Ken Burns' Latest Film Focuses on Benjamin Franklin
All Of It - A podcast by WNYC
Ken Burns' latest project takes on the legacy of Benjamin Franklin. While Franklin is a figure we all learned about in social studies growing up, there's a more complicated story to unpack. Franklin was a brilliant inventor and writer, but he also owned slaves and was divided from his family. "Benjamin Franklin" is a two-part, four-hour documentary featuring archival photos, journal entries, and interviews with expert historians. The first episode of the film premieres on PBS today. Ken Burns and Christopher Brown, professor of History at Columbia University who is interviewed as part of the film, join us to discuss.