Season Three Talk

[kassa]

I have my report from 23 and me and am proud to report that I am 4% Neanderthal. Not really sure what to do with that, but it's fun to know.

 

 

That's on the high side -- I think 2-3% is more typical, and 5 is an outlier.  So that's pretty cool!

[magdalene]

I have my report from 23 and me and am proud to report that I am 4% Neanderthal. Not really sure what to do with that, but it's fun to know.

I think Neanderthals are cool. For a long time they were seen as dumb brutes basically killed off by the more "advanced" Cro-Magnons. Then it turned out they weren't dumb and brutish after all and our ancestors mated with them instead of clubbing all of them to death. Instead of being driven extinct their smaller population was absorbed into the larger population. Their DNA lives on in modern population. It's a great thing.

[PRgal]

Is wanting to know more about one's genetic history on both sides of the family a western thing?  My parents think I'm crazy for wanting to do so.  I mean, Chinese people have written records of family, but it's just on the male side.  This means I have access to my direct ancestry through my dad (and I've seen it...sort of.  Can't read Chinese, but I was told that they worked for the Qing government and one guy travelled to Japan, the US and Peru back in the 1860s.  Took the guy like four years.  These days, the poor guy would be able to do all that in a week or two)  and I COULD get access to my mom's paternal ancestry.  But any of the women?  Nope.  Nada.  My maternal grandmother seems to have an interesting past, but I don't know ANYTHING about ANYONE past HER mom and dad (and one of the sister wives).  I don't even know my maternal great-grandmother's maiden name.

 

ETA: I think my family thinks I'm a little too obsessed with trying to find out my genetic makeup.  Just about EVERYONE tells me I "don't look Chinese" and I've been asked if I'm Vietnamese, Thai or Filipina (especially Filipina, and usually by people of Philippine descent).  I've brought this up to my parents, but I have a feeling they'll tell me I'm "wasting money" if I get any sort of testing!

 

ETA #2:  Changed last sentence of the original to maternal GREAT-grandmother (my maternal grandmother's mom - BIO mom, that is, not one of the sister wives.  Said great-grandmother is the "first" wife and thus, (probably) MORE status - especially because she bore her husband a boy before he married a second wife), because I know my maternal grandmother's maiden name. 

Edited January 17, 2016 by PRgal

[kassa]

All the more reason to do it, in case it reveals seeeeeecrets!

[charmed1]

Wow, Keenan's grandfather looks exactly like Damon. And Damon Jr. is an exact replica of Damon Sr. Wow at his ancestor going back to slavery.

[Cosmic Muffin]

"Everyone wants to find their ancestor was Kunta Kinte. Chopped his foot off to escape, led everyone else...Mine went back!"

[Milz]

When HLGJr told Keenan his ancestor was "kidnapped" by Abolitionists, Keenan's face was "oh no, don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me." BTW, his mother was/is beautiful!

[charmed1]

Ha ha ha! Then when he flipped the page, saw a photo of him, laughed and said, "He looks exactly how you would expect him to look." LOL! I wish I could've been there when Keenan told his other siblings.

[attica]

Maya's segment reminded me of how much baby's breath Minnie Riperton used to wear in her hair, and how nobody does that anymore. Ah, the 70s.

[Milz]

Ha ha ha! Then when he flipped the page, saw a photo of him, laughed and said, "He looks exactly how you would expect him to look." LOL! I wish I could've been there when Keenan told his other siblings.

 

I sort of wish his siblings WERE there!

[stormy]

Everything about Maya's story was sweet and sad.

"Why didn't I have a Bat Mitzvah?" You go girl, you still can!

[kassa]

I kind of liked a feature in earlier Gates shows where he'd introduce celebs to relatives also descended from the featured ancestor.  Made for some interesting exchanges (though we really saw very little of them). Would have been cool to have Wayans meet a descendant of the Governor, or Maya  a descendant of the family patriarch whose side of the family remained religiously Jewish.

 

Interesting how despite the extensive documentation, it's still unclear precisely what happened with Wayans' ancestor.  Gates introduces it as his having been "kidnapped by abolitionists."  The guy's own (supposed) recounting said he was hanging out with the guys and as young men do, they made a rash decision and went into Canada.  Which led me to believe that he actually DID run, and the "kidnapped by abolitionists but returned because-he-loved-his-life-and-his-master-so-very-much-and-preferred-them-to-so-called-Freedom" story was something the Governor's staff cooked up as propaganda to explain his absence and return.

[Driad]

I wondered if "kidnapped in Canada" man went back because he missed his family.  But quite a few enslaved people escaped and worked to buy the freedom of their families.

[Blergh]

Everything about Maya's story was sweet and sad.

"Why didn't I have a Bat Mitzvah?" You go girl, you still can!

Not   unless she herself converts to Judaism since she doesn't have the matrilineal DNA required to be automatically Jewish  . I suppose her father and grandparents could have had rabbis convert her when she was a child but they didn't seem interested in doing that since they themselves had no interest in Judaism for themselves.

    I have to admit how touched I was by Miss Rudoph's crying at the thought of an ancestor being on a slave roll at the age of FIVE and identifying with her own small child. What's even more tragic is having to imagine being a mother who not only was enslaved but knew that the baby she's borne was ALSO a slave with no chance of being anything BUT a slave the rest of their lives.

 

  As for Mr. Wayan's ancestor who was kidnapped/'kidnapped' by Canadian abolitionists?  Perhaps we might consider looking at it from the aspect of someone who'd been a prisoner their entire life who had been burned too many times by false promises to want to chance believing that this new 'offer' could be legit so opted to stay with the Devil he knew rather than chance a new Hell.  Well, in any case, he DID stay on the staff long after Emancipation so I suppose he felt comfortable with the family and maybe thought it a boon he'd henceforth have to be compensated for his labors  he'd done with nothing more than castoffs from that point on.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Blergh

[attica]

Perhaps we might consider looking at it from the aspect of someone who'd been a prisoner their entire life who had been burned too many times by false promises to want to chance believing that this new 'offer' could be legit so opted to stay with the Devil he knew rather than chance a new Hell.

 

Yeah, I think so. As the personal servant/valet of an important man, he would have had good quality clothes, would have been treated with respect (in company, at the very least), would have had authority over other household staff. And undoubtedly, he knew others who had far, far less in their lives. Plus, we don't know how attached he was to other people at the house. Sometimes a nebulous notion like 'freedom' doesn't mean much when it means leaving loved ones.

[kassa]

I have no trouble understanding why he went back.  I just don't buy that he was "kidnapped by abolitionists."  That sounds like an excuse cooked up for/by the guy in charge when he returned home.  They featured what was purported to be his own account, which said he made a foolish mistake, being a young guy -- surely if he had actually been "kidnapped by abolitionists" he would have led with that part.

[Driad]

When two guests turned out to have rare DNA from Madagascar, I wish Prof. Gates had at least raised the question of whether they might be related.

[attica]

I suspect he would have had the tests showed overlap.

[Blergh]

Dr. Gates achieved something I thought could never happen-  he actually made Mr. Kimmel seem sympathetic and likable to me! OK, for reasons I'm not getting into now, I never liked his show or 'tude  however, the way Mr. Kimmel actually puddled up over the mere mention of his beloved maternal grandparents AND rooted for his paternal-paternal great-grandfather being a 'REAL' Kummel despite not being born of the union of his alleged parents was quite moving. It's puzzling that Great-Grandpa Kimmel was so estranged from his alleged parents that he wasn't included in eithers' obits AND that he never mentioned anything about his own childhood (that seemed to include about six years prior to the Kummels' union and meant that someone had to have been raising him [his unknown co-DNA Donor with Mr. Kummel?]. Also, quite startling to find out about how bad that earthquake was in that Italian island yet while there HAD been mention re how Mr. Kimmel's maternal-paternal great-grandfather had survived by being in a local theater [spun to being in a Naples one], nothing was mentioned about how the rest of the family had had to struggle to survive in that earthquake and aftermath not to mention their struggles in immigrating.

 

   Interesting, too, that Mr. Lear's beloved maternal grandmother and even own mother never mentioned having been separated from the maternal grandfather and enduring Russian progroms in the years before being able to come to the US [nor for that matter Mr. Lear's mother not mentioning that she'd originally had ANOTHER given name in Russia].  Interesting,too, that Mr. Lear's father side came from the VERY same Russian village but left at a different time. Could Mr. Lears parents' families had known each other -then had had their own marriage arranged in the States due to being from the same background? All in all, it's surprising NONE of them mentioned to him about what they'd had to endure before reaching the States!

 

   Mr. Hader's background was interesting and I WOULD be surprised that the achievements of his ancestors in World War I, the US Civil War and the US American Revolution had not been passed down to him- except that watching these genealogy shows, it seems rather frequent that achievements get buried as well as shameful secrets.

[Milz]

I think some memories are too painful to be recounted. And I think some memories are recounted but no one listens and/or bothers to pass it down. 

[Kromm]

When two guests turned out to have rare DNA from Madagascar, I wish Prof. Gates had at least raised the question of whether they might be related.

I suspect it wasn't brought up simply because they checked... and they weren't. They didn't want to bring up a question that led to a lack of a dramatic reveal.

[attica]

So Bill Hader can totally claim Cindy Crawford as cousin! She's descended from Charlemagne, too, as I recall.

[Enigma X]

Most people with a smidgen of European DNA descend from Charlemagne. The puzzle is being able to piece together the correct pedigree back to him.

 

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/07/charlemagnes-dna-and-our-universal-royalty/

[selhars]

I am very, very close to family members I know and love. My family on both sides has family reunions every year, with huge attendance.

….but what has always struck me about this show -- and I suppose more correctly -- the people featured on it -- is the emotional attachment they have to people they don't know. TRUE…they were your ancestors, but you didn't know them.

 

A person's -- let's say Jimmy Kimmel's emotional reaction to finding out more about a grandparent you knew and lived with and were raised with -- but perhaps didn't know all the struggles in their younger life is one thing….but some of these guests cry and get upset about their second grand-grandfather losing an eye in the civil war. OK, I never saw that example. But Donna Brazile broke down about someone's slave family being separated. Donna, baby, it's OK,  that's what happened then.  Obviously slavey was an abomination, but to get all worked up about atrosities five generations about is crazy, to me. 

 

My cousin's family on my uncle-in-law's side had land that was taken away in the South. Are they supposed to cry about that now?

 

Host Louis Gates. always asks guest "how do you feel about that...

-- you're third great grand-father was sent to prison, how do you feel about that?

-- you're second great-grand father owned slaves, how do you feel about that?

-- you're great-grandfather fought with the Molly McGuires,how do you feel about that?

 

How is someone supposed to feel about that. OK it happened. I guess I just wouldn't give him the personal emotional attachment to these people that producers would be hoping for. Is a person really that emotional about seeing a picture of the fourth great-grandmother once removed?

 

All the talk of Ty Burrell finding out a black person was in his lineage..OK ONE black person, uh, four generations ago? Or five or six or however many it was. OK. Other than surprise and a chuckle, and a "what do you know?", what was he supposed to feel about that? OK … that's interesting, tell me more…but....it doesn't affect his life today, it's not like HE'S black, so what was Gates expecting.

 

Sure Ben Affleck for some reason had his unexplainable reaction to finding out he had salve holders in his family -- allegedly tried to get it covered up. I didn't get that either. Yo, Ben, you're not alone. Relax dude. THAT isn't worth a cover up. (UNLESS, his family has legacy money, and he's afraid a DIRECT descendant of a slave could make claim to some of that …his reaction was a little crazy, to me.)

 

It wasn't that his family had slaveholders that was the surprise…HIS REACTION and alleged request was the mindblower for me.

 

I've traced my family back several generations. So I like, appreciate and I can relate to the show. I just don't get many of the guests reactions to certain things, that's all.

Edited January 31, 2016 by selhars

[Enigma X]

Different strokes for different folks. I am avidly into DNA and genealogy, and, imo, I owe some respect to all of my ancestors that came before me. 

 

I have about 18% Euro DNA and 1,2% N/A with the rest being African. I actually feel a connection to all of them. If one were to be changed out (even the ones who would be considered shady by modern or past standards), I would not be here. I recognize that fact. And I claim all of my ancestor's cultures while recognizing the fact that most people just see and label me as black. I don't rattle off a litany of where my ancestors came from or anything, but when in a conversation with people who understand genealogy, ancestry, and history, you bet I get detailed.

 

As far as Gates and what response he is expecting...he is looking for a reaction that will elicit what most will consider good TV. I just think Gates is awkward and makes his guests even more awkward. 

[AuntiePam]

 

….but what has always struck me about this show -- and I suppose more correctly -- the people featured on it -- is the emotional attachment they have to people they don't know. TRUE…they were you ancestors, but you didn't know them.

 

I don't know that I'd call it an "emotional" attachment, but I was thrilled just to see names and dates for my ancestors.  Growing up, I didn't know anything about anyone who came before my grandparents.  They never talked about their parents -- it was like there was a void before 1890.  Getting on ancestry.com and going back to the 1700's -- even if there was nothing but a name, place, and dates -- that was exciting. 

 

The connection might be just on paper, but it's there.  I envy future generations.  They'll have family history via the internet, Facebook, blogs, etc. -- a history in words and pictures about ordinary people. 

[selhars]

....yeah but to break down and cry because your fifth-great grandfather was sent to prison but was railroaded is crazy.

 

I thought Keenan's responses were more logical (to me)…he was like "Oh, OK." He related to the ancestors personal dilemmas but didn't act like it happened to someone he KNEW personally. And some people on this show act like that.

[attica]

Geez, I break down and cry when the guy comes home for Christmas and makes coffee for everybody, and that's a freaking commercial.  People's emotional strings can be plucked by people and situations not related to them pretty easily. It's human.

[riverblue22]

Maybe empathy comes into play when looking at one's ancestors.  I think I may be too empathetic sometimes and I have transferred that to some of my ancestor's stories.  My great-grandfather caught my attention when I learned that he married a 17 year old in Ontario, migrated to Buffalo, New York where she died 2 months after giving birth to a son. He returned to Ontario and the baby was partially raised by the maternal grandparents while my g.grandfather joined the Canadian army and served across the country.  Later he married my great-grandmother, lost a son, migrated to St. Paul, again lost another son to drowning, and finally migrated to Anaheim, California where he was written up as one of the earliest residents of Orange County, California.  Anyhow, I think of all of the loss in his life, yet all the successes, and for some reason I feel very close to him.  He is very real to me, and if Skip Gates had presented his story to me, I would have been very emotional about it.

[Kromm]

I have about 18% Euro DNA and 1,2% N/A with the rest being African.

So you are in that tiny tiny minority where the "Indian Ancestor" claim is actually true, eh?

 

I always have wondered what's behind the overwhelming amount of claims of it among the black population, when the truth apparently is that so few of those links really exist. And also why so few of them do. It makes me wonder more about the actual attitude the Native Americans had or didn't have towards the black people they encountered back then. It's certainly not part of any history I've read.

[Enigma X]

So you are in that tiny tiny minority where the "Indian Ancestor" claim is actually true, eh?

 

I always have wondered what's behind the overwhelming amount of claims of it among the black population, when the truth apparently is that so few of those links really exist. And also why so few of them do. It makes me wonder more about the actual attitude the Native Americans had or didn't have towards the black people they encountered back then. It's certainly not part of any history I've read.

Funny thing is that going into testing I couldn't have cared less if they found NA DNA. I am who I am and only wanted what I had. 

 

I am on many ancestry (traditional and genetic) forums. The Cherokee princess does not just exist in the AA community. I can give you links to these forums to prove this. I have not cared enough to prove whether the main consensus of why so many people have this myth in their family is true, but many people (on the forums I am on) say it is easier for AAs to stomach an Indian ancestor or a white person to stomach an Indian ancestor than for the ancestor to be (a mixture of) white or black, respectively. The NA ancestor somehow explains away mixed race features.

[AuntiePam]

It's been "cool" to have NA ancestry since the 60's, about the time that western movies did a turnaround.  Indians weren't the bad guys anymore, and people were starting to feel some guilt about the genocide.  Then came the 70's and AIM, Marlon Brando and Sasheen Littlefeather, etc.  It's another "white guilt" thing -- makes us feel not so bad about what our ancestors did, solidarity with an underdog.  It can be seen as patronizing, if we want to be uncharitable about it. 

[Kromm]

It's been "cool" to have NA ancestry since the 60's, about the time that western movies did a turnaround.  Indians weren't the bad guys anymore, and people were starting to feel some guilt about the genocide.  Then came the 70's and AIM, Marlon Brando and Sasheen Littlefeather, etc.  It's another "white guilt" thing -- makes us feel not so bad about what our ancestors did, solidarity with an underdog.  It can be seen as patronizing, if we want to be uncharitable about it. 

Yeah, but I think that describes the motives of White Folk accepting Indian roots, not African-Americans. I think the motivation there--which often almost comes off like a desperate wish in some cases--differs. 

 

White America has embraced the idea of The Noble Savage as a way to deal with inherited societal guilt over wiping the Indians out. Black America romanticizes it too, but it's not as Noble Savages. What exactly it is probably has several explanations. I can see Enigma X's point that maybe it's a bit of wishful thinking to avoid the thought that one of their ancestors might have owned (and raped) another. I mean nobody wants to be, in part, their own devil, and the blood of the OTHER oppressed race is another way to explain things. But I also think perhaps it might also be a way of wishing for more of a tie to the land than either the whites or black folks have. Being a Native American may come off as both similar to slave ancestry, because you are a fellow oppressed race, but also a way an opposite usable to totally trump the white guy--because your blood trumps BOTH other races in terms of being ultimately "American". 

 

I will say the slightly flat matter-of-fact non-excited acceptance of Asian ancestry on this show by a few guests was a surprise... until you think about this idea that feeling part Native American might have other motives (even if subconscious ones). Being part Asian instead takes that away.

[formerlyfreedom]

Let's get back to discussing the episodes.

[Darling Lily]

One last thing before we go Saoirse...

 

to Enigma, or anyone chasing the DNA tail out there, 1% 2% is nothing.  The DNA results will tell you that can even be a mistake. And as for the "white guilt" someone else mentioned, almost everyone I meet tells me they are "Native American", specifically Cherokee & Blackfoot, or some other bizarre combination from two opposite ends of the country!!

 

I was born on the rez, and have spent a lot of time there.  Blacks also claim a lot of the same background, and that is why I like Dr. Gates' show, because he addresses that issue many times & proves it false.  There were some Indians who held slaves, some who fought with the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Most Indians intermarried / interbred with whites, because that had an advantage to some, particularly the 5 Civilized Tribes, whose attempts to become like the Europeans mistakenly thought they would be left in peace.  They had some plantations, their own newspapers, and written languages.  Unfortunately, it didn't work, and the end result was the forced relocation along the Trail of Tears. Why would Indians take up with slaves, which would have been a step backward on the scale.  Most Indian people get really pi$$ed when non-Indians try to identify with some mythical distant Indian ancestor.  You have taken enough from us!  Leave our blood alone!

 

Also I couldn't understand why Ben Affleck was upset by something  a distant ancestor did.  They aren't me, and I am not them!  Likewise when Dr. Gates told Ken Burns about some similar things in his background he was so ashamed. He was a real whiney a$$ about that.   Holy Man!  It's called history.  Even though my peoples endured harsh attempts of genocide, I have this one life to live, and I am going to make the most of it.  You can't bring back the times before the whites & blacks came here....believe me, we all didn't live in peace & harmony back then when it was just Indians either.  People better be appreciative that their ancestors persevered and tried to survive, otherwise NONE of us would be here.  If some segments of the population don't change their idiotic ways, and stop shooting everybody, then we will ALL be ancient history!

 

Getting down off my podium now, thank you for listening.........

Edited February 1, 2016 by Darling Lily

[Snarklepuss]

I was surprised when I learned that Jimmy Kimmel was half Italian.  I always thought he resembled my uncle on my Italian side of the family but didn't know his heritage then.  I came away liking Jimmy more, he had good energy in this episode.

 

I've taken the 23 and Me DNA test and am a fascinating mix of things.  How things have changed from when I was a kid - It's refreshing to see people on this show get excited when they find out they have something exotic in their background and disappointed when they are "just English" or "All European".  When I was a kid they called me a mutt and I was ashamed to admit some of my ancestry to my friends.  I can now own it all with pride.  Like I say, thank goodness for how things have changed!

[PRgal]

I've said this before (or at least implied), but one should NEVER be ashamed of his or her past.  There are ALWAYS some skeletons in the closet (whether you like it or not).  I have an ancestor who was a diplomat.  He was away from China (i.e. away from wife and kids, if he had them) for FOUR YEARS.  Who knows whether he was involved with women in the countries he was posted in?

[Milz]

I've said this before (or at least implied), but one should NEVER be ashamed of his or her past.  There are ALWAYS some skeletons in the closet (whether you like it or not).  I have an ancestor who was a diplomat.  He was away from China (i.e. away from wife and kids, if he had them) for FOUR YEARS.  Who knows whether he was involved with women in the countries he was posted in?

 

Exactly. Also we are not them. They made their decisions during their lifetime: some good, some not so good, some absolutely awful. But unlike them, we still have the ability to learn from them and emulate the good stuff and avoid the bad stuff.

[buckboard]

Maya Lin said she thought she might have Korean or Japanese blood, because she doesn't have entirely traditional Chinese features. Dr. Gates agreed that she wasn't traditionally Han, but they never said WHAT her DNA makeup was. Why didn't they tell us the DNA results?

[ShelleySue]

Maya Lin said she thought she might have Korean or Japanese blood, because she doesn't have entirely traditional Chinese features. Dr. Gates agreed that she wasn't traditionally Han, but they never said WHAT her DNA makeup was. Why didn't they tell us the DNA results?

 

 

Buckboard - I rewound twice because I thought that I missed it.  That was very poor editing.

 

I'm Jewish and usually enjoy those stories because I feel that they could all be MY story.  But, even though I did like Frank Gehry's background story, I somehow felt a dislike for him.  I could see me having lunch with Richard Branson (maybe in a private jet on the way to Paris).  But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even want to have a quick snack with Frank Gehry.

[Driad]

There is some behind-the-scenes and DNA info at

http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/blog/

I don't see anything on Maya Lin's DNA yet, but maybe later this week.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I only found this show three episodes ago. I've learned more about the "Pale of Settlement" in Russia in the these past three hours of TV than in my whole life prior to this show.

 

I also have a grad student colleague who researches that initial migration the what are now present day Indonesians made across the Indian ocean to Madagascar. For that specific and rare DNA to show up in both Maya and Damon's genetic background was pretty mindblowing.

 

I could've watched the entire hour last night just on Richard Branson's ancestors' adventures in India.

Edited February 3, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[AuntiePam]

I'm Jewish and usually enjoy those stories because I feel that they could all be MY story.  But, even though I did like Frank Gehry's background story, I somehow felt a dislike for him.  I could see me having lunch with Richard Branson (maybe in a private jet on the way to Paris).  But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even want to have a quick snack with Frank Gehry.

 

He seemed a bit detached, didn't he, bored with the whole thing.  Maybe his attitude about his ancestors had something to do with his unsupportive father. 

 

On a totally shallow note, it was hard to look at Branson because of those big yellow teeth.  But what an awesome person he is -- I like that he acknowledged the financial help from his ancestor, and to hear that he will pay it forward. 

[PRgal]

Maya Lin said she thought she might have Korean or Japanese blood, because she doesn't have entirely traditional Chinese features. Dr. Gates agreed that she wasn't traditionally Han, but they never said WHAT her DNA makeup was. Why didn't they tell us the DNA results?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if many people of Han Chinese descent find out they're not 100% Han, even if they're told they are.  China once had a good portion of Asia and I'm sure there was quite a bit of mixing going on - whether legitimate or not.  And perhaps adoptions, too.

[Darling Lily]

Add me to the list of those who were disappointed Dr. Gates didn't share what Maya Lin's DNA showed.  I was fascinated to learn more about her, I remember all the hoopla raised when her design was picked.  Now I understand so much more!  I have visited the Wall a couple of times, and found it very moving.

 

I didn't get to watch the entire episode, between cooking & cleaning after work, but I felt that Mr. Gehry was more than remorseful about having to feel like he must change his name to succeed in that world.  Thank God times have changed (somewhat).  I felt strangely attracted to him, although I have never been a fan of his style. 

 

Richard Branson is someone who struck me as entirely true to himself, I guess he followed his Mum's advise very well.  In this day and age when we get so used to people on TV having perfect smiles, his teeth are very disconcerting, but they are real, just like I think he is.  Was so pleased for him to find out about his Southeast Asian connection.  He does pay it forward I think, and thankfully for him, his ancestor did the same to some very poor children...

[Miss chi chi]

I love this show, but Keenan's was my favorite.  He just can't help but be funny.  I, too, wish I could have been there when he told his brothers about his ancestor going back into slavery. 

[Enigma X]

I am not sure if you guys are interested or know, but your local PBS station's web page Finding Your Root's section has more in depth information on the DNA analysis, among other things. It seems that it can take up to two weeks to publish the latest episode's info.

[attica]

He seemed a bit detached, didn't he, bored with the whole thing.

 

That wasn't my reaction to him. He struck me as reserved in the extreme rather than detached. He keeps his thoughts close to the vest as it were. I noticed he teared up during the holocaust conversation, and I thought his comment about wanting badly to share the info with his mother but couldn't was kind of poignant.

 

I remember all the hubbub over the Vietnam memorial while it was being built, and how everybody just shut up when it was finished and they actually experienced it. That memorial, along with the Lincoln memorial, are the two most reliable tear-extraction places I've ever visited.  

 

"Did someone misbehave?" Hee. Don't you just love the Brits?

[Driad]

 

I am not sure if you guys are interested or know, but your local PBS station's web page Finding Your Root's section has more in depth information on the DNA analysis, among other things. It seems that it can take up to two weeks to publish the latest episode's info.

Enigma X, are you referring to the PBS site http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/blog/

that I posted above?  If not, please provide an example.  My station doesn't have much. 

 

 

 

[Enigma X]

@Driad, sorry. I missed your post. Yes, that is the link.