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Branching Out Genealogy Podcast
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Welcome to the Branching Out Genealogy Podcast, your go-to guide to family history news, tips, tech, and "tea." Hosted by Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal, Certified Genealogist®, and Tami Osmer Mize.


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ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude... they're all ge ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude... they're all generative AI. But that's not the only kind of artificial intelligence out there. 🤖🧬

Arun Konanur (@getyourdnainfo) explains the "expert systems" he builds to analyze DNA matches, which mimic how a human makes decisions, just on a scale of millions of data points. And because they only read the data in your matches, they can't hallucinate like generative AI.

Full episode link in bio ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod

#genealogy #familyhistory #geneticgenealogy #DNA #DNAmatches #AI #AIgenealogy #bioinformatics #genealogypodcast #ancestry
New episode is out now! 🎙️"Genetic Genealogy's Nex New episode is out now! 🎙️"Genetic Genealogy's Next Breakthrough: Genealogical Bioinformatics with Arun Konanur."

Most DNA tools work best with matches of 40 cM or more, which is only about 3 to 5% of your match list. Arun builds tools that put the rest to work, reading your matches and your cousins' matches all at once to find patterns no human eye would catch. He used them to find an ancestor's sister from a Jones family in 1800s London. 🤯

Also in this episode: tables, a genealogy book that made Elizabeth rethink everything, Tami's new DAR membership 🎉, and some bitter tea on the National Archives closures.

Heads up: this one runs long, but it's packed. Link in bio to watch or listen ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod

#genealogy #familyhistory #geneticgenealogy #DNA #DNAmatches #genealogypodcast #ancestry #bioinformatics #AIgenealogy #NationalArchives
🎙️ New episode drops TOMORROW! Most DNA tools onl 🎙️ New episode drops TOMORROW!

Most DNA tools only work well with your closest matches, and those make up just a tiny slice of your match list. So what could a computer find if it looked at ALL of your matches, plus all of your cousins' matches, at once?

We sat down with Arun Konanur of Discovering New Ancestors to talk about genealogical bioinformatics: the difference between generative AI and the "expert systems" he builds, how to tell when a shared match will never lead to a common ancestor, and how 18 cousins helped him find his third great-grandmother's sister. Best of all, his tools are free.

Plus: we spill the tea on the MyHeritage layoffs and the planned National Archives closures in Chicago and San Bruno.

Watch on YouTube and Spotify; listen on your favorite podcast platform. Get the links in our bio ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod

#genealogy #familyhistory #dna #genealogicalbioinformatics #podcast
A stranger walked up to Judy Nimer Muhn in a libra A stranger walked up to Judy Nimer Muhn in a library archive and named her royal French ancestral lines... then vanished. No name, no address, no sign-in in the guest book. Nobody ever saw him again. 👻 

Full story (and Judy's theory about what really happened) in the episode, link in bio ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod 

#genealogy #familyhistory #ancestry
New episode is out now! 🎙️ "The Science of Ances New episode is out now! 🎙️ 

"The Science of Ancestors Calling with Judy Nimer Muhn." Judy, owner of Lineage Journeys, has spent over three decades researching French-Canadian, Acadian, Scottish, and Native American lines, and in this episode she makes the case that ancestral intuition is real, backed by real science, not mysticism. 

Heads up: this one runs longer than usual, but we think it's worth every minute. Link in bio to watch or listen ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod 

#genealogy #familyhistory #ancestry #genealogypodcast #ancestorscalling
New episode dropping TUESDAY! 🎙️ We sat down wit New episode dropping TUESDAY! 🎙️ 

We sat down with Judy Nimer Muhn, owner of Lineage Journeys, to talk about something most genealogists have felt but rarely say out loud: that sometimes finding an ancestor feels less like research and more like being called. Judy makes the case with real science, not mysticism. Plus a mysterious stranger at a library archive who knew things he shouldn't have. Trust us, you don't want to miss this one. 👀

Watch on YouTube and Spotify, listen on your favorite podcast platform. Get the links in our bio ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod 

#genealogy #familyhistory #ancestry #ancestorscalling #podcast
"What is MyHeritage, exactly?" It's a fair questio "What is MyHeritage, exactly?" It's a fair question — and Daniel Horowitz, Chief Genealogist at MyHeritage, has the best answer. 😄

Full episode link in bio ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod

#MyHeritage #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #RootsTech2026
A woman stood at the @myheritage_official booth at A woman stood at the @myheritage_official booth at RootsTech 2026 and cried. Happy tears. She'd had a document from Denmark for 25 years that she couldn't read. Scribe AI transcribed it, translated it, and gave her the historical context... in under 30 seconds. 😭

This is why we do what we do. 🌳 Full episode link in bio.
In this episode, we sat down with Daniel Horowitz, In this episode, we sat down with Daniel Horowitz, Chief Genealogist at MyHeritage, at RootsTech 2026. He walked us through everything MyHeritage launched — Scribe AI, Gaia, Family Graph, Country Flags, full genome DNA — and teased a major records collection he absolutely would not name.

Also in the episode: a hot Pinterest trend that genealogists have been doing all along (🧶🪡), War of 1812 pension files, and some unsweet tea about Massachusetts vital records access.

Link in bio to watch or listen ---> @branching_out_genealogy_pod 

#MyHeritage #ScribeAI #GenealogyAI #RootsTech2026 #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #VitalRecords @myheritage_official
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