Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Season 12
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.
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Season 12 originally premiered on PBS on January 6, 2026. Current US availability is unconfirmed.
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Season 12 originally premiered on PBS on January 6, 2026. Current US availability is unconfirmed.
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Episode guide
Episodes
- 1
American Dreams source at TVmaze
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.
- 2
Great Migrations source at TVmaze
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.
- 3
Caribbean Roots source at TVmaze
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.
- 4
The Road We Took source at TVmaze
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.
- 5
Love & Basketball source at TVmaze
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.
- 6
Westward Bound source at TVmaze
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.
- 7
Family Harmonies source at TVmaze
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.
- 8
Artistic Roots source at TVmaze
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.
- 9
Song of the South source at TVmaze
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family secrets of Danielle Deadwyler and Rhiannon Giddens, uncovering stories their ancestors once hid.
- 10
Rags to Riches source at TVmaze
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.
Cast and crew
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