ReThinking: The George Washington story you haven’t heard with Ken Burns (Part 1)

Ken Burns has won countless awards for his documentary films on Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American buffalo, baseball, the Civil War—and his latest takes on the American Revolution. In this two-part episode, Adam and Ken discuss the importance of origin stories and how they help us to construct a collective identity and narrative about ourselves. Ken reflects on his research about George Washington and the nuance required to tell stories about complicated, contradictory people throughout history, and he and Adam unpack why we’re so hesitant to recognize the flaws in our heroes. They also explore what makes a great leader and the building blocks of a compelling story. 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: The George Washington story you haven’t heard with Ken Burns (Part 1) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

ReThinking: The George Washington story you haven’t heard with Ken Burns (Part 1) is an episode from WorkLife with Adam Grant by TED.

This episode is 36:12 long.

This episode was published on Jan 6, 2026.

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