National Geographic Channel’s “Explorer” will this week feature DC native Henry Rollins investigating the discovery of a single “warrior gene” said to be directly associated with violent behavior.
Titled “Explorer: Born to Rage?” the episode sees the Grammy-winning rocker, author and radio/television broadcaster “going in search of carriers from diverse, sometimes violent backgrounds who agree to be tested for the genetic mutation,” notes Nat Geo. “Who has the warrior gene? And are all violent people carriers? The results turn assumptions upside down.”
Rollins has struggled with violent feelings and a quick temper dating back to his childhood growing up in the Glover Park section of DC, just north of Georgetown. Despite the neighborhood’s relative affluence, for Rollins "it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways," he told TheModernWord.com. "I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen."
After his parents divorced when he was two-years-old, he was raised primarily by his mother, Iris. Born Henry Lawrence Garfield, he reportedly suffered from low self-esteem and depression as a child, and became so recalcitrant that he was sent to a prep school -- The Bullis School in Potomac, MD.
Rollins says Bullis instilled in him some much-needed discipline and a strong work ethic, and it was there where he began writing – mostly short stories about "blowing up my school and murdering all the teachers,” he told TheModernWord.com.
After hearing about the Warrior Gene, Henry is now determined to know if his anger has to do with his upbringing or if it’s inside him, part of his DNA. His journey on "Explorer: Born to Rage" incorporates outlaw bikers, mixed martial arts fighters, Buddhist monks, gang-bangers, and the most aggressive NFL linebacker of them all, Dick Butkus. A DNA test reveals which of them carries the Warrior Gene.
National Geographic Channel’s “Explorer: Born to Rage” premieres Tuesday, Dec. 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
Two clips from the episode are posted at left. In the first one, “Biological Biker Brawls,” Rollins visits a Harley repair shop in LA to see whether these stereotypically tough bikers carry the warrior gene. In the second preview, the discovery of the so-called "warrior gene" is changing the way scientists look at humankind's violent behavior.
• In other Rollins news, he’ll be appearing in a Nat Geo WILD special early next year called “Snake Underworld.” As more and more Americans bring deadly snakes into their homes - some legally, and some illegally - Rollins guides viewers through the underbelly of America’s (and his) obsession with snakes, revealing just how far some people will go to get their hands on the most dangerous snake species on the planet. "Who ever thought that I’d get to investigate two of my favorite subjects, anger and snakes, with National Geographic?” said Rollins. “I have enjoyed partnering with the Nat Geo Channels for an in-depth look at both fascinating topics.”
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