The Civil War, Mark Twain, the Brooklyn Bridge, jazz, prohibition. Huey Long, the Central Park Five, country music, the Shakers, radio. There’s little rhyme or reason to the subjects Ken Burns chooses to explore in his multi-part, singularly in-depth documentaries. Yet whatever or whomever the topic, they have one thing in common: Burns weaves a mesmerizing narrative arc. His Emmy wins and Academy Award nominations are no surprise, nor are the cultish fans who eagerly await his every project. Up next, on PBS, is Leonardo da Vinci, a two-part, four-hour feature on the Italian painter and polymath. As made clear at Air Mail’s latest Night at the Newsstand installment, which featured the director in conversation with biographer Walter Isaacson, Leonardo’s brilliance knew no bounds—and if anyone can bring it all together, it’s Burns. —Jack Sullivan