Midd Scholars Featured in New PBS Thoreau Documentary
Rebecca Kneale Gould, associate professor of environmental studies, and Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies, are among several scholars who appear throughout the new documentary Henry David Thoreau, executive produced by Ken Burns and Don Henley. The first episode of the three-part film premiered March 30 on PBS and is available for streaming on pbs.org and on the PBS app.
Narrated by George Clooney with voices provided by Ted Danson, Tate Donovan, Jeff Goldblum, and Meryl Streep, the new film “examines the life and work of the 19th-century writer in the context of antebellum New England and the larger United States, as well as through the universal themes he focused on in his writings: an individual’s relationship to the state, how to live an authentic life, our connection to nature, and the impact of race on American life.”
On his website, Burns writes about the film, “In this modern take on the historical documentary, the mythical Thoreau—the hermit of Walden Pond, the imitator of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the nag, the saint—will give way to the human Thoreau: social; genial; an exacting scientist and charismatic speaker; an individual with flaws, self-contradictions, and misjudgments that prove his humanity and hold a mirror to our own.”
Professor Gould—who also appears in the trailer below—teaches and writes about Thoreau, spirituality, and back-to-the-land practices. She is the author of At Home in Nature and has spoken and published widely on the connection between religious identity and environmental advocacy.
Bill McKibben is cofounder of Third Act, which mobilizes people over 60 for action on climate and justice. He’s the author of The End of Nature and 20 other books, and has received numerous honors, including the Right Livelihood Award and Gandhi Peace Prize.
