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

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.

[@jdt2003]

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]

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

[@lisalivingston6473]

@@ThomasCranmer1959 Some of the best novels have included historical references that stir a curiosity in me to learn more about history.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!

[@lisalivingston6473]

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]

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!

[@johngoldenbritt5112]

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

[@ELL289]

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

[@1953jazzman]

Excellent, insightful conversation!

[@lawharrington]

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.

[@kennedyland1]

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

[@timsika7655]

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

[@mariellouise1]

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.

[@jamieryman]

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

[@daleodberg6714]

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

[@georgeabraham5672]

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

[@kevinleecaster2698]

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

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@JamesDziezynski]

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.

[@Publius_Americanus]

Phenomenal program. Thank you both!

[@4pauledouglas]

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

[@rebeccacamacho-sobczak4282]

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

[@haroldcheeseburger]

Thank you for being proper Historians.

[@gordonhuskin7337]

**partisan hacks Fixed that for you

[@haroldcheeseburger]

@@gordonhuskin7337 to each their own . Have a good day.

[@kathrynludrick4821]

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]

Good interview.

[@elainemarra9790]

Thank you both

[@salsan2946]

I have loved all of Larsen's books!

[@richardlindquist5936]

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.

[@tomhaggard3352]

Awesome program

[@brianniegemann4788]

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]

Exactly. The Confederates were mostly sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

[@dankelly2147]

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

[@dwdavis5977]

Thank you Gentlemen.

[@richardlindquist5936]

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.

[@katydidiy]

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.

[@kathywolcott5157]

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?

[@defyant1]

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]

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

[@davidford761]

🌈❤️BEAUTIFUL💥💥💞

[@faybyshe]

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

[@johnnolan4312]

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

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@gordonhuskin7337]

It no use arguing with a subversive leftist

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@gordonhuskin7337]

Yep, Corwin ammendment

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@pegpage8618]

Can you explain what that means?

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

@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]

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

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

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

[@Juergen732]

@@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]

48:24 Beautiful prose can be propaganda.

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

21:18 What is a woman?

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

44:05 The victors are still lying.

[@boilerbonz]

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]

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

[@Juergen732]

Have you read the book?

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

22:43 Is homosexuality "natural"?

[@ThomasCranmer1959]

What is a baby?

[@MarkDouglass-dt9ky]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@gregorygarcia7807]

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

[@richardlindquist5936]

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