The Photo Detective

What happens when an ordinary New Bedford whaling voyage turns into one of the most extraordinary survival stories in American maritime history? In this episode of The Photo Detective, I talk with bestselling maritime historian Eric Jay Dolin, author of The Wreck of the Mentor. Dolin has written more than seventeen acclaimed books on maritime history, environmental policy, pirates, privateers, hurricanes, and the American whaling industry, including Leviathan: The History of Whaling in Americ...

What happened to the women in your family tree who simply disappeared? In this episode of The Photo Detective Podcast, I’m joined by genealogist Sunny Morton to explore the hidden lives of Catholic nuns in American family history. We talk about why these women vanish from traditional records, how to identify them through clues in documents and photographs, and where to find the rich archives that hold their stories. I even share my own surprising discovery of two unknown nuns in my family. If...

In this episode, Maureen Taylor speaks with Glen Meakem, founder and CEO of Forever.com. Glen shares his inspiration for starting the company in 2012—recognizing a gap in long-term, secure, digital storage for family memories. Forever offers users a permanent digital home to store and share photos, videos, and documents with guaranteed access for future generations. Unlike other cloud platforms, Forever emphasizes ownership, privacy, and permanence, supported by a sustainable financial model....

Ron Coddington, editor and publisher of Military Images magazine, joins The Photo Detective podcast to share his journey from teenage Civil War photo collector to leading a respected history publication. He discusses the legacy of Civil War portraiture, the vast archive of surviving images, and the magazine’s mission to reconnect forgotten faces with their stories. The magazine, founded in 1979, showcases rare Civil War portraits and stories behind them.Civil War photography is vast—est...

In this episode, Griff (Bill Griffing), the mind behind the Spared and Shared websites, shares how he turned his post-retirement passion for Civil War history into a monumental historical preservation project. Transcribing over 15,000 letters—mostly from eBay—Griff provides context, authorship, and insight for Civil War correspondence, making them publicly accessible. His meticulous work bridges genealogical research and historical scholarship. His efforts have supported publications, academi...