Show Notes
Ken Burns has been telling stories about America for almost 50 years. The lauded documentary filmmaker has a new series on PBS, The American Revolution, which charts the period before and after 1776. It will air internationally ahead of the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. Mishal Husain asked Burns to join the show to mark Thanksgiving, looking at today’s America through the lens of its past and the characters who made history. 02:15 - The complexity of the American Revolution 04:00 - The underdog story 07:15 - The global significance of the American Revolution 13:43 - Mishal Husain’s connection to Lexington Green 16:15 - Why Ken Burns became a filmmaker 17:55 - “My mother’s gift in a funny way was dying” 19:20 - The Ken Burns Effect 20:15 - Hollywood actors as first person narrators 21:25 - Directing Josh Brolin as George Washington 22:00 - Why Tom Hanks didn’t want to be the voice of George Washington 23:00 - Filming reenactments 24:50 - The American Revolution is not over 29:10 Working for PBS, American Public Broadcasting 32:20 What is Ken Burns grateful for on Thanksgiving? Watch this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0Ns_wjGlmjlPz0cded0nTYS You can find the written version of this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from The Mishal Husain Show
India’s “Cockroach” protests have returned to the streets of Delhi, and just as the country faces intensifying challenges from abroad, including fallout from the Iran war and tensions with the US, China and Pakistan. In a conversation on the sidelines of Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in New Delhi last week, Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor for The Hindu, unpacks India’s shifting place in the world and Gen Z discontent at home. Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this conversation recorded at Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in New Delhi, Mishal Husain talks to Rory McIlroy about his career as one of the world’s top professional golfers. McIlroy is one of a very small group of men to have achieved a career grand slam, winning all four major golf tournaments. Now he’s looking to what might be next. They also discuss the LIV Golf breakaway league, the behavior of fans and the future of the game. Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Best known as a member of Monty Python, Michael Palin has been many things — sketch writer, comedian, actor, and for almost four decades, world traveler. In his latest series, “Michael Palin in the Philippines” - on UK channel 5 - Palin meets the nation’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., visits an overcrowded prison and witnesses firsthand rising tensions in the South China Sea. In his conversation with Mishal Husain, he speaks about what his travels have taught him, the realities of seeing the world in his 80s and Monty Python’s unlikely diplomatic power. Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As US journalist Azadeh Moaveni was writing her latest book, ‘The East Wing’, a history of America's first ladies and their staff, President Donald Trump’s demolition of that very part of the White House was underway. Moaveni presents her book as a “parallel women’s history,” tracing how the wives of US presidents, who traditionally had offices in the now-vanished annex, helped shape alliances at home and abroad. Moaveni, a journalism professor at New York University, is a longtime reporter on Iran and the Middle East. She explains in her conversation with Mishal Husain how when she took on the project, Iran seemed unusually quiet. Then the US and Israel attacked. Here, she reflects on a seismic year in the US and around the world. Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amid the furious debate over the pace and potential risks of AI development, top tech executives have publicly united around a call for their industry to be regulated. As Google's senior vice president of technology and society, James Manyika says his role is to help ensure artificial intelligence turns out well for the company and the rest of us. But with US President Donald Trump rejecting new guardrails and public skepticism about the motivations of AI giants calling for them, proponents of the technology face an increasingly tough room. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Manyika explains why he hopes that worries about AI – from job destruction to the more existential – won’t dampen enthusiasm about its possibilities. Read Mishal’s notes on this conversation https://www.bloomberg.com/mishal Contact The Mishal Husain Show [email protected] Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.