Ken Burns and Erik Larson on America's history from crisis to Civil War

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  • čas přidán 29. 04. 2024
  • Ken Burns talks with bestselling author Erik Larson about his new book, The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War (2024), which explores the choices of one of our greatest presidents in American history.
    UNUM: One nation, many stories.
    UNUM is a new way to explore American history through scenes selected from over 40 films by Ken Burns. We're constantly curating new topics, providing historical context for the conversations we are having today.
  • Krátké a kreslené filmy

Komentáře • 94

  • @lisalivingston6473
    @lisalivingston6473 Před 16 dny +23

    I got a chill up my spine when Erik Larson warned us to pay attention to people who speak of a modern-day Civil War. After watching the events of Jan. 6, 2021 unfold, I think it is wise to take his warning to heart. I pray that our country can find its footing and start to heal the deep divisions that separate us. I thank God every day that I was born an American, and I have always tried not to take my freedom for granted.

    • @ThomasCranmer1959
      @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 9 dny

      What happened on Jan. 6th was a riot. It was deliberately encouraged by the CIA and FBI to prevent the electors being sent back to the state legislatures. The election was clearly stolen and everyone knows it. Votes were counted for days and even weeks after the election was over!

  • @jdt2003
    @jdt2003 Před 17 dny +11

    The best documentary maker and one of the best historical novelists of our time have both been relegated by their wives to "Go upstairs to play your fun and games!"

    • @ThomasCranmer1959
      @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 17 dny

      Novels are not history. That applies to Shelby Foote as well.

    • @lisalivingston6473
      @lisalivingston6473 Před 16 dny +2

      @@ThomasCranmer1959 Some of the best novels have included historical references that stir a curiosity in me to learn more about history. I believe Erik Larson is a master of that craft!

  • @johngoldenbritt5112
    @johngoldenbritt5112 Před 20 dny +15

    The Demon of Unrest is hard to put down. A great piece of history.

  • @jamieryman
    @jamieryman Před 9 dny +2

    Excellent piece! Could listen to these two speak for hours 👏👏

  • @daleodberg6714
    @daleodberg6714 Před 17 dny +5

    Thank you. I have read The Devil in the White City and The Garden of Beasts and look forward to The Demon of Unrest.

  • @1953jazzman
    @1953jazzman Před měsícem +14

    Excellent, insightful conversation!

  • @timsika7655
    @timsika7655 Před 27 dny +11

    I just ordered a copy of THE DEMON OF UNREST. Thanks for this great interview.

  • @ELL289
    @ELL289 Před měsícem +12

    Just ordered a copy. Thank you for a really interesting interview. You both have such a deep store of knowledge.

  • @4pauledouglas
    @4pauledouglas Před 24 dny +3

    Beyond BRILLIANT, Thank you KEN BURNS.👍👍👍👍

  • @lawharrington
    @lawharrington Před 16 dny +9

    Sadly, it is likely that few Southerners outside of the communities with old line Whig newspapers ever learned of the conciliatory lines in Lincoln’s first inaugural address. The media at that time were about a fragmented as today.

  • @mariellouise1
    @mariellouise1 Před 18 dny +11

    Hope Ken will make a PBS documentary of these topics. Or this interview should be shown on PBS. Every member of Congress should have a copy of The Demon of Unrest.

  • @JamesDziezynski
    @JamesDziezynski Před 11 dny +3

    I love n Erik Larson interview as much as Larson loves dinner menus :) Great interview. Demon of Unrest was a fascinating look into just how bizarre, yet normal, slavery was in the mid-1800s. Even Lincoln was pretty wishy-washy about abolition until his hand was forced. I highly recommend the book or audiobook.

  • @georgeabraham5672
    @georgeabraham5672 Před měsícem +15

    The real problem is that the Ruffins are alive and active today..
    Really well done vedio.. Thank you Ken

    • @kevinleecaster2698
      @kevinleecaster2698 Před 29 dny

      It seems like we have quite a few Fire Eaters loudly calling for the dissolution of the Union nowadays

    • @ThomasCranmer1959
      @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 9 dny

      Most of the Ruffins today are BLM, ANTIFA, and radical Hamas supporters who are antisemitic.

  • @rebeccacamacho-sobczak4282
    @rebeccacamacho-sobczak4282 Před měsícem +5

    I'm very happy to know you are creating this!!~~!!!

  • @haroldcheeseburger
    @haroldcheeseburger Před 24 dny +2

    Thank you for being proper Historians.

  • @salsan2946
    @salsan2946 Před 25 dny +3

    I have loved all of Larsen's books!

  • @Publius_Americanus
    @Publius_Americanus Před 29 dny +8

    Phenomenal program. Thank you both!

  • @kathrynludrick4821
    @kathrynludrick4821 Před 5 dny +1

    My sister and I were talking about this the other day, ie some contemporaries promoting civil war. She and I concluded that they had no clue of what happened to our country from 1861-1865 and beyond: The absolute carnage, the untold human suffering and misery and destruction experienced by both North and South. My great great grandfather died in the 1880s from a disease he contacted in the civil war. My great great uncle was mortally wounded at Shiloh. Another great great uncle was captured and imprisoned at Elmira. For those who know what happened in the civil war and yet promote it today are deluded if not outright evil.

  • @TRIChuckles
    @TRIChuckles Před měsícem +5

    Good interview.

  • @elainemarra9790
    @elainemarra9790 Před 26 dny +3

    Thank you both

  • @tomhaggard3352
    @tomhaggard3352 Před 27 dny +3

    Awesome program

  • @kennedyland1
    @kennedyland1 Před 6 dny

    An amazing book about hubris, pride, illusions and warped glory.

  • @dankelly2147
    @dankelly2147 Před 25 dny

    Superbly done. Ordering the book now. Thank you for an insightful dialogue.

  • @richardlindquist5936
    @richardlindquist5936 Před 5 dny

    It looks like a good read. Another good one is A Disease of the public mind by Thomas Fleming. Adds context to the civil war.

  • @dwdavis5977
    @dwdavis5977 Před 14 dny

    Thank you Gentlemen.

  • @brianniegemann4788
    @brianniegemann4788 Před 9 dny +2

    There were only about 165,000 major slave-owning planters in the south in 1859, those with thousands of acres and 20+ slaves. These men held powerful political positions; county commissioners, state legislators, governors, congressmen, senators. They controlled the southern newspapers too. They were aristocrats, princes, lords.

    • @ThomasCranmer1959
      @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 9 dny

      Exactly. The Confederates were mostly sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

  • @katydidiy
    @katydidiy Před 26 dny

    I know this is off topic but I can't get it out my head, the commencement speech you gave at Stanford 7 years ago. If I had one wish I would interview everyone there that booed as to their beliefs now.

  • @defyant1
    @defyant1 Před 23 dny +5

    Erik's book is captivating and fearfully terrifying at the same it. There is nothing new under the sun. If you want to know why we are the divided states of today, just read The Demon of Unrest. Five Stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    • @Eurydice870
      @Eurydice870 Před 17 dny

      I think I've read all his books, he has a great way of telling stories.

  • @kathywolcott5157
    @kathywolcott5157 Před 13 dny

    I'm just watching this amazing video 2 years since it was posted. I have to say that I first thought the reaction to Khanysia was displeasure and stress. But from the explanations and posts, it seems like I misinterpreted. Was there a point in their attempts to protect & greet her that they could have harmed her?

  • @richardlindquist5936
    @richardlindquist5936 Před 5 dny

    Curious to see Erik express his fears about Jan 6. I just don’t see it the same way. There’s just too much out in the past several years about politics and the police response, and the absence of weapons to make it much of a rebellion. My concern is that casting it as such perpetuates the divisions as a self fulfilling prophecy, and delegitimizes the valid concerns of anyone non left.

  • @davidford761
    @davidford761 Před měsícem +1

    🌈❤️BEAUTIFUL💥💥💞

  • @faybyshe
    @faybyshe Před 10 dny

    Both of these guys are calling in from their attics?!?

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    23:14 Is the Bill of Rights subject to modern reinterpretation?

  • @johnnolan4312
    @johnnolan4312 Před 12 dny

    The civil war will be considered "civil" in comparison to a modern day civil war

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny +1

    21:54 Is there a God who inspired the Bible?

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 17 dny +2

    Slavery would have been abolished without a war. 15:07

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 17 dny +1

    11:09 Secession was never a reason for the invasion of the South. Lincoln violated the Constitution.

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 17 dny

    The Demon of Northern Aggression would have been a better title.

    • @pegpage8618
      @pegpage8618 Před 16 dny +1

      Can you explain what that means?

    • @ThomasCranmer1959
      @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny +1

      @pegpage8618 Let me spell it out. Lincoln started the war by invading South Carolina with Federal troops. He was warned not to send reinforcements to Fort Moultrie, and he did it anyway. It was an act of aggression that sparked the war.
      The South was invaded by Northern troops. We did not invade the North until 1864 or so.

    • @Juergen732
      @Juergen732 Před 9 dny

      ​@@ThomasCranmer1959..read the book and stop embarrassing yourself..

    • @ThomasCranmer1959
      @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 9 dny

      @@Juergen732 Read the history from the southern point of view and stop reinterpreting history.

    • @Juergen732
      @Juergen732 Před 9 dny +1

      @@ThomasCranmer1959 reading history from " a southern point of view" is itself a "reinterpretation". I think the author (Erik Larson) gives a fair interpretation from both sides. If you haven't read his book there is no point in discussing this with you as you clearly have an ax to grind. Perhaps you can find a more receptive audience with the Maga crowd because as you know, Trump loves the uneducated.

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    48:24 Beautiful prose can be propaganda.

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    44:05 The victors are still lying.

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    21:18 What is a woman?

  • @boilerbonz
    @boilerbonz Před 8 dny

    So if Buchanan is only the 2nd worst POTUS ever, the worst is whom, Ken? Joe Biden or Jimmy Carter? That's a close one!

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    19:56 My ancestors never owned slaves. They fought to defend their homeland from a Federal invasion.

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    22:43 Is homosexuality "natural"?

  • @ThomasCranmer1959
    @ThomasCranmer1959 Před 16 dny

    What is a baby?

  • @MarkDouglass-dt9ky
    @MarkDouglass-dt9ky Před 7 dny

    Ken Burns is a great American documentary maker, the greatest, but some artists as soon as he speaks about modern politics he becomes an embarrassment (cf. De Niro, Baldwin).

  • @patticriss2238
    @patticriss2238 Před 8 dny

    When I saw the photo of you with Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito and Leonard Leo on a trip, I gave up on you as well. Painful, this one. Shameful. I don’t care your intention. Don’t care if it was research or some stupid stuff. I’m done with all of you colliders. If you didn’t call it out and turn them in, you are complicit. Period. No matter the other work you do. I’m out.

  • @gregorygarcia7807
    @gregorygarcia7807 Před 23 dny

    I know the guy who wrote the preface to "baseball" and I can for sure tell you about his defacement of books at his school loyola over looking the Marina del rey. his backstabsmenship is beyond compare! not to mention the taste he has for pocketing things around the house. he told me we were going to "play a trick like abraham lincoln" on a friend. little did I know what he was doing in the other room. born may day '59 "thanks derek you've always been a real good friend."

  • @jimmyclay9316
    @jimmyclay9316 Před 7 dny

    The 2 great myths of the Civil War:
    1) Abraham Lincoln was a great president.
    2) Robert E. Lee was a great general.

  • @gregorygarcia7807
    @gregorygarcia7807 Před 23 dny

    ken burns keeps the oldest prejudices alive in america. I'd say he is very slanted to the white-right!

    • @richardlindquist5936
      @richardlindquist5936 Před 5 dny

      @gregorygarcia7807 The dude is intensely anti Trump, considers him dictator material.