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Salon

Lifestyle

Alison Stine

Ben Franklin, pop culture darling

Ben Franklin Benjamin Franklin Lin-Manuel Miranda Ken Burns PBS

Benjamin Franklin, circa 1785. Artist Joseph Siffred Duplessis. Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images

He's the latest subject of a Ken Burns documentary, PBS' double header "Benjamin Franklin," which is now streaming. Quotes attributed to him spring up everywhere, including on Netflix's "Virgin River." Why has Benjamin Franklin, or our idea of Franklin, endured in our national memory for so long, and where are some of the places in popular culture to continue to find him?

Related: Ken Burns on Benjamin Franklin & our nation's flawed identity: "Race is the central question" of US

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