早在十七世纪中，就有追求宗教信仰自由的人，自英格兰、爱尔兰等地渡海来到北美。1774年，八位属於贵格会的信徒，跟随领导人李安女士(Ann Lee)，为躲避迫害，渡海来到纽约。因他们强调圣灵充满，及受灵感后的悸动，故又称“颤动者”(Shakers)。他们近乎“圣洁”的生活方式，渐渐引起注意，吸引不少人来寻求灵命引导。
此后十餘年内，Shakers在麻州、康乃迪克州、 New Hampshire 及缅因州建立了社区，过着如使徒时代“凡物公用”、不浪费、不懒惰、不虚谈、整洁有序、照顾贫困的社区生活。“亲手工作，全心属主”(Hands to Work, Hearts to God)，这是Shakers尽到管家责任的基本信念，是他们建立“人间天上”的法则。
位於New Hampshire州Canterbury的Shaker社区设於1792年，至1992年最后一位老姊妹辞世止，共历两百年，现已改成纪念园区。这庄园佔地四千亩，目前保有二十餘栋木造建筑，农田仍有人耕种，木工房与蜂房也有人操作，他们曾以农艺与木工闻名。洗衣房内仍有他们最早发明的蒸气洗衣烘乾机，会堂(他们称为meeting room，即教堂)除了长木凳和墙上掛衣帽的鉤子外，一切清简，而只有一间课室的学堂，仍维持当年样式，这是他们教导所收容孤儿寡妇的地方。
在庄园里追想当年Shakers在此耕作敬拜，与世无争的生活情景，对照着现今人们喧嚣竞逐享受奢侈的日子，怎不令人羡慕嘆息？但由於工业化、城市化、物质化、社会福利政治化的结果，愈来愈少人肯走上这条简朴单纯的道路。如今，Shakers农庄只剩下缅因州的Sabbathday Lake一处，仍有五位兄弟姊妹维持此一传统。

This documentary chronicles the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The difficult construction process is described in interesting detail; later parts of the film interview current notables who describe the effects that the Brooklyn Bridge has had upon New York society and beyond.

Inning One, Our Game, looks at the origins of baseball in the 1840s and takes the story up to 1900. Burns refutes the myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown and traces its roots instead to the earliest days of the nation — there are records of a game called "Base" played at Valley Forge.
Inning Two, Something Like a War, takes viewers through 1910 and introduces some of the game's most celebrated and colorful characters, including Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
Inning Three, The Faith of Fifty Million People, examines the century's second decade, which was dominated by the Black Sox scandal. George Herman "Babe" Ruth makes his first major league appearance (as a member of the Boston Red Sox) and a wave of immigration helps fill the stands with new fans, eager to "become American" by learning America's game.
Inning Four, A National Heirloom, concentrates on Babe Ruth, whose phenomenal performance thrilled the nation throughout the 1920s and rescued the game from the scandal of the previous decade.
Inning Five, Shadow Ball, tells the story of the Negro Leagues in the 1930s. The title refers to a common pre-game feature in which the players staged a mock game with an imaginary ball. Though unintended, the pantomime was an apt metaphor for the exclusion of blacks from major league play at that time.
Inning Six, The National Pastime, covers the 1940s and includes Joe DiMaggio's celebrated hitting streak, the awe-inspiring performance of Ted Williams and what Burns calls "baseball's finest moment" — the debut of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
Inning Seven, The Capital of Baseball, takes viewers through the 1950s when New York City had three successful baseball teams and dominated the World Series. By the end of the decade, the Giants and Dodgers had left New York, a signal that the old game was changed forever.
Inning Eight, A Whole New Ball Game, moves the field to the 1960s. This episode traces the emergence of television, the expansion to new cities and the building of anonymous multipurpose stadiums that robbed the game of its intimacy and some of its urban following.
Inning Nine, Home, looks at baseball from the 1970s to the present, including the establishment of the free agent system, the rise in player salaries, the continued expansion, the dilution of talent, the ongoing battles between labor and management and the scandals.

　　禁酒令这部PBS的纪录片分为三集，总共有五个半小时。这部纪录片由Ken Burns和Lynn Novick执导，讲述了将禁酒令写进美国第18次宪法修正案的起起伏伏和其间所涉及的各种重大事件。

　　当一个多世纪的激进主义反对达到顶点时，禁酒令却似乎真的提升甚至高尚化了美国人的生活水平，使得个人，家庭，乃至整个社会免于遭受滥用酒精所带来的毁灭性影响。

Jack Johnson是位着名的重量级拳王，但对於黑人来说，身处种族歧视严重的年代却保持我行我素的生活态度，才是他们景仰的地方。Johnson的勇气十足，白人花钱买票进场看他和白人拳手对决〈心里当然希望看他被海扁〉，在嘘声震天的场地里他仍面无惧色地撂倒一个个对手。尤有甚者，当时黑人男子若勾搭白妞恐遭杀身之祸，但Johnson却独排众议，专挑白人共渡良宵，即使麻烦缠身。整部纪录片突显了Johnson追求自由的精神，最终目的也在於嘲讽一个自始便存在奴隶制度的国家，竟有脸宣称“人生来平等”！？

For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.

The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.

The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.

PBS纪录片，讲述美国政治历史上最突出最具影响力的罗斯福家族的三位成员——西奥多、富兰克林、埃莉诺。