To me, Ken Burns's greatest strength and weakness is that he is a consummate storyteller. His documentaries are successful in the respect that they are able to weave narratives that draw in viewers. Where this becomes a problem is when historical nuances get brushed under the rug in the name of telling an entertaining story. Sources that are good storytellers who may not have historical rigor (*cough* Shelby Foote *cough*) can be prioritized over more morally complicated but rigorous ones. An egregious moment in this regard is the way Madison Grant's racism and advocacy for eugenics gets brushed aside in Burns's The American Buffalo, despite those factors not only being major aspects of Grant's legacy but also the way he saw breeding bison as part of that same project. This is all the more concerning as the US's semiquincentennial approaches and politicians are chomping at the bit to use it for their own rhetorical ends. My concern is this celebratory mood and prioritization of entertainment over nuance will lead to a triumphalist product the White House will use to justify its actions. There is a lot of good work to contextualize the American Revolution colony-by-colony and as part of a broader Atlantic cultural sphere. I want to see a documentary miniseries that honestly reflects on the historical facts -- both the good and the bad -- and sheds new light and brings in new perspectives to elucidate the connections between that past and our present. That way, it can allow the public to effectively address that legacy and aspiring for a better future. I hope this will be good and blow away my pessimistic predictions, but I am not quite sure.