The Gift

A fascinating foray into the social, familial and cultural ramifications of such private databases and the volume of DNA they have amassed. Identity is such a complex construct, as we all form our senses of self by means of a dizzying combination of learned experience, genetic predisposition and genealogical history. This programme emphatically foregrounds incidences where a person’s innate notion of being is dramatically (and often abruptly) challenged following their decision to take a genealogical DNA test. The darker underbelly of the push by companies such as Ancestry to promote these kinds of products is laid bare in the many harrowing stories discussed across two series. The journalist and presenter pitched the tone perfectly for the project and adopted a somewhat gentle approach with her interviewees which paid dividends in terms of putting them at ease. I both cringe and chuckle at the recent review ascribing a supposed ‘woke pomposity’ to certain episodes - nevermind the abject misuse of the term ‘woke’ which is immediately symptomatic of a certain kind of reactionary thinking - there is absolutely nothing in the entirety of this programme that could ever be included beneath the umbrella of such inane terminology. Unless, of course, it’s now woke to simply ask how people feel about a development in their personal lives, or enquire as to how a person may be coping with a newfound link to an unexpected heritage. Indeed, dismissing anything one dislikes as ‘woke’ is so trite and simplistic that I am immediately concerned for the cognitive faculties of the commentator, who appears desperate to politicise the human experience in all its forms, however clumsy the attempt may be. There is no universe in which The Gift is ‘pompous and ignorant.’ It is a genuine and heartfelt exploration of what makes us human and I urge anyone reading this to give it a try.

Must listen if you’re going to do an at home DNA test

This podcast does some genuinely enlightening and moving accounts of events that really matter, and of the victims of circumstance who have had to live with the shocking revelations and aftermath. Kudos to them. But where there’s brass is also muck, and in this case, too much of the latter. Commentary often descends into a jaded kind of para-moralising, underpinned by a woke pomposity. The presenter herself often indulges the interviewees to the point it feels she is either giving them therapy or just plain afraid that they’ll leave. Then there are the interviewees, many of whom seem happier to have had some trauma or at the very least be the centre of attention. Couple this with instances of unabashed revelling in naivety, it becomes hard to listen to, let alone empathise. So consider yourself warned...

This is a fascinating topic. I particularly like the way that the various implications have been explored in each separate episode. Thanks to all the people who shared their stories so that we can better understand.