Skylight Books Podcast Series

Mar 27 2025 1619 ep. 49 mins 269

Skylight Books Podcast Series artwork

The Skylight Books podcast presents author events and other audio snapshots from the world of Skylight Books. Our Los Angeles bookstore has served the historic neighborhoods of Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Echo Park for over a quarter century (plus an expanded audience online). This podcast is made by booksellers for all to listen, learn, and enjoy.

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Better Than the Movie 23: THE NATURAL w/ Jonah Lipton

Mar 27 2025 108 mins

Happy Opening Day! Baseball is back, and BTTM is back with another baseball-themed book adaptation. Bookseller and writer Jonah Lipton joins the crew to discuss Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel THE NATURAL, and its 1984 film adaptation starring Robert Redford. Famously the book is downbeat and cynical, reflecting postwar disillusionment, while the movie is upbeat and heroic, reflecting

SKYLIT: Marya E. Gates, CINEMA HER WAY

Mar 13 2025 50 mins

Film journalist and critic Marya E. Gates talks with Justin about her new book, Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors In Their Own Words. The book is a stylishly illustrated collection of interviews with 19 film directors, including Gillian Armstrong, Jane Campion, Mira Nair, Mary Lambert, and Katt Shea. Another great chat for our cinephile listeners!Hosted and produced by Jus

Better Than the Movie 22: HELLRAISER (1987) / THE HELLBOUND HEART w/ Garon Cockrell

Feb 27 2025 67 mins

Come to... Pod-dy? We're straining for puns over here, but we've got a fun remote-recorded episode today, featuring the return of author and podcaster Garon Cockrell (Demonic and Other Tales). It's a follow-up to last year's Nightbreed episode, in which Tyler voiced his dislike for body horror. For being such a good sport, we reward him with more Clive Barker: the 1987 film Hellrai

SKYLIT: Leah Kardos, KATE BUSH'S HOUNDS OF LOVE (33 1/3)

Feb 13 2025 45 mins

We're podcasting... Yeah yeah yay-yo! Justin speaks with Leah Kardos, the author of the new 33 1/3 book on Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Together, they discuss the impact of the album and Kate Bush's undersung influence as a record producer. Leah also talks about the process of finding the structure and narrative for her book. There's music nerd stuff in there too, but it's GOOD, sma

Better Than the Movie 21: TOTAL RECALL (1990) w/ Buzzy Cohen

Jan 30 2025 100 mins

An episode so good, it'll make you wish you had three ears. Buzzy Cohen (Baby Got Facts: Totally '90s Trivia) returns for another delightful episode, breaking down Philip K. Dick's short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" and the 1990 film adaptation directed by Paul Verhoeven, with a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shusett and Gary Goldman. Reality, virtual reali

Better Than the Movie 20: THE POLAR EXPRESS w/ Natalie Freeman & Allison Woodnutt

Dec 23 2024 95 mins

Like the proverbial Christmas miracle, the BTTM crew is back just in the (Saint) nick of time for a holiday-themed final episode of 2024. At the behest of Natalie Freeman and Allison Woodnutt (who you may remember from last year's A HAUNTING IN VENICE episode), Justin, Allan, and Tyler braved the cold to wave down THE POLAR EXPRESS, an illustrated children's book by Chris Van Allsb

Better Than the Movie 19: GHOST WORLD w/ Chris Andersen

Nov 21 2024 75 mins

It's America, dude, learn the rules! Chris Andersen (Your Favorite Bad Movie Podcast) joins the BTTM crew to discuss the 2001 adaptation of the Daniel Clowes graphic novel GHOST WORLD, directed by Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Bad Santa). They discuss how one can grow up relating to a disaffected teen girl played by Thora Birch and find themselves an alienated physical-media-obsessed adult

SKYLIT: Lili Anolik, "DIDION & BABITZ"

Nov 15 2024 54 mins

Ace interviewer Elodie Saint-Louis sits down with Lili Anolik to discuss Anolik's new book Didion & Babitz. Anolik talks about the complicated relationship between authors Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, their unique perspectives on the Feminist Movement, and how they were each consumed by and motivated each other. Anolik also tells the fascinating story of how she discovered the c

Better Than the Movie 18: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH w/ Mark Rennie

Oct 24 2024 71 mins

What Price Vincent? Writer and improviser Mark Rennie (The Big Gay Movie Spreadsheet, Eat Pray Dunk) returns for a second appearance on BTTM, just in time for Spooky Season. Under discussion is the Edgar Allan Poe classic "The Masque of the Red Death," adapted to film by director Roger Corman and star Vincent Price in 1964. Allan and Justin chat with Mark about horror in general, a

Better Than the Movie 17: THE SWIMMER w/ Buzzy Cohen

Sep 26 2024 84 mins

THIS... IS... JEOP-BUZZY! Jeopardy! champion Buzzy Cohen (Baby Got Facts: Totally 90s Trivia) drops in to talk about John Cheever's small slice of suburban surrealism, "The Swimmer." Burt Lancaster headlines the 1968 film adaptation, scripted by Eleanor Perry (Diary of a Mad Housewife) and directed by Frank Perry (Mommie Dearest). This is Better Than the Movie's first short story d