Culture

Finding Your Roots

For more than a decade, renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has helped to expand America’s sense of itself, stimulating a national conversation about identity with humor, wisdom, and compassion. Professor Gates has explored the ancestry of dozens of influential people from diverse backgrounds, taking millions of viewers deep into the past to reveal the connections that bind us all.

The Butterfly Effect

52m 10s

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Debra Messing & Melanie Lynskey to ancestors who made bold decisions that forever reshaped their family trees. Moving from shtetls in Eastern Europe to a fruit stand in NY City to the wilds of New Zealand, Gates introduces his guests to relatives who took great risks, overcame enormous hardships—and unwittingly transformed the lives of their descendants.

  • The Butterfly Effect: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Butterfly Effect

    S11 E8 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Debra Messing & Melanie Lynskey to ancestors who made bold decisions that forever reshaped their family trees. Moving from shtetls in Eastern Europe to a fruit stand in NY City to the wilds of New Zealand, Gates introduces his guests to relatives who took great risks, overcame enormous hardships—and unwittingly transformed the lives of their descendants.

  • The Ties That Bind: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Ties That Bind

    S11 E7 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard—a married couple who discover that their ancestors had some remarkable similarities. In stories that span continents and centuries, Gates introduces Kristen and Dax to the soldiers, settlers, and criminals who make up their roots, allowing his guests to understand themselves—and their families--as never before.

  • Latin Roots: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Latin Roots

    S11 E6 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Rubén Blades & journalist Natalie Morales uncover their hidden roots in Latin America, revealing secrets that their ancestors went to great lengths to conceal. Traveling from Puerto Rico to Columbia to Brazil, Gates & his guests recover long-lost family stories—meet heroes and villains--and celebrate the virtue of accepting one’s relatives whoever they may be.

  • Family Recipes: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Family Recipes

    S11 E5 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family trees of celebrity chefs José Andrés & Sean Sherman—two men who have combined culinary skills with profound humanitarian goals. Traveling from small-town Spain to Native American lands in the Dakotas, Gates explores where these qualities came from, revealing that the ancestors of José & Sean have hidden connections to key moments in history—and to food.

  • Dreamers One And All: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Dreamers One And All

    S11 E4 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actor Sharon Stone & model Chrissy Teigen—two stars who found fame when they were young & lived much of their lives in the limelight, knowing little about their roots. Gates reveals they aren’t the first people in their families who dared to dream big, tracing lineages from Eastern Europe to Medieval France to rural Thailand.

  • Stranger Than Fiction: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Stranger Than Fiction

    S11 E3 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of two award-winning writers: novelist Amy Tan and poet Rita Dove, tracing lineages that run from a plantation in Maryland to a speakeasy in Washington, DC to a village in central China. Along the way, Amy and Rita reimagine themselves as they learn the true stories of the people who laid the groundwork for their success—and inspired their art.

  • La Famiglia: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    La Famiglia

    S11 E2 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family trees of talk show host Joy Behar and actor Michael Imperioli—two Americans whose roots stretch back to small towns in Calabria, Italy. Joy and Michael’s families lived in these towns for centuries, but their stories were lost on the journey to America. Gates reveals the challenges that their ancestors faced—and overcame—on both sides of the Atlantic.

  • Larger Than Life: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Larger Than Life

    S11 E1 - 52m 10s

    Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Lea Salonga and Amanda Seyfried to ancestors who are every bit as dramatic as the characters they’ve played on stage and screen. Moving from a naval base in the Philippines to a small town bakery in Pennsylvania to steamships on the Atlantic Ocean, Lea and Amanda hear stories of relatives who survived wars, murders, and heart-wrenching ordeals.

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