Longest ever federal govt. shutdown ends; More layoffs; "American Revolution" film

Summary

Georgia Today Podcast – November 13, 2025

Episode Theme:
This episode covers the end of the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, a continuing trend of layoffs in Georgia, and features an in-depth interview with documentary filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt about their new PBS series "The American Revolution."

---

Main Stories and Segments

The End of the Longest Federal Government Shutdown

• Overview:
  The 43-day federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has ended following a vote in the House (222-209), with six Democrats breaking ranks. President Trump signed the funding bill late last night.

• Impact in Georgia:

  • Federal workers, air travelers, and SNAP recipients were stressed during the shutdown.
  • Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian discussed over 2,000 flight cancellations since Friday, with disruptions due to the FAA ordering schedule cuts.
  • Bastian advocated for making TSA agents and air traffic controllers “essential workers” who get paid despite shutdowns.
    • Quote (Ed Bastian, Delta CEO, 01:40):
      “The thing we don't like is being a political football because our people aren't getting paid... If they're not going to get paid for a month and a half, that's unacceptable.”

• Local Political Response:

  • Georgia U.S. House member Austin Scott (R) before the vote:
    • Quote (Austin Scott, 01:07):
      “The American farmer needs this bill to pass. The American soldier needs this bill to pass. Our air traffic controllers need this bill to pass.”

---

Economic Strains: Layoffs in Georgia

• Details:
  • Around 800 Georgians are facing layoffs this week.
    • General Motors is closing its Roswell innovation center (300 employees affected).
    • Book distributor Baker & Taylor is shutting its Jackson County facility (another 300 jobs).
  • These are due to ongoing labor market weaknesses.

---

Middle Georgia Deputy Trial

• Background:
  • Three former sheriff’s deputies are on trial for the 2017 tasing death of Yuri Martin, a mentally ill man.
  • Prosecutors focus on the extended use of tasers.
    • Quote (Prosecutor George Lipscomb, 03:06):
      “If they weren't struggling and tasing him, would he still be alive? Would he still be alive?”
  • Defense argues deputies used “reasonable force” as Martin was illegally in the road and littered.
  • Prior trial ended in a hung jury.

---

Cell Phone Bans in Schools

• Marietta City Schools:
  • Enacted a cell phone ban; 90% of middle school teachers surveyed say it improved academics and reduced bullying.
  • Quote (District Superintendent Grant Rivera, 03:57):
    “They can learn better, they're socializing better, and they tell us that overwhelmingly on statewide survey.”
  • Governor Brian Kemp signed a statewide ban for grades K–8, effective in 2026.

---

Savannah Gun-Car Ordinance Overturned

• Court Ruling:
  • A Savannah judge struck down the city ordinance against leaving guns in unlocked cars, citing conflict with Georgia state law and the Second Amendment.
• City Response:
  • Mayor Van Johnson says the ordinance is more about education than punishment.
    • Quote (Van Johnson, 04:40):
      “It's not the punitive effect, it's the educational effect... I would love it if we issued zero citations and we had zero guns stolen from unlocked cars.”

---

Georgia Tech’s Public Policy School Renamed

• Update:
  • Now called the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.
  • Carter’s grandson, Josh Carter, hopes students keep the Carters’ humanitarian focus at the “North Star.”
    • Quote (Josh Carter, 05:55):
      “As long as this school keeps perhaps my grandparents at the North Star, we're going to have some amazing leaders come out of this building.”

---

Feature Interview: Inside Ken Burns' "The American Revolution"

Interviewees: Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, David Schmidt
Segment Start: [06:26]

Why Tackle the Revolution Now?

• Sarah Botstein:
  • The story is “our origin story... we've been working on it for nine-plus years, a deep dive into it and are excited to share.”
  • Quote (06:51):
    “What could be more important, particularly in this day when I think there's so much questioning and the fabric of what has brought us together seems a little bit frayed, to go back and look at it now?”

Key Surprises During Research

• Ken Burns:

  • “Every day was actually filled with revelation and discovery... the war went on for eight years. People don’t realize that.”
  • The war’s geographic and demographic complexity surprised the team.

• David Schmidt:

  • Quote (08:56):
    “What wasn't on the table at the start of the revolution… was not the goal of any of the colonists... None of those were the war aims when the first shots were fired. But quickly they became necessary in order to win the war.”
  • Unity, independence, democracy, and alliances developed as survival strategies, not initial aims.

• Ken Burns on Complexity:

  • “There is a lot of stuff between all of those signposts [Lexington and Concord, Trenton, Yorktown], and so many different groups and factions involved... adding dimension to familiar people is the thing for us to learn.”
  • The example of Benedict Arnold: introduced early as a talented general, with his betrayal only revealed late in the series to highlight complexity.

Portraying Flawed Heroes

• Ken Burns:
  • Quote (11:46):
    “Heroes become more heroic when they’re flawed. They’re more human. It makes what they do… more heroic when they are not just one dimensional.”

The Challenge of Thomas Jefferson

• Ken Burns:

  • He “knew slavery was wrong. He was also extremely profitable.”
  • The film does not “let him off the hook” but won’t “chastise” either. The filmmakers act as “umpires, calling balls and strikes.”
    • Quote (12:12):
      “He still distilled a century of enlightenment thinking into the second most remarkable sentence after I love you… and that's a really important contribution.”

• David Schmidt:

  • Emphasizes seeing Jefferson and Washington as uncertain men, not marble gods—but relatable and ordinary in their time, which allows viewers to “become a better citizen… if you just see them as people.”

---

Notable Quotes

• Ed Bastian (Delta CEO, 01:40):
  “The thing we don't like is being a political football because our people aren't getting paid... If they're not going to get paid for a month and a half, that's unacceptable.”

• Austin Scott (Congressman, 01:07):
  “The American farmer needs this bill to pass. The American soldier needs this bill to pass. Our air traffic controllers need this bill to pass.”

• Van Johnson (Savannah Mayor, 04:40):
  “It's not the punitive effect, it's the educational effect... I would love it if we issued zero citations and we had zero guns stolen from unlocked cars.”

• Ken Burns (Filmmaker, 11:46):
  “Heroes become more heroic when they’re flawed. They’re more human.”

• Sarah Botstein (Filmmaker, 06:51):
  “What could be more important… when I think there’s so much questioning and the fabric of what has brought us together seems a little bit frayed, to go back and look at it now?”

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:37] — Government shutdown ends; House vote and Georgia response
• [01:17–02:00] — Delta CEO on shutdown’s airline impact
• [02:00–02:37] — Major layoffs in Georgia
• [02:49] — Washington County deputies’ trial coverage
• [03:37] — Cell phone ban in Marietta City Schools
• [04:06] — Statewide K–8 cell phone ban signed
• [04:25] — Savannah gun ordinance overturned
• [05:37] — Georgia Tech school renaming
• [06:26] — Filmmaker interview: Ken Burns and “The American Revolution”

---

Final Notes

• “The American Revolution” premieres November 16th on PBS (GPB at 8pm).
• Watch the full filmmaker interview at gpb.org/news.
• Upcoming event: Discussion with author Larissa Reinhart, November 19th at GPB Studios.

---

This rich and varied episode offers Georgia listeners an essential update on politics, the economy, education, and new perspectives on America’s origins. The interview with Burns, Botstein, and Schmidt deepens understanding of how history is made, perceived, and retold, echoing modern anxieties and hopes about national unity and identity.

Transcript

[Ken Burns]

Foreign.

[Peter Biello]

Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, the longest federal government shutdown in US History has ended more layoffs in Georgia as the labor market continues to weaken. And documentary filmmaker Ken Burns says now's a good time to take a long look at the American Revolution as our nation's origin story.

[Sarah Botstein]

What could be more important, particularly in this day when I think there's so much questioning and the fabric of what has brought us together seems a little bit frayed. To go back and look at it.

[Peter Biello]

Today is Thursday, November 13th. I'm Peter Biello and this is Georgia Today. Georgia's U.S. house members voted along party lines last night on the government funding bill that ended a record 43 day federal shutdown. Republican President Donald Trump signed the bill late yesterday after the House passed the measure 222 to 209 with six Democrats breaking ranks to end the shutdown. Speaking before the vote, Georgia Republican Austin Scott said it was, quote, way past time to reopen the government.

[David Schmidt]

The American farmer needs this bill to pass. The American soldier needs this bill to pass. Our air traffic controllers need this bill to pass.

[Peter Biello]

The shutdown stressed federal workers, air travelers and SNAP recipients, among many others. The CEO of Atlanta based Delta Air Lines says he expects air travel to return to normal by this weekend now that the shutdown has ended. Speaking on CNBC yesterday, CEO Ed Bastian said TSA agents and air traffic controllers should be classified as essential workers so they get paid the next time the government shuts down.

[Ed Bastian]

The thing we don't like is being a political football because our people aren't getting paid. That's the thing we really didn't like. When you ask the controllers, when you ask the security agents at TSA who form essential roles in the safety and the safeguarding of our air travel system, national airspace. If they're not going to get paid for a month and a half, that's unacceptable.

[Peter Biello]

You said. The shutdown led to more than 2,000 Delta flight cancellations since Friday, when the FAA ordered airlines to curb their schedules. Almost 800 Georgia workers are facing layoffs this week as the labor market shows continuing signs of weakening. General Motors is closing its innovation center in Roswell, north of Atlanta, affecting about 300 workers. And book distributor Baker and Taylor is closing its facility in northeast Georgia's Jackson county, also affecting about 300 workers. That's according to state filings this week. Lawyers presented opening arguments today in the Middle Georgia trial of three former sheriff's deputies facing murder charges GPB's Grant Blankenship reports it's the second trial in Washington county in connection to the killing of a mentally ill man in 2017.

[Grant Blankenship]

Yuri Martin was on a 30 mile walk down a country road on a hot July day in 2017 when he stopped at a home to ask for water, resulting in a 911 call. When Martin ignored responding deputies, they tased him for well over a minute. Prosecutor George Lipscomb told jurors to focus on the tasing when they watch video of what happened next.

[Ed Bastian]

And while you're watching, I want you to think if I could use my mind and I could edit out those portions where they're tasing him. If they weren't struggling in tasing him, would he still be alive? Would he still be alive?

[Grant Blankenship]

Deputies Attorneys told jurors Martin littered and was illegally in the road so deputies had authority to stop him with, quote, reasonable force. Jurors in the first trial could not reach a unanimous verdict after repeatedly watching video of Martin's death. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blanken. Shippen MACON.

[Peter Biello]

Teachers in a metro Atlanta school district say they like what they're seeing in their classrooms after a cell phone ban went into effect. Marietta City Schools implemented the ban last year. District Superintendent Grant Rivera says a recent survey from Kennesaw State University found 90% of middle school teachers believe the ban has helped academically and has reduced incidents of bullying.

[Grant Blankenship]

These students have transitioned beautifully. They can learn better, they're socializing better, and they tell us that overwhelmingly on statewide survey that we can see in our district.

[Peter Biello]

Governor Brian Kemp signed a new state law to ban cell phones in public schools grades K through 8 starting in 2026. But several school districts already have local A Savannah judge has thrown out the case of a man cited for violating a city ordinance that outlaws leaving guns in unlocked cars. Chatham County Recorder's Court Judge Brian Huffman Jr. Said the ordinance violates a Georgia law protecting gun rights and the Second Amendment. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson says the city is on solid legal footing with an effective policy looking at the number of.

[Van Johnson]

Guns stolen from unlocked vehicles. I mean, it's very clear to us that this is working. And I think again, it's not the punitive effect, it's the educational effect because people are saying, oh, let me lock my car, oh, let me take my firearm with me. Oh, let me put it in the trunk or let me lock it in the glove box. Again, we're asking for people to have and take just that one extra step. I would love it if we issued zero citations and we had zero guns stolen from unlocked cars.

[Peter Biello]

A previous lawsuit challenging the ordinance was dismissed in Chatham County Superior Court based on the plaintiff's standing, not the underlying legal question. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr called the judge's ruling a major victory for law abiding gun owners. Georgia Tech's Public Policy School is now the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. GPB Sarah Kalis reports on the renaming.

[Sarah Kalis]

Today, Georgia Tech officials honored the former president and first lady at a ceremony inside the School of Public Policy. The Carter's grandson and Georgia Tech alum Josh Carter says the renaming is an honor for his family. He hopes students at the newly named school will keep his grandparents legacy in mind.

[Ed Bastian]

And when you have that humanitarian focus and you craft public policies with that focus, you're going to improve society. So as long as this school keeps perhaps my grandparents at the North Star, we're going to have some amazing leaders come out of this building.

[Sarah Kalis]

Former President Carter studied at Georgia Tech for one year in 1942 before transferring to the Naval Academy. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kalis in Atlanta.

[Peter Biello]

The American Revolution, a new film from Ken Burns, premieres on PBS stations across the country November 16th. It's a six part 12 hour look at how the American quest for independence from Britain unfolded and how it changed the world. Directors Ken Burns, Sarah Bostein and David Schmidt are with me now in GPB Studios to talk about their work. Welcome to all of you.

[Sarah Botstein]

Thank you.

[Ken Burns]

Thank you.

[David Schmidt]

Good to be here.

[Peter Biello]

We'll start with you, Ken. Why the American Revolution?

[Sarah Botstein]

It's our origin story. All of the films that we've been pursuing over the last nearly 50 years have been asking a deceptively simple question about who are we? Who are those strange and complicated people who like to call themselves Americans? And what does an investigation of the past tell us about not only where we've been, but where we are? And more importantly than that, where we may be going. What could be more important, particularly in this day when I think there's so much questioning and the fabric of what has brought us together seems a little bit frayed. To go back and look at it now, we decided to make this film back in December of 2015, so there's no now to this moment. We've been working on it for nine plus years, a deep dive into it and are excited to be able to share the origin story with people. It's not just guys in Philadelphia signing documents and powdered wigs. It's a very complex and rich story that I think as you dive deeper into that complexity, it becomes all the more critical, particularly for us today, to understand where we came from.

[Peter Biello]

Well, we all grow up thinking we know at least some part of this story. But I want to hear from each of you what you discovered about the Revolutionary War and the American Revolution that most surprised you or intrigued you. And maybe I'll start with you, Sarah, but I'd love to hear from all of you on this.

[Ken Burns]

I'll speak for myself and maybe for all three of us that every day was actually filled with revelation and discovery. Whether it was a simple fact, like the war went on for eight years. I think if you ask most people how long the revolution was fought, it would take them a while. And they definitely don't think it went on for eight years. That it went on over the vast continent or the 13 colonies of this vast continent and moved north, middle and south, that all the colonies were involved. It was not just Massachusetts and Virginia, which I think are part of our popular imagination for all the right reasons, but it also kind of goes out from there.

[Peter Biello]

David, what do you think?

[David Schmidt]

There's a million things I could say that surprised me. But I would say the thing that is most important that surprised me is what wasn't on the table at the start of the revolution and what it came to be about was not the goal of any of the colonists or at least few of the colonists at the start, which is independence, nation making and the union of the States. None of those were the war aims when the first shots were fired. But quickly they became necessary in order to win the war. They had to bring the country together in order to have this coalition that could rival the British. They had to have some reason for unity which became independence. And they also needed the support of the French. And independence offered that. And then in order to bring along all aspects of the population, they had to make these promises for more inclusion in the democracy as they went. And that opened the door to so much more after the revolution. But none of that was even on the table when they started. I just think they didn't have any idea how this would all come out. They all took a gamble on it. And that's just so cool and surprising to me.

[Peter Biello]

And how about you, Ken? Was there something particularly surprising?

[Sarah Botstein]

It was, as both Sarah and David said, a kind of daily revelation. You think, you know, but really if you think about it with regard to the revolution, you know about Lexington and Concord, which was 250 years ago, and then it's Trenton and then it's Yorktown. And we want to suggest that there is a lot of stuff between all of those signposts and that there's so many different groups and factions involved that that's important to tell. So every day you get surprised when you understand. We introduce Benedict Arnold and the opening seconds of our second of six episodes. And it isn't until about a third of the way through the sixth and last episode that the reason why he is a hated figure in American history is revealed. Up to this point, he is one of the best generals Washington has, and he just. Washington dispatches him to places where he needs a great general, and he is a great general. He's also a lot of other things, and those complications come through. So I think that adding, as Sarah was saying, the dimension to familiar people is the thing for us to learn. I mean, we don't have a country without George Washington. But if you poll people, their idea of George Washington is so superficial and so simplistic as almost to make him disappear.

[Ken Burns]

In all the films that we've worked on together, the heroes, to my mind, and I think I speak for Ken, and I hope, David, that heroes become more heroic when they're flawed. They're more human. And it makes what they do, in my opinion, more heroic when they are not just one dimensional.

[Peter Biello]

How did you handle Thomas Jefferson, given, you know, that he was a slaveholder and he left a lot to be desired about how he treated his. The people he enslaved?

[Sarah Botstein]

I made a biography in the 1990s on Thomas Jefferson, and we certainly went all the way there. Thomas Jefferson is. Makes several appearances in this film and most notably in the section on the writing of the Declaration. He knew slavery was wrong. He was also extremely profitable. So there's a kind of a choice for people. In the northern states, it's less prevalent and less profitable. In the Southern states, it's more prevalent and more profitable. So people make these decisions. He still distilled a century of enlightenment thinking into the second most remarkable sentence after I love you in the English or American language that I know. And that's a really important contribution. So he exists with all of those represented there. And we're not going to toss him out, as I said, but we're also not going to let him off the hook. But we're not there to chastise. We're there. We're umpires. We're calling balls and strikes.

[David Schmidt]

I think approaching familiar names like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington in a moment where they're entirely uncertain about how this is all going to play out. And also, yes, they are big bold names to us now, but Thomas Jefferson's a lawyer back then. He's relatively ordinary if you really think about it. He became bold faced Thomas Jefferson, but so even for him. And then again, there's 3 million more people than him that inhabit what became the United States in the original 13 former colonies that became the United States. All of those people have stories that you can begin to see yourself in and realize that if we don't look at them as just gilded statues of marbled men, well then there's something that I can do in my own time potentially, or at least what would I have done in that time. And you can put yourself in the shoes of those people and begin to become a better citizen than you might otherwise be if you just see them as completely unapproachable, almost marble gods. They're not. They're people.

[Peter Biello]

That's filmmakers Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt speaking about their film American Revolution, which premieres on PBS stations across the country, including GPB on Sunday. You can watch the first two hour episode on GPB TV at 8 o' clock on Sunday and watch the full video of my conversation with the [e-mail] news this final note before we end the podcast today. Join us at GPB Studios in Atlanta for a conversation between GPB's Orlando Fernando Montoya and author Larissa Reinhart on Wednesday, November 19th at 6:30. Reinhart is the author of Winning the Earthquake, the first major biography of Jeannette Rankin, the trailblazing suffragist activist and first woman elected to Congress. Find details and reserve your [e-mail] events. That's a wrap on Georgia Today. Thanks so much for tuning in and come on back tomorrow. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast and check gpb.org news for the latest headlines and updates to the stories you heard on the podcast today. If there's something we should be talking about on this podcast and we haven't yet, let us know. Our email address is georgia todaypb.org you could also send feedback to that email address again, Georgia todaypb.org I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.