Ken Burns

Ken Burns is the most acclaimed documentary filmmaker in American history, whose groundbreaking works including The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The Vietnam War, and The National Parks have shaped how millions of Americans understand their own history. He has won 17 Emmy Awards, received a Lifetime Achievement Award, and pioneered a visual storytelling style that has become synonymous with American documentary filmmaking.

America’s Storyteller

Burns has been making documentary films for over 40 years, and his signature technique of using archival photographs, first-person narratives, and evocative music to bring history to life has influenced an entire generation of filmmakers. The Civil War, which aired on PBS in 1990, was watched by 40 million viewers and remains one of the most-watched programs in public television history. His body of work spans American history, culture, sports, music, and social movements, earning him two Academy Award nominations and the nation’s highest honor in the humanities from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Power of Storytelling to Illuminate Truth

Burns brings his extraordinary storytelling ability to the keynote stage, revealing how narrative shapes understanding, builds empathy, and creates shared meaning. His keynotes deliver compelling insights on the power of storytelling in leadership and communication, what American history teaches us about leadership and culture, building empathy and understanding through narrative, and the art of turning complex subjects into stories that move people to action.

The National Parks (A Treasure House of Nature’s Superlatives)

Burns discusses the great gift of our national parks.  Here both “the immensity and the intimacy of time” merge, as we appreciate what the parks have added to our collective and individual spirit.  Begins with a 13-minute clip (the intro to The National Parks: America’s Best Idea).

Sharing the American Experience (45 to 50 minutes)

Ken Burns reminds the audience of the timeless lessons of history, and the enduring greatness and importance of the United States in the course of human events.  Incorporating The Civil War, Baseball and Jazz, Burns engages and celebrates what we share in common.  No clips.

No Ordinary Lives

Drawing on some of Lincoln’s most stirring words as inspiration, this speech engages the paradox of war by following the powerful themes in two of Ken Burns’s best known works–“The Civil War”, his epic retelling of the most important event in American history, and “The War”, his intensely moving story of WWII told through the experiences of so-called ordinary people from four geographically distributed American towns.  Opens with Norah Jones 5-minute “American Anthem” clip from The War.

Mystic Chords of Memory

The Civil War continues to be the most important event in American history.  In this eloquent address, Burns paints both an intimate and bird’s eye view of the searing events of the years1861 through 1865 and the war’s profound relevance to us today.

American Lives

This combines the biographies of some of Ken’s most fascinating subjects, including Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark and Frank Lloyd Wright.  He shares how biography works, and gives insight into the storytelling process.  No clips.