Socially Distanced

Special guest Tommy Siegel (Jukebox the Ghost) joins Al and Bill to talk about his upcoming book (I Hope This Helps) and debut solo album (Another Century Wasted).  They also discussed the current state of the music industry, the genesis of his daily comics project, recording music during a pandemic, and much much more.  This Week's Music in a Time of Quarantine: Al's Pick: MTV Unplugged...

Al and Bill are joined this episode by senior music writer for ThePopBreak.com, Anthony Toto ... and there's a lot to talk about. First, The Rock bought The XFL? Yeah, the XFL. The trio discuss the weird history of the XFL and how Dwayne Johnson's involvement could only mean big things for them. Also, in the world of sports, they discuss the return of baseball, basketball and hockey and how it's b...

Our heroes (Bill and Al) are joined by The Pop Break’s Music Editor, Kat Manos and writer Cole Rothacker as they continue their streak of visiting the pod once a month to discuss the lackluster buzz surrounding Comic Con @ Home, the return of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Amazon Prime Video’s Truth Seekers, and an Adam McKay produced limited series focusing on the race to cure COVID-19. In the reco...

The 18th episode of The Socially Distanced Podcast finds Bill and Al talking with longtime senior Pop Break writer, the man who redesigned the site and plays a mean Attack! Attack! cover -- Mr. Nick Porcaro. On this episode - Bill, Al and Nick discuss the very real and very devastating news that (according to a head organizer of Lollapalooza) that live music may not return until 2022. The trio dis...

The 17th episode of The Socially Distanced Podcast was a wild one! Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are joined, once again, by Pop Break's social media manager, Alisha Weinberger. In the episode, the "WTF" segment deals with the absolutely mind-boggling decision that Disney World made to re-open during the massive increase of COVID-19 cases in the state of Florida. They discuss if they would go to Dis...

Al and Bill celebrate the four-month anniversary of the podcast with a very special guest (and their first non Pop-Break guest), Kelly McGovern. Kelly is a social media ambassador for a number of independent movie houses in New Jersey and is one of Bill and Al's favorite people to pop culture with. In this episode, the trio talk about Kanye West's announcement via Twitter on July 4 that he will be...

Happy Fourth of July Weekend and Welcome to the 15th Episode of the Socially Distanced Podcast. This week Al and Bill are joined by Pop Break's first-ever intern, former TV editor and current "senior human who does podcasts" -- Matt Taylor.  In this episode the trio talk about the potential of Michael Keaton returning as Batman for the upcoming (maybe?) Flash film. The conversation takes a tu...

Pop Break's podcast producer, engineer and editor Lucas P. Jones returns to the Socially Distanced Podcast mostly to talk about meat and beer. Well, that's not exactly true. Lucas, Al and Bill do talk meat and beer, but they also break down the very important topic of wearing masks in public. The crux of their conversation comes from AMC Movie Theaters initial decision to not require masks when th...

Pop Break's music editor Kat Manos returns for her third guest appearance on the Socially Distanced podcast -- and she's not alone. Joining Kat once again is Pop Break film contributor, Cole Rothacker. The duo join Bill and Al to discuss Hollywood (fitting since they live a few minutes north of it) -- in particular the news of the Oscars expanding to 10 Best Picture nominations in 2022 and the Aca...

This is one of the more unusual podcasts we've done so far. This was recorded on Tuesday June 9 at the height of the protests around the United States. Neither Bill nor Al really knew what to talk about or even if the episode should happen, but they figured just talking would be good not only for their own mental health, but would also provide a quick break for everyone listening. The episode star...

The 11th episode of the Socially Distanced Podcast was an episode we weren't sure we even wanted to record, and we were even debating about releasing this week.  Ultimately, we figured, since the mantra of Pop Break is to provide a pop culture break from the heaviness in the world, that may be a podcast would be a small break in all this. If you want to give this a listen Bill, Al, and specia...

It's the 10th episode of the Socially Distanced Podcast, and we're changing all the rules! Al and Bill welcome back their first guest ever, Pop Break's music editor Kat Manos -- and she isn't alone! Her partner and Pop Break contributor Cole Rathacker joins this super-sized episode to talk about the controversial Snyder Cut.  This much-talked-about version of Justice League will be heading to...

This week Al and Bill are joined Pop Break film and television staff writer Ben Murchison .  The trio talks a lot about sports, but also dive into the absolute fiasco that is the release date for New Mutants, and why Disney is insistent on putting this film out in theaters and not streaming. They also dive into Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams's song from the upcoming Netflix film Eurovision,...

This week Al and Bill are joined Pop Break senior writer Laura Dengrove -- who still holds the distinction of being the youngest person to ever write for Pop Break.  The trio discusses LiveNation's plans on potentially instituting drive-in concerts, which of course leads into conversations about the future of concert venues, and why on earth we don't have more drive-in movie theaters. They al...

This week, Al & Bill are joined by Rob Crowther IV (Senior Editor, The Pop Break & Host of The Bob Culture Podcast ) to discuss the future of going to the movies, All Elite Wrestling's Manitoba Melee, the trailer for HBO's Lovecraft Country , the gloriousness of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and listen to Al and Rob laugh as Bill fumbles his way through a podcast.   The Soundtrack to our...

This week, Al & Bill are joined by Rachel Freeman (Comic Book Editor, The Pop Break ) to discuss HBO MAX -- it's content (both immediate and the future JJ Abrams properties), it's cost and will they be picking it up.  The trio also discusses Seinfeld's upcoming standup special on Netflix, Parks & Recreation 's in-character reunion, and The Fraggles coming back to television   The...

This week, Al & Bill are joined by Anthony Toto (Senior Editor, The Pop Break) to discuss the very real, and the very serious possibility that there will be no concerts until Fall 2021.  They also talk about the absolute pure joy of The Wonders/Oneders reunion on YouTube and how Bill almost booked them in Asbury Park (sorta), and they geek out over the announcement over the eight-part Man...

Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are two pop culture obsessed dads stuck in quarantine. They have decided to take their Facebook messenger conversations and turn them into a podcast. As they discuss everything in the world movies, music, sports, television, and pop culture -- everything keeping them sane in this time of socially distancing. This week, Al & Bill are joined by Alisha Weinberger (Sen...

Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are two pop culture obsessed dads stuck in quarantine. They have decided to take their Facebook messenger conversations and turn them into a podcast. As they discuss everything in the world movies, music, sports, television, and pop culture -- everything keeping them sane in this time of socially distancing. This week, Al & Bill are joined by Lucas Jones (Podcast P...

Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are two pop culture obsessed dads stuck in quarantine. They have decided to take their Facebook messenger conversations and turn them into a podcast. As they discuss everything in the world movies, music, sports, television, and pop culture -- everything keeping them sane in this time of socially distancing. This week, Al & Bill are joined by Kat Manos (Music Edito...

Al Mannarino and Bill Bodkin are two pop culture obsessed dads stuck in quarantine. They have decided to take their Facebook messenger conversations and turn them into a podcast. As they discuss everything in the world movies, music, sports, television and pop culture -- everything keeping them sane in this time of socially distancing.  This week, Al & Bill discuss Tom Brady's move to the...