In this episode, The Daily dives into “joke walks,” friendship and what it’s really like to return home after living on your own.

BIANCA DISHMON: My hot take is that “The Notebook” is one of the worst romance movies out there. I think there are so many other romance movies that are 10 times better than it. And a lot of people seem to hyperfixate on “The Notebook” for some reason, and I really just don’t understand why. 

ISAIAH STEINBERG: Elphaba should have stayed dead at the end of Wicked 2. 

CAYLA LABGOLD-CARROLL: My hot take is that Robert Pattinson’s character in “The Drama” was lying when he admitted his secret during the dinner scene. 

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ALEXIA SEXTOU: You just heard hot takes from A&E Editor Bianca Dishmon, Print Managing Editor Isaiah Steinberg and Photo Editor Cayla Labgold-Carroll. From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Alexia Sextou.

IVY FRATER: And I’m Ivy Frater.

ALEXIA SEXTOU: And this is “Who Asked You?” a podcast capturing opinions on the issues that matter to us and to you. 

So, Ivy, assistant opinion editor, introduced her column recently just this past week, called “Joke Walk,” which is an idea she devised with her dad about walking and joking, I guess, — it’s true to the name — where you make observations about the things that you see around you and that ignites interesting conversation. So, tell me a little bit about how that started and how did it become a tradition with your family? 

IVY FRATER: Yeah, so I grew up in the city of Chicago without a car, so we had to come up with a lot of creative forms of transportation. We would go on all of these long walks, like one time we walked all the way from my neighborhood, in Lakeview, which is right by Wrigley Field, to Evanston, which is pretty far. It took us all day. 

ALEXIA SEXTOU: Wow. 


IVY FRATER: I think my dad might have come up with this idea to convince us to enjoy these walks because we would complain about them a lot. But then, as soon as he reframed the idea into a joke walk, me and my twin brother, we became really excited to go on these walks and we would look forward to them. 

ALEXIA SEXTOU: So, I know you said in the piece that you were never a good runner, but you were always a good walker, and you’d walk around with your friends a lot. So, this is something that kind of bled into your life with your friends, beyond also your family. I definitely want to know what’s the top, some of the most interesting things that you talked about on joke walks, either with your dad or your friends. 

IVY FRATER: I would say, when I first got to Northwestern, I would go on a lot of walks with one of my good friends. We started going on these long night walks around the lake. We had an entire route, and we would just talk about our lives at NU. I got to learn a lot more about her, and she would give me a lot of advice. 

Especially — it was a very transition time for me. I was just starting my freshman year. I didn’t really know what I was gonna do with my life or what I was gonna do with my career or anything. And going on these walks always kind of helped clear my brain. 

And also, on other walks with my friends, we’ve talked about hypothetical questions. I’ll always ask people what they would do for a million dollars. I’ll always ask, my go-to is, “Would you live in a hotel room? Like, a one-room hotel room with your entire immediate family, like your parents, your siblings, for an entire year for a million dollars?”

ALEXIA SEXTOU: Hold on, hold on. Let’s answer some of these. I want to know what you said. So tell me about the $1 million, and then tell me about your family. 

IVY FRATER: I would say, when I was younger, I would always say yes. Because a million dollars felt like a lot of money, but looking on it now, I don’t know if I could survive in one room with my entire family for a million dollars. I would do it for a million dollars a year for the rest of my life. 

ALEXIA SEXTOU: Oh, wow, okay. 

IVY FRATER: Maybe I would do it for $5 million, but it would— it would take a lot. It would take a lot of my sanity. 

ALEXIA SEXTOU: Honestly, I tend to agree. I think that, especially since moving away, because you said that you also went through a little bit of a transition period freshman year — I did too, my freshman year. And now, every time I go back home, it’s really odd because I don’t always remember what it’s like to have lived with my family in the same house. And I’m an only child — think about that. I mean, you have a sibling, so I can’t even imagine what that’s like. 

But going back home can be pretty difficult sometimes because I do certain things my way now that I live alone. And so, it’s a bit weird to go back home. I don’t know. What’s it like for you? I mean, you only went back for Winter Break and Spring Break, maybe? 

IVY FRATER: No, I went on vacation with my friends for spring break. 


ALEXIA SEXTOU: Oh, cool. 

IVY FRATER: But I went back. I mean, I live pretty close.
I live 45 minutes away. So people kind of assume that I go home a lot, but I feel like it’s the perfect distance because Evanston feels very different, very separate to me, than the Chicago I grew up in. So, it’s always kind of weird when I go downtown. Me and my friends here, we’ll go to a neighborhood in Chicago, and it feels like my worlds are kind of colliding, even though it’s only 45 minutes away. 

But when I go home, I would say it’s a lot different. I feel very independent here. I really like NU, especially because I actually can walk to everything I need. Everything’s just basically a 20-minute walk away. So when I go home, it’s a lot different to live back with my family instead of just living with my roommate.

ALEXIA SEXTOU: What would you say you prefer? Is it Evanston or is it Chicago? What’s better for you? What’s more fun? Or where do you prefer to go with your friends? I mean, when I came, I was shocked at how small Evanston is. I am more of a Chicago gal myself, but I definitely want to know, as someone that lives here and is a big walker —
I mean, Evanston’s very walker-friendly — but what’s your go-to? Evanston or Chicago?

IVY FRATER: I definitely prefer Chicago. I think there’s a lot more to do. I love Evanston. 

ALEXIA SEXTOU: No hate, no hate, of course. 


IVY FRATER: I think it’s a great place to go to school. It feels like just the right size. But Chicago, they’re just so much more to do. It’s easier to get around for me in Evanston, I would say, because everything is very condensed, all my classes, I can go downtown, and where I live in Chicago, it’s a little more spread out, but I can basically still walk everywhere. 


But, I would say, I don’t know. It’s also different. I went, and I visited one of my friends at her school in Michigan, Michigan State. And East Lansing is a completely different — everything is way more spread out. She’ll take like two buses just to go to class, so I was feeling very grateful to live in Evanston when I went there.

ALEXIA SEXTOU: That is crazy. Oh my God. 

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ALEXIA SEXTOU: Give us, Chicago girl, a cool Chicago go-to spot. Something that we all need to visit. Could be a restaurant, could be a walking spot, where we can have a joke walk, or it could be something to see, something to hear, it could be whatever. And don’t say The Bean, because I’ve been there way too many times. 

IVY FRATER: Okay, I would say my favorite place to walk is — it’s kind of basic — I really love walking the lakefront, especially. I think everybody needs to experience a Chicago summer because you’ll walk — we call it the Ledge — it’s like basically a concrete beach, but you’ll see everyone you’ve ever met in your entire life on the Ledge, and it’s just, it’s just so beautiful, and you can get to so many different places. 

And then let me think of another good rec — there’s so many. I live in Logan Square. I love walking around there. There’s a lot of stores and stuff, and I feel like a lot of people overlook it or us not in Chicago. Everyone kind of knows Logan Square in Chicago. But in Evanston, I feel like people tend to go just downtown Chicago or like Wrigleyville or Lincoln Park. I really like Logan Square, and I love shopping in Wicker Park.
I think there’s a lot of cool stores. 

ALEXIA SEXTOU: Shoutout Wicker Park — I was just there this weekend, and I absolutely love it. There are amazing bookstores there and coffee shops — a two-in-one also, which I absolutely love. Well, definitely gotta take you up on that Logan Square recommendation. That might be my next spot. And with that, from The Daily Northwestern, I’m Alexia Sextou.

IVY FRATER: I’m Ivy Frater.

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ALEXIA SEXTOU: The audio editor is Wallis Rogin. The multimedia managing editors are Ruby Dowling, Isabella Jacob and Matt Wasilewski. The editor in chief is Anavi Prakash. Follow us on X and Instagram @thedailynu. 

Email: [email protected]

Email: [email protected]