Two Elmhurst College Seniors Set World Record For Radio Show

ELMHURST, IL —As Elmhurst College seniors getting ready to graduate in May, Jennifer Anthony and Emma Kaminski wanted to do something big to commemorate their time on campus and as deejays at WRSE, the College radio station. According to the college, they decided to co-host a radio talk show; a Guinness World Record-setting radio talk show.

According to the school, the two women were armed with a five-page list of discussion topics, board games and friends who came to bear witness (with endless cups of coffee). Anthony, of St. Charles, and Kaminski, of Naperville, stepped into the WRSE sound booth last weekend to try and set the record for World’s Longest Marathon Radio Talk Show as a team.

The record at that point, set in Jordan in 2014, was 60 hours, 52 minutes and 8 seconds.

The school said Anthony, a double major in French and communication sciences and disorders; and Kaminski, a music business major, officially started their show on Saturday, March 17, at 10:08 a.m.

To set the world record, they had to talk for the entire time, except during breaks. They earned a 5-minute break for every 60 minutes on the air, and were allowed to accumulate break time. They were not allowed more than 10 seconds of silence on the air, and if they brought in any guests, the guests couldn’t speak for more than a minute at a time.

The college said they talked about their lives and experiences on campus, and interviewed their guests about their lives and experiences on campus. They played board games like Monopoly, Clue and Yahtzee, describing each player’s moves and strategies in detail. They moved around as much as they could to stay awake.

The two finally signed off around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, March 20. They’d been on the air for 66 hours, 45 minutes and 59 seconds. They had unofficially broken the world record, according to the college.

“I feel like, if I made it through this I can do anything,” Anthony said in a release, “but I also feel like I would never do this again.”

Now Guinness must review the evidence that the students submitted (video, witness accounts, etc.), and then will determine whether they are the new official title holders.

In the meantime, Anthony and Kaminski will finish out their senior year on a high note.

“A lot of people told us we were crazy, and couldn’t believe we were trying to stay up for so long,” Anthony said in a release. “But we also had a lot of support from our friends, family and the College community, so it was a good connection for us, to get that kind of support.”

Photo provided by Elmhurst College.