Bad Idea Social Club
Bad Idea Social Club is an independent podcast of stories, insights, and creative foolery. Hosted by graphic designer Aaron McCall, with Amber Gray and Joe Matteson, BISC brings honest, unfiltered conversations that get into the messy, brilliant, and relatable sides of creativity and the stories that shape who we are. This is a space where honesty mixes with the beautifully unhinged parts of creativity, process, struggle, joy, mental health, and everything else we don’t usually say out loud. If you care about creativity, making things, or just figuring yourself out in real time, you’re in the right place. This podcast dives into life, the work we make, and the stories that connect us all. Tune in, press play, subscribe, and share the stories with your friends.
Episodes
70 episodes
Courtney Lauer: The Hurry and the Harm
Courtney Lauer (graphic designer, artist) shares her story with Aaron McCall and talks about survival, control, and the strength it takes to turn pain into something honest. She opens up about surviving and processing trauma, rebuilding identit...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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1:10:22
Jacob Betts: Once a Vagrant
Jacob Betts (singer-songwriter, The American Hotel System) joins Aaron McCall to talk about creativity as something to hold onto when life unravels, how grief reshapes how we see purpose, and what it means to rebuild belief in people when every...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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1:01:24
Casey Lambert: The Other F Word
Casey Lambert (independent pro wrestler, marketing director) joins Aaron McCall to talk about life in and out of the ring, how strength and vulnerability feed off each other, and how connection shows up everywhere from the crowd to your opponen...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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1:01:58
Joy Rhine: Unhinged and Feral
Joy Rhine (visual designer, photographer) sits down with Aaron McCall to talk about keeping creativity in your life without letting it become your whole identity. She opens up about being people-first in a screen-first industry, why she’d rathe...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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57:31
Mack Garrison: Everything in Motion
Mack Garrison (motion designer, co-founder of Dash Studio) joins Aaron McCall to talk about ADHD as both a curse and a creative advantage, building a studio rooted in empathy over ego, and what happens when you decide burnout isn’t a badge of h...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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1:04:00
Scott Katsufrakus: Castles and Sirens
Scott Katsufrakis (founder of Flying House Threads, firefighter) joins Aaron McCall to talk creative entrepreneurship at the edge of whimsy and weight. They dig into building a Disney-inspired, punk-leaning apparel brand while working life-and-...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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1:00:44
Taylor Matteson: Beautifully Odd
Taylor Matteson (painter, experimenter) shares her story with Aaron McCall and discusses following creativity wherever it leads: painting, sculpture, and adding teeth to thrifted objects. She opens up about growing up shy in a loud, creative ho...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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1:00:17
Ray Anne Barker: Noise and Stillness
Ray Ann Barker (painter, photographer, model, content creator) talks with Aaron McCall about anxiety as the root of her creativity, finding ground through photography and abstract painting, and how turning perfectionism on its head opened new d...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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1:01:56
Colin Russell: Oops, All Murals
Colin Russell (artist, muralist, Ghost Town) talks with Aaron McCall about moving from years in coffee to a life in art, stumbling into murals, and building a world in black and white. His work is bold, playful, and unsettling all at once—creep...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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58:08
Virginia Anzengruber: That's Not Funny
To kick off Season 6, Virginia Anzengruber (comedian, filmmaker, writer) joins Aaron McCall for a conversation about grief, comedy, and what it takes to keep creating when life gets heavy. She talks about loss, writing scripts that hold both hu...
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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59:18
BONUS: Social Media is a Lie
This time, we’re talking about the mess of being online. From LiveJournal drama to influencer marketing and the existential weight of Instagram captions, we dig into what makes social media feel necessary, fake, addictive, useful, and totally e...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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21:13
BONUS: Starting Over
This time, it’s just the three of us—Aaron, Joe, and Amber. No guest, no plan, just vibes and a theme: starting over. From lost files and ruined shoots to quitting jobs and creative resets, we get into the mess and momentum of starting...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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21:11
Jenny Hearns: Ghost of a Ghost
Jenny Hearns (artist, graphic designer) talks with Aaron McCall about creative identity, chronic illness, and what happens when your body hits pause before your mind is ready. They get into creepy-cute aesthetics, the pressure to stay visible, ...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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1:00:44
Craig Horky: Dusty Old Man
Craig Horky (illustrator, graphic designer) shares his story with Aaron McCall and talks about analog habits, unexpected upheaval, and the tension between making a living and making something that lasts. They cover brush pens, weird gigs, creat...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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50:13
Mitch Ermatinger: Where the Wild Things Sour
Mitch Ermatinger (brewer/founder, Speciation Artisan Ales) talks with Aaron McCall about building a life around wild beer—then no longer being able to drink it. They get into the art and...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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50:50
Rae Lang: Outsider
Rae Lang (artist, Woosah Outfitters & Outside Coffee Co.) talks with Aaron McCall about carving a life that’s slower, wilder, and closer to the woods. They get into Rae’s evolution as an art...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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56:35
Scott Millington: Real AF
Scott Millington (photographer) has always had an eye for real-life moments—and in photography, he found the language to document them. Scott sits down with Aaron McCall to talk about how the camera gave him purpose, community, and a way to sho...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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48:53
Courtney Romero: Sunshine
Courtney Romero (graphic designer, co-founder of Class) didn’t set out to co-found a tech company, but when the opportunity came, she ran with it. Courtney shares her story with Aaron McCall about growi...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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1:01:27
Jon Bailey: Pour Boy
Jon Bailey—photographer, videographer, and co-owner of Lantern Coffee Bar & Lounge—joins Aaron McCall for a conversation about reinvention, embracing uncertainty, and the realities of running an independent coffee shop. His path hasn’t been...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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55:50
Mike Egan: A Brush with Death
Artist Mike Egan joins Aaron McCall for a conversation about art, death, and building a life on his own terms. Known for his bold, macabre paintings of skeletons, coffins, and religious iconography, his work is unmistakable—equal parts h...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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47:04
Jenny Berggren: Rawdogging
Filmmaker and creative director Jenny Berggren (Wondergold Pictures) joins Aaron McCall for an unfiltered conversation about reinvention, creative freedom, and breaking away from the structures that no longer fit. From growing up making home vi...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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53:11
Marcel Fable Price: The Poet and The Price
Poet, storyteller, and former Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Marcel Fable Price joins Aaron McCall for a raw and deeply honest conversation about creativity, mental health, and the weight of grief. He opens up about loss, the complexity of l...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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50:48
Back for More: Sabrina Dahlgren, Jacob Rosenburg, and Mike Mains
Ahead of Season 5, we're catching up with singer/actor Sabrina Dahlgren (S3 Ep5), graphic designer Jacob Rosenburg (S2 Ep12), and musician Mike Mains (S1 Ep3) to hear what they’ve been up to since they were first on the podcast. Life keeps movi...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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57:35
Back for More: Lydia VanHoven-Cook, Jill Deiters, and Edwin Collazo
Ahead of Season 5, we're catching up with Lydia VanHoven-Cook (S1 Ep1), Jill Deiters (S1 Ep5), and Edwin Collazo (S4 Ep1) to hear what they’ve been up to since they were first on the podcast. Life keeps moving, and we’re here for all the storie...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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58:43
