TV Tango Search

Search

|              FREE: Ask a TV Expert
   TelevisionCakeAd

Who's Your Momma? National Geographic’s The Human Family Tree

Bryan Hepperle - August 29, 2009

TheHumanFamilyTree_400x400

Have you ever wondered if you're related to anybody famous? Maybe you've noticed your smile looks suspiciously like Katie Couric's or that your gravitas is as beefy as Stephen Colbert's. But it's impossible, right? What are the odds that you're related to either of them? Well, better than you might think. Especially if you're one of the 3 million people who actually are.

 

Learn more about who you are and where you come from on National Geographic's The Human Family Tree, a landmark documentary special that not only unearths the origins of humanity, but tells the story of our collective journey out of East Africa over 60,000 years ago. Discover why you have red hair, why you're taller than all your friends, or exactly how many "greats" you can put in front of the word "grandma." Witness the very roots of civilization grow before your eyes as the first human beings migrate outward into the unknown world. A visual elaboration on the groundbreaking Genographic Project, The Human Family Tree dares to show us that we are all not as different as we think. And to top it all off, it's narrated by none other than, you guessed it, Kevin Bacon (as in six degrees of). Isn't that reason enough to watch it?

 

The Genographic Project gathered "field research data in collaboration with indigenous and traditional peoples around the world," and now it's inviting the general public to take part. To participate, all you have to do is buy a kit, swab the inside of your cheek, send off your sample to a lab, and wait for your results. The DNA test results won't tell you anything about your ethnic makeup or an exact geographic origin, but you will learn about the "anthropological story of your direct maternal or paternal ancestors — where they lived and how they migrated around the world many thousands of years ago." [Editor's Note: One of our staffers was chosen by National Geographic to participate in DNA testing, and she found out that she was part of Haplogroup J and subclade J*. She learned that most ancestors in this Haplogroup settled in northeastern Europe, which explains her fondness for Stolichnaya and her constant need to listen to Fiddler on the Roof.]

 

 

Catch The Human Family Tree this Sunday, August 30th at 9 p.m. on National Geographic. If you can't wait that long, check out the preview below!