Arts: Oliver Stone on War, George Bush, Ken Burns, and His New Show

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Brow Beat Oliver Stone on War, George Bush, Ken Burns, and His New Show By June Thomas Posted Wednesday, Nov 14, 2012, at 03:15 PM ET Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States premiered on Showtime on Monday, Nov. 12. In a prologue to the 10-part documentary series, which covers the period from World War II to the present day, Stone describes being perturbed by what was being taught in American schools and determining to "tell the American story in a way that hasn't been told before." Slate spoke with Stone and his co-author, history professor and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at the American University Peter Kuznick, about the project. June Thomas: Did you always see this as a documentary? Oliver Stone: Not until 2008. Thomas: What happened then? Stone: The Bush presidency and Ken Burns' The War on PBS, which so irritated me because it was constantly glorifying and sentimentalizing World War II through American eyes. I felt like we'd reached a place, where, for at least the remainder of my years, I had to put something down that really matters for the future, and I thought the documentary form would do it. I went to Peter and I said, "Let's do this story on [Henry] Wallace and the bomb." And that grew from one hour and a half to this monstrosity. It's the best thing I've ever done in terms of social contribution in my opinion. Thomas: It feels like a very personal project—your name's above the title, you appear in the onscreen prologue, you're the narrator. Stone: I didn't narrate ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate General Confusion Microsoft Just Lost Its Steve Jobs How Jimmy Fallon Gets Such Great Musical Guests	Advertisement
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