SKYLIT: Simona Supekar, STOCK PHOTO (OBJECT LESSONS)

Keywords for this episode: Surprising, enlightening, entertaining, provocative, warm, inclusive, thoughtful, required listening. Simona Supekar talks with bookseller Justin Remer about her new book in the Object Lessons series, Stock Photo. Starting with her history as a former keyworder for a stock photography company, Supekar explores the way these largely ignored components of the websites we visit shape our ideas about beauty, race, cultural heritage, and gender. She discusses the way that photo-generating AI is being trained on datasets that she helped construct. She talks about the changes in the industry in the past half-century. And, of course, she talks about all those stock photo memes. 

If you're in the Los Angeles area, please check out our in-store event for the Object Lessons books Stock Photo and Ballot on Thursday, March, 12, 2026. 

Produced and hosted 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.