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When Research Starts Talking Back

What happens when your research doesn’t just sit there quietly… but starts nudging you, whispering, insisting you dig deeper?

In this episode, I try something a little different. After sharing my 2025 retrospective, The Search Goes On — Coincidence. Clarity. Resolve., I handed that episode to Google’s NotebookLM—an AI tool many genealogists are exploring—and let it analyze the work.

The result? Two AI research companions, Eva and Max (NotebookLM’s AI hosts), listen to my last episode and talk back—analyzing the research, the discoveries, and the questions it raises.

What surprised me was where they lingered: accountability, documentation standards, and how historical tragedies are sometimes framed and fixed in place.

It’s thoughtful. It’s a little strange. And it’s unexpectedly illuminating to hear your own work reflected back by an algorithm.

You’ll also hear me reflect on:

• provenance—and what gets lost without it
• pattern recognition and persistence
• the messy beauty of family history
• why history is never really “finished”—and why the inquiry must continue

Coincidence, clarity, and resolve all make return appearances.

What emerges is a case for clear sourcing, shared definitions of casualty, and open access.

Resources:

• The Search Goes On — Coincidence. Clarity. Resolve.
• NotebookLM

• Book website: https://www.flowerintheriver.com/
• Substack: https://nataliezett.substack.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-z-87092b15/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zettnatalie/
• YouTube: Flower in the River - A Family Tale Finally Told - YouTube
• Medium: Natalie Zett – Medium
• The opening/closing song is Twilight by 8opus
• Other music. Artlist