The Greatest: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon on Muhammad Ali

Edge of Sports

Dave Zirin / The Nation

News, Sports News, Sports, History, Politics

4.8 • 616 Ratings

🗓️ 19 July 2021

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On September 19, PBS will debut the new documentary “Muhammad Ali” by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon. This week we speak to them about how to bring a larger than life figure back down to earth and what they learned from the project.

We also have “Choice Words” about the IOC’s shocking and casual display of anti-Asian racism from Thomas Bach. In addition, we have “Just Stand Up” and “Just Sit Down” awards to ESPN personality Jay Williams and NFL Network's Rich Eisen for speaking out about the need to get vaccinated and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for his stupid and bigoted comments about baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani and the Nigerian olympic basketball team. We also have a tribute to Hip-Hop legend Biz Markie, who recently passed. All this and more on this week’s show!

Ken Burns

Twitter: @KenBurns

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unum/

Sarah Burns

Twitter: @sarah_l_burns

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/about-the-filmmakers/sarah-burns/

Dave McMahon

Twitter: @DavidMMcMahon

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/about-the-filmmakers/david-mcmahon/

Zirin, Anti-Asian Racism and the 2020 Olympic Games

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/thomas-bach-tokyo-olympics/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, we put African American history in February, the coldest and shortest month, as
0:06.0	if it's some politically correct addendum to our national narrative, and not as we have
0:11.6	discovered in everything we have done at the burning heart of it.
0:15.4	It is inseparable.
0:16.8	It is integrated in every sense of the word.
0:19.8	And so it's not, it's just the question of pursuing the stories of us.
0:24.9	And, you know, the stories in there will keep us busy for thousands of years if we were given that time.
0:44.2	Yeah. Welcome to the Edge of Sports podcast. I'm Dave Ziron.
0:47.4	We have an oh-so special show for you this week.
0:53.1	This fall, there will be a multi-night documentary on PBS called Muhammad Ali,
0:57.4	with the tagline, Big than boxing, larger than life.
1:05.0	And we have its creators, the legendary, Ken Burns, and the soon-to-be legendary, Sarah Burns and David McMahon.
1:08.8	I also have choice words about the Olympics.
1:11.8	I have just stand up and just sit down awards.
1:15.1	I've got a tribute to the biz himself.
1:17.1	Nobody beats the biz, biz, Macy.
1:22.2	But first, Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon.
1:30.1	So, you know, not to shock you guys, but you are the Burns McMan's.
1:32.9	Um, you could make any film.
1:34.4	Why Ali?
1:36.3	Ken, start with you.
1:44.5	Well, I think that the real impetus for this, uh, grew out of Dave and Sarah.
	...

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