Skylight Books Podcast Series

Better Than the Movie, Ep. 5: JAWS w/ Kristen Lopez

Just when you thought it was safe to download a podcast... The BTTM fellas are back to talk JAWS with film writer and podcaster Kristen Lopez (who discussed her book about 52 classic film adaptations BUT HAVE YOU READ THE BOOK? on a recent Skylit episode). Steven Spielberg's film has become an American classic, but what about Peter Benchley's original novel? It's got more sex, more mafia enforcers, and more small town economic hardship -- but is it better than the movie?

 

Produced by Justin Remer, Allan Traylor, and Mick Kowaleski

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire

Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band

SKYLIT: Artem Mozgovoy, SPRING IN SIBERIA

Artem Mozgovoy discusses his debut novel, Spring in Siberia, with the managing editor of Red Hen Press, Dr. Kate Gale. The work has been praised by Publishers Weekly as a "superb debut", "touching and well written, genuinely compelling and convincing" by Sir Stephen Fry, and "a capacious work of vision, courage, and thoroughness" by Ocean Vuong.

Artem takes Kate through his childhood in central Siberia, his career starting as a cadet reporter at 16 and the editor-in-chief by 26, and, eventually, his shift into creative writing.

Produced by Tyler Austin and Mick Kowaleski

Music by Duck the Piano Wire

SKYLIT: Millie De Chirico & Quatoyiah Murray, TCM UNDERGROUND

Cinephiles, tune in! In this episode, Tyler Austin hosts Millie De Chirico and Quatoyiah Murray, co-writers of TCM Underground, a movie-lover's guide to 50 of the most campy, kitschy, shocking, and weirdly wonderful cult films you need to see.

Millie and Quatoyiah take the Ty-Guy through the cult classics of the Turner Classic Movie series, and discuss everything from writing with a partner to buying Salo DVDs from the Italian Dark Web.

Produced by Tyler Austin and Mick Kowaleski

Music by Duck the Piano Wire.

SKYLIT: Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime

Listen here, gumshoes and femme fatales, we’re gonna give you the straight story on the QT and very hush hush. Skylight’s own torpedo, Tyler, tangles with Charles Ardai, mystery writer and founder of Hard Case Crime, a publishing imprint re-releasing classics of the pulp underworld and modern takes on the time-tested genre. Charles spills the beans about his journey into the publishing world, what it’s like to meet and work with your literary heroes, how he writes his own fiction, and when he knew the whole endeavor would not only survive but thrive. Over nearly two decades, the beautifully hand-painted covers of Hard Case Crime paperbacks have become synonymous with a mark of quality and a stamp of approval for readers around the world. This is the inside scoop on how it all came to be.

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Produced by Mick Kowaleski and Tyler Austin

Music by Duck, the Piano Wire

SKYLIT: Alex Pappademas, QUANTUM CRIMINALS

Fire in the hole! Any major dude will tell you that this podcast is a hit. Were you thinking of skipping? Only a fool would say that! That's pretzel logic.

On this episode, we host king of the world Alex Pappademas as he discusses his new Steely Dan book QUANTUM CRIMINALS with the razor boy himself, Tyler Austin. Hop in your midnite cruiser, turn that heartbeat over again, and hang with Alex as he discusses doing the dirty work with illustrator Joan Lemay and everything and anything Steely! Then do it again, night by night. 

If you like this episode, make sure you stop by Skylight Books on May 31st to see Alex live and in person!

Produced by Mick Kowaleski.

Music by Duck the Piano Wire.

Better Than the Movie, Ep.4: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET

It's Three Men and a Little Lady! Allan, Justin, and Tyler tackle the long-delayed feature film adaptation of the iconic "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" by legendary children's author Judy Blume. The flick has got a great creative team, including director Kelly Fremon Craig ("The Edge of Seventeen") and Oscar-winning producer James L. Brooks ("Terms of Endearment"). The BTTM fellas talk coming-of-age stories, Rachel McAdams's Oscar chances, Benny Safdie's unexpected suavity, Kathy Bates's Jewish grandmother qualities, and much more. (BTW the movie Justin can't remember around the 10-minute mark is a French-Canadian film called "Slut in a Good Way." Check it out, it's fun!)

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Produced by Justin Remer and Mick Kowaleski

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire

Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band

SKYLIT: Kristen Lopez, ”But Have You Read the Book?”

One-third of the Better Than the Movie gang, Tyler Austin, sits down with Kristen Lopez to talk about her book of 52 essential page-to-film adaptations. In But Have You Read the Book?, presented by Turner Classic Movies, Lopez explores just what makes these works classics of both the page and screen, and why each made for an exceptional adaptation—whether faithful to the book or exemplifying cinematic creative license.  

Produced by Mick Kowaleski and Tyler Austin

Music by Duck the Piano Wire.

Better Than the Movie, Ep. 3: THE SISTERS BROTHERS w/ Alena Saunders

It's Guest O'Clock, pardners! Skylight's own Alena Saunders (of LIT ANGELES fame) drops in to the back room to talk about one of her favorite books, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, and its 2018 film adaptation directed by Jacques Audiard. The conversation gets heated in this one...Conflict between the BTTM Boys?? Say it ain't so!

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Produced by Mick Kowaleski and Justin Remer

Music by Duck the Piano Wire.

Better Than the Movie, Ep. 2: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

The boys are back! Justin, Allan, and Tyler return for the second episode of Better Than the Movie. This time, they're going over not one, but TWO adaptations of Erich Maria Remarque's war classic All Quiet on the Western Front: the 1930 Best Picture winner, directed by Lewis Milestone, and the 2022 German-language version directed by Edward Berger. What are the gang's takes on the war movie canon? Does either adaptation stack up to the original novel? What did you, the fans decide? The anticipation is killing me!

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Produced by Mick Kowaleski and Justin Remer

Music by Duck the Piano Wire

SKYLIT: Michael Schulman, ”OSCAR WARS” w/ Alex Ross

It's Oscar season! Join us for a deep dive into the Academy Awards as Michael Schulman discusses his new book, Oscar Wars, with fellow New Yorker writer Alex Ross. They discuss the Academy's dark history with union busting, its philosophical struggles in awarding spectacle vs. intimacy, and the lessons Michael learned while writing this book that he's excited to apply before this year's ceremony. This episode is well worth the listen before your Oscar party!

Produced by Mick Kowaleski

Order a signed copy of Oscar Wars here: https://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9780062859013

Better Than the Movie, Ep. 1: CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD/KNOCK AT THE CABIN

This episode contains spoilers of both Paul Tremblay's book The Cabin at the End of the World and its 2023 film adaptation, Knock at the Cabin. Proceed with caution!

Welcome to our first new Bookseller Special Series of 2023! Three of Skylight's biggest CinemaHeads, Justin, Tyler, and Allan, will get together once a month to discuss their favorite adaptations from page to screen. For the first episode, they're tackling Paul Tremblay's 2019 insta-classic horror novel Cabin at the End of the World, and M. Night Shyamalan's 2023 adaption, Knock at the Cabin. 

In this episode, they talk about the substantial philosophical and narrative differences in the two projects, the difficulties of communicating interiority on film, and the faithful commitment of Rupert Grint's Boston accent.

Produced and edited by Mick Kowaleski 

Music by Duck the Piano Wire

SKYLIT: Karen Han, ”Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema”

We welcome the incomparable Karen Han to the podcast to chat with Justin Remer about her new book Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema. She discusses how she examined the career of the South Korean writer/director and chats about coining "#BongHive" on Twitter. She's a delight and so is this ep!

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Produced and edited by Mick Kowaleski.

Music by Duck the Piano Wire

SKYLIT: Jessica Johns, ”Bad Cree”

It's our first episode in the New Year! Did you miss us? In our 2023 debut episode, Nat Freeman talks to Jessica Johns about her debut novel Bad Cree, hailed by Paul Tremblay as "a mystery and a horror story about grief, but one with defiant hope in its beating heart."

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Produced by Nat Freeman & Mick Kowaleski.

Music by Duck the Piano Wire

SKYLIT: Where Monsters Lurk & Magic Hides

Join us for the final Skylight episode of 2022! In this MONSTER of a finale, Skylight's Nat Freeman talks to the editors and contributors to Where Monsters Lurk & Magic Hides, an anthology of Latine/x genre fiction from both new and established young adult authors. The stories in this anthology span the genre categories of romance, sci-fi & fantasy, and gothic horror. They take place in this world, other worlds, or maybe somewhere in between. Most importantly, the characters on these pages are not stereotypical Latine characters. Rather, they are fleshed-out characters, embarking on amazing adventures, who are unabashedly Latine.

 

Joining Nat in readings and conversation is editor Lauren Davila and contributors K. Victoria Hernandez, Jarrard Raju, Ashley Jean Granillo, Taylor Ramage, and Kai Adia.

 

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Produced by Nat Freeman & Michael Kowaleski.

Theme: "I Love All My Friends," an unreleased demo by Fragile Gang.

SKYLIT: Dr. Clarence Lusane, ”TWENTY DOLLARS AND CHANGE” w/ Janell Hobson

In Twenty Dollars and Change, political scientist Clarence Lusane, author of the acclaimed The Black History of the White House, writes from a basic premise: Racist historical narratives and pervasive social inequities are inextricably linked--changing one can transform the other. Taking up the debate over the future of the twenty-dollar bill, Lusane uses the question of Harriet Tubman vs. Andrew Jackson as a lens through which to view the current state of our nation's ongoing reckoning with the legacies of slavery and foundational white supremacy. He places the struggle to confront unjust social conditions in direct connection with the push to transform our public symbols, making it plain that any choice of whose life deserves to be remembered and honored is a direct reflection of whose basic rights are deemed worthy of protection, and whose are not.

Join us for a conversation on reparations and legacy with Dr. Lusane and Janell Hobson, hosted by Skylight's Tyler Austin.