The Day I spent with Robert Redford in Boulder
Sep 16th
It was the early ’90s, and I’d just finished Philip: The Life and Death of a Homeless Person, a 30-minute documentary about a guy who lived under bridges along Boulder’s bike paths, scarred by Vietnam and cut off from family.
I’d filmed him for months until he died one summer night under a bridge. Shot on high 8 video tape and edited on those old decks in my condo living room suite, it was raw and real. The film won a national public access award for best documentary, a yearly honor for low-budget work that lands a punch.
I’d filmed him for months until he died one summer night under a bridge. Shot on high 8 video tape and edited on those old decks in my condo living room suite, it was raw and real. The film won a national public access award for best documentary, a yearly honor for low-budget work that lands a punch.
Robert Redford, with his University of Colorado and Boulder roots, got hold of it through some connection. He wrote to me in a hand written letter, said it hit him hard, and invited me to his place to talk about editing it for a Sundance submission, offering his team’s help. I spent a day with him near Boulder—nothing fancy, just a comfortable spot with a view of the Flatirons. We sat in his study, surrounded by books and film scripts, sipping coffee. He was direct, no Hollywood ego, just a guy who cared about stories. He pushed me to tighten the doc’s pacing, maybe trim a few scenes to make Philip’s story hit even harder. “You’ve got something here,” he said. “Sundance could amplify it.” I nodded, but deep down, I knew I wouldn’t follow through—too buried in radio gigs at KNUS when it was still liberal, hosting on Channel 54, and hustling to pay bills. 
We got to talking about Boulder, swapping stories about mutual CU friends and old haunts like the Sink or the Hill from his student days in the ’50s. I mentioned how the town was shifting, tech money creeping in; he reminisced about skiing Eldora. It felt like catching up with an old pal, except he was Redford.
The conversation turned to the Thayne Smika case. Redford was pissed about how the Boulder DA’s office botched it. In 1983, Smika shot and killed Sid Wells, a CU student dating Redford’s daughter Shauna, in Wells’ condo on the Hill over a drug and money dispute. Smika, his roommate, was the clear suspect, but DA Alex Hunter claimed the evidence wasn’t enough. They arrested Smika, then let him go. He’s been a fugitive ever since, wanted by the FBI for murder. Redford had been funding investigators and speaking out, saying Sid and Shauna deserved justice, and Boulder’s system failed them. His frustration was palpable, his voice low and intense.
I’d covered similar stories on Channel 54 which is now long gone like Philip’s. That day with Redford stuck with me, but the Sundance edit never happened. I’m still in Boulder, making docs and hosting shows, telling the stories that need telling on You tube and X
Charlie Kirk told hundreds of Lies. Here are Fifty
Sep 14th
Charlie Kirk has made dozens of false claims targeting Democrats, liberals, and women, often using inflammatory rhetoric to push divisive narratives. :
1 Democrats want open borders to destroy America. (False: Democrats support immigration reform, not unchecked borders.)
2 Liberals are brainwashing kids with CRT in schools. (False: CRT is a graduate-level framework, not K-12 curriculum.)
3 Women’s rights are a liberal plot to erase family values. (False: Women’s rights focus on equality, not family destruction.)
4 Democrats rigged 2020 election with mail-in ballots. (False: No evidence; audits confirmed results.)
5 Liberals promote pedophilia via “woke” policies. (False: Baseless smear against progressive reforms.)
6 Women choosing careers over motherhood is societal decay. (False: Economic pressures, not rejection of motherhood, drive trends.)
7 Democrats want to defund police entirely. (False: Most advocate reform, not abolition.)
Liberal teachers groom kids for “sexual anarchy.” (False: No evidence; fearmongering about inclusive education.)
8 Women’s reproductive rights harm unborn lives. (False: Ignores medical necessity, autonomy.)
Liberals hate traditional masculinity. (False: Critique toxic behaviors, not masculinity itself.)
9These claims, often debunked by fact-checkers like PolitiFact, exaggerate or misrepresent policies and motives to vilify Democrats, liberals, and women’s autonomy.
Douglass Mackey was convicted solely for a 2016 meme.
(False: Convicted for voter suppression conspiracy.)
Jamie Foxx became paralyzed and blind from a COVID vaccine.
(False: No evidence; health issues unrelated.)
Harvard’s $54B endowment is a tax-free hedge fund.
(False: It’s an endowment for education, taxed on income.)
Yale’s $31B, Stanford’s $29B, Princeton’s $26B endowments pay zero taxes.
(False: Subject to UBIT on unrelated business income.)
World Economic Forum has its own police force.
(False: Relies on host-country security.)
West Point slot went to a less-qualified woman/minority.
(False: Admitted sarcasm; no evidence.)
George Floyd counterfeited currency illegally.
(False: Used fake $20; not central to death.)
Floyd put a gun to a pregnant woman’s stomach.
(False: Debunked rumor; no such incident.)
Hydroxychloroquine is 100% effective against COVID.
(False: Ineffective; caused harm.)
Liberal group injected chaos with 20,000 last-day voter registrations in Maricopa County.
(False: Unsupported; legal process.)
There are only two genders; transgenderism is a lie.
(False: Gender spectrum recognized by science.)
White privilege is a racist lie.
(False: Systemic advantages exist.)
Abortion never medically necessary.
(False: Ectopic pregnancies, etc., require it.)
Young women don’t value children (fertility collapse).
(False: Economic factors, not values.)
Empathy is weakness post-school shootings.
(False: Empathy drives policy solutions.)
Some gun deaths worth it for Second Amendment.
(False: Minimizes preventable deaths.)
Mass shootings mostly trans perpetrators.
(False: Debunked; rare cases.)
Rise of Islam a major threat (2025 warning).
(False: Exaggerated fearmongering.)
Democrats want “sexual anarchy” erasing identity.
(False: Supports LGBTQ rights, not erasure.)
MLK critique isn’t “trampling sacred ground.”
(False: Undermined civil rights icon falsely.)
Kirk’s distortions fueled division, often rated False/Pants on Fire by fact-checkers like PolitiFact.
In the days following Charlie Kirk’s tragic assassination on September 10, 2025, tributes from allies like Donald Trump have lionized him as a patriot who “helped us win in 2024.” But Kirk’s legacy is marred by a relentless stream of falsehoods about American elections, eroding trust in democracy and fueling division. Far from a defender of truth, Kirk peddled conspiracies that painted elections as rigged against conservatives—claims debunked repeatedly by courts, officials, and fact-checkers. His lies weren’t mere slips; they were calculated to rally his young followers, much like a cult leader stoking paranoia.Kirk’s most infamous deceptions centered on the 2020 election, which he repeatedly branded “stolen” despite zero evidence of widespread fraud. He organized buses to the January 6, 2021, Capitol rally, bragging about mobilizing 80 supporters just in time for the riot that left five dead and injured 174 police officers.
Before Congress, Kirk invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to detail his role.
He amplified Trump’s baseless fraud narrative on his podcast and X (formerly Twitter), telling audiences the election was “rigged” by Democrats, including wild accusations of dead voters and ballot-stuffing machines.
These lies persisted into 2024; as late as July, Kirk told the BBC he believed fraud existed “on the edges,” hedging just enough to dodge full accountability.
Post-January 6, he hosted events glorifying the insurrectionists, framing them as patriots fighting a “coup.”
As the 2024 cycle heated up, Kirk’s distortions shifted to fearmongering that primed his base for post-election denial. He promoted the debunked hoax that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets—a racist trope traced to neo-Nazi origins—claiming it exemplified “invasion” threats under Biden-Harris that would “steal” the vote.
On X, he warned that if Trump lost, “Alabama would be overrun by hundreds of thousands of Haitians,” tying immigration lies to electoral doom.
At rallies, Kirk declared the election “existential,” with “forces of darkness” plotting against Trump, echoing 2020 rhetoric to justify any outcome as fraudulent.
PolitiFact cataloged his broader whoppers, like falsely claiming Douglass Mackey was jailed for a 2016 meme (he was convicted for voter suppression via disinformation).
And in August 2024, he lied that Tim Walz rationed COVID treatments by skin color—pure fabrication.
Kirk’s Turning Point USA funneled millions into “Chase the Vote,” a get-out-the-vote push credited with flipping youth turnout rightward.
But his “victory” speeches at AmericaFest 2024 rang hollow against his history of sowing doubt. Trump won decisively, yet Kirk’s pre-election lies—about rigged systems and immigrant “invasions”—mirrored the 2020 playbook, ensuring his cult-like followers would question any loss.
No one deserved Kirk’s violent end, but whitewashing his deceit dishonors democracy. His words didn’t unite America; they fractured it, turning elections into battlegrounds of alternate facts. As Pastor Howard John-Wesley warned, death doesn’t redeem a life weaponized for lies.
Kirk’s organization marches on, a dangerous echo chamber. We must expose these falsehoods to protect the ballot box.
