UNUM Ken Burns
@unumkenburns.bsky.social
UNUM is digital destination by filmmaker Ken Burns providing historical context to today’s issues and sparking conversation.
Co-directors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt are taking questions on Reddit’s r/movies today. Join the AMA at the link below.
www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...
www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...
From the movies community on Reddit: Hi r/movies! We’re Sarah Botstein & David Schmidt, co-directors of the new PBS series The American Revolution & longtime collaborators at Florentine Films (co-foun...
Explore this post and more from the movies community
www.reddit.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Co-directors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt are taking questions on Reddit’s r/movies today. Join the AMA at the link below.
www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...
www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...
The American Revolution film doesn’t end with the British surrender at Yorktown. One of the places it continues is Fraunces Tavern in New York City. For UNUM on the Road, Ken Burns explains why.
November 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM
The American Revolution film doesn’t end with the British surrender at Yorktown. One of the places it continues is Fraunces Tavern in New York City. For UNUM on the Road, Ken Burns explains why.
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
Starting Sunday night on @pbs.org, watch me (and many others) in this guy’s film #AmericanRevolutionPBS @unumkenburns.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Starting Sunday night on @pbs.org, watch me (and many others) in this guy’s film #AmericanRevolutionPBS @unumkenburns.bsky.social
The first US veterans were farmers, laborers, and tradesmen. Washington called their endurance a “standing miracle.” On Veterans Day, we honor every generation that has carried that same resolve.
A clip from our upcoming film, The American Revolution (on PBS Nov. 16).
A clip from our upcoming film, The American Revolution (on PBS Nov. 16).
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
The first US veterans were farmers, laborers, and tradesmen. Washington called their endurance a “standing miracle.” On Veterans Day, we honor every generation that has carried that same resolve.
A clip from our upcoming film, The American Revolution (on PBS Nov. 16).
A clip from our upcoming film, The American Revolution (on PBS Nov. 16).
With lawn chairs and fall jackets (and some terrific revolutionary gear), thousands watched The American Revolution at Mount Vernon last month. Before the event, co-director David Schmidt chatted with some of the crowd for UNUM on the Road.
November 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
With lawn chairs and fall jackets (and some terrific revolutionary gear), thousands watched The American Revolution at Mount Vernon last month. Before the event, co-director David Schmidt chatted with some of the crowd for UNUM on the Road.
On this day 94 years ago, Buddy “King” Bolden, the legendary cornetist, died in obscurity in the Louisiana State Hospital for the Insane. Watch the clip from Jazz.
November 4, 2025 at 8:17 PM
On this day 94 years ago, Buddy “King” Bolden, the legendary cornetist, died in obscurity in the Louisiana State Hospital for the Insane. Watch the clip from Jazz.
Today is National Bison Day. Spend a moment thinking about this extraordinary animal. Here’s a clip from The American Buffalo.
November 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Today is National Bison Day. Spend a moment thinking about this extraordinary animal. Here’s a clip from The American Buffalo.
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
ICYMI: @kenlburns.bsky.social & Sarah Botstein on their new PBS docuseries:
www.wnyc.org/story/17a198...
www.wnyc.org/story/17a198...
Ken Burns on The American Revolution | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC
Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein talk about their new PBS docuseries, "The American Revolution," which is being released ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S.
www.wnyc.org
October 31, 2025 at 6:55 PM
ICYMI: @kenlburns.bsky.social & Sarah Botstein on their new PBS docuseries:
www.wnyc.org/story/17a198...
www.wnyc.org/story/17a198...
UNUM on the Road stopped at @c-span.bsky.social in Washington, DC. No makeup artist, so Ken Burns and co-director Sarah Botstein handled it themselves.
Washington dealt with tougher mornings.
#AmericanRevolutionPBS
Washington dealt with tougher mornings.
#AmericanRevolutionPBS
October 30, 2025 at 10:42 PM
UNUM on the Road stopped at @c-span.bsky.social in Washington, DC. No makeup artist, so Ken Burns and co-director Sarah Botstein handled it themselves.
Washington dealt with tougher mornings.
#AmericanRevolutionPBS
Washington dealt with tougher mornings.
#AmericanRevolutionPBS
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
In this @theatlantic.com article, directors @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, & David Schmidt describe how they made their 12-hour epic, 'The American Revolution,' about a war so shrouded in myth. Listen to the piece, read by David Schmidt, on Hark Audio: share.harkaudio.com/WLhaDy3NYv2S...
October 29, 2025 at 7:43 PM
In this @theatlantic.com article, directors @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, & David Schmidt describe how they made their 12-hour epic, 'The American Revolution,' about a war so shrouded in myth. Listen to the piece, read by David Schmidt, on Hark Audio: share.harkaudio.com/WLhaDy3NYv2S...
Earlier this month, the filmmakers visited Philadelphia to promote The American Revolution with @whyy.org. Here's what they had to say outside of a shuttered Independence Hall.
October 28, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Earlier this month, the filmmakers visited Philadelphia to promote The American Revolution with @whyy.org. Here's what they had to say outside of a shuttered Independence Hall.
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
Ken Burns, possibly the world’s most celebrated documentary filmmaker, talks about his latest series—’The American Revolution’—and the existential threat to public television on a walk through Bowling Green.
Ken Burns at the Barricades
Ken Burns, possibly the world’s most celebrated documentary filmmaker, talks about his latest series—’The American Revolution’—and the existential threat to public television on a walk through Bowling Green.
www.curbed.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Ken Burns, possibly the world’s most celebrated documentary filmmaker, talks about his latest series—’The American Revolution’—and the existential threat to public television on a walk through Bowling Green.
#OnThisDay 85 years ago, Ernest Hemingway published "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
Inspired by his reporting on the Spanish Civil War and released as the world plunged into another, the novel explored what people are willing to fight and die for — and what war takes from them in return.
Inspired by his reporting on the Spanish Civil War and released as the world plunged into another, the novel explored what people are willing to fight and die for — and what war takes from them in return.
October 21, 2025 at 9:21 PM
#OnThisDay 85 years ago, Ernest Hemingway published "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
Inspired by his reporting on the Spanish Civil War and released as the world plunged into another, the novel explored what people are willing to fight and die for — and what war takes from them in return.
Inspired by his reporting on the Spanish Civil War and released as the world plunged into another, the novel explored what people are willing to fight and die for — and what war takes from them in return.
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
How do you make a documentary about a subject that predates the invention of photography? @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt on what it took to film “The American Revolution”:
How Do You Film the Revolution?
What we learned making a documentary about a war so distant in time
bit.ly
October 8, 2025 at 12:15 PM
How do you make a documentary about a subject that predates the invention of photography? @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt on what it took to film “The American Revolution”:
Reposted by 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...
October 7, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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...
Read UNUM’s latest post on how the Framers reverse engineered against a tyrant on Substack.
October 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Read UNUM’s latest post on how the Framers reverse engineered against a tyrant on Substack.
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
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:
Ken Burns joins @timmiller.bsky.social in the latest Bulwark Podcast:
October 2, 2025 at 1:45 AM
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:
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.
October 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM
As playoff baseball begins, we look back to George Will’s timely reflection on the link between the game, patience, and democracy.
Reposted by UNUM Ken Burns
“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.
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.
nyti.ms
September 29, 2025 at 10:51 AM
“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.
For Episode 2 of Pursuit — a new podcast from @prx.org and @constitutionctr.bsky.social — Jeffrey Rosen and Ken Burns discuss the virtue Temperance.
September 16, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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.
September 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
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.
August 27, 2025 at 2:46 PM
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.
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.
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.
August 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
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.
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.
August 5, 2025 at 4:16 PM
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.