Last episode
Rags to Riches
s12e10 · 2026-04-15
Running · US
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
PBS Documentary
What it is
Since the premiere of his groundbreaking series African American Lives through the first season of 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.
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Episode guide
10 this season · 131 totals05e01 Grandparents and Other Strangers 2019-01-09 01:00
Grandparents and Other Strangers
Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps actor Andy Samberg and author George R. R. Martin answer family mysteries when DNA detective work uncovers branches of their family trees. The DNA analysis upends family history and reveals new relatives.
s05e02 Mystery Men 2019-01-16 01:00
Mystery Men
Henry 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 empowering.
s05e03 Reporting on the Reporters 2019-01-23 01:00
Reporting on the Reporters
Host Henry 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.
s05e04 Dreaming of a New Land 2019-01-30 01:00
Dreaming of a New Land
Henry 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, their histories show success could take generations to achieve.
s05e05 Freedom Tales 2019-02-06 01:00
Freedom Tales
Host Henry 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.
s05e06 Roots in Politics 2019-02-13 01:00
Roots in Politics
Host Henry 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.
s05e07 No Laughing Matter 2019-02-20 01:00
No Laughing Matter
Henry 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 news of an unexpected DNA cousin.
s05e08 Hard Times 2019-02-27 01:00
Hard Times
Host Henry 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.
s05e09 The Eye of the Beholder 2019-04-03 00:00
The Eye of the Beholder
Host Henry 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.
s05e10 All in the Family 2019-04-10 00:00
All in the Family
The 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.