UNUM Ken Burns

Ken Burns might be the one thing this 250-year-old nation of patriots can agree on. GQ wandered around Monticello with the legendary filmmaker www.gq.com/story/ken-bu...

How the Framers Reverse Engineered Against a Tyrant The Atlantic Festival, Saratoga, SoHo, and more

kenburnsunum.substack.com/p/how-the-fr...

Read UNUM’s latest post on how the Framers reverse engineered against a tyrant on Substack.

We've always had a real set of American virtues and values, and we've always had brutality and political violence. So far, the former has always kept pace and eventually won out.

Ken Burns joins @timmiller.bsky.social in the latest Bulwark Podcast:

As playoff baseball begins, we look back to George Will’s timely reflection on the link between the game, patience, and democracy.

Opinion | Ken Burns on Why the American Revolution Never Ended The documentarian reflects on the ideas that drove our nation’s founding — and how they echo today.

“Our job now, to land the plane, is repair, restoration, reconciliation,” Ken Burns tells David Leonhardt on The Opinions. Together, they explore what America’s next story should be, why the American Revolution has never really ended — and the greatest existential threat facing the country today.

On this day in 1990, the first episode of The Civil War premiered on @pbs.org

A lot can change in 35 years.

For Episode 2 of Pursuit — a new podcast from @prx.org and @constitutionctr.bsky.social — Jeffrey Rosen and Ken Burns discuss the virtue Temperance.

Today, and for the next eleven weeks, we’ll be posting clips of our own Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen on Pursuit (a new podcast from @prx.org and @constitutionctr.bsky.social), discussing how the founders understood happiness as intimately connected to the idea of virtue.

Lyndon B. Johnson, one of the most colorful and consequential men to occupy the office of President of the United States, was born on this day in 1908. As President, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Learn more in this clip from THE CONGRESS.

The Civil War From the playlist "The Civil War" on Ken Burns UNUM.

For weeks, civilians lived under constant bombardment, unsure if they would survive the siege.

Learn more in our UNUM Playlist: Civil War
www.pbs.org/kenburns/unu...

Today in 1864, the Civil War reached a breaking point in Atlanta.

Union General William T. Sherman had surrounded the city, cutting off food and supplies.

Rather than risk a costly assault, he ordered his men to shell Confederate defenses and the city itself.

When we think of the American Revolution, we think of Yorktown, West Point, Bunker Hill—East Coast battles fought 75 years before the first West Coast state. For UNUM on the Road, Ken Burns explains why the revolution matters in every state.

Happy birthday to @kenlburns.bsky.social

“The rights of the individual are greater than the rights of the monarch.” Ken Burns and Fred Ryan discuss Ronald Reagan’s relationship to the American Revolution.

#AmericanRevolutionPBS, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, premieres this November.

Hemingway From the playlist "Hemingway" on Ken Burns UNUM.

www.pbs.org/kenburns/unu...

On this day in 1899, Ernest Hemingway was born.

A journalist, novelist, and adventurer, Hemingway remained a major figure wherever he went.

Listen to the Hemingway’s report from the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War.

Baseball From the playlist "Baseball" on Ken Burns UNUM.

Years later, he became the face of the Black Sox Scandal, accused of helping throw the 1919 World Series.

Learn more in our UNUM Playlist: Baseball.

www.pbs.org/kenburns/unu...

“Shoeless Joe” Jackson was born today in 1887.

Raised in a South Carolina mill town, he couldn’t read or write - but he could hit.

He batted .408 his rookie year and .356 for his career, the third highest average in history. He once played barefoot and swung a 48-ounce bat named Black Betsy.

What better place to celebrate July 4th than Monticello with 74 newly naturalized citizens. This year we celebrated the 249th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Their guy wrote it—Thomas Jefferson.

What is the role of government? On this day in 1936, FDR gave his famous Rendezvous with Destiny speech and urged "a spirit of charity” over “a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference." Watch the clip from THE ROOSEVELTS.

This month UNUM on the Road was in Texas at @lbjlibrary.bsky.social, with President and CEO of @tjmonticello.bsky.social Jane Kamensky talking about the high ideals and heavy sacrifices behind American independence. Stay tuned for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION this November. #unumontheroad

UNUM on the Road continued last week in Dallas, with author Rick Atkinson talking about the war’s most pivotal battle. Check out his new book THE FATE OF THE DAY from @crownpublishing.bsky.social and stay tuned for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION this November. #unumontheroad #americanrevolutionpbs

Public media is at risk.

Congress is considering deep funding cuts to PBS, threatening the shows, local coverage, and educational programming that have shaped generations.

Visit ProtectMyPublicMedia.org for more.

#SavePBS

The Civil War From the playlist "The Civil War" on Ken Burns UNUM.

www.pbs.org/kenburns/unu...

Horatio's Drive (film) From the playlist "Horatio's Drive (film)" on Ken Burns UNUM.

www.pbs.org/kenburns/unu...

Getting ready for a summer road trip?

Today in 1903, while stranded in Alturas, California waiting on new tires, Horatio Nelson Jackson made the best of a bad situation.

Locals flocked to see his “horseless carriage” while cowboys promised him a Wild West show in exchange for a ride.

The American Revolution | Coming Fall 2025 | PBS The American Revolution, a landmark documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, is coming Fall 2025.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a film by @kenlburns.bsky.social , Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, premieres this November.

www.pbs.org/kenburns/the...

UNUM on the Road continued last week in North Carolina with historian @kathleenduval.bsky.social

A featured voice in THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION and recent winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Professor DuVal explores how disputes over Native land helped ignite the Revolutionary War.

Can She Keep PBS on the Air?

Today's UNUM Reads is from Jordyn Holman (@jholman.bsky.social) in The New York Times (@nytimes.com)

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/b...