The Crimson podcast is back for the 2024-25 school year and already rolling. The podcast gives updates about the school sports, news, and other activities. It features a variety of guests, including the captains of BHS sports teams, teachers, and leaders of clubs.  

The podcast has moved from strictly audio to now audio and video. The episodes can be found on the YouTube channel BHS Crimson, instead of The Crimson Podcast formerly on Spotify. The podcast released its first episode on September 20th with hosts Ari Rosen ‘25 and Jack Martin ‘27 interviewing the Bernards girls soccer captains. Ari has been a part of the podcast since 2022, and now succeeds Matt Mariani ‘24 as head of the production. 

When asked about his goals for the podcast in the 24-25 school year, Rosen says “To win awards and to expand it throughout the whole school so everyone is watching.” The BHS Crimson won the best of SNO award in the 22-23 and 23-24 school year, which includes a multimedia requirement that involves posting podcasts and informational videos. As for his plan to improve the podcast, Rosen states that he wants to “[do the podcast] more consistently and use the video quality to enhance our work.” The podcast crew spends hours setting up interviews, coming up with topics, coordinating schedules, recording, editing and more. Ari wants to make sure students here at BHS know that “It’s worth your time listening to [the podcast] and we put a lot of effort into it to make it better.”

The podcast was originally started in 2020 by  Shane Rich ‘22. Rich and Matt Lesnik ‘23 talked all about sports, including the NBA and NFL. 

Co-creators Shane Rich and Matt Lesnik’s goal was to hit the ground running” and “to get more following”. According to Rich, the podcast started out of a  “passion for sports broadcasting” and to “expand the paper and engage more students”. As for his thoughts on the future of the podcast, Rich states “I just wanted it to be that each year the journalism program is finding and adding new kids that have the same passion that I did.” Rich also has advice for the leaders of the podcast in the  future, repeating to “keep it professional, but be yourself”. Rich’s podcast legacy still lives on today as the Crimson podcast is still thriving through current BHS students.

Once Rich and Matt Lesnik ‘23 graduated, Rosen took the podcast over in the 2023 school year with Matthew Mariani ‘24, and has continued to run it until now. Rosen has now included the student body in the podcast, interviewing the captains of different sports teams, and he looks to include clubs and teachers this upcoming school year.

Podcasting is also important to students throughout the school. Ben Balian ‘27 runs his own podcast outside of school called the Sports Pod. He has gotten the opportunity to interview many different guests such as WFAN host Keith McPherson. Balian thinks that the school having a podcast is important because “The podcast allows for more opportunities for students who like to talk rather than write about something.” The BHS Crimson newspaper provides a platform for students to write about events throughout the school, while the podcast is an opportunity for students who do not enjoy writing, and instead like to talk. Will Simpson ‘27, (an aspiring podcaster in his future, features editor for the Crimson, etc) also has thoughts on the podcast, saying “The podcast is a great way to give a behind the scenes look on what is happening throughout the school”. 

Be sure to check out the Crimson Podcast on the YouTube channel BHS Crimson.