climb my family tree with me

After 20 years of teaching, more than a decade of historical research, and several years of genealogical research, Kael Sharman has a message that is timely in the current context of growing social and political divisions: Know your family stories. Understand who you are, where you came from, and how you got here. I share my own family stories, which include infidelity, heartbreak, love, violence, ethnic cleansing, religious miracles, and just plain survival. Each story is connected to larger historical narratives.
The driving force behind the podcast has been how understanding my own family stories has changed how I walk around North America a queer, aging, white, working-class man. Understanding where I came from has brought complexity to my understanding of who I am.