When Holocaust Denial Went to Court: The Irving v. Lipstadt Trial with Dr. Kenneth Stern

What happens when history itself is put on trial?In this episode of Jewish Actually, Lila sits down with Dr. Kenneth Stern, the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, who spent 25 years at the American Jewish Committee, and helped develop the working definition of antisemitism later adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on hate and extremism.Stern also played a key behind-the-scenes role as a special advisor in one of the most consequential legal battles over truth in modern history: Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt. In this conversation, Stern takes us inside the case, not just what happened, but how it was fought. From the decision to turn the trial into a case against the denier, to the strategy of relying on expert historians instead of survivors, to the painstaking work of exposing distortions line by line, Stern breaks down the legal and intellectual playbook used to dismantle Holocaust denial in court.Lila and Stern also explore how the IHRA working definition of anti-semitism and how it connects to hate and extremism today. As one of the leading drafters of the definition, Stern explains its significance and potential challenges, too.