Pop Break Today

Welcome back to Talking the Coda, a podcast that has examined musical artists whose careers were cut short, either by a death, break-up, retirement, or any other circumstance.

This month, Luke Martin (co-host of last year’s Pod on the Rooftops mini-series on the band Genesis) continues his move toward covering new releases in a spotlight of English drummer/composer Luke Bainbridge’s debut album, “Surface Tension.”

Luke and Luke discuss Bainbridge’s latest release, which came out two months ago and is available on all streaming platforms. In addition to Bainbridge’s new work, the conversation moves from Bainbridge’s far-reaching influences to his compositional process to his unreleased rap epic, “Spillage in the Village.”

Featured throughout this episode are excerpts from “Surface Tension”.

You can follow Luke Martin on Youtube and Instagram. His debut single, “Stuck In My Room”, is available on all streaming platforms, and his band, Distant, can also be found on Facebook, YouTube, and their website. Luke Bainbridge can be followed on Instagram and his Spotify artist page, and his work is available on all other streaming platforms.

Be sure to check back next month for a discussion of a new musical artist with a new guest!

Ever since Marshall Craig was taken from us on December 18, 2020, his mother Carla Craig has worked tirelessly with his friends and loved ones to ensure his memory lives on. So far, this has lead to his massive book collection being donated to the library at his Alumni, The California University Of Pennsylvania, a bench installed at a park where he loved to see the sunset, and the beginnings of a charity called Marshall’s Revolution.

This is a year long miniseries designed by The Pop Break Staff Writer Sam Niles to progress his memory by having some discussions about movies in Marshall’s collection. Marshall has an incredible collection and could talk for hours about film, so some of his friends got together and made a podcast to invite guests with both a passion and knowledge for film to discuss selections from his collection once a month.

In this episode, Ryan & Cole join Sam to discuss the 2013 Hayao Miyazaki classic The Wind Rises.

Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are back for another podcast! The brothers are discussing Monsters, Inc. for its 20th anniversary. Joining them is special guest Bill Bodkin, Editor-in-Chief of The Pop Break.

Monsters, Inc. is a computer-animated film directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman, and Lee Unkrich. It opened in theaters on November 2, 2001.

Monsters, Inc. centers on Sulley (John Goodman, The Conners) and Mike (Billy Crystal, City Slickers), two monsters working at the title company, which powers the city of Monstropolis through human children’s screams. Sulley and Mike’s lives are flipped upside down when one these children, dubbed Boo (Mary Gibbs, Inside Out), finds her way into the monster world. Complicating getting Boo back to the human world is Sulley’s rival Randall (Steve Buscemi, Miracle Workers), who wants Boo for his evil plot.

Other characters include CEO Mr. Waternoose (James Coburn, The Great Escape), administrator Roz (Bob Peterson, Up), and receptionist Celia (Jennifer Tilly, Liar Liar).

Monsters, Inc. was a hit with critics and moviegoers, finishing as the third highest-grossing film of 2001. It won Best Original Song at the Oscars, along with being nominated for Best Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Animated Feature. The franchise continues in the prequel film Monsters University and the sequel series Monsters at Work.

Aaron, Josh, and Bill chat about the film’s various elements, including its plot, characters, animation, and humor. They also decide where it ranks among Pixar’s other movies.

For another podcast on a Disney-Pixar movie, you can listen to Josh and Aaron talk about Toy Story.

Monsters, Inc. is streaming on Disney+.

Welcome back to Talking the Coda, a podcast that has examined musical artists whose careers were cut short, either by a death, break-up, retirement, or any other circumstance.

This month, Luke Martin (co-host of last year’s Pod on the Rooftops mini-series on the band Genesis) moves Talking the Coda in a new direction by focusing on the work of M’Lynn Musgrove, a singer/songwriter from Dallas, Texas.

Luke and M’Lynn discuss M’Lynn’s latest release, “I Got Low,” which came out one month ago and is available on all streaming platforms. In addition to M’Lynn’s previous work, the conversation with Luke moves from M’Lynn’s candid reflection on mental health struggles to her relationship with her audience to what music about such personal issues can give to listeners.

Featured throughout this episode are excerpts from “I Got Low”.

You can follow Luke Martin on Youtube and Instagram. His debut single, “Stuck In My Room”, is available on all streaming platforms, and his band, Distant, can also be found on Facebook, YouTube, and their website. M’Lynn can be followed on Instagram and her Spotify artist page, and her work is available on all other streaming platforms.

Be sure to check back next month for a discussion of a new musical artist with a new guest!

Ever since Marshall Craig was taken from us on December 18, 2020, his mother Carla Craig has worked tirelessly with his friends and loved ones to ensure his memory lives on. So far, this has lead to his massive book collection being donated to the library at his Alumni, The California University Of Pennsylvania, a bench installed at a park where he loved to see the sunset, and the beginnings of a charity called Marshall’s Revolution.

This is a year long miniseries designed by The Pop Break Staff Writer Sam Niles to progress his memory by having some discussions about movies in Marshall’s collection. Marshall has an incredible collection and could talk for hours about film, so some of his friends got together and made a podcast to invite guests with both a passion and knowledge for film to discuss selections from his collection once a month.

In this episode Sam discusses Halloween (1978) with guest Adam Jameson, an accomplished writer. We are also grateful to have Marshall's father on to tell a story that's a testament to Marshall's love for this franchise and character.

Welcome This Wrestling Life -- the latest addition to the Pop Break family of podcasts, all about the underappreciated and overlooked stars of the ring.

In this episode, Pop Break editor-in-chief Bill Bodkin Bill sits down with longtime Pop Break staff member Michael Dworkis to celebrate the two-year anniversary of one of their favorite wrestling shows -- All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite which airs this Wednesday October.

In the podcast they discuss the absolute wild "second season" of the show which saw the debut of the likes of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Sting, Adam Cole, Ruby Soho and so many more.

They look at why the company saved their love of pro wrestling and predict the winners and losers for this coming Wednesday's big show.

Ever since Marshall Craig was taken from us on December 18, 2020, his mother Carla Craig has worked tirelessly with his friends and loved ones to ensure his memory lives on. So far, this has lead to his massive book collection being donated to the library at his Alumni, The California University Of Pennsylvania, a bench installed at a park where he loved to see the sunset, and the beginnings of a charity called Marshall’s Revolution. 

This is a year long miniseries designed by The Pop Break Staff Writer Sam Niles to progress his memory by having some discussions about movies in Marshall’s collection. Marshall has an incredible collection and could talk for hours about film, so some of his friends got together and made a podcast to invite guests with both a passion and knowledge for film to discuss selections from his collection once a month.

On this first episode, Sam discusses the John Ford masterpiece My Darling Clementine with guest Joe Galm. Joe is a great friend, and a great guy, and he has been particularly supportive since Marshall’s passing. He stopped being a film critic a while back, but he's the perfect guest given his support during this hard time, and his continued love for and knowledge of film.

Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are back for another podcast. This time they’re discussing Fly Away Home for its 25th anniversary.

Fly Away Home is a family film directed by Carroll Ballard (The Black Stallion). The film came out on September 13, 1996.

Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of a 13-year-old girl named Amy Alden (Anna Paquin, The Irishman), who raises a flock of orphaned geese. With the help of her inventor father, Thomas (Jeff Daniels, The Comey Rule), Amy leads the geese south for the winter using an ultralight aircraft. Other characters include Tom’s girlfriend, Susan (Dana Delany, Desperate Housewives), and Officer Seifert (Jeremy Ratchford, Cold Case) from Animal Regulation.

Fly Away Home garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oscars. It grossed $25 million at the U.S. box office.

In the podcast, Josh and Aaron talk about their history with the movie before going into its plot, characters, cinematography, and effects.

For more family movie podcasts, you can listen to Aaron and Josh chat about Muppet Treasure Island and James and the Giant Peach.

Fly Away Home is available on Prime Video.

Welcome back to Talking the Coda, a podcast that examines musical artists whose careers were cut short, either by a death, break-up, retirement, or any other circumstance. When a prominent musician stops making music suddenly, there is often a mystique surrounding the work they did finish in their time. In many cases, a musician with a short career can be especially influential because of the sense of loss, of what the artist could have been if they had more time.

Each month, Luke Martin (co-host of last year’s Pod on the Rooftops mini-series on the band Genesis) will dive into the work of one musician or band with such an ending to their career. For this episode, Luke discusses the singular jazz/pop vocalist Billie Holiday.

Luke is joined by Valentina Shelton, a pianist and vocalist originally from LA, currently based in Miami. In addition to Holiday’s career and legacy, Luke and Valentina’s conversation moves from the universality of pop lyrics to Shelton’s experience as a female musician in a majority-male field to the unpredictability of the creative process.

Songs featured in this episode are two new recordings from the Valentina Shelton Quartet. The first is an arrangement of the jazz standard “Beautiful Friendship”, and the second is a fresh take on the Mamas and the Papas classic, “California Dreamin’”.

You can follow Luke Martin on Youtube and Instagram. His debut single, “Stuck In My Room”, is available on all streaming platforms, and his band, Socially Distanced, can also be found on Facebook, YouTube, and their website. Shelton can be followed on her YouTube channel.  .

Be sure to check back next month for a discussion of a new musical artist with a new guest!

Brothers Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are here for their latest movie retrospective. This month the two are discussing Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby for its 15th anniversary.

Talladega Nights came out on August 4, 2006. The sports comedy is directed by Adam McKay (Vice), who shares a writing credit with star Will Ferrell (Daddy’s Home).

Will Ferrell plays Ricky Bobby, a racecar driver on top of the world until a French Formula One driver named Jean Girard (Sasha Baron Cohen, Luca) arrives on the scene. After a crash, Ricky’s mother Lucy (Jane Lynch, Final Space) and drifter father Reese (Gary Cole, The Good Fight) help him get back into racing. Other characters include Ricky’s best friend turned rival Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly, Ralph Breaks the Internet), Ricky’s ex-wife Carley (Lesli Bibb, Jupiter’s Legacy), Ricky’s assistant Susan (Amy Adams, Arrival), and Lucius the crew chief (Michael Clark Duncan, Green Lantern).

Talladega Nights opened to generally positive reviews and proved popular among moviegoers, landing the #1 spot at the box office and earning $163 million on a $72.5 million budget. NASCAR drivers continue to pay tribute to the film, years after its release.

Aaron and Josh talk about the film’s plot, characters, humor, and portrayal of NASCAR. The brothers also discuss the movie’s place in Will Ferrell’s filmography.

For another podcast, you can listen to Josh and Aaron’s previous movie retrospective on Captain America: The First Avenger.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is streaming on Netflix.