Catalog Search Results
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English
Description
Trace three guests' roots into the heart of slavery, revealing that there is no singular narrative and challenging preconceptions of an era that profoundly shaped our nation's sense of itself. Hip-hop artist Nas discovers a web of his slave ancestors and their intimate relationship with their slave master; award-winning actress Angela Bassett meets ancestors whose slave family tragedy is rivaled only by a triumphant emancipation story; and presidential...
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English
Description
These three celebrated Americans share not only a Jewish heritage but also 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 discovers the origins of her family name and confronts the reality of the discrimination her ancestors faced once they arrived in America; and Alan Dershowitz discovers that the first Hassidic synagogue in Brooklyn,...
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English
Description
Three iconic American storytellers have spent their lives chronicling the lives of others, while knowing almost nothing about their own family history. Ken Burns confronts the reality of his southern ancestors' role in the Civil War, including Confederate soldiers held captive and a slave-owning Virginian. Anderson Cooper, scion of one of America's most storied families, the Vanderbilts, longs to know more about his father's southern roots - including...
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English
Description
Three celebrity chefs who cook the food of their ancestors discover family members who have shaped their lives - and America's cuisine. Tom Colicchio of "Top Chef" learns the hardships his family endured (famine, bandits) living in a tiny town in Northern Italy and celebrates the courage of his original immigrant ancestor, a man who crossed the Atlantic many times to bring the Colicchios to the United States; Ming Tsai, the child of immigrants who...
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English
Description
Three guests' families have long been engaged in the battle for freedom and civil rights, but they had no idea that those principles were passed down through generations of ancestors. Ben Affleck's mother was a Freedom Rider in 1964 and her roots include the 19th-century spiritualist Almon French, who attempted to heal the bereaved masses in the aftermath of the Civil War. NAACP president Ben Jealous learns the heroic story of his great-grandfather...
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English
Description
Sally Field discovers that she descends from William Bradford, who arrived on the Mayflower and helped his fellow English Puritans establish their new lives in colonial America and later discovers that her ancestors sided with the British crown during our nation's War of Independence and paid the ultimate price. Deepak Chopra's family made a similar gamble while living under harsh British colonial rule in India, where his grandparents pledged their...
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English
Description
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.
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English
Description
Renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. weaves together genealogical detective work with cutting-edge DNA analysis to trace the ancestry of a diverse array of trailblazing public figures. The result is a captivating cross-section of history, illustrating that diversity is both America's strength and its constant.
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English
Description
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores fascinating ancestries and family mysteries for an array of notable guests. This season features actors Pamela Adlon, Amy Carlson, Terry Crews, Tony Danza, Raúl Esparza, Kathryn Hahn, Rebecca Hall, John Leguizamo, Regina King and Lena Waithe; Broadway stars Nathan Lane and Leslie Odom, Jr.; superstar chef David Chang; talk show host and author Mario Lopez; journalists Erin Burnett and André Leon Talley; producers...
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English
Description
"Actor and award-winning travel writer Andrew McCarthy discovers his ancestry in a compelling narrative that combines 26 intriguing and heartfelt stories about discovering home and roots with tips and recommendations on how to begin your own explorations. Addressing the explosive growth in ancestral travel, actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy recounts his own quest to uncover his family's Irish history, along with 25 other prominent writers whose...
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English
Description
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.