For most Americans, radio host Howard Stern most likely ceased to be particularly relevant once he went behind the SiriusXM satellite paywall in 2006. Radio Gunk is still listening, though, “so you don’t have to.”
Currently on a book tour, a.k.a. an apology tour, to promote a mostly cut-and-paste interview transcript compilation, Stern went from mocking those walking the red carpet to walking the red carpet perhaps around the time he became a judge on America’s Got Talent.
With his cloying, embarrassing celebrity worship, the toned-down, now-PC, ex-shock jock has acquired derisive nicknames such as Hollywood Howie or Howie Hamptons.
Stern left syndicated terrestrial radio on December 16, 2005, as a self-designated, self-serving martyr for free speech.
Did the King Dethrone Himself?
Apart from vulgar content on his syndicated platform which was not for everybody, “Stern also was beloved for his brazen attacks on the powerful, especially Hollywood celebrities he saw as being arrogant, vapid, privileged or inauthentic,” The Mercury News recalled.
Through their podcasts and their website, Monique and the Radio Gunk crew give voice to the disenfranchised Howard Stern fan:
“Me and you, and everyone else out there who still pays for what amounts to a stale version of a morning zoo show are having the wool pulled over our eyes by the King Of All Media, The Emperor in his new clothes, if you will, who continues to portray himself as ‘Everyman’ but in reality, been ‘no man’ to us for quite some time.”
Is Anything on the Level?
As presented on their fun and engaging podcast, the Radio Gunk gang seem to have an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Stern. Even if you never followed the former “King,” it’s still interesting, especially if you enjoy inside information about the media industry.
Indeed, disaffected Stern insiders also appear as guests from time to time. Listeners to the Radio Gunk podcast (which puts the long in long form) will learn that Howard Stern apparently prevaricates about much of his professional and personal life.
Despite his massive wealth, moreover, Stern is allegedly a miser when it comes to paying his Howard Stern Show staff market-level salaries as well as an unwillingness to give past and present employees credit for their show content contributions.
Leaked audio from 2013 is also floating around in which Howard Stern supposedly encourages his staff to create fake Twitter accounts to encourage celebrities to come on the show.
[Update: See below for full video of Stern demanding his staff convince publicists to book A- and B-List guests for his “forgotten” SiriusXM show.]
There is even chatter that his hair isn’t even real. Admittedly, from the outside, it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction. In fact, Radio Gunk‘s disclaimer explains that “We discuss rumors, conjecture, truths and sometimes fiction…”
A Loss Leader?
Celebrity groupie Stern currently only works three days a week for SiriusXM and is apparently dependent on a massive team to feed him bits. Fundamentally, there also seems to be a lot of gaslighting going on in terms of the increasingly insignificant host’s actual satellite listenership.
His contract expires in December 2020.
Radio Gunk recently did a deep dive (and you may want to listen in increments) into sidekick Robin Quivers’ memoir. Based on the podcast, Quivers apparently makes stuff up too.
Related story: A Stern Critique of Has-Been ‘Howie Hamptons’
Revisionist History
Future President Donald Trump was a regular guest on the Stern show, but as you might expect, Howard has disavowed the former New York City real estate mogul and reality show star. Stern says he backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. How a “libertarian” could support a anti-free speech, Big Government liberal speaks volumes about Howard’s transformation into his current, non-edgy persona.
Even given that Stern is anti-Trump, Radio Gunk unfortunately lapses into its own liberal, anti-Trump dogma occasionally rather than just concentrating on the entertainment industry. Plus, Monique and friends talk and laugh over each other, which makes listening a challenge at times.
To their credit, however, they recently put politics aside and interviewed former Stern fan Laire, who operates the Media Liarz channel on YouTube. Despite apparently working for Saturday Night Live, the independent Laire is not automatically and predictably anti-Trump. Indeed, her channel calls out pervasive liberal bias in the mainstream media.
Along with the Radio Gunk group, she has also busted Howard Stern for fibbing about never using the N-word, for which the otherwise perpetually outraged journalism industry is giving him a pass for some reason.
The Minifan Show guys alerted their audience to the existence of Radio Gunk, and Monique recently appeared on their podcast.
Gunkard Stern?
According to at least one classmate, the “incredibly awkward” Howard Stern acquired the high school nickname Gunkard (or Gunky) Stern, because contemporaries considered him an unathletic, academically challenged nerd or something along those lines. That’s where Monique and her colleagues evidently developed their podcast name.
Who hasn’t had troublesome nicknames earlier in life?
As an aside, many people have gone on to become very successful despite sometimes cruel high school unpopularity. It’s kind of like the humiliation of being the last pick when gym class chooses up teams (if they even do that self-esteem-ruining process anymore). That memory often provides the motivation to emphasize fitness later on.
Check back for updates.
Update: Here’s the leaked video of the cringe-worthy and amateurish Howard Stern-conducted staff meeting (none of these “ambitious” plans apparently were ever implemented) plus the derisive Radio Gunk commentary:
thanks for the nice commentary Robert! xoxo