Finding Your Roots

Their European immigrant ancestors blazed unconventional trails in America, from capturing British ships for the American Revolution to crossing racial barriers in slave-era Louisiana. Generations later, as children growing up in New Orleans, Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis found a deep and abiding friendship through their common love of jazz and of the city itself. In this hour, we trace the turbulent and contradictory history of the city of New Orleans through the family stories of these two fascinating men.

Three famous guests — Stephen King, Gloria Reuben and Courtney B. Vance — know almost nothing about their fathers’ histories.

Dr. Gates explores the genealogy of celebrities using the records left behind and DNA technology.

Join Larry David and Bernie Sanders, who learn they have more in common than they thought.

Henry 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.

Actresses Isabella Rossellini, Anjelica Huston and Mia Farrow explore their family histories, generations beyond their cinematic forebears.

Guests: Glenn Close and John Waters. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discovers the privileged lineages of Glenn Close and John Waters.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps Rebecca Hall and Lee Daniels solve family mysteries through DNA detective work, illuminating both history and their own identities.

Henry Louis Gates explores the remarkable roots of actors Edward Norton and Julia Roberts—using DNA analysis and genealogical detective work to travel generations into the past, tracing lineages that run from Northern Europe to the American South. Along the way, Norton and Roberts reimagine their family stories and discover their hidden connections to our nation’s history—and each other.

Singers Ciara and Alanis Morissette examine their family histories.

Research into the ancestry of singer Lea Salonga and actress Amanda Seyfried reveals relatives who survived heart-wrenching ordeals.