S ince 2012, Finding Your Roots host Henry Louis Gates Jr. has been captivating viewers by peeling back the layers of American identity through the stories of actors, politicians, athletes, and musicians. Through deep archival work, and Gates’ mix of scholarly rigor and endless curiosity, the show has traced the family trees of hundreds of people, including himself. Last season on the show, Gates learned of his Irish ancestry, answering century-long questions about his family’s origins. Of