Ramblin' Crew Prepares to Sign Off

It may be hard to believe from the camaraderie on each episode of the student-run podcast Ramblin’, but student hosts Peter Canale ‘23 and Ryan Irving ‘23 didn’t know each other very well before embarking on the endeavor.

 

While Canale had been friends with podcast producer Colin van Hoek ‘23 for a little over a year before the podcast started, Irving was merely an acquaintance of Van Hoek.

 

The idea for the podcast stemmed from Canale’s desire during the initial months of the COVID pandemic in the spring of 2020 as a way to supplement the “big brother” program at Fordham Prep where upperclassmen teach the younger students the ropes of being a Ram.

 

“During COVID-19 we didn’t have any of that and I felt kind of lost,” Canale began, “so I wanted to create something that would facilitate that,” he continued.

 

At that point, he did not have a topic for the podcast, but he was certain that he wanted to start one. Canale asked numerous administrators including Principal Joseph Petriello PhD ‘98. To a person, his idea was received enthusiastically.

 

A few months later, Canale secured a moderator—Dylan LaGamma ‘09 from the Visual & Performing Arts Department—as suggested by his older brother, then senior, Dominic ‘20. All that was left was to find a co-host.

 

“One day we all happened to be going home at the same time,” Canale stated, remembering how he met his co-host. Van Hoek ended up introducing him to Irving on that October afternoon in 2020.

 

“I remember you said you needed a co-host, and we didn’t really talk about it again for another week or two,” Irving recalled. He then sent a text to Canale referencing the conversation about the podcast and they planned a Zoom meeting with LaGamma.

 

“That Zoom call was super awkward because I didn’t really know Ryan or Mr. LaGamma,” Canale laughed, realizing that he had only been to a few of LaGamma’s History of Jazz classes by that point.

 

The name of the podcast came from Dominic Canale. Ramblin’ is a spin on Horsin' Around, a show within the television series BoJack Horseman. The student hosts toyed with the idea of naming the podcast Ramblin’ Around but ultimately decided on simply Ramblin’.

 

The first episode went off without too much of a hitch. Van Hoek offered to help film and create the original logo, which he remembers kept refreshing on the tablet screen while filming. They began filming the Ramblin’ premiere about Fordham Prep sports, but none of the teams were playing during the pandemic, so they moved on to talk about food for the rest of the episode.

 

“For the first episode, we didn't have what most production teams have, like close bonds,” Irving noted. “Or a plan,” Van Hoek interjected.

 

“It was kind of just this thing where we're like we were just going to go for it, and it ended up being a really great thing. So I think we were all really happy with that. And from there, we kind of had this new confidence,” Irving continued.

 

Other students at the Prep loved the food topic, and the upperclassmen seemed to be enjoying the podcast. For episode two, Augustine Daudu ‘23 joined as associate producer by invitation from Van Hoek.

 

(L-R) Augustine Daudu ‘23, Ryan Irving ‘23, Peter Canale ‘23, and Colin van Hoek ‘23 pose with the Ramblin’ sign, a gift from the Office of Alumni Engagement after the student-hosts mentioned it would make a great addition to the set in episode one of season two.

 

“I think Colin had brought it up in a few FPTV meetings and asked if I wanted to help out so I was like ‘Okay!’ I just felt like we were two people sitting with foreigners,” Daudu said, remembering how awkward it was being around other students he didn’t know well. He went on to note that the previous Ramblin’ set in the Global Education room caused him and Van Hoek to have to clumsily crawl underneath tables to get the equipment set up.

 

Van Hoek’s proudest moment as producer of the student-run podcast happened while editing episode six, featuring former assistant principal Dennis Ahern ‘63, P’01. The episode included an inset of the Italian restaurant scene that the student hosts discussed with Ahern, and this particular inset format became the norm for Ramblin’.

 

“I remember Mr. LaGamma emailed me after school when I sent him the first draft and he was like, ‘You made a visual language for Ramblin'. That’s really impressive.’ I was so honored because it was exactly what I wanted to do as an editor,” Van Hoek said.

 

The student-hosts also host a live version of Ramblin’ during Fordham Prep’s Open House events, which are a huge hit with prospective students and parents alike.

“Ramblin’ has become, by far, the most talked about aspect of our Open House,” said Brad Serton ‘95, Director of Enrollment and Marketing. “Prospective students love it because the boys are so authentic and genuinely funny. Their parents love it because they can see their sons growing into young men just like Peter and Ryan.”

 

“I remember one guy had come up to me during the open house and said ‘I think you changed a lot of people’s minds about coming here’,” Canale remembered.

 

Serton added, “I joke with the boys that I don’t know what I am going to do without them at next year’s Open House.”

 

Rumor has it that other Catholic schools in Westchester and New York City are trying to follow suit with student-run podcasts of their own. As moderator LaGamma states, Ramblin’ is “one of the most authentic ways to learn about Fordham Prep,” so why wouldn’t every high school want to have its own student-run podcast?

 

With graduation on the horizon for the entire Ramblin’ crew, they’re excited about finding students who are interested in continuing the podcast. However, the crew wants to make sure they can find a group of students that can come into the open roles similar to how they fell together.

 

“Right now, the conflict we have is just trying to make sure that we could maintain that sort of balance and the luck that we had. It'll be hard to force it,” Van Hoek stated.

 

Van Hoek is set to attend film school at New York University in the fall. Irving has an interest in majors related to the entertainment industry at Harvard University, while co-host Canale is interested in attending business school at Wake Forest University. Daudu, the recipient of Ithaca College's prestigious 4-year full scholarship, is interested in studying at the Park School of Communications.*

 

While the student hosts and producers love sharing their talents on Ramblin’, the task of running the podcast is no easy feat. They spend almost eight hours working on each episode, from planning, to set up and editing.

 

 

Daudu feels that the phrase “Every movie is a miracle” applies to the Ramblin’ podcast as well. “Just being able to finish an episode and knowing that at some point it will be on Schoology, [the Prep’s internal school distribution system]—I just feel like every podcast episode is a miracle,” he said.