Coffee House Shots: why is antisemitism so pervasive? Irving v Lipstadt 25 years on

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🗓️ 26 May 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

This spring marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark judgment in the infamous Irving v Lipstadt Holocaust denial case. David Irving sued American academic Deborah Lipstadt after she had described him as a Holocaust denier in her 1994 book, for his claims that Jews had not been systematically exterminated by the Nazis. Given the burden of proof in English libel law being on the defence, it was up to Lipstadt and her publisher Penguin to prove her claims were true that Irving had deliberately misrepresented evidence. In 2000, the Judge found in her favour.

Deborah Lipstadt and the lawyers that represented her, Anthony Julius and James Libson, join Michael Gove for this special edition of Coffee House Shots to provide their reflections: on the trial, on what it’s like to go to court over something that’s widely accepted as settled historical truth, and to discuss why they think antisemitism flourishes in so many forms. They also talk about why the principles of the case are ever more important today as they were 25 years ago.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Transcript

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0:51.0	Hello and welcome to the special bank holiday edition of Coffee House Shots. I'm Michael Gove.
0:58.3	This is the 25th anniversary of the landmark Irving versus Lipsstadt libel case, where David Irving
1:06.0	sued American academic Deborah Lipsstadt after she accused him of being a Holocaust denial.
1:12.8	Deborah joined us for this podcast alongside the lawyers who represented her, Anthony Julius and James
1:18.2	Lipson, to provide her reflections on the trial and the intense media scrutiny at the time
1:23.7	on Holocaust denial more generally and why the principles behind the case are even more
1:29.6	important today, as we've been reminded this week, in a context of rising anti-Semitism.
1:38.5	Deborah, 25 years on, what is the real historical significance of that trial and David Irving's defeat?
1:46.9	I think the main significance is the body of material that we amassed due to the decision to
1:53.7	assemble this dream team of historians. And for the first time ever, a group of top-notch historians sat down and demolished the
	...

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