Meet the Hosts of the Slapstick Sports Podcast
By: Arielle Nissenblatt
I ran an internship this past spring for four high school seniors from The Leffell School in Hartsdale, New York. I had this unique (and fun!) opportunity because I actually attended the school (graduating in 2010) when it went by a different name, Solomon Schechter. It’s a Jewish day school where, for the second semester of the student’s senior year, they’re encouraged to find an internship placement. (When I was a senior, I worked at my summer camp’s office sorting papers and helping them get ready for the upcoming season).
For the past five years or so, I’ve submitted a potential podcast internship to the school’s alumni database and never heard anything. I figured…”I guess there’s no interest in podcasting from students these days.” HOWEVER, this year, things changed.
I got an email in November of 2022 from the school asking if I could host an internship for four boys. I immediately said yes. I spent the next few months putting together a curriculum and contacting podcast and audio friends around New York (and virtually) to set up learning sessions. When the students’ second semester came along, we jumped right in.
I worked with seniors Ben Wanderman, Aidan Gurvitch, Noah Holmgren, and Joey Bond for about two months to teach them everything I know about audio and podcasting. I supported them as they ideated and executed a podcast launch for Slapstick Sports. All four students graduate from Leffell this June and will be heading off to college to study sports analytics, media, or something similar. The idea for their podcast came about because they’re all pretty big sports fans and they were interested in utilizing the medium of audio to get their message across.
Now that the internship has come to a close, Ben, Joey, Aidan, and Noah will continue to work on the podcast. I wanted to speak with them about the experience of starting a show from scratch and see if they had any advice for up-and-coming audio creators.
Slapstick Sports’ Origins
Arielle Nissenblatt: Why did you want to start a podcast, as opposed to a blog or a YouTube channel?
Slapstick Sports: To be honest, we never really considered YouTube, as the first thought was always a podcast. Maybe it’s just what we naturally gravitate towards and envision ourselves doing. We also realized that a podcast has a lot of benefits such as the ability to listen to it whenever you want.
AN: How did you come up with the name “Slapstick Sports”?
SS: We all spent a long time thinking about a name and texting back and forth. None of us remembers who said it, but when someone finally said “Slapstick Sports,” we all agreed we loved how it sounded and wanted to make it the official name.
AN: Share one thing you know now, after this internship, that you didn’t know before.
Joey: I learned that people in the podcast industry are rooting for each other and want to help each other in any way that they can. It’s not about competing to be the best, it's about growing together as an industry.
Aidan: The importance of connections within an industry. It can be the difference between getting or dream job or being unemployed.
Ben: I never even knew that a podcast can be scripted until we had to script our first episode.
Noah: Learning how much goes on behind the scenes of a podcast, and the benefit of making connections early
AN: If you could re-do the podcast from scratch, what changes would you make?
SS: We would find a way to either get better equipment or record all of our episodes in a real studio. We would also have the first episode be less scripted.
AN: Who is a dream guest for the show?
SS: It would have to be someone like Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Shaun White, or Serena Williams.
AN: How do you see this internship impacting your college experience? How do you plan to take these skills with you?
Ben: I am really grateful for this opportunity because I feel like I had many takeaways from it. Not only did I learn skills such as editing, mixing, and being the host of a podcast, but I also learned about commuting, working within a team, and time management. I think these will be very useful during my college experience and beyond.
Joey: I learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes of a major business or company, and I also learned great people skills such as communication, making connections, and pleasing an audience. I feel a lot more comfortable being in front of a large group of people after this, despite the fact that we weren’t actually recording with people watching.
Aidan: It was a great way to get my name out there. Especially as someone entering the sports industry, it was a really important experience and a fun way to end senior year
Noah: The skills I learned through the internship will definitely help me in college and beyond. It showed me what goes on in the making of a show, and gave me the confidence in myself that I can be on a podcast even with a stutter.
AN: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone who was starting a podcast today?
SS: I would say make two fake episodes that you never release and then release your third episode as your first official. I feel like that way, you can get practice and figure out what works and what doesn’t, so that by the time your first episode drops (in reality it’s your third), it sounds as if you’re more of a “natural.” Another piece of advice is to be natural and pick something you’re passionate about, so it sounds like you care and you enjoy it, as opposed to reading off a script.
AN: What do your classmates/family members think of the show? Has it been easy/hard to get them to listen?
SS: A lot of them seem to like it and are supportive of it. It has not been difficult to get them to listen because once they see the website, a lot of them actually want to listen because they’ve said it looks official and they are curious what it sounds like. People say that it is very funny and that they also enjoy listening to us talk about our opinions.
