Ken Burns: "Jackie Robinson is a true, authentic hero because he is complex."

Edge of Sports

Dave Zirin / The Nation

News, Sports News, Sports, History, Politics

4.8 • 616 Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2016

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we have the most acclaimed historical documentary filmmaker on earth, Ken Burns. He made ‘Baseball’ and ‘Jazz,’ and now we talk to Burns about his new two-part PBS documentary 'Jackie Robinson.' It's a powerful back-and-forth about the actuality of Robinson's complicated legacy that goes beyond puff-pieces and Hollywood-myth-making. Burns connects Robinson's struggle to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Trump, and the warmed over racism that infuses the modern Republican Party. In our ‘Choice Words’ segment, Dave speaks in detail about one of the unsung heroes of Robinson's journey, radical sports journalist Lester Rodney. And for the ‘Just Stand Up Award,’ the loudest possible solidarity with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team and they push for far wages and equality.PBS Ken Burns film “Jackie Robinson” premieres April 11-12, 2016. Information: http://pbs.org/jackierobinsonKen Burns website: http://kenburns.com twitter: http://twitter.com/kenburnsZirin: “More than a Sportswriter: Lester 'Red' Rodney: 1911-2009” http://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/12/23/more-sportswriter-lester-red-rodney-1911-2009http://edgeofsportspodcast.com | http://twitter.com/edgeofsports | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: [email protected]: Jazz by Lee Ho Jun https://soundcloud.com/lee-ho-jun-573335801 Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is brought to you by Team Mobile. This season, T-Mobile customers can get a free
0:04.9	season-long subscription to MLB.tv. Premium. Sign up by April 10th at T-Mobile.com slash MLB.
0:13.7	Sign up for MLB TV while on T-Mobile's network.
0:19.3	Welcome to Edge of Sports, the podcast. I'm Dave Ziron. Our guest this week is the most
0:24.3	acclaimed historical documentary filmmaker we have. He did the Civil War, baseball, jazz,
0:31.4	the Central Park Five, and just two years ago, the Roosevelt's. And, his latest, four hours, over two nights,
0:39.0	debuting on April 11th on PBS.
0:41.4	It's called Jackie Robinson.
0:43.3	The filmmaker's name is Ken Burns.
0:49.6	If I had a room jammed with trophies, awards, and citations, and a child of mine came into
0:57.9	that room and asked what I had done in defense of black people and decent whites fighting
1:04.2	for freedom.
1:06.7	And if I had to tell that child had kept quiet, that I had been timid, I would have to mark
1:13.8	myself a total failure in the whole business of living.
1:19.9	Jackie Robinson.
1:20.9	So you were born in Brooklyn in 1953.
1:24.6	What did you hear about Jackie Robinson growing up?
1:27.1	I was actually physically born in Brooklyn at King's County Hospital. What did you hear about Jackie Robinson growing up?
1:31.0	I was actually physically born in Brooklyn at Kings County Hospital.
1:32.8	My parents lived on the Upper West Side.
1:36.1	My mom worked at Kings County Hospital in the laboratory.
1:37.1	She was a biologist.
	...

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