Watch Questlove, Dr. Phil, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault on Tonight’s Episode of Finding Your Roots
The new season of Finding Your Roots on PBS, hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., continues tonight with a new episode! In this episode, “Southern Roots,” DJ and producer Questlove, talk show host Dr. Phil and journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault find astonishing tales of bondage in their family histories.
Season 4 Episode 9: Southern Roots
Three guests of disparate backgrounds dig into their Southern roots, where slavery and its aftermath shaped families both black and white.
- Questlove learns the name of his original African ancestors in the astonishing tale of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive in the United States. On board were his third great-grandparents, smuggled into Alabama illegally just months before the start of the Civil War.
- Dr. Phil McGraw discovers his ancestors understood servitude from both sides: while his third great-grandfather was killed by his own slave in Texas, three generations further back, their original immigrant ancestor arrived in Virginia as an indentured servant, working towards his freedom.
- Charlayne Hunter-Gault learns the truth behind a family rumor that her maternal grandmother was the product of an affair between a white man and the young black servant his family helped raise, and traces her father’s roots back to her great-grandmother’s marriage on the Florida plantation of her probable owner.
These stories reassure our guests that they are not alone by exposing them to stories that, while painful, powerfully demonstrate that America’s racial history is shared by all.
Check Your Local PBS Listings for Finding Your Roots
Click HERE to access information on local listings for Finding Your Roots Season 4. Tonight’s episode airs at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Watch Finding Your Roots Online
Each episode of Finding Your Roots is available for online viewing at the PBS website the day after broadcast, but only for a short period of time (usually 2-3 weeks).
Finding Your Roots Season 4 Schedule
Following is the broadcast schedule for the remaining episodes of Season 4 of Finding Your Roots on PBS:
- Tues., Dec. 12, 2017, 8 p.m. ET: “Southern Roots” with Questlove, Dr. Phil and Charlayne Hunter-Gault
- Tues., Dec. 19, 2017, 8 p.m. ET: “Funny Business” with Garrison Keillor, Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari
