Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of basketball superstars Brittney Griner and Chris Paul—revealing that they are not the first extraordinary people in their family trees. Telling stories that stretch deep into the past, Gates introduces his guests to relatives who showed courage, talent and grit—connecting Brittney and Chris to their ancestors in ways that they never imagined possible.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the family trees of talk show host Sara Haines and playwright Tracy Letts—tracing their roots from frontier towns in the American west to diverse places in the east, telling stories of scoundrels, soldiers, and U.S. Presidents, while also discovering surprising connections to Native Americans communities—revealing the complexity at our nation's core.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of two celebrated musicians: Lizzo and Flea, tracing lineages that run from plantations in the American South to battlefields in France to a hardscrabble gold mining town on the shores of Australia. Along the way, Lizzo and Flea reimagine themselves as they learn the true stories of the people who laid the groundwork for their success—and inspired their art.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the roots of filmmaker Spike Lee and Broadway superstar Kristin Chenoweth, uncovering ancestors who made bold decisions to lay the groundwork for their success. Moving from the Texas frontier to World War One battlefields to plantations in the old South, Gates introduces his guests to the women and men who used their creativity to build a future for their families.