OTHERWORDLY: Join me and writer Caitlin Duffy (Reacher, untitled Arnold Schwarzenegger Netflix series) while we talk two films about contact with another world, Contact and Another Earth.

“Boy, this is really going to change the Miss Universe Contest”. Are we alone in the universe? And if not, what does that mean? And what would aliens be like? And what would they want? To destroy us? To bring peace? To gain knowledge?…Sounds like it’s time for Episode 81 of Pop Art, where we find the pop culture in art and the art in pop culture. It’s the podcast where my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I’ll select a film from the more art/classic/indie side of cinema with a connection to it. This time I am happy to welcome as my guest, writer Caitlin Duffy, who has chosen as her film the hard sci-fi Jody Foster film Contact, while I have chosen soft sci-fi Brit Marling film Another Earth, both films about first contact with beings from another planet.

And in this episode, we answer such questions as: What is SETI? What is hard sci-fi as opposed to soft sci-fi? Who do they want to play the president in Contact? Who is the Saw Lady? Why did they use Bill Clinton? What is special about the opening shot in Contact? Cyanide pill or no cyanide pill? Who is Steven Ford’s father? How does Gianni Versace fit in?