The Josh Innes Show - Radio Idiots Getting Fired

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

I am a radio idiot who has gotten fired...a few times. I'm aware of what it takes to get unjobbed. That said, this Dan Bernstein in Chicago losing his job over a fish is truly the best unjobbing story ever. I was reading a story that blamed social media for Dan's demise. Here's a thought, blame the dumbass who is fighting with people over a FISH. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know, one of my favorite stories from the last week involved this radio jamoke in Chicago named Dan Bernstein, who I talked about on the pod last week a little bit. Bernstein, of course, was part of Boers and Bernstein. I say, of course, like any of you would know this, like some guy in Houston's like, oh, yes, the great Boers and Bernstein radio program in Chicago. I listened every day. But it was a good radio show, even though Dan always came across as a fucking know-it-all. Not even the, like, not a know-it-all, because there's a different connotation that comes with a know-it-all. He just came across as a smug liberal douchebag, if we're being fair. In the same way that I'd say that Clay Travis comes across as a right-wing douchebag, he came across as a smarmy, smug, smarter-than-you, not-relating-to-the-everyman type of douchebag. And I get that you can make the argument that trying to relate to the everyman isn't really the play.

And some people do it well, some people don't. You know what I'm saying? But you could argue when I was in Houston initially, was I an every man type of guy, I was kind of a smug asshole too, you know? So I get that, but how he always came across to me as someone who was smarter than you, more educated than you, your thoughts were dumb and beneath him because he was this great intellect, right? And it's those kinds of guys that you enjoy watching their downfall because they're assholes and eventually it came home to roost like this is the kind of guy a super judgmental type of guy they would shit on everybody for making mistakes

and shit like that which is part of the job i get but i enjoy when people like that get their comeuppance, right? I enjoy when people like that who are smarmy cockbags get their comeuppance. I enjoy that, right? So as you can guess, I really enjoy this guy just getting pummeled and great. So it's a weird spot though because you think about it. I'm a radio guy. I've gotten fired because of shit that was on social media before. If you don't know the story, I guess I'll repeat the story for you. Not my story, but this guy's story.

So the guy catches some fish, and he starts holding up the picture of the fish, and he posts the picture of the holding of the fish on social media. Says, boy, I had a tough fight with this one, but I won in the end. And some guy starts arguing with him on Twitter because he says that it is clear that he killed the fish and that fish was pregnant and it was wrong and then he like you want to talk about a fucked up way to lose a 30-year radio job this guy has been at that radio station for 30 years since 1995 this guy's been at this radio station and it's held major day part jobs at this

radio station for 30 years and this dipshit I love it when the smartest people in the room the educated people in the room the anti-magas in the room I'm an educated college guy and I'm smarter than you and you're just a dipshit that turns a wrench for a job like do you turn wrenches yeah you turn wrenches but I enjoy when people like that are fucking morons and cost themselves like when it was that that tubing guy that was jerking off on on on his zoom call like I like when the educated smarter than everybody people do dumb shit that costs them their gigs. I enjoy it. I relish it.

It makes me erect for whatever reason. I'm not against an education, by the way. Go get educated. But in my experience, I've learned that a lot of the people that think they're smarter than everybody because I graduated from college. I'm smarter than you. I went to college. Ain't got a lick of fucking common sense in their dipshits. And they do dumb shit and they think they're better than you. I went to college and got a lick of fucking common sense in their dipshits and they do dumb shit and they think they're better than you. So I enjoy it when people who think they're better than you and know they're better than you and say it on a daily basis that they're better than you.

I like when they do something so incredibly stupid, like losing a 30 year career, not a job, a 30 year broadcasting career over fighting with a guy over a fucking fish on the internet. That makes me excited. Like that just, I'm, I'm full. I look, I look, I got a nine, but I still got wood. I enjoy it. I get a tan, a fucking tan. I love it. I love the idea that someone who's so much smarter than you, so much better than you, so much smug and smarmy, a cock bag on the radio. This guy, I'm college educated. I'm all this. You're a dipshit fan boy, blah, blah, blah. That was kind of always the kind of mindset I always got. That's the kind of vibe I got from really just that whole radio station is there was a

radio station of people that all thought they were elite and smarter than you, and you're just a dumb fucking douchebag from Chicago, and you don't really get it, and you're just a stupid asshole, and we're smarter than you. I love, love, love when allegedly smart people do really, really dumb shit. Like, look, I've lost my job over shit like that before. And in this case, this guy was fighting over the fish, right? So the guy says that you killed the fish. He comes back and says, I didn't kill the fish. Then they start fighting with each other to the point the guy wants to start airing out

this random jamoke on Twitter's address and shit. And then at one point goes, do you really want to bring your kids into this? Like, what? Like, what are you doing? What are you doing? You stupid asshole. But that's the thing about these people, particularly, particularly in the era of Trump. Okay. And I look, this is not meant to be super political. It is a statement of reality. There are dumb right-wing people. There are dumb right-wing people there are dumb left-wing people right but what's happened in the era of trump is the dumb left-wing people have lost their fucking minds collectively that is why uh why keith olbermann is broadcasting live from his balcony

every night about how the world is ending and that's why uh rosie o'donnell is in ireland and that's why when the election results come in these people fucking cry on television not just bitch and whine literally sob on television they are broken and they have been broken by something called trump derangement syndrome which is a legit thing again that is not to defend right-wing people and say that they're better than them or anything else but in this particular story hardcore smarmy smarter than you holier than thou super educated asshole liberal talk show host who talks down to people for 30 years basically calling them all stupid loses job because he's lost his fucking mind and wants

to fight with people on social media over a fish a fish mind you, I lost my fucking job fighting about the Houston Rockets. So I'm no better. I'm a dumb son of a bitch too. As we've discussed, you know, I lost a 300. Look, I think the best year I ever had at 791, some full disclosure with some bullshit bonuses that I certainly didn't deserve, but they were in my contract. I probably made somewhere in the neighborhood of like 350 to $400,000 one year at seven 90. You want some fucking real talk. There's some fucking real talk for you. One day I want a new furniture. You know what I did? I walked into gallery furniture and I bought like 12 grand worth of furniture and fucking cash. I just said, I want a new couch. I'll get a new love seat and a mattress. What do I need? What do I owe you, Mac? What? 12 grand? Let's fucking go, right? And I just paid for it

that day. No problem, right? There was no issue with my bank account. There were a lot more, there were commas. And look, I don't even think there are commas in my bank account right now. There were commas. And that job paid me a ridiculous amount of money. The most, most money I've ever made made more than I made at the great WIP more than I great made working at KC 95 two legendary stations the money I made the time I made the most money in my life stupid amounts of money was working for a shitbag AM radio station that had like eight listeners but for two and a half years I was raking it in and if I had not paid Jim and Jilly because basically what they did is they gave me a big lump sum whatever Charlie was making is

essentially what it was because they whacked Charlie so whatever Charlie was making and they paid a little bit to whoever ran the board for Charlie so Charlie was probably pocketing 275 a year or something like that if I had to guess they come to me and they say well do you want to make what Charlie was making I was like well I want to bring in Jim Mudd they said you can bring in Jim Mudd, but it's got to come out of that amount. And I said, that's fine with me. Give him, you know, I think we paid 60. I think Jim got 60. And then eventually Jilly came in.

And since we lived together, I didn't have to give her, you know, a ton. I mean, we're a collective here. But I think she was probably making like 30. But the point being in all of this is, you know know we made a shitload of money doing that and I lost that job which I didn't really enjoy and I thought the people were assholes but like I was making a shit ton of money and the biggest conflict I had there the biggest issue I dealt with the biggest hindrance to me being successful there well two big things happened one was I shit on Charlie the second I got the job and like Charlie's butt buddy sales guy at the fucking station refused to sell me and he was like the

biggest sales guy ever so that was really to my detriment I was fucked after that and I even went into the guy and I'm like hey look sorry I shit on your friend there's just radio blah blah blah what can I do to to fix this and have you sell me he goes I just think your show is shit and I'll never sell you I'm like all right cool go sell Michael Berry some more, go sell fucking Adam Clanton some more and you know, whatever. They eventually fired me, but that was the biggest thing. And my issue with the rockets, like the rockets fucking hated me. The rockets mean nothing to the bottom line of that radio station. No one gives a shit about rockets radio coverage, but my back and forth with them constantly would get me in shit tons of trouble, and I could not stop. And when I look back on that, you look at dumb shit you do.

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Limited time offer. See terms at picksix.draftkings.com slash promos. When you look back on certain things and you say to yourself, dumb shit I do. These are dumb things I did that cost me certain jobs, right? I've done dumb things. Some things I can defend and say I don't think those were dumb. Like when I got fired in Philadelphia, they were just looking for a reason, but they fired me. The reason I finally got fired in Philadelphia was because I posted the picture of Al Jolson and said, this guy must call 97.5 show because they were using white people to do black voices, whatever. That was actually a profound

piece of messaging that no one, because they hated me so much, it all got lost. Keep in mind that I posted that same picture for another story a year before that no one gave a shit but because everybody was out to get me and they hated me at that point and the whole world was offended by everything I did they fired me over that right like I don't view that as a stupid thing I got fired over it but I knew what I meant nine times out of ten I know what I mean by the shit I say and I can explain it right I can explain the Jason Kelsey thing easily I and I've explained it a thousand times but like you could say Josh that was probably stupid to do well in the lens of 2025 of course it was stupid in the lens of 2015 we were still kind of in an era where people were

saying shocking things on the radio so is it really all that bad not really but in Philadelphia people blew it out of proportion it became this this big deal. Kelsey played it up too. And it was what it was. But like if you say, Josh, you've done dumb shit in your life that have cost you jobs. What's the dumbest? Probably, I could argue that the dumbest things I've done in terms of decisions I made on air or whatever that hurt my overall standing. Like it was stupid to leave Nashville to come to St. Louis, but no one could have known that at the time. But in Houston at 790, the two bad decisions, one, but like I didn't even think of it, was the ripping Charlie. Like people were calling, where's Charlie? And I was

dumping on Charlie. Probably shouldn't have fucking done it. And it hurt me. Again, immature, 30 years old. You're not really thinking of these things when you're doing them. You're not thinking about how it's going to impact people in the building that's something I've learned a little bit more about now that was just immaturity and a fucking fuck up on my part and I shouldn't have done it but my inability to stop fighting with the Rockets who I have nothing against anymore because most of the people I had issue with are no longer there but those people I hated them and they tried to get me run out when I was at 610 and they've had an issue with me at 790 if I just would have said fuck it and just stop talking about the Rockets

instead of hammering it every day and doing deliberately sarcastic things about them like you know trying to be complimentary of the Rockets and we did a bit where Jim was surfing the the the red wave for the Rockets or some shit like that. It was clear I was being sarcastic and being an asshole. But again, part of that was immaturity. Part of that was just being stupid. It is what it is. But why do I bring this up? I bring this up because of all the dumb shit I've done that have cost me jobs or has cost me jobs, and I've done dumb shit. I can at least look back on all those and go, well, it was under the guise of doing entertaining shit. You were trying to entertain your audience. You were doing wacky shit. Under the guise of that, it was fine. I never lost a job, a 30-year radio career

for fighting about a fucking fish on the internet. But when you're going to lose a job over that, that means you're a loose cannon anyway, and you've just got pent up rage. And that's why when you look at a lot of these guys, these Dan Bernsteins of the world that have pent up fucking rage, they're all raging over the world we're in now because of the Trump era and all that shit. They have lost their collective fucking minds. They just have. Politics has done that. Social media has done that. We talked about that a little bit yesterday.

The social media, the politics, and the politics that you see on social media and the wackos that you fight with on social media, they drive you to the point of insanity. I feel like I can say this completely full on wholeheartedly. I really don't give a fuck what people say about me on social media anymore. Maybe it's because I don't see a bunch of it, but even if you follow my Twitter, I don't really fight with people on shit, and if I do, it goes like one jab and then it's over. I just don't give a fuck. Part of that is just getting over it and saying who gives a shit. I still get a bunch of shit from fucking Philly people. I also get a lot of love from Philly people. And part of it is I've started to accept that, hey, there's a lot of people that love you there and there's a lot of people that hate you there.

Fuck them. You know what? We've done this bit on the show before. At one point, I had like 2,000 people muted. You know what Dan Bernstein should have fucking done? Just muted this son of a bitch and then maybe you'd still have a job. But you didn't want to do that because you wanted to fight with the guy. I've been there before when you're enraged and you just want to keep fighting with someone

and you did this to yourself. Now, speaking of social media. So I was reading a story from Barrett Sports Media, which is a clown college of a website. But Barrett Sports Media, they always try to write profound things, right? And this story was written by the man who runs the site himself. Dan Bernstein losing his job should make on-air talent reconsider social media. No, Dan Bernstein losing his job, Jason, should make you reconsider being a fucking lunatic on social media and threatening people and maybe sort of kind of threatening their kids and fighting over a fucking

fish. That should be your story. Your story should, and I haven't read the story. I've only seen the headline and I know that the headlines there to get people's attention. Jilly sent me this yesterday and she's like, Jesus, look at this. Dan Bernstein losing his job should make on-air talent reconsider social media. Don't defend the guy. Don't treat him with kid gloves. Don't act like he's some victim of some asshole. Everybody is victims of assholes on social media. People are assholes on social media, and they are victims of people on social media.

Some kid misses a shot playing basketball at Maryland or something, he's gonna get shit on. It sucks, but that's the way of the world, right? So when you come at me with reconsider social media, reconsider being a fucking lunatic. Maybe that's the move. Like reconsider being an enraged fucking crazy person. Maybe that's the answer.

It's not social media. Social media is there and it's going to be there. We're never going to ban social media. It's never going to go away. Kids are getting this shit when they're seven years old, eight years old, and they're going to have it until they're 80 years old. That's social media. And it's not going away because it's a big time revenue generator for a lot of people

and it's made a lot of nobodies with marginal talent into big celebrities. Social media matters. But let's read some of this story. Dan Bernstein saw his 30-year career go up in smoke last week at 670, the score in Chicago. One of the market's most successful personalities got into an exchange on X, parentheses, Twitter, we know, which ultimately led to his demise. I feel like hard-ons, like try-hard people, have to put X, formerly known as Twitter, in stories. We know what the fuck it is. Had it been the first occurrence, maybe Bernstein gets warned or suspended, but because he had issues before, the score felt they had to turn the page. Knowing Mitch Rosen, who is a guy that I've messaged before about jobs and he's been very

condescending and snarky towards me so he could suck all the fucking shit, the score's program director, I'm sure he hated this. Mitch had worked closely with Dan for decades, and he stands by his guys even amid controversy. He did so just a few months ago when Bernstein got into a spat with Barstool Sports after Dave Portnoy took aim at the score midday host over his treatment of Barstool Chicago personality Barstool Eddie. This is a little different.

But talents have a responsibility when they take to social media. If lines get crossed and reputations get damaged, leaders are put in position where they have to make calls even if they hate to do so. Thank you, Jason. Appreciate your insight. Which raises a bigger question. What exactly do top performers gain from being active on X? I don't know. Ask Pat McAfee, right? Like, I know they mentioned Schefter and Stephen A. Smith and Clay Travis in this story. Like, it matters to them. And by the way, in five years, these radio shows may not even exist anymore. Let's see. In 2012, Mike Francesco was the king of afternoon drive on WFAN. He ranted at that time that Twitter was dangerous and an eventual threat to the media business. He cautioned that players would cut

out the middleman and people would start offering random thoughts 4,000 times a day, something that the world might not need. Mike stated that he'd not be active on the platform and many of the media considered his response a case of an old school talent being out of touch. If this is where the audience was hanging out, then media people were supposed to be where they were, blah, blah, blah. But was that smart? Was it a good business decision? Why was Mike prioritizing of the radio station and dismissal of social media seen as wrong? Blah, blah. Okay. This story is so fucking lame. Like, like people are fucking stupid and people say dumb shit, but they can't quit it. Like Dan Bernstein, who's allegedly a smart guy, educated guy.

I'm just get the fuck off social media or don't respond or don't fight with somebody over a fucking fish. What are you doing? I say, this is somebody who's done so many dumb things and gotten into lengthy. Like my wife was going to leave me at one point. I't know if that's true or not but it sounds good for drama sake she was about to leave me because i was constantly on social media for hours at a time fighting with people and then what you realize is a lot of these people fighting with you about your life they don't have a fucking clue so just move move on, mute them. But these people can't do it. Hotheads like

this have to fight over a fucking fish. And now because you fought over a fucking fish, you no longer have a 30 year career. What a way to go out, pal. You didn't get the swan song. You didn't get the year long farewell tour. You didn't get the little thing where you're making too much money. So they're going to nudge youudge you out but they're gonna make it seem like it was your decision you got none of that shit you know what you got dan bernstein you got fucking unceremoniously dumped while you still felt like you were in your prime because you had to fight with a guy on social media about a fish this isn't a social media issue social media sucks we know it sucks we know it's dangerous uh every time i've gotten in the most trouble i've gotten into in radio every time with This isn't a social media issue. Social media sucks. We know it sucks. We know it's dangerous.

Every time I've gotten in the most trouble I've gotten into in radio, every time was social media really related. And I finally kind of learned my fucking lesson. The time that there was that big controversy over the cleft lip thing, that was because I tweeted that and it just grew legs. And before you know it, it became this huge thing that I had to like apologize for and everything like that. Right? Like, like that's the way this thing works social media is there it

never leaves your content never leaves and people will see it and you will be fucked and you make bad decisions on social media so that's not wrong the concept that social media can be bad for you is is is not wrong but the idea that it's social media's fault that Dan Bernstein's a fucking idiot. Write a more ballsy story, Jason Barrett. Give me some fucking teeth in your little story there and say, hey, dipshit, maybe instead of, you know, looking at social media as the problem, maybe look at that fucking thing and say, you know what? Maybe if you weren't a hotheaded dipshit fighting over a fish, then maybe you'd still have a job. Maybe that's the play, friend. But instead, it's, is social media, is it a bad decision? You know what? Everybody

who's on social media is benefiting from it if they're a star. Pat McAfee became a star because of YouTube social media. Stephen A. Smith is continuing to build his own individual brand that's outside of ESPN that whatever his podcast because of that uh you know the guys like um Shannon Sharp social media is a big part of their lives but just like anything if you misuse it it's not good for you oh we should ban betting no we shouldn't ban gambling sports betting just don't be an addict like me. If you want to do that, ban alcohol. No, a lot of people can drink alcohol and be fine. The problem is I got dipshits that can't handle it.

Drive drunk. Everybody wants to blame the thing instead of the people. Blame the person. He's an asshole. It is okay to say he's an asshole. And you can tell me all of his old buddies are coming to his defense and saying he's a good person. He probably is. He's probably great to those people. That's fine. Two things can be true. You can be a good person and you can do asshole things.

That is an asshole thing. That is a stupid thing. You deserve to be fired just for being that fucking stupid to fight over a fish on social media. You're an imbecile. That is stupid. But you can't help yourself. Is it social media's fault? No, it's the dumbass's fault. Start blaming the actual dumbasses. Please and thank you.