Skylight Books Podcast Series

An underdog story both onscreen and in real life, COYOTE VS. ACME is a hybrid animation/live-action movie in the vein of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? or SPACE JAM. Its premise is simple and elegant: what if Looney Tunes' Wile E. Coyote sued the Acme corporation for selling him all those malfunctioning products that kept him from catching the *beep beep* Road Runner. Physical media and animation enthusiast Conor Holt returns for his third visit to the podcast to talk about the film, its wildly convoluted journey to the screen after being completed -- and nearly deleted -- by Warner Brothers, and the charming New Yorker piece by reporter and humorist Ian Frazier (Paradise Bronx) that inspired the whole darn thing. 

If you'd like to hear Conor's previous short story selection for BTTM, you should check out Better Than the Movie 25: THE DEAD w/ Conor Holt. It's a lovely discussion of John Huston's final film, based on a story from James Joyce's Dubliners.

Check out the "Better Than the Movie" audiobook playlist on Libro.fm - https://libro.fm/playlists/skylight-better-than-the-movie

Hosted by Tyler Austin, Justin Remer, and Allan Traylor.
Produced by Justin Remer.
Recorded remotely via Zoom (because Zencastr updated and now it won't work with two of our computers... to be continued...)

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire
Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band

One of the most influential albums in the history of industrial rock music, The Land of Rape and Honey was the third album from Ministry. Warner subsidiary Sire Records may have thought they were getting the Chicago version of English electropop stars Depeche Mode, but Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker delivered something deeper, darker, and crazier. Music journalist Jason Pettigrew talks about the chaotic creativity that brought this album to life in his 33 1/3 book on the album. He talked to the band, he talked to the beleaguered record exec, he talked to the bystanders. And in this episode, he talks to bookseller and writer Justin Remer about the album and the book.

Fun fact: The album's title has its origin in an actual slogan for a Canadian town whose main export was rapeseed oil. Listen to the episode to find out more.

If you like experimental music and 33 1/3 books, check out "SKYLIT: Matthew Blackwell, PLUNDERPHONICS (GENRE: A 33 1/3 SERIES)" from the Skylight Books Podcast back catalog.

Hosted and produced by Justin Remer.
Recorded remotely via Zencastr.

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.
Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band.

The BTTM crew are hosting a screening of GILLIAN ARMSTRONG's film MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979) for American Cinematheque's Friend of the Fest 2026 on Saturday, August 22, at 10:15pm.

In anticipation of that screening, we invited Allison Smith of Smith and Taylor Classics (who will also intro the screening) to discuss both the film and the novel from which it was adapted, Miles Franklin's landmark debut My Brilliant Career (1901). (We do touch upon the new Netflix miniseries. Ahem... Briefly.)

Spoiler alert: Miles Franklin's novel is a masterful self-portrait of a self-determined (and self-centered) young woman wriggling free from the roles that her family and Australian society would place her in, and Gillian Armstrong's film is a deft and sensitive distillation of that narrative and that spirit into something brief and beautiful. The film also benefits from star-making turns from Judy Davis and Sam Neill.

If you're planning on coming to the show at the Los Feliz 3 on August 22 or not, this should be a fun and informative listen.

Also, if you'd like to hear one of Allison's earlier appearances on BTTM, you should check out her unique contributions to Better Than the Movie 20: THE POLAR EXPRESS w/ Natalie Freeman and Allison Woodnutt. It's an unforgettable episode (that we totally forgot about in our discussion here).

Hosted by Allan Traylor and Justin Remer. (We missed ya, Tyler.)
Produced by Justin Remer.
Recorded at the LAPL Octavia Lab.

Check out the "Better Than the Movie" audiobook playlist on Libro.fm - https://libro.fm/playlists/skylight-better-than-the-movie

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.
Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band.

Best known for their catchy MTV breakthrough hit, "Punk Rock Girl," the Philly-based band The Dead Milkmen had a better sense of humor than a lot of their '80s hardcore punk brethren, but it didn't mean their music was a joke. Author Tyler Sonnichsen joins bookseller and writer Justin Remer to talk about Sonnichsen's new book for J-Card Press, The Dead Milkmen. It's the first book dedicated to this beloved band, deeply researched and full of new interviews with some of the band members and a lot of their collaborators and fans.

If you like this episode and want more punk rock discussions, check out the classic 2016 in-store recording KEITH MORRIS PRESENTS HIS BOOK MY DAMAGE WITH JIM RULAND from the Skylight Books Podcast back catalog.

Hosted and produced by Justin Remer.
Recorded remotely via Zencastr.

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.
Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band.

When Kara Zor-El is teamed up with a young woman on a mission of revenge and salvation, it is clearly the GREATEST MOVIE ODYSSEY of 2026... er... well. Justin and Allan sit down to chat with fellow bookseller AND comics artist and writer Sina Grace (Superman: The Harvests of Youth, Ghosted in LA) about the recent film adaptation of the graphic novel Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, by Tom King, et al. That's right: we're talking Supergirl the movie, but not Supergirl: The Movie (1984). The Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel is a creative reinvention of True Grit that seemingly lost something on its way to the silver screen. Or do you disagree? Also, what do you think happened at the end of the graphic novel? Hmmm??

Also, if you like this episode, search back in the feed for Better Than the Movie 19: GHOST WORLD w/ Chris Andersen for another discussion about graphic novel adaptation.

Hosted by Justin Remer and Allan Traylor. (And briefly, by Tyler Austin.)
Produced by Justin Remer.
Recorded remotely via Zencastr (and Tyler's phone).

Check out the "Better Than the Movie" audiobook playlist on Libro.fm - https://libro.fm/playlists/skylight-better-than-the-movie

Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.
Tyler music: "Don't Depend on Me (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.
Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band.