On the Fourth of July—a day that Ken Burns unsurprisingly refers to as “by far, by far, my favorite holiday”—I accompanied the legendary documentary filmmaker to a naturalization ceremony on the West ...

Directors Sarah Botstein and Ken Burns look at a bust of George Washington made by Jean-Antoine Houdon at George Washington's Mount Vernon on Oct. 29, 2025, in Mount Vernon, Va. Credit - Matt ...

Throughout his career, Burns has developed and perfected the tricks of his particular trade: the evocative use of music and quotations from speeches and correspondence; the use of actors to read the ...

This story was featured in The Must Read, a newsletter in which our editors recommend one can’t-miss story every weekday. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. On the Fourth of July—a day that Ken ...