Aerial View was WFMU’s first regularly-scheduled phone-in talk show. Hosted by Chris T. and on the air since 1989, the show features topical conversation, interviews and many trips down the rabbit hole. Until further notice, Aerial View is only available as a podcast, available every Tuesday morning. Subscribe to the newsletter “See You Next Tuesday!” and find tons of archives at aerialview.me. (Visit homepage.)

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October 7, 2014: DNA: Day Naysay Answered
The DNA results are finally in. I know beyond a doubt the identity of my biological father. Confused?

In 1987 (and again ten years later) the man I thought was my father told me he believed another man was my biological father. On the Aerial View show Bad Dad from June 10th of this year I played audio of my sister and I preparing DNA swabs, in an attempt to lay to rest questions of my paternity that have plagued me for more than a quarter-century. I initially contacted a DNA-testing company in New York that specialized in ironclad legal proof... and had to rethink that decision when they quoted me a price upwards of $700.

I discovered a company called 23andme ("The largest DNA ancestry service in the world!"), used by people studying their family tree and seeking blood relatives. They send you a DNA collection kit (a cup into which you spit, designed for sterile collection of saliva), you mail it back and for roughly $100 they type your DNA and tell you about your genetic background. For instance, I found out I'm 74.9% Italian (Fig. 1, below). And something else I'd long suspected: I have more Neanderthal DNA than the public-at-large (3.1% to 2.7%, see Fig. 2, below).

What I didn't find out, unfortunately, is whether my Dad was actually my Dad. Stupid me, I forgot a lesson from 7th grade Biology: women don't have a Y chromosome, so there was no way to determine if my sister and I have a common male ancestor. Back to the drawing board. I contact a first cousin, J.D., and asked if I could have a kit sent to him. He agreed and the results just came in a few days ago.

Tonight, I will reveal those results on the air and will be joined by J.D. when I do. Call 201-209-WFMU and let's talk blood relatives and those things you found out about your family after years in the dark.

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