Finding Your Roots: Season 1
Episodes
Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr.
Mar 24, 2012 · 60 min
Their European immigrant ancestors blazed unconventional trails in America, from capturing British ships for the American Revolution to crossing racial barriers in slave-era Louisi
John Lewis and Cory Booker
Mar 24, 2012 · 60 min
In this episode, we feature two African American politicians from different generations and opposite backgrounds. John Lewis grew up in a sharecropping family in rural Georgia, whi
Barbara Walters and Geoffrey Canada
Apr 1, 2012 · 60 min
What's in a name? Well, a lot, at least when it comes to piecing together your family history. For former slaves, choosing a last name was one of their first acts of freedom. For J
Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon
Apr 7, 2012 · 60 min
What do Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have in common? They are both famous actors and both descend from prominent American families that have been in this country since its incepti
Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl and Yasir Qadhi
Apr 14, 2012 · 60 min
Pastor Rick Warren, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Sheik Yasir Qadhi are of three different faiths, all with complex family histories that profoundly shaped their religious beliefs. Our
Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Apr 28, 2012 · 60 min
Many American descend from a dense soups of European ethnicities; we could call them mutts, with ancestral roots across every country in Europe. Actors Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggi
Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons
Apr 29, 2012 · 60 min
Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Brown University President Ruth Simmons have each climbed to the pinnacle of their profession, yet each started life as a second class citiz
Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho and Sanjay Gupta
May 6, 2012 · 60 min
The three guests in this episode are all children of first- or second-generation immigrants and share the peculiar burdens of that heritage. In an episode that crisscrosses the pla
John Legend and Wanda Sykes
May 13, 2012 · 60 min
Most African Americans struggle to trace their ancestors beyond Emancipation; slavery erased names and family ties with brutal efficiency. But what about the descendants of the han
Adrian Grenier, Michelle Rodriguez and Linda Chavez
May 20, 2012 · 60 min
Michelle Rodriguez, Adrian Grenier and Linda Chavez all share Spanish colonial roots, yet each views their own identity very differently. In this episode we ask what it means to be