Bad Idea Social Club

Jason Ley (writer, author) shares his story with Aaron McCall as they talk about healing through creativite expression, overcoming his abusive relationship with alcohol, and finding courage, strength, and forgiveness in putting pen to paper. Sometimes a laugh is the mask. And sometimes it’s the only real thing in the room.

Keep up with Jason Ley:
jasonley.com
IG: @jasonley

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Marcus Assenmacher (musician, songwriter, producer, Twin Phase, SayHeySounds) shares his story with Aaron McCall as they talk about the magic and the broken business of making music, creative obsession, and the blurry line between making art and living life. Kinda funny how the thing you love most can make you forget why you loved it in the first place. But not haha funny.

Keep up with Marcus Assenmacher:
IG: @marcxxlee
IG: @twinphasemusic
IG: @sayheysounds 

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Tanya Avoundjian (creative director, designer, Stout Collective) shares her story with Aaron McCall as they talk about wearing her Armenian-American identity and what it shaped in her, getting her hands dirty as a creative director who doesn’t fit the Don Draper mold, and the “what if” as a creative philosophy. She started by illustrating forum avatars for fake gold and look at her now.

Keep up with Tanya Avoundjian:
IG: @t.basmadjian

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Midnight Society: A Poster Show
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Coopersville Brewing Company
Coopersville, Michigan
Get Directions

13 ARTISTS. 13 POSTERS. 1 CREATIVE BRIEF.

Midnight is when everything is still enough to hear the noise and the silence all at once. The day resets, but nothing resolves. Ideas creep in, doubts get louder, anxiety vibrates and the unknown shifts shapes. It sits on our chests mocking our decisions, our actions, and our thoughts. We either wait for it to pass, or we welcome the horror and let the darkness set in.

We have assembled 13 of the coolest poster artists we could find to throw one hauntingly bad ass poster show. All artists are working from the same creative brief and interpreting the direction based off of their own horrors and experiences.

Event Details:
https://badideasocialclub.com/events/midnight-society-poster-show

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Riley Dompierre (photographer, sewist, creative nomad) shares her story with Aaron McCall as they talk about keeping creativity wild and untamed, the idealism and reality of living in a commune, and the relationship between creativity and humanity. Five foot two and completely unafraid.

Keep up with Riley Dompierre:
IG: @thimbleandgruff

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

David Martinez (drummer, Tidals, Second Body) shares his story with Aaron McCall as they talk about rediscovering drumming after a decade, changing relationships with people, alcohol, and creativity, and not letting anybody or anything else define you. Dave and Aaron are old friends and bandmates from ~20 years ago; their music was loud and fast and their jeans were so tight. So. Tight.

Keep up with David Martinez:
IG: @davidmcmartinez
IG: @tidalband
IG: @second.body.band

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Abbie Lemke (comedian, writer, Off Air) shares her story with Aaron McCall as they talk about living with and masking an invisible disability, comedy as survival, writing a TV show with little to no resources, and not changing who you are for anybody. She’s been on stage over 1,000 times and she’s just getting started.

Keep up with Abbie Lemke:
abbielemke.com
IG: @abbielemkellc
IG: @offairtheshow

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Kayla Turpin (film photographer) shares her story with Aaron McCall as they talk about living and capturing the real, messy, unposed moments, the hunger for internal and external validation, and weighing authenticity against posturing. Wind in the hair, tears on the lens, Kayla opens up about all of it.

Keep up with Kayla Turpin:
kaylaturpin.com
IG: @kaylaturpinphoto

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Part of our REWIND summer series, we’re revisiting eight conversations that crawled into our brains and hearts, nested, and just live there now. This time, it’s "Leigh Ann Cobb: Awkward Art Kid" from Season 4.

Leigh Ann Cobb (photographer) shares her story with Aaron McCall as they discuss going from an awkward art kid to an awkward art grown-up, what it takes to keep her sense of self and identity in check, and the relationship between Leigh Ann and the camera, the camera and her subjects, and more importantly, Leigh Ann and her subjects.

Keep up with Leigh Ann Cobb:
leighanncobb.com
IG: @leigh.ann.cobb.photo

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub

Part of our REWIND summer series, we’re revisiting eight conversations that crawled into our brains and hearts, nested, and just live there now. This time, it’s "Courtney Lauer: The Hurry and The Harm" from Season 6.

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 identity through creativity, and using art to make sense of the things that don’t have easy answers.

Keep up with Courtney Lauer:
courtneylauer.me
IG: @courtneylauer

Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Monthly lecture series. Everyone's creative and everyone's welcome. Find your local chapter.

Merchants & Makers
West Michigan artists, makers, and small businesses. Shop local with food trucks and live music.

——
This episode is supported by:
Creative Mornings Grand Rapids
Merchants & Makers
——
Writer/Producer/Editor/Host:
Aaron McCall
aaronmccall.net
IG: @aaron_mccall
——
Co-Host/Sidekick/Photographer:
Joe Matteson
themattesons.co
IG: @joe_dustin
——
Music:
"Noises" by Mike Mains & The Branches
——
Support the Podcast:
Buy Merch
——
Follow Bad Idea Social Club:
badideasocialclub.com
IG: @badideasocialclub