ReThinking: Ken Burns on love and grief (Part 2)

Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker who has produced works about Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American Buffalo, the Civil War, and now, in his latest work, the American Revolution. In this second part of their conversation, Adam and Ken move to more personal topics: Ken’s experience with fatherhood, the role of grief and loss in his work, and his hatred of careerism. Adam pitches some new ideas for upcoming documentaries, and Ken reflects on a time when the word “enthusiastic” was used against him. Featured guest Follow Ken Burns on Facebook , YouTube , and at kenburns.com/ Connect with the team Follow Adam on Instagram , LinkedIn , and at adamgrant.net/

You can listen to ReThinking: Ken Burns on love and grief (Part 2) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

ReThinking: Ken Burns on love and grief (Part 2) is an episode from WorkLife with Adam Grant by TED.

This episode is 20:50 long.

This episode was published on Jan 13, 2026.

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