On the Tenth Day of Lino: Boring Catholic Radio

March 26-27, 2008: This is one of those moments that turned from eerily uncomfortable to hysterical in the span of a day. On Lino's broadcast of March 26th, with little hint of what was coming, Lino launched into a very testy rebuttal of some comments posted to a popular Catholic blog that (at least to Lino) seemed to criticize the "Catholicity" of the programming on The Catholic Channel. Nick Thomm, who is the producer of the Kresta In The Afternoon show that is produced by Ave Maria Radio and is heard on EWTN, wrote the following in response to a post on Amy Welborn's blog about Deepak Chopra appearing on The Catholic Channel:

This topic will be discussed at length on Al Kresta’s radio show “Kresta in the Afternoon” at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today (Mon., Feb. 25). It promises to be a different discussion of the merits of Chopra’s theology than the “Catholic Channel” presented. You can listen on any EWTN affiliate around the country or on the EWTN Sirius Channel 160. Or on the internet at http://www.avemariaradio.net

The words "Catholic Channel" appearing in quotes apparently didn't sit well with Lino. Hear his response for yourself:



(By the way, many thanks go to Discerning Dan from CatholicGuyShow.com for having sleuthed this information last year.)

The next day Lino still felt that he had a point to prove about the legitimacy of The Catholic Channel's programming, and boy did he ever. He decided to turn his show into the kind of show he felt exemplified traditional Catholic radio: boring, monotone, orthodox and mistake-prone. For the next hour and forty-five minutes we were treated to a low-voiced Lino droning on with caller after caller (with the occasional suppressed laugh thrown in), no Lou Rugierri or Maureen McMurray joining in, no theme music or sound effects, and Lou exceling at making one technical mistake after another. Even program director Rob Astorino joined in the fun by calling in and posing as a Catholic author being interviewed by Lino. (Sorry, no sound clip. You can blame the original hard drive that Apple installed in my laptop, and me for not bothering to back up any files.)

All in all, it was a treat for the ears to behold... and it proved Lino's point that Catholic radio can be true to the tenets of the faith without being boring.

I should also point out that Nick Thomm, the Al Kresta producer who made the post that started the whole thing, is currently suffering from a recurrence of brain cancer that he has been battling for several years. You can read more on a blog that Nick's friends have set up. Prayers for his recovery would certainly be welcome; as the parent of a daughter about the same age as his, I know first hand that little girls need their fathers in their lives.