#kenburns

Photo by LBJLibraryNow via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Ken Burns’ new 2-part film about Ben Franklin is excellent. Burns does a deep dive into Franklin’s thoughts, words and deeds to reveal a man who was both great and deeply flawed at the same time. Franklin was uneducated yet became one of the most eloquent writers, philosophers, inventors and statesmen of his time. The man who crafted the pivotal sentence “we hold these truths to be self evident…that all men are created equal….” was also an unapologetic slave owner. The man who greatly influenced the words and ideas that are the building blocks of our democracy was in fact a loyal monarchist until the earliest battles of the revolutionary war. The man who encouraged and inspired countless men and women to reach their own potential was simultaneously a wretched husband and father. He was a bundle of contradictions wrapped up in an enigma. He was deeply human. Like us, he was both good and bad. A self described “work in progress” who gave himself the grace to change his mind; which he did frequently, without fuss or self flagellation. While watching the film I couldn’t help wonder what our modern “cancel culture” might wish to do with Franklin’s legacy. We urgently need more historical narratives like this. A society whose masses have largely abandoned mythology, scripture, literature, history and civics in its daily curriculum - both in classrooms and in real life - is doomed. We are all better than our worst mistakes, worse than our greatest accomplishments. We need to forgive ourselves and our neighbors for being human, and grant ourselves the grace and willingness to change. To admit, and demonstrate we are works in progress. #kenburns #benjaminfranklin https://www.instagram.com/p/CcIQ_8Hupfu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I mentioned this a week or so ago, but as a reminder... Me and some radio pals made an aftershow to go with Ken Burns Country Music series. It’s called Holding Things Together and it’s available on all the podcast platforms. (Apple, Spotify, Stitcher) Additionally, Gimme Country is running a marathon of shows 1-4 on Sunday leading into our 5th episode. If you want to know more about what you’ve seen so far or just LOVE country music, give us a shot. 

Instead of celebrating the war’s resistance, Burns, Novick and series writer Geoffrey C. Ward consistently minimize, caricature and distort what was by far the largest nonviolent movement in American history.

särkyny - BI4TH

Small child is currently obsessed with baseball. We found the book of my favorite series documentary about the sport at the thrift store today, and he has refused to put it down. Good job, @kenburnspbs! #baseball #nerdmom #parenting #kenburns #arcthrift @arcthrift #thrifting #thriftstorefinds #history