Finding Your Roots Season 11 overview and guest list
Ian LamontIt’s back! Last night Nicole and I watched Episode 1 of Finding Your Roots Season 11, “Larger Than Life.” Host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the FYR research team followed several ancestral lines for Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) and Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon). I’ll give a brief overview of what happened, followed by a list of upcoming episodes this winter.
This episode will be of particular interest to those with German roots. In Amanda’s case, researchers were able to go back 13 generations on one of her father’s lines, to the late 1500s. Even Lea Salonga discovered a maternal branch that unexpectedly originated in Germany.
The episode also explored the maritime and military connections between the US and the Philippines dating to the early 1900s, and the impact of World War II on Lea's family.
New episodes will be released every week throughout the winter. Season 11 guests include:
- Sharon Stone
- Melanie Lynskey
- Sean Sherman
- Dax Shepard
- Chrissy Teigen
- Rubén Blades
- Laurence Fishburne
- Michael Imperioli
- José Andrés
- Joy Behar
- Lonnie Bunch
- Kristen Bell
- Amy Tan
- Debra Messing
- Sheryl Lee Ralph
Interestingly, there appears to be an episode later in the season when Gates’ own family is explored and he receives his own book of life!
We’ve long been fans of Finding Your Roots (see Why "Finding Your Roots" is great TV ... and great genealogy). It’s not only great storytelling, it introduces audiences to the sources genealogists use to research ancestry, including government documents, DNA testing, and oral history.
Season 11 episodes can be watched on local PBS stations, or online (note videos including this week’s episode will likely expire after a few weeks).
