4: Filmmaker Ken Burns talks about his latest epic on World War II

Hey look, they even ran a cool house ad in the Datebook section for TV Talk Machine. Very nice. And radio ads. Normally TVTM would collapse under the weight of those expectations, what with me and Question Boy rambling about shorty robes and such, but today (like "Simpsons" writer Joel Cohen before) we have some worthy content. Ken Burns has long been one of my favorites through the years. He does great work, he's passionate about what he does, he smartly elevates the discourse and he's a whole lot funnier than people give him credit for, though as we discuss "The War," his upcoming 7-part, 14 hour documentary on WWII, not a whole lot of the latter will be evident. You'll have to pardon my croak-heavy voice during this interview. When Burns came to the Chronicle for the podcast, I was in the middle of a heavy cold and struggling to keep my voice and limited mental faculties. Still, Burns can carry an interview like few others and he did all the heavy lifting. Enjoy, and Pt. 2 will be available next week, a well as Pt. 1. The entire interview will be archived so you can sample it when ready and there's probably a good chance I'll talk with Burns a couple of more times before the documentary airs on PBS in September.