Kia ora koutou!
As part of our family history month offering, today’s korero features historian turned television genealogist Dr Nick Barratt who shares his behind-the-scenes experience working on the popular “Who do you think you are?” series.
Barratt explains that while the series has done a lot to popularise researching family history it has also created myths around how this research can be done, especially in the internet era which was just coming into its own when the show began.
He shares some of the stories behind the celebrities who have appeared on the show and the leg-work that actually goes on to make those apparently effortless leaps and connections that flesh out a person’s family tree.
Alongside the apparent ease of internet research has grown the expectation that the information we seek will also be right at our fingertips. It may well be, advises Barratt, but to get the real rewards we need to be an active participant in our own journey of discovery.
Haramai tētahi ahua!
Recorded at the Auckland Central Library on 7 August 2019
