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With the cultural critic and Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the series delves into the genealogy and genetics of famous Americans, combining history and science in a fascinating exploration of race, family and identity in today's America.

Renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns for a new season. Using genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis, Gates guides influential guests deep into the branches of their family trees, revealing surprising stories of love, hardship, and triumph that transcend borders and merge to form an American root system fortified by its diversity.

In sharing their stories, uses every tool available, from cutting-edge DNA research to old-school genealogical sleuthing to reveal long-buried secrets. Spanning the globe, the series compiles family trees that trace throughout the United States and Canada; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Germany, Poland, Ireland, Russia, and more.

Discover the unsolved mysteries behind the family stories of political organizer Donna Brazile, actor Ty Burrell and artist Kara Walker as they learn how the legacy of slavery has shaped their identities.

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 planet, from India to Korea to Poland, catch a glimpse of three distinct yet oddly overlapping experiences of families leaving their homes and becoming American.

Henry Louis Gates uses DNA detective work to solve deep family mysteries for actor Rebecca Hall and producer/director Lee Daniels-uncovering close relatives whose names they had never heard before and revealing new aspects of their own identities. Along the way, Gates takes a nuanced look at the history of "passing"-shedding light on our nation's complex racial past.

Pastor Rick Warren, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Sheik Yasir Qadhi - clerics of three different faiths - all have complex family histories that profoundly shaped their religious beliefs. Research of their roots unearthed a story about the spiritual foundations of this country, an unrelenting struggle to achieve the ideal of religious freedom and tolerance, but also the difficulties sometimes of holding onto one's faith and still feeling like an "authentic"...

Henry Louis Gates reveals the unexpected roots of activist Angela Y. Davis and statesman Jeh Johnson, inspiring both to reconsider their understanding of the Black experience and their preconceptions of America's past. Using DNA and the historical record, Gates maps the deep histories of families that are more diverse-and far more complicated-than either of his guests ever expected.

In this episode we learn about the ancestors of three celebrated Americans who not only share a Jewish heritage but a history of perseverance in the face of withering opposition. Tony Kushner delves into the history of the Holocaust to discover his ancestors' fate; Carole King learns the origins of her family name and confronts the reality of the discrimination her ancestors faced in America; and Alan Dershowitz finds out that the first Hassidic synagogue...

Henry Louis Gates helps actors Pamela Adlon and Kathryn Hahn decode scandals and secrets hidden within their roots, traveling from small-town England to the American frontier, revealing stories that their ancestors went to great lengths to conceal-and celebrating the virtues of accepting one's family members, whoever they may be.