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Podcast: New Books in Popular Culture
Episode: Matt Singer, "Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2023)
Description: Once upon a time, if you wanted to know if a movie was worth seeing, you didnāt check out Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB. You asked whether Siskel & Ebert had given it ātwo thumbs up.āOn a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight years before theyād ever exchanged a word) met for lunch in a Chicago pub. Gene Siskel was the film critic for theĀ Chicago Tribune. Roger Ebert had recently won the Pulitzer Prizeāthe first ever awarded to a film criticāfor his work at theĀ Chicago Sun-Times.Ā To...