250th US birthday
America marks its 250th birthday in July 2026, the context for Burns's new Revolution documentary series.
Snapshot · Empire: World History
374. Ken Burns on the American Revolution and Empire
Explore episode
Jul 4, 2026
Where this was said
Intro, Sponsor Reads & Ad Break
At 3:02 · chapter starts 0:00
The opening two minutes are given over to promotional material: a pitch for the Empire Club's SUMMER26 discount offer, an endorsement of the London Review of Books with a free three-month trial at lrb.me/trial, and pre-roll advertisements for BetterHelp's online therapy service (citing their 2026 State of Stigma report finding 74% of Americans believe society discourages asking for help) and the prescription medication Tremfya for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. None of this material relates to the episode's historical content, but the BetterHelp ad's framing of 'too many tabs open' inadvertently echoes the episode's theme of unresolved national trauma.
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