If the American Revolution was, as Ken Burns put it, the biggest event since the birth of Christ, then there's probably never been a better time to explore and drastically expand on why it happened, who was involved, and what it set us up for than right now.

My guest today again is David Schmidt.

David is the producer and co-director, along with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, of American Revolution, a six-part, 12-hour series premiering on PBS this November.

David is a childhood friend, but two decades after he and I played Nintendo in his basement, he began working with Florentine Films as a researcher and apprentice editor, beginning with The Roosevelts in 2014, where he also supervised the documentary's seven-episode script.

David's research on the Vietnam War in 2017 won him the Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year Award, and he also worked closely on that project with writer Geoffrey C. Ward and helped coordinate post-production. With Burns, Schmidt also produced the two-part biography Benjamin Franklin in 2022 for PBS.

I can't wait for you to hear this discussion. I think it pairs really nicely with our conversation with Clint Smith and can't wait for you to see this piece.

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INI Book Club:

This Here Is Love by Princess Joy L. Perry
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

Watch the 12-part series, The American Revolution, on PBS https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution
Read The American Revolution book by Ken Burns and Geoffrey C. Ward https://bookshop.org/a/8952/9780525658672
David is listening to: The American Revolution playlist, Hammond Song by The Roches, and The Shape of Water soundtrack

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Produced by Willow Beck
Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

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Mentioned in this episode:

What Can I Do?

Get Mill

The American Revolution's Unfinished Promise