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Popp Talk with Mary Jane Popp

Popp Talk with Mary Jane Popp

Written by: Mary Jane Popp
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POPP TALK! A fast-paced Magazine-style Show dedicated to keeping you on the cutting edge of today's hot button issues. The show is high energy, upbeat and entertaining. It gives you the tools to feel better, reach for that brass ring, and live longer and happier. It's Fun! It's Fascinating! It has guests from politics to health, to the stars from La La Land. It's Radio with sizzle!Copyright 2026 Mary Jane Popp Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Parenting Relationships Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Popp Talk, July 4, 2026

    Popp Talk, July 4, 2026
    Jul 5 2026
    Popp Talk with Mary Jane Popp Kindness is the way to Happiness and Life in Performance and Reinvention Guests, Jordan Birnbaum and Victoria Summer from Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks" Kindness, Creativity, and the Courage to Keep Creating Searching for Truth, Joy, and Human Connection In this episode of Popp Talk, host Mary Jane Popp welcomes two guests: Jordan Birnbaum, a speaker, author, entrepreneur, and founder of Jordan Birnbaum Consulting, and Victoria Summer, an actress, singer, and performer known for roles including Julie Andrews in Saving Mr. Banks. Mary Jane opens by framing the program around truth, positivity, joy, and the importance of finding out what people are really about. The first half centers on kindness, happiness, social science, and human connection, while the second half shifts into Victoria Summer’s creative life, music, acting, marriage, charity work, and ongoing artistic goals. Jordan Birnbaum on Social Science and Motivation Jordan Birnbaum explains social science as the study of forces people experience every day, often intuitively, that shape mood, decisions, stress, behavior, and motivation. He says learning the names of these forces allows people to use them intentionally. His main example is loss aversion, the idea that people are often more motivated to avoid losses than to secure gains. Mary Jane challenges and expands that idea by asking whether loss can become a learning process, and Jordan agrees that failure, when understood correctly, can provide new information rather than define a person’s worth. Kindness as the Fastest Route to Happiness The discussion then turns to kindness, which Jordan defines as an intention and action meant to positively affect someone else. Mary Jane shares a personal story about giving cookies to a young neighbor who had to work on his birthday, explaining that his smile lifted her as much as it lifted him. Jordan says this is exactly how kindness works: helping someone else makes it almost impossible to remain in a bad mood. They also discuss smiling at strangers, making people feel seen, including lonely people during holidays, and being attentive to those who may be grieving, isolated, or disconnected. Technology, AI, and the Need for Real People Mary Jane and Jordan then discuss technology, phones, face-to-face communication, and artificial intelligence. Mary Jane worries that young people are losing the ability to connect directly because so much communication happens through screens. Jordan agrees that technology creates new challenges and says people now need to be more intentional about real-life connection. Their AI discussion explores job loss, creativity, sentience, ChatGPT, human mistakes, and the danger of allowing AI to replace human imagination. Jordan says generative AI can help people get past the blank page, but Mary Jane emphasizes that she still wants the human voice, human mistakes, and human judgment to remain central. Victoria Summer’s Life in Performance In the second interview, Mary Jane introduces Victoria Summer as an actress and singer whose career began early with ballet, music, pantomime, church choir, and local theater. Victoria recalls waking up as a child to play Tchaikovsky and dance before breakfast, showing how deeply classical music shaped her. She discusses Vindication Swim, the upcoming Brooklyn All-American, big-band performances, and her love of singing with an orchestra. She also explains her musical influences, especially Michael Jackson and Elton John, and why her version of “Stranger in Moscow” connects emotionally with Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road era. Role Models, Rescue Animals, Love, and Family Victoria describes her philosophy as using art to elevate people and make them happy, whether through voiceover, audiobooks, stage performance, film, or music. She also discusses her project Next Generation Role Model, created during COVID to spotlight young people doing good in the world. Mary Jane and Victoria talk about hope, dreams, writing goals down, and continuing to move toward an ideal life. Victoria also shares her love of animals, her rescued pets Bentley, Tiger, and Storm, and the story of meeting her husband, Fabrizio, in England before lockdown led them into a whirlwind relationship and eventual marriage. New Music, Charity Work, and Reinvention The conversation closes with Victoria reflecting on her career ambitions, including a desire for a musical path similar to Michael Bublé, future theater work, new music, and a developing one-woman show. She discusses playing Julie Andrews in Saving Mr. Banks, her respect for Celine Dion’s comeback, and her admiration for Tom Cruise’s passion and refusal to slow down creatively. Victoria also shares her work as a global ambassador for Teen Cancer America, including afternoon tea fundraisers. Mary Jane closes by affirming that age should never stop people from creating, reinventing themselves, or pursuing new work with ...
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    55 mins
  • Popp Talk, July 11, 2026

    Popp Talk, July 11, 2026
    Jul 12 2026
    Popp Talk with Mary Jane Popp Hidden Symbols, Global Risks, and the Search for Truth Guests, Julia Bramer and Jon Mills Mysticism Behind Sylvia Plath’s Work Mary Jane Popp opens the program by introducing a wide-ranging episode focused on tarot, mysticism, and the future of civilization. Her first guest, Julia Bramer, discusses years of archival research into Sylvia Plath’s writings and personal materials, arguing that Plath’s poetry contains substantial evidence of occult and mystical influences. Bramer says Plath explored practices such as tarot, astrology, automatic writing, crystal gazing, bibliomancy, and the Ouija board. A Poet Beyond the Familiar Tragedy Bramer challenges the public tendency to define Sylvia Plath primarily through The Bell Jar, mental illness, and her death. She describes Plath as a complex poet shaped by family interests in mythology, alchemy, Freemasonry, and mysticism, with Ted Hughes later expanding those influences. Bramer also discusses Plath’s emotional fragility, previous suicide attempts, troubled marriage, and alleged ritualistic efforts to retaliate against Hughes, while presenting these interpretations as conclusions drawn from archival research and literary analysis. How Tarot Becomes a Language of Symbols The conversation turns to tarot history and practice. Bramer explains that the earliest surviving decks date to medieval Europe and describes the traditional belief that symbolic knowledge from Kabbalah, astrology, alchemy, and numerology was concealed within cards. She says tarot readings depend on the placement, orientation, and interaction of 78 cards, and compares the process to dream interpretation because the reader offers symbols while the client connects them to personal circumstances. Transformation Rather Than Prediction Bramer emphasizes that tarot should provide guidance rather than fixed predictions. She explains that the frequently feared death card usually represents transformation, including marriage, graduation, childbirth, or another event that permanently changes a person’s life. A reversed death card may instead suggest feeling stuck or unable to complete a desired transition. She also discusses her books Tarot Life Lessons and The Occult Sylvia Plath, which combine real client stories, personal reflections, and literary research. Civilization at a Dangerous Crossroads In the second major interview, psychoanalyst and philosopher Jon Mills discusses his book The End of the World: Civilization and Its Fate. Mills says he is concerned about the combined effects of climate disruption, warfare, nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, social inequality, and political instability. He clarifies that he is not predicting the planet’s immediate destruction, but warns that continued denial and inaction could contribute to severe social collapse. Aggression, Division, and the Need for Enemies Mills argues that human beings possess both aggressive and cooperative tendencies. He describes the search for enemies and scapegoats as part of human psychology and defines evil, for the discussion, as the deliberate infliction of pain and suffering. Popp and Mills examine political polarization, social-media disinformation, tribal thinking, and the inability to hold civil conversations with people who have different values or identities. Conversation as the First Step Forward The episode closes with Mills urging people to become more self-aware, confront uncomfortable realities, listen to opposing perspectives, and resist denial or defensiveness. He says open dialogue is essential for building a wider ecological and social consciousness. Popp summarizes the message as a call to keep working toward positive change rather than surrendering to hopelessness, fear, or division.
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    55 mins
  • Popp Talk, June 27, 2026

    Popp Talk, June 27, 2026
    Jun 28 2026
    Popp Talk with Mary Jane Popp Films That Matter, Families That Endure, and the Stories That Still Bring Us Home Guests, Carrie Richey, and Judy Norton from the classic "Walton's" TV Show Searching for Truth Through Film, Family, and Feeling In this episode of Popp Talk, host Mary Jane Popp welcomes two guests from the worlds of film, television, writing, and cultural memory: Carrie Rickey and Judy Norton. The episode opens with Mary Jane reflecting on how technology, movies, television, and artificial intelligence are reshaping the way people receive information and decide what feels real. From there, the hour moves into two connected conversations about meaningful storytelling: first through the life and work of filmmaker Agnès Varda, and then through the enduring emotional legacy of The Waltons. Carrie Rickey on Agnès Varda’s Complicated Passion Mary Jane’s first guest, Carrie Rickey, discusses her book A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda. Carrie describes Varda as a Belgian-born, French-raised photographer, filmmaker, and artist whose career lasted 65 years, making her one of the longest-working women in cinema history. Varda worked nearly until her death in 2019, overcame major obstacles as a woman director, and became known for empathy, humor, curiosity, independence, and an unwillingness to accept “no” as the final answer. Carrie explains that while film lovers know Varda well, she wanted American readers to better understand the scope of Varda’s influence. A Filmmaker Ahead of Her Time Carrie explains that Varda addressed subjects such as sexism, abortion, labor exploitation, immigrant rights, race relations, and food insecurity long before many filmmakers were willing to do so. She also notes Varda’s connections to major cultural figures, including Susan Sontag, Simone de Beauvoir, Huey Newton, Harrison Ford, and Gérard Depardieu. The conversation expands into the erased history of early women directors, including Alice Guy-Blaché and Lois Weber, and how the rise of the studio system helped push many independent women filmmakers out of the official record. For Carrie, Varda’s life offers a model of creative persistence, independence, and storytelling rooted in real life rather than spectacle. Real Stories Versus Artificial Answers Mary Jane and Carrie then discuss the state of modern movies, streaming, and artificial intelligence. Mary Jane says she misses films that leave audiences emotionally changed or remembering something meaningful, while Carrie contrasts formula-driven entertainment with films about real people, real communities, and lived experience. Their conversation turns to AI, which Carrie says cannot replace human thought, emotion, or the work of forming one’s own ideas. She shares frustrations with AI-generated student work and a chatbot customer-service exchange, reinforcing the episode’s broader concern that technology should not replace authentic human feeling, memory, and creativity. Judy Norton and the Family That Never Really Left In the second half, Mary Jane welcomes Judy Norton, best known as Mary Ellen Walton from The Waltons. Judy reflects on her long creative life as an actor, singer, director, writer, and performer, saying she enjoys all of these outlets because each offers a different kind of creative energy. She explains that what matters most to her is having goals that inspire her and work that can touch people, whether by offering hope, entertainment, laughter, or a moment of relief from life’s difficulties. She also shares that the Waltons cast remains genuinely close and still feels like family, both personally and to generations of viewers discovering the series for the first time. Behind the Scenes of The Waltons and the Stories That Still Matter Judy talks about her YouTube channel, where she revisits The Waltons, shares behind-the-scenes memories, and answers questions from fans. She says the channel began during the pandemic and became a meaningful community for viewers who found comfort in the series. She discusses favorite episodes, including “The Easter Story,” centered on Olivia’s polio recovery, and “The Firestorm,” which deals with book burning, fear, and prejudice through a powerful moment involving a German Bible. Judy notes that even though The Waltons premiered in 1972, its themes remain relevant because they deal with family, fear, courage, decency, and the human spirit. Hope, Creativity, and Choosing the Good Mary Jane and Judy close by discussing music, travel, family, horses, British mystery shows, L. Ron Hubbard’s fiction, Earl Hamner’s storytelling, and Judy’s continuing desire to choose projects that truly speak to her. Judy says her philosophy of life is rooted in optimism and hope: life can improve, people are mostly good, and giving up is never the answer. She shares a small story about someone who went out of her way to correct a refunded CD payment, using it as an example ...
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    55 mins
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