Ken Burns has spent more than five decades telling America's story. From The Civil War and The Vietnam War to Baseball, Jazz, and The U.S. and the Holocaust, his films have shaped how generations of Americans understand their country.
In this conversation, Shane Smith sits down with the legendary filmmaker to talk about much more than documentaries. Together they explore why America feels so divided, whether we're living through another turning point in history, the collapse of shared facts, the changing media landscape, and why Burns believes understanding our past is essential to navigating our future.
Burns also reflects on his early films Brooklyn Bridge and The Statue of Liberty, the making of The Civil War and The Vietnam War, the importance of PBS, and why documentary filmmaking still matters in an age of algorithms, clips, and social media.
After a lifetime studying America's greatest triumphs and deepest failures, Ken Burns keeps coming back to one simple idea: "There's only us.”
In this episode:
• The story behind Brooklyn Bridge and Burns' first documentary
• Why The Civil War became a cultural phenomenon
• The making of The Vietnam War
• Why PBS has been essential to documentary filmmaking
• Journalism vs. history
• The collapse of shared reality
• Social media, AI, and the future of truth
• Political polarization and America's recurring cycles
• What history says about our future
• Why Ken Burns still believes there's reason for hope
