In this episode of Pop & Prose, I'm joined by fellow writer and music lover Bill Cooper and we discuss our favorite albums released so far this year. We each chose five albums to talk about and they're very wide-ranging! Among the ten albums are ones by legendary acts who have been around for several decades, indie acts that are fairly new, hard-rocking music, laid-back sounding music, and much more. To learn what our favorite albums (so far) of 2025 are, please join us!

#music #newmusic #2025music #albums #albumsreleasedin2025 #rock #pop #alternative #indie #indieartists #popculture #culture #entertainment #billcooper #buddygott

Music can be a wonderful source of entertainment for most people. However, it can also be much more than that. It can often lift us up when we need, or simply just want, a little something ‘extra’ in our days.

In this episode of the Pop and Prose podcast, I was joined by my friend, writer Roland Denzel, and we talked about music that inspires each of us.

Among the music we discussed are songs by artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Rocky Balboa (well, sort of), Lyle Lovett, Billy Ocean, and several others.

I had a lot of fun chatting with Roland about these great songs. If you’re a music lover, you may enjoy our conversation too - so please join us!

To learn more about Roland Denzel, including information about his books, please visit his great website here.

You can also find him on Instagram and Facebook.

To connect elsewhere with me, Buddy Gott, I spend most of my online time posting about music and other things on Bluesky. I can also be found on Instagram, Threads, YouTube, and my website. Links to all of them (plus a few other places) can be found here via my Linktree.

P.S. - If you’d like to check out some of the music that Roland and I talked about during this episode, each of us made public playlists that are available on Spotify.

Buddy’s ‘Inspirational Mixtape’ can be found here and you can find Roland’s excellent playlist right here.

Thank you very much for listening to or watching the show. I hope you have a fantastic day!

Buddy Gott

In this episode of Pop and Prose, I’m joined by writer Robert Chazz Chute. Robert is the author of many books, including the brand new thriller novel ‘Vengeance Is Hers.’

I had a lot of fun talking with him about it, his previous novels, his writing process, and many other things.

Robert also reads a great short passage from ‘Vengeance Is Hers’ that features a character who may or may not be named after someone very closely associated with this podcast.

Okay, it’s me - and I’m incredibly honored to be included!

To learn more about Robert Chazz Chute and his very entertaining writings, be sure to visit his great website.

You can also find him on Medium and multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, BlueSky, and TikTok.

Thank you for watching or listening to the show. Have a wonderful day!

In this episode of POP AND PROSE, I talk about a creativity challenge I’m doing throughout May called ‘The May You Create Challenge.’ Basically, my goal is to take part in some sort of creative activity on each day of the month (excluding weekends). I share the different things I’ve been doing, how it’s been going so far, and what I hope to accomplish from doing it all.

I also discuss how I’ve been LOVING taking part in music challenges on BlueSky. I share some of the ones I’ve been having a lot of fun doing there, including #MusicPlaces, #ArtistFave15, and #DavidsMonthofMusic (which I incorrectly called ‘Dan’s Month of Music’ during the show).

Seriously, if you’re a music lover and you’re not already on BlueSky, sign up for a free account there and join in on the fun! One you’re there, find my account and follow me and/or simply go to the #MusicChallenge hashtag and look through the many different challenges going on.

And…that’s a wrap, as they say (whoever they are)!

Thank you for reading this. If you watch or listen to the show, I hope you enjoy it.

Have a fantastic day!

NOTE: If you watch the video version of this episode, please be aware that the picture is VERY SHAKY throughout the entire show. I recorded it while doing a Live Video on Substack and the connection obviously was very wonky. Sorry about that!

#podcast #substack #creativity #writing #art #music #writers #artists #challenge #prompt #MayYouCreateMonth #BlueSky #MusicChallenges

In this episode of the POP AND PROSE podcast, I was joined by writer and all-around good human being Robert Chazz Chute and we discussed multiple funny songs we’re big fans of.

WARNING: This episode contains a lot of silliness.

WARNING #2: No direct spoilers here but this episode may contain conversations about a dancing duck, roly-poly fish heads, streaking, and a guy whose name rhymes with ‘Weird Al Dankovic.’

To find out more about Robert Chazz Chute, including information about his many great books, please visit his website here.

You can also find him and his musings on his brand new Medium page.

To connect with Buddy Gott (it always feels weird to write about myself in third person) elsewhere online (including BlueSky, YouTube, Medium, and Instagram), please visit his (my) Linktree.

Thank you! Have a wonderful day!

In this episode of the Pop and Prose podcast, my guest was my wonderful wife Lisa and we discussed one of our greatest shared loves—books!

We had fun creating the title of this episode by using words from the titles of recent books we’ve read (bolded below):

The Last Word—Taylor Adams

Holmes Is Missing—James Patterson and Brian Sitts

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island—Colleen Oakley

The Maid—Nita Prose

We chatted about them, what we’re reading now, and what we’re hoping to read next.

Multiple other topics also made it into the show, including something else Lisa and I have a shared love of—writing!

We both had a lot of fun recording this episode. If you’re a fellow book lover and/or writer, I hope you’ll join us and that you enjoy it. :-)

To find out more about Lisa, please visit her great website here. She can also be found on Bluesky, Instagram, and Substack.

If you’d like to connect with me elsewhere, you can find me at my website, Bluesky, Instagram, and Substack.

Thank you very much for reading the above. Have a wonderful day!

Buddy Gott

In this episode of the POP AND PROSE podcast, I’m joined by writer Joe Chianakas. Joe is the author of several books, including the horror novel ‘Darkness Calls,’ which will be released on March 4, 2025.

I had a great time chatting with him about his newest release, his previous novels, his writing process, and many other things.

To learn more about Joe Chianakas and his writings, be sure to check out his great website.

Also, to follow Joe on social media, he can easily be found in the following places:

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, and X.

Thank you for watching or listening to the show. Have a wonderful day!

In this episode of my GOTTA POP podcast, my wonderful wife Lisa and I discuss multiple TV series we’ve enjoyed binge-watching recently: SCHITT’S CREEK, VIRGIN RIVER, THE TRAITORS, and SEVERANCE.