Mark your calendars: Ken Burns’ newest documentary will premiere on PBS on Sunday, September 27, 2009. Called The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, the 12-hour, six-part series will explore “an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.”

Burns is most widely known for his documentaries about the United States Civil War and World War II, and for some, the more lighthearted subject may be a welcome change. The War, Burns’ most recent work about World War II, will resonate with me for the rest of my life. Watching it was often emotionally arduous, but facing the tragedy on the television was incomparable to the events and oral histories that The War describes. As much as America’s entry into World War II is seen as a just cause, watching The War is akin to patriotic duty. It’s a must-see for anyone who wants to put “Freedom Isn’t Free” into perspective, and after watching it, you will never forget names like Babe Ciarlo, Quentin Aanenson, Ray Leopold, Joseph Medicine Crow, and others. Burns is known for documentaries that explore Jazz, and the lives of American icons like Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson, among others.

Since we at O&B love nature, conservation, and our National Parks as much as we love music and history, we’re greatly looking forward to The National Parks; join us on September 27 and check it out. It’ll most certainly be worth your while.