Reunited at last. In a long-awaited/anticipated first media appearance anywhere, Gerry Callahan sat down with former radio partner Kirk Minihane on the irreverent Kirk Minihane Show podcast, a daily offering that is part of the Barstool Sports network.
The frenemies worked together in morning drive on Boston sports radio station WEEI on the Dennis & Callahan show and the subsequently renamed Kirk & Callahan show after John Dennis retired.
The still-existing, freewheeling chemistry between the duo was evident from the start, including when Callahan properly called out Minihane sidekick “Blind Mike” and executive producer Steve Robinson (formerly Howie Carr’s producer) for obsequiously laughing at every Minhane quip, even when the comments are hardly funny.
At least one Twitter use has aptly described the Minihane show as mostly a podcast about a podcast. Some of what goes on is merely pre-sellout Howard Stern-style schtick, with Robinson — unfortunately for him — rapidly approaching Baba Booey 2.0 status.
Robinson isn’t helping his cause by often chiming in with irrelevant, unfocused comments. And his tendency to drop F-bombs to try to fit in with the profane Minihane doesn’t sound authentic at all.
On the Barstool Sports blog, Robinson — who is ridiculed so much by Minihane, and meekly accepts ridicule, to the point that he might be functioning as Minihane’s rhetorically battered workplace spouse — summarized Friday’s fascinating podcast:
“Long-time Boston sports talker Gerry Callahan reunited with Kirk Minihane today for an episode of the Kirk Minihane Show that was packed with nostalgia, score-settling and shit-talking. A little more than one year ago the pair were riding high as the hosts of WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan, the top-rated morning drive radio show in New England. That was before a radical activist became obsessed with them and successfully intimidated the station’s parent company Entercom into removing Minihane, and later Callahan, from the public airwaves. Despite their public and private feuding, Minihane and Callahan still have that magical chemistry.”
It wasn’t just that the parent company itself was spineless. The activist, assisted by another activist masquerading as a journalist in the pervasive liberal Boston media, harassed timorous advertisers to the point where the station lost perhaps $8 million or more in revenue and Entercom couldn’t afford it anymore, Callahan explained about what the suits told him during the exit interview.
Added Callahan:
“Literally, one guy brought us both down, changed the whole station, changed the way everyone does their job.”
According to Minihane and his crew, the same activist is now going after Barstool Sports advertisers by emailing out-of-context clips from Kirk’s show.
As WEEI hosts, Kirk Minihane and Gerry Callahan were victims of the cancel culture for not bowing to political correctness in some of their on-the-air commentary.
The show’s motto at least when Dennis was around was “we talk about things that sports fans talk about,” not necessarily just tiresome sports dialogue. In addition to sports chatter, the Kirk and Callahan broadcast nonetheless similarly became known for delving into hot-button social and political issues on both the local and national level.
During the podcast, and now that he’s free and clear of any contract obligations, Callahan recalled various struggles with apparently duplicitous and double-talking Entercom management during the activist’s campaign.
He also dished on former partner John Dennis and other WEEI behind-the-scenes drama and controversies.
Gerry Callahan managed to convey a lot of good inside information despite Kirk Minihane’s constant and needless interruptions.
Listen to the entire podcast here.
Since both hosts left the station, with the embarrassing, plain-vanilla Greg Hill Show as the purported replacement in the time slot, WEEI rating have cratered. This includes massive collateral damage across the radio station’s entire daypart, not just morning drive.
The mercurial Minihane claims to be a libertarian who somehow voted for anti-free-speech Democrat Hillary Clinton. Callahan is an outspoken conservative.
If you’ve followed the WEEI drama which has been well-chronicled on this blog, the entire two-hour podcast makes for a compelling listen. Entercom parted ways with Minihane on May 22 when it became clear that the corporation was apparently permanently stalling the debut of his supposedly planned live show on the clunky Radio.com app. Callahan was abruptly cut loose after 10 a.m. on July 12 after he finished his shift on what was then called Mut and Callahan.
During the podcast, Gerry acknowledged that the handwriting was on the wall. Entercom seemed indifferent to any contract-renewal negotiations, so he wound up with a sweet, seven-week, paid summer vacation as his final deal wound down.
Despite banking a huge salary, Callahan indicated that he is applying for unemployment benefits because the cash comes out of Entercom’s pocket. Anyone who has been subject to an unfair fired understands exactly how Callahan feels.
If he can figure out how to plug in the cables, Callahan appears to be preparing to launch his own podcast under or not under the Barstool umbrella during he which he will cover sports, politics, and other issues. He is still searching around for a producer and a potential co-host. Minihane and Callahan may do a podcast together once a week. Stay tuned for future developments.
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire program, check out the highlights of Gerry Callahan’s appearance on the Minihane show on D.E.C.‘s The Minifan Show (a podcast about a podcast about a podcast) Week in Review who is normally joined by MHB on non-review episodes. D.E.C. also includes a week’s worth of Steve Robinson lowlights.
