The Ties That Bind

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actors Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard - a married couple who whose ancestors had some remarkable similarities. Telling stories of soldiers, settlers & criminals, Gates compels the pair to reimagine their family trees.

For more than a decade, renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has helped to expand America’s sense of itself, stimulating a national conversation about identity with humor, wisdom, and compassion. Professor Gates has explored the ancestry of dozens of influential people from diverse backgrounds, taking millions of viewers deep into the past to reveal the connections that bind us all.