Typing It Real ~ Stories from the Jukebox with Chris B. Writes & MJ Polk

In this episode of Typing It Real, I had the privilege of speaking with MJ Polk about three of my favorite things: writing, music, and gratitude! -Chris B. Writes Specifically, we discussed: MJ Polk’s Substack origins and his publications, The Southern Copywriter & Stories from the Jukebox. We then did a deeper dive into Stories from the Jukebox, where MJ provides a song as a prompt for writers to sink their creative teeth into every two weeks. I’m a huge fan of music and was even a radio DJ in college (shoutout to WHRW Binghamton!). I’ve loved music my whole life and when I first came across SFTJ, I was so happy that MJ had this awesome idea that he brought to life. On March 17, 2026, I was honored to be the headliner of SFTJ when MJ invited me to pick the song prompt for other writers including myself. I chose the song Peace Somehow by Avi Kaplan. Avi has an incredible bass voice and his post-Pentatonix career has really been rooted in folk music that really grounds you. MJ talks about his reaction to my song choice and why it was fun for him to read about Avi and discover new music. I then did a live poetry reading of my poem, On Fresh Shoulders, which was inspired by Peace Somehow. I asked MJ what is personal favorite song was that someone picked for Stories from the Jukebox. I also ask him to pick one song he hopes will be selected in a future entry (he does not control the song prompts as it’s up to the headline writer that week!) MJ talked about his published book, Stories from the Jukebox, Volume 1. He then reads his personal favorite entry from the book. MJ and I close our conversation with our thoughts on gratitude. We are both members of a monthly collective known as The Gratitude Junkies, and we talk about what that means to us. https://chrisbwrites.substack.com/p/t...