logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2022
29m 25s

Filmmaker Ken Burns on Lessons in Innova...

Harvard Business Review
About this episode
As the acclaimed documentarian releases a new two-part PBS series about Ben Franklin, he describes how the U.S. founding father transformed himself from teen runaway to newspaperman, then inventor, then political elder. He explains what current leaders can learn from how Franklin approached business, scientific discovery, and his fellow nation-builders. Ken ... Show More
Up next
Jul 8
How to Build an AI Assistant for Any Challenge
You might have your teams and organization implementing new AI tools, but how much have you experimented with them yourself? Alexandra Samuel is a tech speaker and journalist, and she says many leaders are still just scratching the surface of AI by using things like ChatGPT and M ... Show More
31m 53s
Jul 1
Larry Summers: ‘Smart Businesses Are Going to Maintain Flexibility’
Lawrence H. Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus of Harvard University, has seen the ups and downs of the American economy throughout the decades. As leaders today contend with fears of economic downturn, the growth of artificial intelligence, tariffs, i ... Show More
27m 1s
Jun 24
Moms Demand Action Founder on What It Takes to Lead Change
Whether you're a manager trying to move your organization in a new direction, an entrepreneur seeking to fix a consumer pain point, or a non-profit leader working to improve society, it can be hard to turn your and others' passion for a cause into meaningful change. Shannon Watts ... Show More
26m 13s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2022
Florentine Films: Ken Burns
As a boy, Ken Burns was captivated by the power of film and dreamed of being the next Alfred Hitchcock or John Ford. But in college, he discovered that stories about American history could be just as dramatic as any he could make up. Eventually, he set out to make a new kind of d ... Show More
1h 17m
Mar 2022
Benjamin Franklin with Ken Burns
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was a scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat. As one of the leading figures of early American history, Franklin helped to draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776, worked to negotiate the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War in 178 ... Show More
33m 26s
Apr 2022
The Genius Episode: Ben Franklin & Elon Musk 4/06/22
Filmmaker Ken Burns’ new two-part documentary on PBS documents the life and complicated legacy of Benjamin Franklin. The documentarian joins Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson to discuss how the founding father shaped not only our country, but America’s everyday life, language, ... Show More
28m 30s
Apr 2023
Becoming Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin is considered by many to be one of the first to live the American Dream. He came from humble beginnings, Franklin was raised in Boston, the last of 17 children. Márcia Balisciano tells Don how he went from a printer’s apprentice to Founding Father of the United ... Show More
22m 44s
Apr 2022
Benjamin Franklin: portrait of a revolutionary
Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns tells Elinor Evans about the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin – a man who both loved Britain but became a key figure in American independence, and who was a slave-owner yet later campaigned for abolition. Burns also talks about the chall ... Show More
44m 50s
Oct 2022
Ben Franklin: Founding Father of Microfinance and Open-Source Tech
If you want someone to manage your money then you better pay them. That’s just one lesson from Ben Franklin’s complicated financial life. Robert Brokamp talks with Michael Meyer, author of “Benjamin Franklin's Last Bet: The Favorite Founder's Divisive Death, Enduring Afterlife, a ... Show More
27m 53s
Jun 2024
Benjamin Franklin | Join or Die | 1
In 1723, a teenage Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia ready to reinvent himself. He was a penniless apprentice printer with a hunger for knowledge and a burning ambition. Over the next 50 years, he would fashion himself into the most celebrated American of his time.Frankli ... Show More
40m 56s
Jan 2022
Who is Benjamin Franklin?
Join Gen-Z Media producer, Claire McClanahan, for the first of four conversations with Ben Franklin expert, Dr George Boudreau. In this episode we learn a little bit more about who Ben Franklin was, in his younger years, before he was an elder statesman on the hundred dollar bill ... Show More
9m 6s
Jun 2022
#251 Ben Franklin and George Washington: The Founding Partnership
What I learned from reading Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward Larson.[0:59] Both men have been called The First American but they were friends first and never rivals.[1:32] Leadership at this level is a rare quality and well-worth study.[1:53] The Autobiog ... Show More
57m 14s
Sep 2022
Reed Hastings founder and co-CEO of Netflix
In this episode, Nicolai Tangen talks to Reed Hastings Founder and co-CEO of Netflix. They talk about how Netflix changed the entertainment industry, their unique corporate culture and how Netflix is dealing with the current competitive environment. The production team on this ep ... Show More
22m 31s