JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026
If you lean forward when you hear, “Are you ready to meet your DNA cousin?” — season 12 of Finding Your Roots should be at the top of your watch list. Beginning in January, you can meet the formerly unknown ancestors of Spike Lee, Kristin Chenoweth, Delroy Lindo, Brittney Griner, Lizzo, Rhiannon Giddens, and others. As guests turn the pages of their book of life, revelations give way to complex questions about identity. Through Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s discerning touch, his guests learn what every family history shares — love, courage, and sacrifice. At the same time, Gates has stimulated a national conversation about identity with humor, wisdom, and compassion by revealing the connections that bind us all. This season Gates and his team use genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis to trace the family trees of 20 illustrious guests. Each of the 10 episodes pairs two celebrities whose stories share common threads. January 6: “American Dreams” – actors Darren Criss and America Ferrera January 13: “Great Migrations” – musician Wiz Khalifa and actor Sanaa Lathan January 20: “Caribbean Roots” – actors Liza Colón-Zayas and Delroy Lindo January 27: “The Road We Took” – actor Lizzy Caplan and comedian Hasan Minhaj February 3: “Love & Basketball” – basketball superstars Brittney Griner and Chris Paul February 10: “Westward Bound” – journalist Sara Haines and actor Tracy Letts February 17: “Family Harmonies” – musicians Flea and Lizzo February 24: “Artistic Roots” – filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Kristin Chenoweth April 7: “Song of the South” – actor Danielle Deadwyler and musician Rhiannon Giddens April 14: “Rags to Riches” – businessman Barry Diller and actor Kate Burton Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy and Peabody Awardwinning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Gates has produced and hosted an array of documentary films for PBS including The Black Church, Great Migrations, and Africa’s Great Civilizations. Finding Your Roots has been acclaimed and beloved by critics and viewers alike for more than a decade. The series is a master class in documentary storytelling. One of the hallmarks of public broadcasting, it has been nominated for multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and NAACP Image Awards. Premiering Tuesday, January 6 at 8 p.m. on VPM PBS. VPM.org