If You Could Ask Ken Burns To Make A Documentary For You, What Topic Would You Choose?

[mawnansmiff]

Having thoroughly enjoyed watching all my Ken Burns documentary DVD sets (some more than once) I came to wondering what topic I would ask him to make a documentary just for me.

Having come to love his style in the genre I just know that whatever subject I asked him to produce, it would be a winner.

Here are my 3 choices....

The History Of The Mormon Church.

A Full History Of Native American Indians.

A History of American Brewing & Distilling.

So folks.....what would you ask him to produce?

Regards,

Jay.

 

[briarbuck]

The history of music

 

[Chasing Embers]

The history of American cults.

 

[jaytex1969]

The Frank Method!

 

[docpierce]

The amazing contribution of Jewish Americans.

 

[condorlover1]

+1 docpierce - that would make a very interesting documentary. It would have a very broad scope though since you have theatre and movie industry, science and medicine, finance, literature. Thinking about it that would probably be a 4 volume set but certainly interesting to watch. My own humble suggestion would be:

The history of Chewing Tobacco.

 

[chilllucky]

Tobacco and it's relationship to the enonomy and the law.

Paraphrased tidbit from "Making Tobacco Bright" by Barbara Hahn: the existence and resultant power of conglomerated corporations in the USA was first a response by the southern tobacco industry to post civil war tax policy meant to reimburse the union.

 

[Jaylotw]

I’d pick American folk music (we’re talking pre-recording days), or one on the Great Lakes.

 

[chilllucky]

The history of American cults.

The Oneidans was one of my favorites. Their decendents still make popular silverware.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The Oneidans was one of my favorites. Their decendents still make popular silverware.

Would their flatware be considered a cult classic?

 

[chilllucky]

Would their flatware be considered a cult classic?

{Picks up knife and fork, ba-dum ting on plate and glass}

 

[Sonorisis]

1. The history of Nobel Science Laureates
2. The history of the American Dollar
3. The history of Gunpowder
4. The great multicultural cities: New Orleans, San Antonio, San Francisco

 

[jpmcwjr]

America from 1770-1870

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Picks up knife and fork, ba-dum ting on plate and glass"

Knife = cutlery.

Fork = flatware.

Spoon = hollow ware.

Not a lot of folks know that strictly speaking, cutlery is knives and knives only.....because they cut!

Regards,

Jay.?

 

[docpierce]

The great multicultural cities: New Orleans, San Antonio, San Francisco.

^This.

 

[mso489]

Following in the wake of the singular Chicagoan Studs Terkel, I'd like to see Ken Burns tackle, how people find a calling, a career, or a job or jobs -- how they try to plan their future life, and what happens then. And how do they size up their path after they retire from work? Since this is about as close as most people get to a philosophy of life, it would have to be interesting. Often failure is as interesting and meaningful as successes, maybe because we can see it more clearly.

 

[Spinkle]

American/Canadian/Five Eyes/Foreign Policy 1945-1991 ie The Cold War.

 

[warren]

Burns does some interesting stuff and does it well but, I really have no interest in learning his "take" on any particular subject. He tends to, I hope unintentionally, color his "histories" but, I doubt anyone could make a movie without having their personal beliefs intrude to some degree.

 

[mso489]

The history and modern industry of pyrotechnics, from Chinese origins to some of the Asian and Western masters of the form, the Gucci of Long Island and others of that ilk. The music synchronized computer programmed shows costing millions of bucks for an hour.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

WWI
The Great Depression
The Korean War
The Revolutionary War
Hitler & the rise of Fascism in Europe