The After the Arch gang is BACK after a brief (school-related) hiatus. First, we discuss the tragic Cats loss to Michigan State that probably disqualifies them from College Football Playoff contention. Then, we invite former NFL first-round pick and Illinois State Senator Napoleon Harris III to the podcast. One of the most interesting people we’ve ever spoken to, Napoleon tells us about his recruiting trip to stay with then-player Pat Fitzgerald (07:24), what it was like to play collegiate basketball and football at the same time (10:45), meeting Leonardo DiCaprio in the Playboy mansion (20:14) and what it was like to play alongside future NFL Hall of Famers (30:40). He also discusses the time he singlehandedly fought off four(!) robbers (41:20), how athletes can best use their political platform (35:36) and what some of the intersections are between sports and politics (51:17). Hope you all enjoy.
 

Napoleon’s charity of choice is Chicago’s House of James foundation that supports AIDS, mental health and helps prevent recidivism.

We're back after a short break and are very excited to share our interview with Darren Rovell, who some of you may know from either ESPN or the Action Network and many will know from Twitter. Darren discusses how he went from a Northwestern graduate to anchor on SportsCenter in a matter of weeks (6:35), receiving hundreds of promotional packages a month from different companies (26:00) and the coolest piece of memorabilia he owns (29:24). On the topic of social media, Darren tells us about how he used Instagram and Twitter to build his brand (41:52) and shares his screen time on various apps (44:16). Huge thank you to Darren Rovell for joining us on the pod (after weeks of pleading by us)!

Darren's charity of choice was SameHere's We're All a Little "Crazy," which you can find more information about here - https://samehereglobal.org. 

In a special introduction, we invite our good friend and self-proclaimed (but yet to be verified) "Northwestern Basketball Expert," Derek Krantz, on the pod to talk about Pat Baldwin Jr. and some recent recruiting news. After that, we bring on Charlie Hall, former Northwestern basketball player and current actor. Charlie tells us about his web-series "Sorry, Charlie" (08:20), working alongside his mom in an episode of Veep (12:47), the time he scored his singular career point for the Cats (32:07) and what it's like to be a young actor working in productions for Hulu and Netflix (39:26). We had an awesome time with Charlie and hope you all enjoy!

Charlie's choice of charity was Black Lives Matter, which you can find more information about here - www.blacklivesmatter.com

In our second episode, we talk to Bryant McIntosh, former Northwestern basketball star and now Assistant Director of Basketball Operations for the men’s team. Bryant spoke to us about what it was like to be on the court for “The Shot” (08:30), all things March Madness and the infamous goaltending call (10:08), walking the red carpet at the ESPYs (31:22) and how the recruiting process is going to change after 2020 (35:22). 

Here’s more information about Special Olympics, Bryant’s charity choice for the week: https://www.specialolympics.org/about 

And here’s the petition to re-open Bobby Russ's case: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-lori-lightfoot-justice-for-bobby-russ 

For our debut episode, we interview Hunter Niswander, former punter for the Northwestern football team and the XFL's DC Defenders. Hunter tells us about the lengths he's going through to work out during quarantine (04:24), what he thought of Audi Field's infamous "beer snake" (11:39), his initial reactions to the XFL shutting down (13:46) and his take on The Last Dance as a Cleveland sports fan (34:52). We hope you guys enjoy our first pod and, if you haven't done so already, check us out on social media:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/afterthearch 

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/afterthearch

Welcome to After the Arch, the first ever podcast dedicated to interviewing prominent Northwestern alumni and breaking down their careers. In our first episode, we talk with Hunter Niswander, one of the best punters in Northwestern football history and more recently the punter for the XFL's DC Defenders. Our interview with Hunter drops on Monday, and we hope you guys tune in then.

For right now, check us out on social media:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/afterthearch

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/afterthearch