusive Download: Download the ad-free show notes for this episode from the show notes page. (Premium Member subscription required.) Not a Premium Member? Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member.) Premium Members have exclusive access to: Video classes and downloadable handouts The Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Downloadable ad-free show notes PDF cheat sheets Become a member here. Learn more about Genealogy Gems Premium Membership. Our Sponsors for this episode: Newspapers.com Get 20% off a Publisher Extra subscription. Click here and use coupon code GenealogyGems MyHeritage Click here to start finding your family history at MyHeritage Genealogy Gems Podcast App Don't miss the Bonus audio for this episode. In the app, tap the gift box icon just under the media player. Get the app here. Get the Free Genealogy Gems Newsletter The Genealogy Gems email newsletter is the best way to stay informed about what's available with your Premium eLearning Membership. Sign up today here. Follow Lisa and Genealogy Gems: Instagram.com/genealogygemspodcast Facebook.com/genealogygems Pinterest.com/lisalouisecooke YouTube.com/GenealogyGems
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35 MIN
Episode 297 - 10 Key AI Terms & Improve Your Genealogy AI Prompts
JUL 18, 2025
Episode 297 - 10 Key AI Terms & Improve Your Genealogy AI Prompts
AUDIO PODCAST SHOW NOTES: In this episode, we're diving headfirst into the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence — and how it can seriously boost your genealogy game. In Segment 1, we're cutting through the jargon with 10 AI Vocabulary Terms You Need to Know. Whether you're just getting curious about AI or already experimenting with it in your research, this will help you speak the lingo and understand what tools like ChatGPT are really doing under the hood. Then in Segment 2, we'll level up with 10 AI Prompt Add-ons That Get You Better Results. These are practical, easy-to-apply techniques that will make your interactions with AI smarter, more focused, and way more useful for tasks like polishing writing, analyzing research, and even brainstorming creative ways to share your family stories. Get the full show notes on the Genealogy Gems website. Genealogy Gems Premium Members Exclusive Download: Download the ad-free show notes for this episode from the show notes page for this episode. (Premium Member subscription required.) Not a Premium Member? Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member.) Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member Premium Members have exclusive access to: Video classes and downloadable handouts The Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Downloadable ad-free show notes PDF cheat sheets Become a member here. Learn more about Genealogy Gems Premium Membership. Our Sponsors for this episode: Newspapers.com Get 20% off a Publisher Extra subscription. Click here and use coupon code GenealogyGems MyHeritage Order your MyHeritage DNA Kit today. Genealogy Gems Podcast App Don't miss the Bonus audio for this episode. In the app, tap the gift box icon just under the media player. Get the app here. Get the Free Genealogy Gems Newsletter The Genealogy Gems email newsletter is the best way to stay informed about what's available with your Premium eLearning Membership. Sign up today here. Follow Lisa and Genealogy Gems on Social Media: Instagram.com/genealogygemspodcast Facebook.com/genealogygems Pinterest.com/lisalouisecooke YouTube.com/GenealogyGems
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38 MIN