320 years ago, Benjamin Franklin was born into a crowded Boston household. Franklin treated reading like a craft and authority like a problem to be solved. At five he was reading the Bible, and soon after, he was editing the doctrine, suggesting one prayer for the whole winter’s food to “save time.”

250 years ago, Common Sense, the most important pamphlet in American history, was first published, energizing the colonies with a newfound hope for freedom. Our newest UNUM Playlist takes clips from THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION focused on Thomas Paine and his indelible words.

JAZZ premiered 25 years ago today on @pbs.org As @kenlburns.bsky.social explains here, music outpaces language. Jazz changed American music permanently.

Eva Schloss was a child when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany. In our clip from The U.S. and the Holocaust, she recounts the moment ordinary life gave way to exclusion and brutality. An Auschwitz survivor and lifelong educator, she dedicated her life to remembrance and Holocaust education.

On this day in 1775, Benedict Arnold led the Continental Army's assault on Quebec City. He hoped to destroy the British stronghold and prevent potential attacks from the north. Everything went wrong. Watch our clip from THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

“The American Revolution” documentary by @kenlburns.bsky.social & Co. is “history that blasts through border walls” at a moment of “bolstering barriers and stoking divisive rancor,” writes Benjamin Ortiz in a deeply personal review-essay for @newlinesmag.bsky.social. newlinesmag.com/review/a-rem...

After the frozen night crossing of the Delaware, Washington’s army was able to catch a Hessian encampment unawares, taking two thirds of them prisoner with minimal casualties. It was a crucial victory for the Continental Army. Watch the clip from THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

Christmas night of 1776, Washington brought 2400 men across the half-frozen Delaware river. It rained, hailed, and snowed, but they made it safely into New Jersey—perfectly positioned to take the enemy by surprise. Watch the clip from THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

The national parks are places where American memory is preserved and passed on. Betty Reid Soskin, the nation’s oldest park ranger, died on December 21 at 104.

On this day in 1944, the Battle of the Bulge began. A final, desperate attempt to destroy allied forces, it would become the war's deadliest battle in Western Europe. Watch our clip from THE ROOSEVELTS.

Filmmaker @kenlburns.bsky.social's new series, The American Revolution, is another masterpiece. And he’s in THE BACK ROOM to discuss this epic story in riveting detail podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/k...

As a Nor'easter sweeps across the northeast and great lakes today, temperatures will drop into the teens (@weather.bsky.social). But can you imagine a temperature of -45? Watch the clip from LEWIS & CLARK.

Happy Evacuation Day! Since the Battle of Long Island in August, 1776, New York City had spent seven long years under British occupation. On this day in 1783, the British formally withdrew from the city and General Washington returned in triumph. Watch the clip from The American Revolution.

Co-directors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt are taking questions on Reddit’s r/movies today. Join the AMA at the link below. www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...

The American Revolution film doesn’t end with the British surrender at Yorktown. One of the places it continues is Fraunces Tavern in New York City. For UNUM on the Road, Ken Burns explains why.

Starting Sunday night on @pbs.org, watch me (and many others) in this guy’s film #AmericanRevolutionPBS @unumkenburns.bsky.social

The first US veterans were farmers, laborers, and tradesmen. Washington called their endurance a “standing miracle.” On Veterans Day, we honor every generation that has carried that same resolve. A clip from our upcoming film, The American Revolution (on PBS Nov. 16).

With lawn chairs and fall jackets (and some terrific revolutionary gear), thousands watched The American Revolution at Mount Vernon last month. Before the event, co-director David Schmidt chatted with some of the crowd for UNUM on the Road.

On this day 94 years ago, Buddy “King” Bolden, the legendary cornetist, died in obscurity in the Louisiana State Hospital for the Insane. Watch the clip from Jazz.

Today is National Bison Day. Spend a moment thinking about this extraordinary animal. Here’s a clip from The American Buffalo.

ICYMI: @kenlburns.bsky.social & Sarah Botstein on their new PBS docuseries: www.wnyc.org/story/17a198...

UNUM on the Road stopped at @c-span.bsky.social in Washington, DC. No makeup artist, so Ken Burns and co-director Sarah Botstein handled it themselves. Washington dealt with tougher mornings. #AmericanRevolutionPBS

In this @theatlantic.com article, directors @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, & David Schmidt describe how they made their 12-hour epic, 'The American Revolution,' about a war so shrouded in myth. Listen to the piece, read by David Schmidt, on Hark Audio: share.harkaudio.com/WLhaDy3NYv2S...

Earlier this month, the filmmakers visited Philadelphia to promote The American Revolution with @whyy.org. Here's what they had to say outside of a shuttered Independence Hall.

Ken Burns, possibly the world’s most celebrated documentary filmmaker, talks about his latest series—’The American Revolution’—and the existential threat to public television on a walk through Bowling Green.

#OnThisDay 85 years ago, Ernest Hemingway published "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Inspired by his reporting on the Spanish Civil War and released as the world plunged into another, the novel explored what people are willing to fight and die for — and what war takes from them in return.

How do you make a documentary about a subject that predates the invention of photography? @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt on what it took to film “The American Revolution”:

Ken Burns might be the one thing this 250-year-old nation of patriots can agree on. GQ wandered around Monticello with the legendary filmmaker www.gq.com/story/ken-bu...

Read UNUM’s latest post on how the Framers reverse engineered against a tyrant on Substack.

We've always had a real set of American virtues and values, and we've always had brutality and political violence. So far, the former has always kept pace and eventually won out. Ken Burns joins @timmiller.bsky.social in the latest Bulwark Podcast:

As playoff baseball begins, we look back to George Will’s timely reflection on the link between the game, patience, and democracy.

“Our job now, to land the plane, is repair, restoration, reconciliation,” Ken Burns tells David Leonhardt on The Opinions. Together, they explore what America’s next story should be, why the American Revolution has never really ended — and the greatest existential threat facing the country today.

On this day in 1990, the first episode of The Civil War premiered on @pbs.org A lot can change in 35 years.

For Episode 2 of Pursuit — a new podcast from @prx.org and @constitutionctr.bsky.social — Jeffrey Rosen and Ken Burns discuss the virtue Temperance.

Today, and for the next eleven weeks, we’ll be posting clips of our own Ken Burns and Jeffrey Rosen on Pursuit (a new podcast from @prx.org and @constitutionctr.bsky.social), discussing how the founders understood happiness as intimately connected to the idea of virtue.

Lyndon B. Johnson, one of the most colorful and consequential men to occupy the office of President of the United States, was born on this day in 1908. As President, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Learn more in this clip from THE CONGRESS.

Today in 1864, the Civil War reached a breaking point in Atlanta. Union General William T. Sherman had surrounded the city, cutting off food and supplies. Rather than risk a costly assault, he ordered his men to shell Confederate defenses and the city itself.

When we think of the American Revolution, we think of Yorktown, West Point, Bunker Hill—East Coast battles fought 75 years before the first West Coast state. For UNUM on the Road, Ken Burns explains why the revolution matters in every state.

Happy birthday to @kenlburns.bsky.social

“The rights of the individual are greater than the rights of the monarch.” Ken Burns and Fred Ryan discuss Ronald Reagan’s relationship to the American Revolution. #AmericanRevolutionPBS, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, premieres this November.

On this day in 1899, Ernest Hemingway was born. A journalist, novelist, and adventurer, Hemingway remained a major figure wherever he went. Listen to the Hemingway’s report from the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War.

“Shoeless Joe” Jackson was born today in 1887. Raised in a South Carolina mill town, he couldn’t read or write - but he could hit. He batted .408 his rookie year and .356 for his career, the third highest average in history. He once played barefoot and swung a 48-ounce bat named Black Betsy.

What better place to celebrate July 4th than Monticello with 74 newly naturalized citizens. This year we celebrated the 249th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Their guy wrote it—Thomas Jefferson.

What is the role of government? On this day in 1936, FDR gave his famous Rendezvous with Destiny speech and urged "a spirit of charity” over “a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference." Watch the clip from THE ROOSEVELTS.

This month UNUM on the Road was in Texas at @lbjlibrary.bsky.social, with President and CEO of @tjmonticello.bsky.social Jane Kamensky talking about the high ideals and heavy sacrifices behind American independence. Stay tuned for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION this November. #unumontheroad

UNUM on the Road continued last week in Dallas, with author Rick Atkinson talking about the war’s most pivotal battle. Check out his new book THE FATE OF THE DAY from @crownpublishing.bsky.social and stay tuned for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION this November. #unumontheroad #americanrevolutionpbs

Public media is at risk. Congress is considering deep funding cuts to PBS, threatening the shows, local coverage, and educational programming that have shaped generations. Visit ProtectMyPublicMedia.org for more. #SavePBS

Getting ready for a summer road trip? Today in 1903, while stranded in Alturas, California waiting on new tires, Horatio Nelson Jackson made the best of a bad situation. Locals flocked to see his “horseless carriage” while cowboys promised him a Wild West show in exchange for a ride.

UNUM on the Road continued last week in North Carolina with historian @kathleenduval.bsky.social A featured voice in THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION and recent winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Professor DuVal explores how disputes over Native land helped ignite the Revolutionary War.

Today's UNUM Reads is from Jordyn Holman (@jholman.bsky.social) in The New York Times (@nytimes.com) www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/b...