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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar NoéRachel BrosnahanAmy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep157: Facts. Opinions. Lies. DENIAL w/ Deborah Lipstadt

In 1996, Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt was sued by historian David Irving for debunking his claims that the Holocaust didn't happen. Director Mick Jackson and screenwriter David Hare have turned Lipstadt's account of the ensuing multi-year legal battle into the new film Denial (opening today), starring Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall, and Tom Wilkinson.

Ian sat down with Lipstadt recently to discuss the process of adapting her book, "Holocaust History on Trial", into a movie; the importance of distinguishing between facts, opinions, and lies; and the modern political climate, which makes this twenty-year-old story feel, sadly, more relevant than ever.

Also, Ian mentions an odd celebrity sighting, and sings the praises of Fabio Frizzi, whose appearance at the Music Box Theatre last night was just as special as he'd imagined.

There's no denying that Episode 157 is a celebration of truth and the courage to stand up for it.

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Ep158: A NATION Divided

Ep156: Smoke on the Wahlberg