At the beginning of second semester, LRHS seniors, Kaelyn McCann and Sami McGaughey, began a new podcast centered on societal, historical, and pop culture scandals and/or controversies.
Through the podcast channel on Spotify, listeners can listen to past episodes and stay current on upcoming episodes.
This Might Sound Crazy…
After coming up with the idea to create a podcast after a heated debate on the achievements of Hellen Keller, McCann and McGaughey quickly got to work making the podcast a reality.
“I was just going on, ranting, about Hellen Keller in class one day and just talking about it to anyone who would listen, and I guess it just sparked [McCann and I’s] idea to create a podcast where we can feel free to talk about our strange hyper-fixations!” said McGaughey.
Despite featuring niche or controversial topics, each topic is heavily researched prior to filming the episode. McCann said, “We wanted to make sure we were supporting our opinion based on factual evidence… We don’t want to make empty statements based on just our feelings, I don’t know, I want the audience to see the facts behind the opinion and have a credible discussion!”
The girls put all their research into a slideshow that they go through during an episode. This helps keep the discussion on-track and believable even as they dive into crazy conversation topics.
“Don’t get me wrong — we definitely have a wide variety of ideas and topics to talk about, but we’re totally open to different ideas people have… We want it to be relatable; we want to talk about topics people care about, you know?” said McGaughey.
In the age of social media, everyone is offered an opportunity to create an opinion on every scandal, controversy, or drama. As a result, everyone has that one subject that they know everything about.
Whether it be the existence of Hellen Keller or any other debatable topic, McCann and McGaughey are open to discussing not only their personal hyperfixations, but everyone’s hyperfixations.
Their fourth episode featured senior, Jacob Dokulil, who discussed his opinion on Marie Antoinette’s involvement in the downfall of the French monarchy.
“[McCann and McGaughey] are basically inviting people to kind of say what they want to say and make an argument that’s interesting and different,” said Dokulil.
The podcast allows the guest speaker to take the stage and present their opinion and research. Throughout the episode, McCann and McGaughey ask questions and make commentary but in general, the guest speaker is allowed to dive into their area of expertise.
Dokulil said, “I think being a guest speaker really gives someone a great opportunity to not only talk about topics that they’re interested in but also to create more diverse media for the school.”
Bringing both new information and content but also a new platform and audience, the podcast adds something unique to LRHS and The Mycenaean social media.
New Media
McCann and McGaughey are both a part of the LRHS Mycenaean (LRHS Newspaper) and produce the podcast through The Mycenenean’s social media base.
This provides a ready-made platform for the podcast as well as the perfect way to spread awareness and advertise the podcast to Leesville students. “We’re hoping to post snippets or previews of our podcasts on [The Mycenaean’s] Instagram page to attract more listeners…” said McCann.
Producing the podcast as a part of LRHS Newspaper’s social media will not only create more traction for the podcast but also add a new and unique aspect to LRHS’s media.
Adding a podcast to The Mycenean’s social media platform creates the opportunity for a different kind of content creation not yet seen on LRHS media.
On top of getting students’ opinions on passing TikTok and Instagram trends, students will have the opportunity to interact and relate with each other’s opinions and interests.
As more and more students are involved as guest speakers, the podcast will come to include a wide variety of topics that cater to the interests of the diverse LRHS student body.
Not to mention, the addition of a podcast to Leesville media creates an even bigger opportunity to reach an audience outside of just LRHS.
“It’s always so awesome seeing a TikTok or Insta reel go viral, I think I would get the same thrill seeing our podcast become popular in audiences outside of just Leesville,” said McCann.
A goal of The Mycenean’s social media team is to create a platform that is not only relatable and representative of LRHS, but of a general high school demographic. Adding a podcast in which Leesville students share opinions that are of interest to high school students as a whole would exponentially expand the horizons of the reach of LRHS media.
The opportunities are endless and ever-evolving, but to see the dream come to fruition, it’s up to the LRHS student body to spread awareness.
Make sure to show support by following The Mycenean’s TikTok and Instagram page as well as the This Might Sound Crazy Podcast on Spotify.
Hi, my name is Valentina Fernandez! I’m a junior at LRHS. I love traveling, being with friends, and Halloween.