Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr. - General Discussion

[shapeshifter]

On March 2, 2019 at 1:28 PM, Cress said:

Question: on a recent appearance of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Professor Gates discussed stuff about Seth's episode, but he also mentioned a new DNA match that allowed Gates to find out Gates's white ancestor that he has been seeking for years. I think he said we would see that reveal later this season. Does anybody know which episode that will be, or has it not been announced yet? I want to make sure I don't miss it.

There seems to be no new episodes until April, according to the last preview.

Could it be this show?: https://schedule.wttw.com/episodes/466929/Henry-Louis-Gates-Jr--Uncovering-America-(Cont)/

[Cress]

Wow I didn't know about this Uncovering America special. My local PBS station has it scheduled for March 15th, so I'll record it and see if they mention Gates's search for his ancestor. Thanks for posting it.

[jabinlbc]

On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 5:34 AM, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if and how HLG Jr will respond to this unfortunate confluence of subjects of his show being revealed as villains. At the very least, I would expect some additional disclaimer language at the start of each show WRT the character and moral uprightness of all persons and entities presented in the show.

I look forward to any comments HLG will make on these despicable shennanigans—perhaps in an interview. I can only imagine he momentarily wished himself dead but then realized he would be spinning in his grave, and so, being his positive-outlook self, began to craft an insightful commentary.

I am not sure that he needs to respond directly to the Felicity Huffman issue - this is something she did that is completely separate from the show (she is actually accused but not yet convicted).  That being said, it is not looking good for her, and when I heard the news, first thing I did was think back to her episode and remembered I found it (and her) kind of odd.  Not totally surprised that she seems to be involved in something shady...

[Steff]

I don't know why Dr Gates would say anything about this or why it would involve/change the show at all.  She was just 1 person of many who they did research on.  The college cheating scandal has nothing to do with the show, Dr. Gates, or being on the show. 

[bybrandy]

I agree, it dosn't need to be addressed.  And 200 years from now a new celeb will find out that her great-great grandmother cheated to get her great-grandmother into college, and somebody will ask them how they feel about it, and they will say, "I guess that's why I...."  And the cycle shall repeat.  

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Steff said:

I don't know why Dr Gates would say anything about this or why it would involve/change the show at all. 

I was recalling Garrison Keillor's segment being pulled by PBS because of sexual harassment allegations ( twincities.com/2017/12/11/garrison-keillor-pulled-from-pbss-finding-your-roots-series/ ).
I guess Felicity Huffman's segment would have been pulled too if the current news had come to light earlier, and I am assuming it will not be aired again--but it's always unwise to assume anything.
Anyway, it would likely be PBS that would take responsibility (not HLG) for such a decision. Or am I just assuming again?

Edited March 15, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Driad]

Has Christine Baranski been on this or another genealogy show?  She was just telling Stephen Colbert about her grandparents who were in Polish theater in Buffalo. Would be fun to learn more.

[Cress]

The "Uncovering America" special turned out to be just academics and celebrities praising Dr Gates for the impact of his various cultural history series, along with clips from those documentaries. Lots of pledge breaks too and a 1-minute trailer for his latest series "Reconstruction" in April. So I guess they still haven't shown the episode about Gates's newly discovered ancestor. I hope I didn't misunderstand about the reveal. I thought he said this current season, but maybe it won't be until next season?

I remember when Ben Affleck had a slaveowning ancestor but his episode only mentioned the spiritualist ancestor, Dr Gates got into trouble for making that switch as a favor to Affleck, and I think PBS had to change procedures so that he couldn't make that kind of editorial decision again. I don't remember now if they pulled the episode or not.

Personally I don't think the show should feel embarrassed about Felicity Huffman's episode, because the cheating scandal isn't related to the genealogy stuff. That's on her and the other people accused.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Cress

[HazelEyes4325]

On 3/14/2019 at 3:10 PM, shapeshifter said:

I was recalling Garrison Keillor's segment being pulled by PBS because of sexual harassment allegations ( twincities.com/2017/12/11/garrison-keillor-pulled-from-pbss-finding-your-roots-series/ ).
I guess Felicity Huffman's segment would have been pulled too if the current news had come to light earlier, and I am assuming it will not be aired again--but it's always unwise to assume anything.
Anyway, it would likely be PBS that would take responsibility (not HLG) for such a decision. Or am I just assuming again?

Yeah, the difference is that the charges against Keillor came out before his episode aired, while Huffman's episode aired at least a month before she was charged.  But, also, the college cheating scandal doesn't really have anything to do with this. While I bet that PBS would have pulled her episode had the news come out before it aired, I don't see any reason to pull it now.  I mean, as far as I know, the Ben Affleck episode is still around.  Yes, having a part of your family history you find unsavory hidden is not a crime, it actually has more to do with this show than Huffman's actual crime.

[ProudMary]

6 hours ago, Cress said:

The "Uncovering America" special turned out to be just academics and celebrities praising Dr Gates for the impact of his various cultural history series, along with clips from those documentaries. Lots of pledge breaks too and a 1-minute trailer for his latest series "Reconstruction" in April. So I guess they still haven't shown the episode about Gates's newly discovered ancestor. I hope I didn't misunderstand about the reveal. I thought he said this current season, but maybe it won't be until next season?

It was like an hour long (stretched to 90 minutes with all the pledge breaks) trailer for a film that doesn't exist.  I kept wondering when the actual episode was going to begin. 😒

[Mermaid Under]

I know they use celebrities on this show because they draw in an audience; I also think that Gates has a penchant for the reflected glow of people whose names are more well-known than his.  Last night's episode had three people I had never heard of, two of which had accents that made them difficult to understand.  I ended up watching NCIS for the first time in 6 or 7 years, only to find out they were still talking about Ziva.

If Gate's production team have run out of celebrities that haven't appeared on other shows, haven't broken laws or taboos, or that don't have an interesting story to fill 15 minutes, I have an idea for them.

They can auction off a "finding your roots" package for PBS fundraising across the country.   The winning bidder(s) gets access to Gate's team of researchers, including CeCe the DNA dragon.  Everyone gets some sort documentation of their research (it doesn't have to be the fancy book of life and expensive family tree poster).  They might find one or two people with an interesting enough story to make an episode.  It would beat what they just showed tonight.

[Suzn]

1 hour ago, Mermaid Under said:

I know they use celebrities on this show because they draw in an audience; I also think that Gates has a penchant for the reflected glow of people whose names are more well-known than his.  Last night's episode had three people I had never heard of, two of which had accents that made them difficult to understand.  I ended up watching NCIS for the first time in 6 or 7 years, only to find out they were still talking about Ziva.

If Gate's production team have run out of celebrities that haven't appeared on other shows, haven't broken laws or taboos, or that don't have an interesting story to fill 15 minutes, I have an idea for them.

They can auction off a "finding your roots" package for PBS fundraising across the country.   The winning bidder(s) gets access to Gate's team of researchers, including CeCe the DNA dragon.  Everyone gets some sort documentation of their research (it doesn't have to be the fancy book of life and expensive family tree poster).  They might find one or two people with an interesting enough story to make an episode.  It would beat what they just showed tonight.

I love this idea! They could make it more a lottery that you buy a chance for - I couldn't afford to be high bidder.  I've spent years researching and have some major brick walls that it would be a wonderful to have Gate's team work on.  There may even be an interesting story or two.

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, Suzn said:

I love this idea! They could make it more a lottery that you buy a chance for - I couldn't afford to be high bidder.  I've spent years researching and have some major brick walls that it would be a wonderful to have Gate's team work on.  There may even be an interesting story or two.

I didn't know who any of the subjects were last night, either, and none of them had such fascinating histories that the lack of recognition could be overcome, at least for me. I kept drifting in and out of it.  I worried about the performance artist who had such a terrible childhood and ended up making 'art' that involved burning and cutting herself.  I think she needed counseling more than a search of the family tree.  Anyway, I could go with a show about random folks, especially ones with new or surprising details.

[Suzn]

8 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

I didn't know who any of the subjects were last night, either, and none of them had such fascinating histories that the lack of recognition could be overcome, at least for me. I kept drifting in and out of it.  I worried about the performance artist who had such a terrible childhood and ended up making 'art' that involved burning and cutting herself.  I think she needed counseling more than a search of the family tree.  Anyway, I could go with a show about random folks, especially ones with new or surprising details.

One of my brick walls potentially has an interesting story.  My great-grandfather supposedly "fled" Prussia in 1882 and the large scar below his eye was a from a bullet wound.  He was a slightly shady character and there are some strange family stories.  The brick wall is his specific birth place and parents.

[shapeshifter]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:09 AM, Mermaid Under said:

If Gate's production team have run out of celebrities that haven't appeared on other shows, haven't broken laws or taboos, or that don't have an interesting story to fill 15 minutes, I have an idea for them.

They can auction off a "finding your roots" package for PBS fundraising across the country.   The winning bidder(s) gets access to Gate's team of researchers, including CeCe the DNA dragon.  Everyone gets some sort documentation of their research (it doesn't have to be the fancy book of life and expensive family tree poster).  They might find one or two people with an interesting enough story to make an episode.  It would beat what they just showed tonight.

On 4/3/2019 at 9:26 AM, Suzn said:

One of my brick walls potentially has an interesting story. 

My family's surname was changed by an ancestor in 1850s Russia. There are at least hundreds of others with that last name whose ancestors also switched to that surname at the same time and place, but all of their original names are unique to their families. We all share the same ethnicity, but are not related--as far as we know.

Surely there must be one person out there with my family's surname who has good camera charisma and who would enter a FYR lottery, since the other thing we have in common is wanting to know the answer to this mystery.

Just couple of days ago I got a FaceBook message from someone asking if my family came from Odessa, Russia. I said, no, it was in Russia, but hundreds of miles from there. I shared the story of the name adoption in the 1850s. The FB messenger replied that she was already familiar with that story. In the 1990s I had a similar communication with someone on ICQ instant messenger. None of us are related, but we share the same story. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by shapeshifter

[biakbiak]

I am familiar with all of the people featured this week including Kehinde who I actually know and used to date a friend of mine and I used to help him out during his open studio when he lived in SF so I am slightly biased but I didn’t think they are all that obscure. Inarritu is a multiple Oscar Winner, Abramovic has a fairly high profile for a performance artist and was just parodied on Documentary Now and Kehinde has been featured in a lot of things and that was before his profile was raised even more by doing Obama’s official portrait. 

[celeste27]

I agree that they are not very obscure. However the most amazing thin to me was that Abramovic is in her 70s!! Even her hands look better than mine did in my 30s! (In my 70s now)

[Driad]

What happened to Genealogy Roadshow? That explored ancestry for non-celebrities, and many of the stories were fascinating.

[One Imaginary Girl]

Well, the show's also recycling now, since Ty Burrell was on a couple of years ago.   He had an interesting story with a black ancestor, so maybe there was more that they didn't have time for in the previous episode.  But I'm with you on wishing that genealogy shows would take civilians more often.

It was a bit surprising that someone as avant-garde as Marina Abramovic would go the cliche route of saying that she was a certain way because of her ancestors.  I always feel like the person is selling himself or herself short--they got where they are mainly from their own talent and work.  They could cite the support of parents or grandparents, but farther back than that wouldn't be that significant.  And it was weird on WDYTYA when Kelly Clarkson claimed she was outspoken because of a politically minded ancestor but then the following episode was about one of Christina Applegate's who had abandoned her family.   Did that therefore mean that she and her father, who was on, were terrible parents and awful people? No.

[Mermaid Under]

Quote

I am familiar with all of the people featured this week including Kehinde who I actually know and used to date a friend of mine and I used to help him out during his open studio when he lived in SF so I am slightly biased but I didn’t think they are all that obscure.

If you live in New York or LosAngeles, or are involved in the art or entertainment world, you might consider them well-known.  Even considering that this is a public-television audience, most people are not part of that small circle.

With no apology, I pay no attention to the Oscars, I couldn't tell you the artist who painted any president's portrait, and I'm not a fan of performance art.  But beyond that, this group wasn't engaging.  There were other guests that I didn't know, but still enjoyed. I didn't know Bill Hader, but he was charming right from the start.  I didn't know Frank Gehry but he was well-spoken and interesting.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Mermaid Under
Los Angeles instead of LA

[ShelleySue]

On April 3, 2019 at 8:09 AM, Mermaid Under said:

I know they use celebrities on this show because they draw in an audience; I also think that Gates has a penchant for the reflected glow of people whose names are more well-known than his.  Last night's episode had three people I had never heard of, two of which had accents that made them difficult to understand. 

When I read their names I had no idea who they were, but once I saw the intro I was able to place all three of them.  

I wonder why Marina Abramovic's sections were so much shorter and less frequent than the other two.  Usually when they have three people the sessions are equal among the people.

[shapeshifter]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:09 AM, Mermaid Under said:

Last night's episode had three people I had never heard of, two of which had accents that made them difficult to understand

On 4/3/2019 at 9:14 AM, doodlebug said:

I didn't know who any of the subjects were last night, either,

I have a scarf that my daughter sent me on my birthday that is printed with the background of Kehinde Wiley's portrait of Obama. She got it in the gift shop of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. I feel a little bit like I'm doing some cultural appropriation when I wear it, but Obama was the only president I was truly happy to vote for, I am a portrait artist too, and I loved DC when I was there 10 years ago, so I can pretend I was there with my daughter. 

I've heard of the 2-time Oscar winning director (but yet to see his Birdman with Michael Keaton).

I was not familiar with Marina Abromovic, but she is a composite of several people I know from that part of the world and of some artists from another of my daughter's worlds.

So I found the episode engaging, even if I did have to listen closely to the two for whom English is a second language. 

Edited April 4, 2019 by shapeshifter

[doodlebug]

8 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I have a scarf that my daughter sent me on my birthday that is printed with the background of Kehinde Wiley's portrait of Obama. She got it in the gift shop of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. I feel a little bit like I'm doing some cultural appropriation when I wear it, but Obama was the only president I was truly happy to vote for, I am a portrait artist too, and I loved DC when I was there 10 years ago, so I can pretend I was there with my daughter. 

I've heard of the 2-time Oscar winning director (but yet to see his Birdman with Michael Keaton).

I was not familiar with Marina Abromovic, but she is a composite of several people I know from that part of the world and of some artists from another of my daughter's worlds.

So I found the episode engaging, even if I did have to listen closely to the two for whom English is a second language. 

I guess I should've said I didn't recognize their names at first.  I've seen Kehinde Wiley's Obama portrait and also know of the film Birdman; so I had heard of 2 of the 3 in retrospect. I couldn't have told you their names prior to the show even if you'd told me what they'd created.  I'm not a huge fan of performance art so it's not surprising I didn't know Abromovic.

[jabinlbc]

There was an interesting HBO documentary on Abramovic a while back (2012) called "The Artist is Present."  It is worth checking out.

[shapeshifter]

On 4/4/2019 at 11:19 AM, doodlebug said:

 I couldn't have told you their names prior to the show even if you'd told me what they'd created.

Same for me, but I am terrible with names. Thank goodness for the Internet.

[Cress]

On 4/3/2019 at 2:09 PM, Driad said:

What happened to Genealogy Roadshow? That explored ancestry for non-celebrities, and many of the stories were fascinating.

Yeah I liked that show and then it disappeared. I guess it got cancelled or something.

[shapeshifter]

HLG Jr was on Colbert tonight.

They confirmed that Colbert was determined by FYR to be 100% white, but that Conan O'Brien was (elsewhere determined to be?) 100% Irish, and HLG extended an invitation to have Conan on FYR.

Edited April 6, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Yeah No]

On 4/4/2019 at 7:52 AM, Mermaid Under said:

If you live in New York or LosAngeles, or are involved in the art or entertainment world, you might consider them well-known.  Even considering that this is a public-television audience, most people are not part of that small circle.

With no apology, I pay no attention to the Oscars, I couldn't tell you the artist who painted any president's portrait, and I'm not a fan of performance art.  But beyond that, this group wasn't engaging.  There were other guests that I didn't know, but still enjoyed. I didn't know Bill Hader, but he was charming right from the start.  I didn't know Frank Gehry but he was well-spoken and interesting.

I agree with you to some extent, however it is hard not to know about Obama's portrait even if not the artist.  I didn't know who the artist was before this, but definitely knew his work, so on that count I found it, and him, somewhat interesting.  I didn't know any of the other guests this time at all and I'll admit I've liked a lot of other episodes a lot better, but this episode didn't put me to sleep, either.  I was more fascinated with how young Marina Abromovic looks for her age than with her family story.  I was a little disturbed by her "art" and some of the nastier details of her youth.  Yikes, I felt sorry for her.  At least she's found a way to channel her pain constructively, though.

[biakbiak]

On 4/4/2019 at 4:52 AM, Mermaid Under said:

you live in New York or LosAngeles, or are involved in the art or entertainment world, you might consider them well-known.  Even considering that this is a public-television audience, most people are not part of that small circle.

But that’s true for most people on this show there have been athletes, chefs, and writers that aren’t known to everyone. I bet at the time they filmed her story not that many people knew who Tulsi Gabbard was hell based on her numbers in the name recognition polls for the Presidential candidates a lot of people still don’t.

Edited April 6, 2019 by biakbiak

[Driad]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:24 PM, shapeshifter said:

HLG Jr was on Colbert tonight.

Video.

[friendperidot]

The PBS second channel in my area has been running this show at different times, every time I've turned it on lately, it's been one I've seen. At midnight last night they ran the painter, Kehinde, the performance artist, Abramovich and the Oscar winning director, that I can't remember his name. I thought oh good, I'll get to see these. But I took my meds early last night and was unconscious before halfway through. Now, I'll have to try again. Funny, some nights I cannot sleep for hours after taking medications and some nights, I'm out in less than 30 minutes. Abramovich looks amazing for her age, which isn't much older than me, I hope they run this one again soon.

[iMonrey]

I guess I have heard of Alejandro G. Iñárritu before since he's won 2 Oscars, but I had never heard of either Marina Abramović or Kehinde Wiley. I did think the stories were fairly interesting, but unless I missed something, the show completely failed to address who Kehinde's father was. I'm assuming he was raised by a single mother but was his father divorced from her, or dead, or simply never in the picture? Seems like a strange omission on a genealogy show. 

[biakbiak]

7 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I guess I have heard of Alejandro G. Iñárritu before since he's won 2 Oscars, but I had never heard of either Marina Abramović or Kehinde Wiley. I did think the stories were fairly interesting, but unless I missed something, the show completely failed to address who Kehinde's father was. I'm assuming he was raised by a single mother but was his father divorced from her, or dead, or simply never in the picture? Seems like a strange omission on a genealogy show. 

He didn’t meet his dad until he was an adult and went to Nigeria to look for him.

[ProudMary]

On 3/2/2019 at 2:28 PM, Cress said:

Question: on a recent appearance of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Professor Gates discussed stuff about Seth's episode, but he also mentioned a new DNA match that allowed Gates to find out Gates's white ancestor that he has been seeking for years. I think he said we would see that reveal later this season. Does anybody know which episode that will be, or has it not been announced yet? I want to make sure I don't miss it.

There seems to be no new episodes until April, according to the last preview.

It seems like tonight's season finale will be the episode where Dr. Gates discovers that DNA match.  Here's the synopsis for tonight's episode:

Quote

Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

All in the Family 
SEASON 5, EPISODE 10 • FINALE

Radio host Joe Madison; Henry Louis Gates Jr. learns about his own DNA story; "Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings" STEM Camp.

[shapeshifter]

33 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

On 3/2/2019 at 1:28 PM, Cress said:

Question: on a recent appearance of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Professor Gates discussed stuff about Seth's episode, but he also mentioned a new DNA match that allowed Gates to find out Gates's white ancestor that he has been seeking for years. I think he said we would see that reveal later this season. Does anybody know which episode that will be, or has it not been announced yet? I want to make sure I don't miss it.

There seems to be no new episodes until April, according to the last preview.

It seems like tonight's season finale will be the episode where Dr. Gates discovers that DNA match.  Here's the synopsis for tonight's episode:

Quote

Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

All in the Family 
SEASON 5, EPISODE 10 • FINALE

Radio host Joe Madison; Henry Louis Gates Jr. learns about his own DNA story; "Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings" STEM Camp.

The TitanTV description makes it even more clear:
"Not only does radio host Joe Madison receive startling news about his family, but Henry Louis Gates Jr. himself also learns his DNA story; in 'Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings,' science and history inspire the next generation at a STEM camp."

Unless my signal for this station improves by 8 p.m., I'll watch it online sometime tomorrow.

Edited April 9, 2019 by shapeshifter

[bybrandy]

I mean the two minutes of seedlings stuff we got tat the very end was nice but Ty Burrell's story was the one we'd seen before.   And if Gates is supposed to tell the story he uncovered somewhere, it wasn't here.   

[Sew Sumi]

Yeah, I was disappointed that we didn't get the HLG Jr. update. I mean, I enjoyed Ty Burrell's story, but I turned in hoping to see something else.

[biakbiak]

5 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

Yeah, I was disappointed that we didn't get the HLG Jr. update. I mean, I enjoyed Ty Burrell's story, but I turned in hoping to see something else.

Here is the clip from Seth Meyers where he talks about Finding his ancestor (5:40 mark) and be clearly says it’s for next season, this interview aired during the middle of this season.

[Sew Sumi]

Well, in that case, I wish PBS would have updated their episode description. I didn't know he was on Seth Meyers to begin with. 😕

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Well, in that case, I wish PBS would have updated their episode description. I didn't know he was on Seth Meyers to begin with. 😕

Ditto WRT the TitanTV summary I posted (sorry) above. 

[Mermaid Under]

I thought there were some large omissions in the Joe Madison story, which seemed to be deliberate.  The picture they kept showing of his mother had two children in it.  Does he have a sibling that was never once mentioned?  Why was his mother unable or unwilling to raise him? Did this unmentioned sibling live with the mother or with the grandparents ? Was his mother married to this Madison man, and how the hell did they find out scientifically that he wasn't his biological father if (given Madison's age) both parents and grandparents were deceased? 

Edited April 10, 2019 by Mermaid Under
clarity

[iMonrey]

Not only that Mermaid, but since he eventually discovered his half-siblings I would guess one of them might know the circumstances of his conception. Even if not, the show made no effort to clarify that or whether his birth father even knew about him. 

[bybrandy]

7 hours ago, Mermaid Under said:

and how the hell did they find out scientifically that he wasn't his biological father if (given Madison's age) both parents and grandparents were deceased? 

This part is easy.   When you get your DNA results you get lists and lists and lists of relatives.  My closest relatives are my mother's first cousins so clearly my mother is my mother as people I know to be her first cousins are listed as my second cousins.   The next list is somebody who had a name I'd seen before but would have never placed and is a second cousin of my father on his mother's side.  Therefore I am related to my father and my father is related to his mother.  Other relatives are clearly related to my mother's maternal great-great-grandmother and henceforth my mother's mother and her mother and her mother?  All the people I think they are.   But if there are no matches on the known fathers side then...    

It took a long, long, long time for somebody to test who was part of my father's father's line and while I knew for a fact that my father was my father and that his mother was his mother I was a little more concerned that his father wasn't his father.  I'm convinced there is a break somewhere in my father's male line but at least I know my grandfather is my grandfather finally!

Other ways to test this theory is to have known relatives of the supposed father tested (like they did to prove that he was the son of the Haygood man).  If his supposed father had other children and they didn't match well then somebody wouldn't be the father's child and you'd go check other matches.   

With men it is even easier as  your YDNA goes in tact from one male relative to the next.  If his father had sons or his fathers brothers had sons they could check the Y-DNA and if the Y-DNA wasn't a match.   

[Yeah No]

On 4/9/2019 at 11:21 PM, bybrandy said:

I mean the two minutes of seedlings stuff we got tat the very end was nice but Ty Burrell's story was the one we'd seen before.   And if Gates is supposed to tell the story he uncovered somewhere, it wasn't here.   

I wonder why he chose to put Ty Burrell on this episode since his segment was already aired last season.  Well I get why, because it tied in with Joe Madison, but given the episode description, maybe Gates wasn't ready to tell his personal DNA story.  There might have been new leads he was working on and decided to wait until he had that info. together.

Re: Joe Madison - I was hoping we'd find out the circumstances that led him to be raised by his grandparents but I don't remember hearing about it. 

[Blergh]

OK, interesting hook that Dr. Gates attempted re saying that Messrs. Madison had something in common-   that they each had African- American ancestors. Yet, I can't recall Dr. Gates saying that an African-American celeb ALSO had the commonality of having European ancestors as did  a European-American celeb.  I wonder if in the future Dr. Gates may try to mention  the commonality of many African-Americans and European-Americans  each having Native American ancestry?

[carrps]

On 4/5/2019 at 1:44 PM, Cress said:

Yeah I liked that show and then it disappeared. I guess it got cancelled or something.

Probably lost funding. PBS and NPR both are being gutted by the current administration.

[ProudMary]

Relating to the S. Epatha Merkerson episode and the Georgetown University sale of slaves.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/amp/story/2019/04/09/georgetown-unviesrity-reparations-slave-trade-226581?__twitter_impression=true

Excerpt: "On April 11, undergraduates will vote on a referendum to create a $27.20 per semester student fee to create a fund that would benefit the descendants through education and health care initiatives in the Louisiana and Maryland locales where many of them still live. If the measure passes, and the university’s board of directors approves, it will mark the first time a major American institution has gone beyond the platitudes of “dialogue” and actually compensated the victims of slavery. And it comes at a moment, not entirely coincidentally, when the conversation about America’s racial reckoning has suddenly emerged as a subject many progressives are using to winnow the sprawling field of Democrats in the 2020 presidential campaign."

[iMonrey]

Quote

I wonder why he chose to put Ty Burrell on this episode since his segment was already aired last season. 

Weird, I just saw the Ty Burrell segment again, this time with Donna Brazille and some artist lady I'd never heard of before. Was that the original episode his segment appeared on? I didn't realize they were playing mix and match with these segments. I just saw the Ty Burrell segment a couple weeks ago but I'd never seen the Donna Brazille one.

[Driad]

American Ancestors has a new database GU272 Descendants with information on the enslaved people sold by Georgetown University.  It is free to use; you may need to set up a free guest account.  It is a work in progress, so if you don't find the people you are looking for, try again later.

[Yeah No]

I just got a notice from Premiere Date News that season 6 will premiere on Tuesday October 8, 2019.