Not many teens can say they've met Jim Nantz and Boomer Esiason. Or that they've spoken to Sen. Chris Shays, former candidate Ned Lamont or author and New York Times' columnist Maureen Dowd.

Even fewer can say they've grilled New Haven mayor and former gubernatorial candidate John DeStefano live on the radio.

But Aaron Kiersh, a senior at Staples High School, has done all that and more.

The host of Double A in the Afternoon, Kiersh, who has a penchant for politics and sports, lands some very high-profile guests on his weekly broadcast.

"I've built a collection of guests, and I use that to establish my credibility," he said.

Although he did have help in the beginning (an existing connection to Nantz), he used it to his advantage to create a long roster over the last few years.

Kiersh started his journalism career in eighth grade writing sports for the Westport News. From there, he went to the Ridgefield Press during his freshman and sophomore years. He's written for the school newspaper since he started at Staples, where he was the editor for three years, and continues as a staff writer.

His detour into radio started in 10th grade.

"I was taking a radio class, and I thought it was something

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I could explore," he said. "So I started my own show, and before I started doing interviews, I had an hour-and-a-half to blabber about whatever was on my mind."

Eventually, he began conducting live interviews with guests like Superintendent of Schools Elliot Landon and Congressional candidate and former Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell.

"We didn't have a phone in the studio, so they actually came in," Kiersh said.

His radio class advisers lobbied for a phone, and in the fall of 2006, he began interviewing people from all over the country.

"I've had all kinds of guests," he said. "I've had tons of journalists. I've had broadcasters, politicians and professional athletes. I've also had a ton of college admissions officers from all different kinds of schools."

He said he especially enjoys interviewing politicians because he "consumes an inordinate amount of information everyday. My mind is just buzzing with questions, which makes it very easy for me."

When he first started, Kiersh wrote a list of questions and pretty much stuck to the script. But as he became more comfortable on the microphone, he ditched the crib sheet and began having conversations with his guests.

"I listen to sports radio, like "Mike and the Mad Dog," and I listen to them and how they react and how they phrase the questions," he said.

When he went up against DeStefano, he didn't ease into a conversation. He started the interview with hard-hitting questions.

"In the intro, I (identified him) and said he's mayor of a city that had a reputation of being linked to gangs, violence, drugs, crime and poverty," he said. "And he comes back and says, 'Wow. That's quite a hyperbole. That's quite an exaggeration.' I was totally taken aback. That's never happened to me before, where a guest drives a knife through you're credibility on the air."

He said the rest of the interview went fine, and he has no regrets about jumping headfirst into the interview rather than starting with a few softballs.

"Maybe it was a poor decision," he said. "Maybe not. It was a different kind of interview than [say] Bucky Dent. I chose to give a tough interview and maybe I even impressed him a little by saying that because I knew what I was talking about."

It was that interview that earned Kiersh an award from the Center for First Amendment Rights (CFAR).

Kiersh entered CFAR's High School Essay Contest, and based his entry on the DeStefano interview.

He said his experience spoke directly to the contest, which featured a first prize of $1,000 and publication in the Hartford Courant.

"If a 17-year-old kid can ask these questions to a public figure, then this country is doing something right," he said. "I was happy that I won. I worked really hard to come up with a good essay, and it's really gratifying to see that they liked it."

Kiersh will attend Columbia University in the fall, and while he hasn't decided on a major, he's looking at political science, economics and East Asian studies. He wants to join the school paper and the radio station, but he's not sure if he'll follow that career path.

"Columbia is in the center of the media world," he said. "It's well located and everything is nearby if I want it. It's all up to me what I decide to do, but it's still too early to decide on a career."

Kiersh's show, Double A in the Afternoon, airs Thursdays from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on 90.3 FM.