It seems absurd to ask, but who was Benjamin Franklin, really? The American founder’s legacy is at once ubiquitous and somehow elusive. He was never president, nor a cabinet secretary—he’s not even name-checked in Hamilton. Surveying his various careers as a scientist, inventor, writer, publisher, and diplomat, one could be forgiven for not properly engaging with any of them. Call it the curse of the polymath.

~ Matthew Taub from, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ken-burns-ben-franklin

The Curse of the Polymath sounds like a classic film. The sort with a 15–minute overture, and an actual intermission. I’ve not yet watched the whole film, but I’m definitely past the intermission.

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