Posted on in Video 49

"Slavery was our worst idea," says legendary documentarian Ken Burns. "I'm not sure that Prohibition was second, but it's really right up there." Burns talks to Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie about his new PBS film, an in-depth look at one of the most controversial episodes in US history. "The Noble Experiment," notes Burns, left a legacy of organized crime, moral hypocrisy, single-issue politics, and unintended consequences from which we're still recovering. About 13 minutes. Shot by Jim Epstein, Anthony Fisher, and Meredith Bragg, who also edited the piece. Come back to tomorrow for another sit-down with Burns and a discussion of his ardent support for public funding of the arts, the breakdown of mass audiences, and whether his self-description of being a "Yellow Dog Democrat" affects his creative work.

  1. profwito
    This is the first Reason TV video I've ever "disliked." This guy cannot see the implications of what he's saying. It's truly sad.
    October 3, 2011
  2. NHindividualist
    He's wrong about the reason for the 16th. It wasn't so that prohibition would be "enshrined" and not repealed; it was because without an amendment, the federal government had no authority to outlaw alcohol. Ah, what a quaint time when Congress didn't ban
    October 3, 2011
  3. newyorkairsoft
    @econogate Ken Burn can't bring himself to say the nanny states now a day is the same as prohibition because he's a die-hard liberal. He donates money to the Dem, endorsed Obama, and is planning to be a contributor to the left wing Keith Obermann's show.
    October 3, 2011
  4. Ihasmoarface
    @elricmlbone no doubt, but at least you guys got those cool bear arms.
    October 3, 2011
  5. elricmlbone
    16th amendment was our worst one, hands down
    October 3, 2011
  6. yojimbo81
    @TamedLionheart Forcing someone to buy healthcare is not an improvement.
    October 3, 2011
  7. successfulbuild
    Ken Burns is awesome. I got his PBS series on the Civil War off Amazon. history [dot] com / interactives / civil-war-150. (Not as in-depth but a good introduction as it has stories from soldiers.) _ Btw... the rich never were affected much by prohibitio
    October 3, 2011
  8. econogate
    I can't believe he would study prohibition and not find the similarities absolutely astonishing today with regard to the Nanny state today, it maybe as if he never read a book about the insanity of the "war on drugs". How can he not fully connect the two
    October 3, 2011
  9. VMATT500C
    Ken, forgot the Collusive Monetary problems facing America and the rest of the World, OOPS.
    October 3, 2011
  10. MrWatchdawg77
    @TamedLionheart Yep seriously! Forced integration by gun point, the striping of the rights to free association, forcing people to do business with people they don't want to, the death of any hope for Blacks to have their own part of America (Malcolm X),
    October 3, 2011
  11. MrWatchdawg77
    @TamedLionheart Yep seriously! Forced integration by gun point, the striping of the rights to free association, forcing people to do business with people they don't want to, the death of any hope for Blacks to have their own part of America (Malcolm X),
    October 3, 2011
  12. TamedLionheart
    @MrWatchdawg77 So your order of " worst" ideas is slavery which I agree, prohibition(again no question it was a bad idea), the law that gave blacks the right to vote? a motion to help with equal rights, and an attempt to improve health care? Seriously?
    October 3, 2011
  13. yojimbo81
    @grraadd Burns is a devout leftist. They are prone to hyperbole.
    October 3, 2011
  14. HolisticPlantHealth
    It's a shame that this guy is still blinded by the lies and propaganda of drug prohibition. 11:50 .... The unintended consequence of not knowing what you are talking about but acting like you do: Being unaware that there are already plenty of sobriety tes
    October 3, 2011
  15. MrWatchdawg77
    We need an Amendment that makes illegal aliens illegal!
    October 3, 2011
  16. MrWatchdawg77
    @MrWatchdawg77 Oh ya and amnesty for illegal aliens!
    October 3, 2011
  17. MrWatchdawg77
    In order of most worst ideas! Slavery! Prohibition! Civil Right Act of 1965! Affermative Action! Obama Care!
    October 3, 2011
  18. CurtHowland
    Roosevelt was elected over and over not because his policies extended and deepened the depression, but purely because he could say, "I repealed prohibition for you."
    October 3, 2011
  19. CurtHowland
    Calvin and Hobbs had a great bit on this: Calvin: I found a way to really annoy Mom and Dad. I play easy-listening Muzak, really soft, too.
    October 3, 2011
  20. grraadd
    ha ha - slavery wasn't american idea... Prohibitions were tried by many countries, so even that idiocy isn't american.
    October 3, 2011
  21. TasteOfGreen
    Just saw Ken on the Colbert Report, good to see him making the rounds.
    October 3, 2011