Ken Burns has won countless awards for his documentary films on Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American buffalo, baseball, the Civil War—and his latest takes on the American Revolution. In this two-part episode, Adam and Ken discuss the importance of origin stories and how they help us to construct a collective identity and narrative about ourselves. Ken reflects on his research about George Washington and the nuance required to tell stories about complicated, contradictory people throughout history, and he and Adam unpack why we’re so hesitant to recognize the flaws in our heroes. They also explore what makes a great leader and the building blocks of a compelling story.

Host & Guest

Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: https://adamgrant.net/)

Ken Burns (Website: https://kenburns.com/)

Links

https://www.facebook.com/kenburnspbs

https://www.youtube.com/user/kenburnspbs

https://kenburns.com/films/the-american-revolution/

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For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

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The George Washington story you haven’t heard with Ken Burns (Part 1)

ReThinking