LF_040518

LakeForestLeader.com life & arts
the lake forest leader | April 5, 2018 | 19
Scouts seniors get creative with ‘Good Idea’ podcast
Alan P. Henry
Freelance Reporter
Check out the “Good
Idea” podcast “Wayne
Gretzkying” and you’ll
learn that the term means
“eating a cigarette” among
some students at Lake Forest
High School. You’ll
also be treated to a discourse
on stupid fads.
Or, maybe, go to the
“Genghis Con” podcast,
where history is rewritten
because it turns out Genghis
Khan was not calling
the shots. His horse was.
Then there’s “Kierkecaards,”
about a line of
birthday cards embracing
the philosophy of Soren
Kierkegaard, who believed
much of life is about suffering.
In other words, every
birthday card warns of yet
another year of tribulation.
The “Good Idea” podcast
is the brainchild of
Lake Forest High School
seniors Aiden Kinsella and
Bradley Berklich.
Roughly once a week,
since last August, the pair
sits down in front of a microphone
for 30-60 minutes
and cobbles together a
swirl of comedy, story telling,
satire and homespun
philosophy. Most of the
ideas and topics are their
own. Some are submitted
to them on social media.
In any given week, 50-
70 listeners tune in, most
locally but also from
around the nation. There
have even been listeners
from Finland and Sweden.
Berklich and Kinsella
have been involved together
in a number of creative
efforts at Lake Forest High
School, and decided to put
together the podcast last
summer.
“Whether it is serious
or it is just for fun,
we thought this would be
a shared thing everyone
could listen to and enjoy,”
Berklich said.
“For me, this is a passion
project,” Kinsella said. “I
look to go into the field of
media production. I enjoy
making people laugh and I
enjoy talking to people, so
podcasting is a really good
way to combine those
things. It is something we
both really enjoy doing.”
One of their favorites is
“The Ice Cream Stand at
the Pinnacle of America.”
The podcast traces their
75-minute road trip last
fall from Lake Forest to an
ice cream stand in Hebron,
Illinois. Hebron had left
a positive impression on
Berklich when he visited
the town the previous summer
with his father.
“We thought the trip
would give us the ability
to talk about America as a
whole and the problems it
faces and what it means to
have an American Dream,”
Berklich said. “We decided
that living in Hebron was
the American dream.”
Going forward, Berklich
expects that “Good Idea”
will morph toward chronicling
their senior year.
That will include a podcast
at the end of March from
Italy, where the pair will
be performing as members
of the Lake Forest choir.
“We see it as a way for
us to preserve our high
school experience, but I
also hope it maintains its
place as a place where
you can go and relax and
hang out with some virtual
friends for an hour,” said
Berklich, who is weighing
several college offers.
Kinsella plans to attend
THE SPRING
Lake Forest College, study
media production and be
on radio there.
“I want to build a career
out of entertaining people,”
he said.
Kinsella and Berklich
also plan to continue producing
their podcast next
year, and have already recorded
one podcast separately.
To listen to the “Good
Idea” podcast, visit www.
goodidea.libsyn.com/website.
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Aiden Kinsella (left) and Bradley Berklich, students at Lake Forest High School, are
the creators and hosts of the “Good Idea” podcast. PHOTO submitted
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