Playback is currently unavailable for S5 E1 · Grandparents and Other Strangers. 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 5
Episodes
E01
Episode 1
Grandparents and Other Strangers
2019-01-08 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. helps actor Andy Samberg and author George R. R. Martin answer some family mysteries when DNA detective work uncovers new branches of their family trees. The DNA analysis upends family history and reveals new relatives.
Current episode
E02
Episode 2
Mystery Men
2019-01-15 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. helps actors Felicity Huffman and Michael K. Williams discover a wealth of hidden family history. Both grew up knowing little about their biological fathers, and seeing their lost ancestry restored proves deeply empowering.
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E03
Episode 3
Reporting on the Reporters
2019-01-22 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. shows journalists Christiane Amanpour, Ann Curry and Lisa Ling that the stories within their own family trees are every bit as compelling as the news stories they have been covering for the world.
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E04
Episode 4
Dreaming of a New Land
2019-01-29 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. explores with Marisa Tomei, Sheryl Sandberg and Kal Penn the tremendous challenges faced by their immigrant forebears. From Italy, Russia and India to America, their histories show success could take generations to achieve.
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E05
Episode 5
Freedom Tales
2019-02-05 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. delves deep into the roots of two African-American guests, actor S. Epatha Merkerson and athlete and television personality Michael Strahan. Both discover unexpected stories that challenge assumptions about black history.
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E06
Episode 6
Roots in Politics
2019-02-12 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the diverse family histories of politicians Paul Ryan, Tulsi Gabbard and Marco Rubio. They each see a shared vision of the great American melting pot reflected in their ancestors’ stories.
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E07
Episode 7
No Laughing Matter
2019-02-19 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. shows comedians Seth Meyers, Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman that their family trees are filled with people whose struggles laid the groundwork for their success. Gates also reveals to each one news of an unexpected DNA cousin.
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E08
Episode 8
Hard Times
2019-02-26 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family stories of filmmaker Michael Moore and actors Laura Linney and Chloë Sevigny—three people whose distant ancestors overcame great hardships in ways that resonate with their lives today.
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E09
Episode 9
The Eye of the Beholder
2019-04-02 · 60mHenry Louis Gates, Jr. shares the family histories of director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, iconoclastic performance artist Marina Abramović and painter Kehinde Wiley. These visionary artists find their identities challenged—and affirmed.
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E10
Episode 10
All in the Family
2019-04-09 · 60mThe family stories of actor Ty Burrell, and radio host Joe Madison. Also a look at how a summer camp for children is using genetic genealogy to help young people better understand their burgeoning identities.
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Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Self - Host
