The American Revolution examines how America’s founding turned the world upside-down.
Join us for a landmark In Their Shoes® conversation following an exclusive 30-minute sneak peek of The American Revolution, the sweeping new 12-hour documentary series from acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns.
Through stunning archival material and illuminating storytelling, The American Revolution explores how a ragtag group of colonies sparked a global political awakening. It’s the story of how thirteen British outposts along the Atlantic coast defied a king, fought for their independence, and dared to build a republic founded on radical new ideas of freedom, justice, and self-governance.
After the preview, Ken Burns—joined by bestselling historian and Nantucket’s own Nathaniel Philbrick—will take the stage for a wide-ranging conversation on the revolution’s enduring legacy, the complexities of its promises, and the urgent relevance of its unfinished questions.
This moment in history didn’t just shape a nation—it ignited a centuries-long struggle toward liberty and equality that continues to define who we are.

KEN BURNS
The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; The War; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; Prohibition; The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; Country Music; The U.S. and the Holocaust; The American Buffalo; Leonardo da Vinci

NATHANIEL PHILBRICK
In the Heart of the Sea; Sea of Glory; The Last Stand; Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution; In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown; Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy