Playback is currently unavailable for S2 E6 · We Come From People. Episode details remain available below.
Finding Your Roots
Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.
- Cast:
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
- Language:
- English
- Country:
- United States of America
- Network:
- PBS
Episode guide
Seasons
Season 2
Episodes
E01
Episode 1
★ 6.0In Search of our Fathers
2014-09-23 · 60mThree famous guests — Stephen King, Gloria Reuben and Courtney B. Vance — know almost nothing about their fathers’ histories.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E02
Episode 2
Born Champions
2014-09-30 · 60mBillie Jean King, Derek Jeter and Rebecca Lobo learn about their family histories. King discovers that her grandmother was an orphan; Derek Jeter investigates his ancestors' lives as slaves; and Lobo finds out that an ancestor was forced to flee Spain because of his democratic ideals.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E03
Episode 3
★ 6.0Our American Storytellers
2014-10-07 · 60mKen Burns learns that his Southern ancestors include Confederate soldiers and a slave owner; Anderson Cooper learns that an ancestor on his father's side was killed by one of his slaves; and Anna Deavere Smith learns about her great-grandfather, who was a free black man and former conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E04
Episode 4
★ 6.0Roots of Freedom
2014-10-14 · 60mActor Ben Affleck discovers his mother's past as a Freedom Rider in 1964, NAACP President Ben Jealous learns how far his great-grandfather would go to keep his family whole, and actress Khandi Alexander learns about her grandfather's death. This episode is not available from pbs because actor Ben Affleck had persuaded Gates to omit information about his slave-owning ancestors. In the investigation, PBS said that producers violated network standards by letting Mr. Affleck have “improper influence” and “by failing to inform PBS or WNET of Mr. Affleck’s efforts to affect program content.”
Watch progress · Not tracked
E05
Episode 5
The Melting Pot
2014-10-21 · 60mChef Tom Colicchio learns the hardships his family endured in Northern Italy; chef Ming Tsai traces his roots back 2,000 years; chef Aarón Sánchez learns his Mexican roots include Spaniards, Africans and Native Americans.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E06
Episode 6
We Come From People
2014-10-28 · 60mNas learns about his slave ancestors; Angela Bassett discovers that her family history includes an emancipation story; and Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama, learns about the free people of color in her family's past
Current episode
E07
Episode 7
Our People, Our Traditions
2014-11-04 · 60mTony Kushner learns how the Holocaust impacted his ancestors; Carole King delves into the origins of her family name; and Alan Dershowitz discovers that an Hassidic synagogue started by his great-grandfather played a secret role in World War II.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E08
Episode 8
The British Invasion
2014-11-11 · 60mDeepak Chopra, Sally Field and Sting’s ancestry demonstrates the extraordinary influence of the British Empire during the 18th and early 19th century.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E09
Episode 9
Ancient Roots
2014-11-18 · 60mTina Fey, George Stephanopoulos and David Sedaris, three quintessential voices in American life, descend from ancestors that were part of the wave of Greek immigrants that flooded America’s shores in the early decades of the 20th century.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E10
Episode 10
Decoding Our Past Through DNA
2014-11-25 · 60mSecrets encoded in their genomes challenge these guests’ ideas about their families’ histories and their identities today. This episode features Jessica Alba, Anderson Cooper, Valerie Jarrett, Governor Deval Patrick and more.
Watch progress · Not trackedCast
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Self - Host
