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Abigail Wilt:
Welcome back to the podcast! The Herd Issue of State Press magazine is now available in newsstands near you.
Lavanya Paliwal:
This episode, we feature the authors of 2 articles to provide insight into the research and process of how they wrote their stories.
Abigail Wilt:
Reporter Mica Hermida interviews Bella Keenan about the difficulties of being a loyal sports fan.
Lavanya Paliwal:
And Ava Peguese sits down with Aleah Steinle about how Christianity shaped our current political landscape.
Abigail Wilt:
I’m Abigail Wilt
Lavanya Paliwal:
I’m Lavanya Paliwal
Abigail Wilt:
and this... is State Press Play
Micaela Hermida:
Hi everyone, and welcome to another state press segment. I'm your host, Mica Hermida, and today we're going to talk about the high, lows and intense emotions that come with being a die hard sport fan. I have here with me, Bella Keenan, a writer for the State Press magazine, who recently published an incredible future called the trials and tribulations of Die Hard sport fans. It's a story that dives into the passion community and sometimes chaos behind the culture, from what Super Bowl celebration to intense rivalries and even the dark side of sports. Bella, thank you so much for being here today.
Bella Keenan:
Thank you for having me!
Micaela Hermida:
So to start off, what made you want to write this story in the first place?
Bella Keenan:
I think to start off, I'm a journalist, but myself, I am a die hard sports fan, and I thought it would be interesting to get die hard fans, which is more of a small, smaller portion of all sports fans, and talk about their their experiences, as well as this issue being the herd issue, there is group mentality of how they get to that point to become a die hard fan.
Micaela Hermida:
So was it something more personal, or just like something that really caught your attention and you wanted to share?
Bella Keenan:
It was both. It started off as a personal like this is something that I fall into as a fan, but being a journalist, I wanted to investigate it more and also talk about different types of fans. You know, I interviewed Eagles fans, which are known in general, to be die hard fans. I also interviewed Mercury fans, who the Phoenix Mercury went to the final WNBA finals. So I wanted to interview different types of fans, different age ranges, from students to professionals, just to get their perspective on how it is to be a die hard fan.
To hear more from Bella, please tune in to State Press Play.
Ava Peguese:
Hello, everyone. My name is Ava Peguese, and today I'm here with Aleah Steinle, a reporter for The State Press Magazine in celebration of The Herd Issue and her feature article, we are interviewing Aleah on her article, “Ballots and Beliefs: Christianity's role in shaping political ideology and action.” Now, when I saw the headline for this piece, I was like, oh! I need to read that. So that's what I did. And obviously it is a privilege to have you here with us today. I just wanted to start off by asking you, like for a little bit of background on your story for the listeners who have not read it yet?
Aleah Steinle:
Yeah, sure. So, it's pretty straightforward, what it sounds like. I feel like lately I've been seeing a lot of faith influence in people's political ideology, especially recently with the Charlie Kirk assassination. I feel like that really highlighted the like huge trend that's going on. And I don't say trend in a superficial way, of like fashion. I mean what it literally means of something moving in a general direction. And so I thought it was super interesting. It was something that I wanted to get perspective on, do research on, and I thought others around me probably would find it interesting. So, yeah.
Ava Peguese:
Yes, I most definitely found it interesting. I really enjoyed reading your article. In a time of intense political or ideological opposition, what inspired you to write about such a controversial topic?
Aleah Steinle:
Well, this was something that I didn't want to be super controversial. I reached out to Turning Point USA at ASU, and among four other clubs at ASU that have faith and Christianity and conservatism, and I really just wanted to get both sides. This is just something that I just found fascinating, and I thought maybe everyone would too, like I didn't want it to come off. Super like, and this is what this side thinks. This is what this side it was just like a this is kind of what's going on. And maybe someone couldn't hear either side and be like, All right, like, I could see that I could rock with that. I could maybe adapt to some of that. Or, like, no, maybe that's not my style. And I just thought it was super interesting. Unfortunately, after I reached out to several clubs, like, neither of them got- none of them got back to me. They like, would like, follow me and then, like, read my message and then unfollow me. So I'm like, I really tried. I really wanted to get their perspective. It really wasn't like, a game of, like, gotcha! Like, this is about liberal like, it had nothing to do. We're journal, we're journalists. So, like, it really had, like, it was really well intended. So, like, I just wanted to write about something cool that maybe everyone could find interest in, in the least controversial way, even though it is, like a really hot topic. You know what I mean?
Ava Peguese:
Yeah, I do know what you mean. Tying back into those interviews that you were just talking about, you had some really cool interviews in your story. Can you tell me a little bit about your interview process?
Aleah Steinle:
Yeah, sure. So I was talking about this topic with one of my co workers, Janelle, who was one of the ones interviewed, and she was telling me about how her pastor kind of goes about this hot topic in church. And I found it really fascinating, and I thought that he could be like a really, like, pivotal perspective in this story, like being a Christian pastor and having a really strong view on this that maybe a lot of Christians wouldn't align with. And so I wanted to talk to him, but unfortunately he didn't get back to me. So I just talked to her through his perspective, like she just gave me like what he says, and in the story, there's verses that he goes over and stuff like that. So she just provided those. And then obviously I wanted to talk to somebody that is a Christian and maybe doesn't really align with like, letting that influence their beliefs. And then who else did I talk to? I don't remember the other sorry, but yeah. And then obviously I wanted to talk to people that, like did agree with it, and I couldn't. So I just, like, went on their home pages, and I pulled from like, their homepage what they believe in and what their motive is, and I assumed that that would round out their perspective the best. Because I assume, like, what they believe in is what they would want to show everyone on their website. I think it would have been cooler to dive deeper into, like, maybe what the other side is thinking, right? Like they could really, like, advocate for themselves and, like, provide something that isn't just on the surface level that we already see when we look up turning point USA. Like I had questions that I really thought I could have got more out of, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to get those answers. So yeah, but the interviews you included were so good. Thank you. So so good. I owe it all to the interviewees. They were like, really great, and were super helpful. And, yeah, just awesome.
To hear more from Aleah, please tune in to State Press Play.
Lavayna Paliwal:
That’s all for this episode of State Press Play. I’m Lavayna Paliwal
Abigail Wilt:
and I’m Abigail Wilt. State Press Play is produced by our podcast desk editor, Connor Greenwall, and our vidpod editor Grace Johnson. Our original music is by Ellie Willard and Jake LaRoux [La-Row].
Lavayna Paliwal:
Special thanks to our managing team, Matthew Marengo and Ava Peguese.
Abigail Wilt:
You can check out all these stories and more on statepress.com. See you next time.
Ava Peguese is the multimedia managing editor at The State Press. She is in her 3rd semester with The State Press, previously employed as a podcast reporter and a full-time podcaster.
