11 episodes
The American War The Washington Post
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- History
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3.8 • 412 Ratings
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A podcast guide to "The Vietnam War," the new documentary from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Washington Post Opinion columnist Alyssa Rosenberg breaks down each episode of the film with Burns and Novick themselves, getting the story behind the stories, and grappling with the lessons the United States learned -- and failed to learn -- in Vietnam and at home. Listen after you watch each episode of "The Vietnam War" for a new perspective on how the film was made and what it all means.
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Preview: 'The American War,' a podcast guide to the new PBS documentary 'The Vietnam War'
Over 10 episodes, host Alyssa Rosenberg will be joined by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and other collaborators on the film to discuss how America lost its way in Vietnam and how this documentary tries to help us find our way back.
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Episode 1: “We are possessed by a desire not to know about Vietnam.”
In the premiere episode of “The American War,” Alyssa talks to Ken Burns and Harvard professor Fredrik Logevall about Episode One of "The Vietnam War," discussing the stories Americans tell ourselves about what happened to our country during the Vietnam.
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Episode 2: “To me, JFK was God.”
It’s easy to say now that the Vietnam War was always a doomed endeavor. But Americans who went to fight in Vietnam thought they were answering John F. Kennedy’s call to public service. Alyssa asks Ken Burns how our ideals went so wrong.
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Episode 3: “We are behaving like ugly Americans.”
To truly understand what happened to America in Vietnam, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick knew they had to talk to our former opponents. Alyssa talks to Lynn about what it took to go to Vietnam and find the veterans and civilians who shared their stories.
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Episode 4: “We want the dead to come back to us.”
Many of the Gold Star parents who lost their children in Vietnam are aging, and as they are, their stories are being lost. Alyssa finds out how Lynn Novick and Ken Burns found Jean-Marie Crocker, a Gold Star mother.
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Episode 5: “I only killed one human being in Vietnam.”
As African Americans fought for their rights at home, anti-Asian racism shaped American policy in Vietnam and became a coping tool for soldiers. Alyssa talks to Ken Burns about his career-long focus on race as a key part of the American story.
Customer Reviews
Like it
I like the documentary a lot better than the podcast. It was a lot more fare in the documentary Made very neutral showing both sides of the argument in horrible war. Than I thought it would be. The podcast brought out the left leaning views of the producers Ken Burns and the host. He is a great documentary maker that doesn’t bring his personal views into it. Unlike some of the news organizations, left and right
Love the show
Amazing brave guests
Great format on how you do your interviews
Keep doing what your doing and I'll keep listening and supporting
Disservice to the documentary
If the documentary The Vietnam War continues to haunt and conflict you, please avoid this podcast. Host Alyssa Rosenberg’s follow-on reflections and commentary about the epic documentary are self-important, trite, distracting, biased, and irrelevant.