by David Bernabo and Katherine Barbera
For the second episode of Collectors Edition, we talk with Bottom Feeder Books owner Ryan McLennan. Ryan moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago, and opened the bookstore in 2022. The store reflects Ryan’s interests in artist monographs, film, photography, modern and classic American literature, theatre, and poetry. Display shelves focus on aesthetically-pleasing book covers, and the stacks contain a number of first editions, hard-to-find (in Pittsburgh) exhibition catalogs, and a mix of heralded and lesser-known titles. A gallery at the back of the store showcases monthly exhibitions from artists–do yourself a favor and swing by the store for photographer Kelly Lanzendorfer’s excellent show, which runs until December 10, 2023–and the front room frequently hosts readings from local writers.
We talk with Ryan about his own book collection and how he cultivates the store’s collection. Ryan discusses early adventures in collecting M.U.S.C.L.E. figures (aka Kinkeshi) and punk and hardcore LPs. And we discuss the appeal of physical objects over digital reproductions.
The Bright Archives podcast explores what it means to build meaningful archives. We want to listen deeply to the world around us to investigate the value preservation has for all of us. To do this, we developed two series: Collectors Edition, where we talk with collectors to learn what motivates all of us to bring objects into our lives, and how possessions shape our lived experiences, and Vernacular Archives, where we meet people who think about preservation differently and create collections rooted in people and place. This podcast is a project by Bright Archives, an independent archival production house, and it is being cross-posted with Petrichor.
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