Next Episode of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. is
Season 12 / Episode 5 and airs on 04 February 2026 01:00
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.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps America Ferrera and Darren Criss uncover their immigrant roots - meeting revolutionaries in Honduras, a Dutchman who helped build New York, and a young woman from the Philippines who made an incredible journey.
In this episode of "Finding Your Roots," Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces rapper Wiz Khalifa and actor Sanaa Lathan to ancestors who left the American South, boldly breaking racial barriers.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the Caribbean heritage of actors Liza Colón-Zayas and Delroy Lindo—meeting women and men who crisscrossed the globe to help their families move forward, often taking enormous risks. Along the way, Delroy and Liza both gain a new understanding of the ancestors—enslaved and free—who laid the groundwork for their success.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of actor Lizzie Caplan and comedian Hasan Minhaj, uncovering ancestors who made brave decisions that forever reshaped their family trees. Moving from shtetls in Eastern Europe to farmlands in northern India to the shores of the United States, Gates introduces his guests to the women and men who overcame enormous hardships to find a better future.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the family trees of basketball stars Brittney Griner and Chris Paul—uncovering ancestors who had extraordinary talents.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of talk show host Sara Haines and playwright Tracy Letts from the American west to surprising places back east.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of musicians Lizzo and Flea—traveling across the globe to find stories of the ancestors who inspired their work.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of director Spike Lee and actor Kristin Chenoweth, meeting ancestors whose creativity built their families.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family secrets of Danielle Deadwyler and Rhiannon Giddens, uncovering stories their ancestors once hid.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. maps the roots of actor Kate Burton and media mogul Barry Diller, meeting ancestors who made huge sacrifices to escape poverty.
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