Working Gal Rock and Roll Poet: John Poveromo on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show

Monday, February 17, 2025

John Poveromo on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show

John Poveromo is the next guest on the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show. Which goes live Tuesday evening 6 pm ET/3 pm PT/midnight (Wed. morning Cape Town time.

I fell in love with the range of musicians, comedians, and health experts that John has on his podcast, "Dystopia Tonight.” John's a working comedian with a wide range of talent including cartoon art, writing, filmmaking, organizing, and creating projects.

We talk about personal experiences with depression, mental health, and the challenges of navigating the current political and social climate. The interview also shares our experiences with social media, creativity, and travel, with a focus on the importance of empathy, understanding different perspectives, and supporting those who are struggling. He created an indie movie, "Duppet," a short that visualizes depression.

Two other deep topics were our love for the TV show, "Supernatural" and John's hair care routine!

Everyone should tune in to John's M.S. Telethon happening this March 26-27. Type up this link for the Telethon broadcast page: bit.ly/dystopiaallnight25

My book is called THE LEIGHTON EXPLOSION, which is a title I've played with throughout my entire adult life. It's based on The Music Explosion who rocked with a favorite song, "A Little Bit Of Soul." It's optimistic, and self-empowering, which is a quality I love in art... Three things have been constant in my life—- writing, music, and animals. Likewise, I've adapted the words to Frank Sinatra’s hit, “That’s Life.” I sing, “I’ve been a poet, a pauper, a publicist…. up and down…..” My poetry book, The Leighton Explosion (Soul Asylum, Canada) shows my range of emotion and different interests, especially rock music. My publisher Ken Cowle says I “made him laugh.” Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, who writes the book’s foreword, praises my “lilt” and “personality” in an encouraging note. While I usually work as a music publicist with musicians including Jethro Tull, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, Sharon Katz & The Peace Train, and Michael Veitch, I've also made money from my poetry. This includes the Grammy-nominated album, Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat, (Audio & Video Labs) with me reading my poem “Feed Your Parents Well.” My poems have been published in The Indie Collaborative’s “Holiday Program,” “The Literary Parrot Anthology,” “Elephant Journal,” “BOG GOB,” “Powerline,” “the Aquarian,” and “Nickel.” I've performed live at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and Peter Max’s Studio. Some of my plays have been performed live—one by the Poets Repertory Theatre of Long Island and another by the San Antonio Living River Church, and at New York City’s Howl Fest. My other books are Paws For Thought: How to Understand What Your Cat is Thinking (Rockwell Books, UK), Using Your Art & the Media to Comfort People (Free To Run Books, West Hills, CA), and the self-published e-book, Get the Gig (Common Sense Career Consulting). I recently started producing pop music singles, which can be heard at soundcloud.com/leightonmedia/sets/anneleightonsongs.