Reflections on Ken Burns Documentaries I Watch While Exercising like a Weirdo

The Dalai Lama says that change in the world always begins with an individual who shares what he or she has learned and passes it on to others. Thus, I offer you what I have learned thanks to my ongoing Ken Burns’ documentary binge.

1)      I have roughly the same glasses as all the men in the Lyndon Johnson administration.

2)      People in the 1960s look like they smell bad.

3)      People in the 1860s look like they smell bad, but they had the excuse of living over 100 years ago when germ theory was just in its infancy.

4)      Excessive facial hair is GROSS and can’t possibly help with the smell (see 2, 3).

5)      I should have read my US history textbook more carefully, especially since my high school history teacher referred to the Civil War as the “War of Northern Aggression”.

6)      I taught history for almost 8 years, and I straight-up did not know about the extensive trenches at Petersburg so I AM A FRAUD. Apologies to my students.

7)      The music of the 1960s is the best. Was it the excessive facial hair? The drugs?

8)      I want Morgan Freeman to narrate the Ken Burns documentary of my life.

9)      Teaching the Vietnam War in a day is probably short-changing it.

10)   To debate who we honor and why, and the message that sends, is a worthy and important exercise. To have that debate intelligently, it is super important to know what the eff you are talking about. I guess that’s just a fancy way of me saying that history is relevant as hell. It’s who we are and why we are the way we are, and we should all try to keep on learning.

THE END