5-Year-Old Albie Gill Launches 'Keep Away Corona' Podcast, Gets Attention From Obama Foundation

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 5-year-old Edgewater boy whose dad happens to work in radio is now the host of a podcast about the coronavirus pandemic – and is it ever taking off.

Albie's podcast is called "Keep Away Corona."> The premise is how to avoid getting COVID-19.

Albie's dad, Andrew Gill, is a producer for "Sound Opinions" at WBEZ – and he had all the right equipment ready at home for Albie to take on a new project during the stay-at-home order.

"It started when I had started working from home. I work at WBEZ, and so working from home, I had a lot of audio equipment out, and Albie naturally wanted to use it and push all the buttons, and so we started recording fake newscast," Gill said.

"No, real newscasts!" Albie was quick to say.

Andrew Gill could be called the executive producer of the show – though that might be a disputed matter, as Albie claimed that title himself as he and his dad talked with CBS 2's Brad Edwards and Irika Sargent. Either way, Albie is definitely the star.

Guests have included Albie's mom, Meghan, who works as a hospital chaplain, as well as his kindergarten teacher, grandparents, cousins, and "Michael, one of my best friends."

And "Keep Away Corona" has gotten big coverage. The Obama Foundation tweeted about the podcast, and specifically its theme song that Albie sings to funky jazz piano accompaniment.

"Albie talks to friends and family about the coronavirus and even sings the show's theme song, which will get stuck in your head (you've been warned)," the Obama Foundation tweeted.

How did Albie come up with the theme song?

"I just made it up as I went along," he said, or, in a word he knows, "improvising."

And how did it feel to get such attention for his podcast?

"Like I was famous," Albie said.