Ken Burns

Ken Burns

@kenlburns.bsky.social

Making films about history for nearly 50 years.

13,076 Followers 14 Following 24 Posts Joined Nov 2024
3 weeks ago

As we think about President Lincoln on what would have been his 217th birthday, let’s listen to, and be inspired by, his words. Each generation is asked to preserve and extend the ideas of freedom and democracy.

56 18 1 0
1 month ago
Post image

We are officially less than one week away from the launch of In Pursuit, a landmark initiative celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.

Our Substack will serve as a digital home for a year-long exploration of leadership, character, and the American Experiment.

17 10 1 0
2 months ago

Some thoughts arranged in a poem that @theatlantic.com very graciously published.

38 2 1 1
3 months ago
Post image

Colleen Shogan writes in The Free Press about where American democracy still works: in the everyday cooperation happening in schools, taverns, libraries, and neighborhoods across the country.

14 8 2 0
4 months ago
Post image

We're sharing materials with Colleges/Universities to have screenings on campuses and discussions about our country's founding. Then join us for a live virtual Campus Conversation about The American Revolution on 11/19. @historians.org @aacu.org @pbs.org Materials are here: shorturl.at/1qlka

210 81 32 18
7 months ago
Video thumbnail

And now a word from the Oval Office....

298 74 21 9
7 months ago

Had a good time at the Reagan Library discussing the American Revolution with Fred Ryan.

86 19 11 1
8 months ago
Preview
The Atlantic Festival 2025

Excited to be speaking at The Atlantic Festival this September! Join The Atlantic for three days of conversations, screenings, book talks, and more. Passes and more info available at theatlanticfestival.com. #TheAtlanticFestival

67 14 4 0
9 months ago

Support public media.

143 65 6 2
9 months ago
Preview
The American Revolution - A Film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein & David Schmidt - AT&T Performing Arts Center

I’ll be in Dallas on June 3 for a special screening of clips from our new film, The American Revolution, at the Winspear Opera House with KERA. Join me, Sarah Botstein, and Jane Kamensky for a conversation after the film. Tickets and info here: attpac.org/event/the-am...

73 17 4 2
9 months ago
Preview
Can She Keep PBS on the Air?

Very proud of PBS Paula Kerger and the entire system - the public broadcasting service www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/b...

735 149 17 2
10 months ago
Video thumbnail

80 years ago today, Nazi Germany surrendered.

Across Europe, the war ended, but across the world, it didn’t.

Hear from @kenlburns.bsky.social and explore our new playlists, now on KenBurnsUNUM.com

60 21 2 2
10 months ago
Preview
Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War | Ken Burns | PBS | Watch Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War | Ken Burns | PBS Join an American couple's courageous mission in 1939 to help refugees escape Nazi-occupied Europe. Over the course of two years, the pair will risk their lives so that hundreds can live in freedom. A ...

Defying the Nazis, a 2016 film I made with Artemis Joukowsky, tells the story of an American couple that risked their lives to rescue imperiled Jews and refugees fleeing Nazi Europe. It's streaming now on PBS. Check it out: www.pbs.org/kenburns/def...

91 33 2 3
10 months ago

Some thoughts about public media and America at 250 that Paula Kerger and I shared with @thehill.com #publicmedia @pbs.org thehill.com/opinion/cong...

44 8 2 3
10 months ago
Post image

@NH4Ukraine has been delivering critical, wholesale humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s hardest-hit regions since 2022. 100% volunteer-run, minimal overhead, maximum impact. Learn more & support at www.NH4Ukraine.org<http://www.nh4ukraine.org/> #Ukraine #HumanitarianAid

60 19 2 0
10 months ago
Video thumbnail

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the start of the war this week, we're sharing the first clip from our upcoming film, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, which premieres in Nov on @pbs.org. I can't wait to share this film with the world. #AmericanRevolutionPBS

139 39 13 9
11 months ago

We are kicking off #UnumOntheRoad. Check out our first stop at West Point.

68 11 4 1
1 year ago
Preview
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: America 250 and the Landscape of History Education. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. In this Civic Learning Week event, Sarah Weicksel (Director of Research and Publications, and incoming Executive Director, American Historical Association) will moderate a conversation with iCivics Ch...

Join @historians.org and @icivics.bsky.social tonight for a conversation about teaching American history and the 250th anniversary of US. Info here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

47 16 5 1
1 year ago
Preview
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.

Our next film, The American Revolution, will air on
@pbs.org starting 11/16. Leading up to the broadcast, we'll have a national conversation about this important event and how it helped define us as a people - and changed the world. More info is here: www.pbs.org/kenburns/the...

234 51 16 8
1 year ago
138th Annual Meeting (January 3-6, 2025): Plenary: <em>The American Revolution</em>—A New Film Directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, Written by Geoffrey Ward

If you’re at the AHA meeting in NYC tonight hope you can join our session on the American Revolution. #AHA25 aha.confex.com/aha/2025/web...

132 19 8 1
1 year ago
58 8 4 0
1 year ago

It's one thing to read a story about yourself, and then you get to listen to it too. I hope you have a chance to listen. Link below in the story.

79 11 5 0
1 year ago
Preview
The Land That Allowed Ken Burns to ‘Raise the Dead’ The award-winning filmmaker has slept in the same bedroom for over four decades. He credits his home with allowing him to make the films everyone said he couldn’t.

The award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns has slept in the same bedroom for over four decades. He credits his home with allowing him to make the films everyone said he couldn’t.

733 56 19 10
1 year ago

Happy Thanksgiving.

102 14 6 0
1 year ago
Preview
The Land That Allowed Ken Burns to ‘Raise the Dead’ The award-winning filmmaker has slept in the same bedroom for over four decades. He credits his home with allowing him to make the films everyone said he couldn’t.

Place is important to who I am as a person and filmmaker. It's foundational to how we function, the very idea of home. Rukmini Callimachi has shared a piece about mine timed to Leonardo da Vinci, streaming on PBS. Wishing everyone the best for Thanksgiving: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/r...

113 12 4 6
1 year ago
Video thumbnail

Hope you had a chance to watch Leonardo da Vinci. Will be streaming on PBS. Curious about what's next? Our origin story. It's worth talking about. Take a look.

266 25 33 13
1 year ago
Preview
A Foot Doctor Who Learned at a Renaissance Man’s Knee | amNewYork BY PAUL SCHINDLER | Successful professionals, when asked what inspired their interest and passion for their field of endeavor, will often recall a favorite

Hope you have a chance to watch our film about Leonardo da Vinci 11/18 and 11/19 on PBS. You can find his impact in remarkable places, including among some highly accomplished foot doctors. www.amny.com/news/foot-do...

376 58 31 21
1 year ago

Figured this could be a nice way to get started on @bsky.app

Take a look at our @unumkenburns.bsky.social post below and our #UNUMChats about Leonardo da Vinci.

Film airs Monday and Tuesday on PBS and will also stream on all PBS platforms.

168 33 17 12