2022-09-19
46 分钟The documentary filmmaker, known for "The Civil War," "Jazz," and "Baseball," turns his attention to the Holocaust, and asks what we can learn from the evils of the past.
Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner.
But this is not an episode of Free Economics Radio.
It is a special bonus episode of people I mostly admire, a show hosted by Steve Levitt, my freakonomics friend and co author.
People I mostly admire is one of several shows we now make within the freakonomics radio network, and this episode was so fascinating and important that I didn't want you to miss it.
Leavitt speaks with all kinds of people on his show, economists and other academics like himself, but also technologists and athletes, entrepreneurs and explorers.
This conversation is with the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
When you're done, you can find more episodes of people I mostly admire in your podcast app.
Thanks for listening.
My guest today is the renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
His epic eleven hour miniseries the Civil War, is the most watched show in the history of public television.
He's covered baseball, jazz, the national parks, country music, and the Vietnam War, just to name a few.
But I have to say, as much as I enjoyed his earlier work, nothing he's done has affected me as deeply as his most recent film on the Holocaust.
The film is basically asking at elemental levels, what did we know?
What didn't we know?
What should we have known?
What did we do?
What did we not do?
What should we have done?
Welcome to people I mostly admire with Steve Levitt.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how people learn, and I've become increasingly convinced that film is the most powerful teaching tool we have.