Each episode of this three-part series will be available to stream for free with the PBS App for four weeks beginning the night of its broadcast premiere.
Henry David Thoreau helped define modern environmentalism and nonviolent resistance.
The author of “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience,” his words resonate urgently today as humanity struggles to live in harmony with nature and each other.
Narrated by George Clooney with Thoreau voiced by Jeff Goldblum, this three-part series from Ken Burns looks at the life and work of Henry David Thoreau and how his work still inspires and resonates today.
Monday, March 30 at 8 p.m.
‘Who Are We?’ / ‘Being Alive’
Henry David Thoreau’s early life unfolds as a changing nation struggles to live up to its ideals, while industry threatens the landscape. After attending Harvard College, he was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson to become a writer. Then, a family tragedy deepens his bond with nature, and, disillusioned with society, he builds a cabin in the woods to live simply, deliberately, quietly and write.
Living at his cabin at Walden Pond, Thoreau finds solace in “wild” nature and pours himself into his journal, laying the groundwork for one of two books he writes there. His two-year stay includes regular trips to town, a transformative journey to Maine and a night in jail in protest of a government that permits slavery, experiences that redefine his understanding of freedom.
Tuesday, March 31 at 8 p.m.
‘Several More Lives to Live’
After completing his two-year experiment at Walden Pond, Thoreau returns to society to test what he has learned about living responsibly. He undertakes new “experiments” as a surveyor, scientist and abolitionist, and takes two more trips to Maine, uncovering even deeper truths about life and the world. He writes with a new urgency as a lifelong illness begins to catch up with him.
