All Podcasts / The Jordan Harbinger Show / 1238: Ken Burns | What If the American Revolution Isn't Over?
The Jordan Harbinger Show
The Jordan Harbinger Show

1238: Ken Burns | What If the American Revolution Isn't Over?

November 11, 2025 • 1h 28m

Summary

⏱️ 9 min read

Overview

Legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns discusses his new 12-hour series on the American Revolution, calling it 'the most important event since the birth of Christ.' Burns challenges the sanitized myths surrounding America's founding, revealing it as a brutal civil war full of contradictions - freedom built on slavery, democracy emerging from violence, and ideals clashing with hypocrisy. He explores his meticulous filmmaking process, the personal tragedy that shaped his career, and why he believes the American Revolution isn't over - we're still living it.

The Ten-Year Process and Collaborative Filmmaking

Burns reveals that his Vietnam documentary took ten years to complete and describes how spending that much time with a subject makes you more curious rather than burned out. He explains his highly collaborative process involving co-directors, writers, editors, and even interns whose input he values. The evangelical period of promoting the finished film serves as an "air chamber" that helps him decompress rather than grieve the project's completion.

  • Vietnam took 10 years to complete, but spending that time makes you more curious rather than burned out
  • PBS doesn't have huge promotion budgets, so Burns travels to 40 different markets personally promoting each film
  • The promotion period serves as an 'air chamber' that allows him to decompress rather than grieve turning off the project
  • By the time the film is finished and airs, it belongs to the audience - it's no longer his

The Revolution as America's Most Important Event

Burns defends his controversial claim that the American Revolution is the most important event since Christ's birth, explaining that it marked the first time in history people were citizens rather than subjects. He acknowledges the statement is rhetorical but stands by it, arguing that the revolution created unprecedented responsibility and self-governance. However, he emphasizes the revolution is "smothered in gallant, bloodless myth" and was actually a brutal civil war with more civilian deaths than the American Civil War.

  • The revolution marked the first time people were citizens rather than subjects, creating unprecedented responsibility
  • The revolution was more of a civil war than the American Civil War - Americans killing loyalists and vice versa, with significant civilian deaths
  • The revolution was also a global war, with France, Spain, and the Netherlands joining on America's side
  • The story involves women at the heart of resistance, Native American nations as distinct as European countries, and free and enslaved Black people throughout
" America comes out of violence. It's born in violence. It helps you even today where people go, oh, man, we are so divided. And you go, okay, when were we not divided? "
" If you're at a point now where we are fractured seemingly beyond repair on the verge of dissolution, whatever the chicken little sky is falling thing you're going to say about it, it might be good to go back to the origin story and sort of pick it up and understand the complexity. "

📚 6 more sections below

Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes

Listen on Apple Podcasts More Episodes from The Jordan Harbinger Show