What does it take to bring the American Revolution to life?

How can an event that took place 250 years ago be conveyed to us through modern-day film?

Ken Burns and his team worked to answer these questions in their new, epic six-part documentary, Ken Burns’ The American Revolution. Their work promises to deepen, complicate, and transform our understanding of the Revolution over 12 hours of film.

But how did Burns and his team make this film? What stories did they choose to tell? And what challenges did they face in telling those stories?

Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, the two co-directors of Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of their film and how they made it.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/425

EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:09 Guest Introduction
00:04:42 Becoming Involved in the Documentary
00:07:57 Approach to Telling the Story of the Revolution
00:18:57 Images and Representation
00:21:53 Challenges Faced
00:27:03 Choosing Which Stories to Include
00:39:00 Relevance and Meaning of the Revolution
00:45:45 Time Warp
00:52:15 Conclusion

SUPPORT OUR WORK
🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World

REQUEST A TOPIC
📨 Topic Request Form
📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.com

WHEN YOU'RE READY
🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter
👩‍💻 BFW Listener Community
🌍 The History Explorers Club

LISTEN 🎧
🍎 Apple Podcasts
💚 Spotify
🎶 Amazon Music
🛜 Pandora

CONNECT
🦋 Liz on Bluesky
👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn
🛜 Liz’s Website

SAY THANKS
💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚 Leave a rating on Spotify
*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices