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The Black Eye - Ewan McKenna

124

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 14,243 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    I'm amazed someone who has expertise on every subject under the sun could find themselves unemployed.

    And such a cheerful disposition to boot!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,358 ✭✭✭Higgins5473


    He used to be a frequent enough contributor on the Hard Shoulder on Newstalk and also on Off The Ball.

    I think himself and Ger are from the same town in Kildare and I remember him on OTB once and Ger telling him that he was looking forward to having a pint next time Ewan was home.

    I find it very frustrating because he has alienated himself with the vociferousness of his negativity and taking joy in pointing it out. He could have maintained a pretty consistent niche from himself as a 'voice from abroad' type contributor but he alone is responsible for poisoning that well. And again, I'm not saying he should be all sweet and towing the positive line on everything but he's like someone who would come in the door and point out the negatives about the dinner his partner put down in front of him rather than be thankful they did so, or notice all the good things about it.

    I finally had enough and muted him on the night of the Presidential Election in the US, every time I looked at Twitter as Trump surged in to the lead with walk in ballot results, it was another gleeful tweet from Ewan saying how much of a fcuk up the Democrats had made in selecting Biden, how they only had themselves to blame, how America was going to implode and it was their fault.

    Is this a Black Eye related post, hence the title of the thread?

    Or are you just going to continue with long winded rants about MacKenna? This is pretty much your Off The Ball love in appreciation stuff which you are obsessed with. Move on lad/lass,

    *Note to Mods - the podcast looks like it’s done OR maybe give the poster above a nudge the Off The Ball appreciation thread is elsewhere.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 14,009 Mod ✭✭✭✭wnolan1992


    Mod: Folks, could we try and move back to discussing the podcast itself rather than focusing solely on opinions of the host? While some discussion of the host is obviously necessary and welcome as podcasts are often personality driven (and particularly if no new episodes are currently releasing), but the recent posts in the thread are edging closer and closer to reading like a thread about a person rather than a podcast.


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,489 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    The topic of GAA funding towards the Dublin Setup raised its head again over the weekend. (There's a thread on Boards on it)
    This is a topic which Ewan has done a lot of work on uncovering over the last couple of years.
    Given that, his phone should be ringing a lot today from producers looking for his comments on it. Will be interesting to see if that happens.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,358 ✭✭✭Higgins5473




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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,403 ✭✭✭CorkRed93


    Any sign of this coming back?


  • Registered Users Posts: 923 ✭✭✭Salvation Tambourine


    CorkRed93 wrote: »
    Any sign of this coming back?

    You'd think it would have by now around the pandemic stuff that Ewan is very involved in on Twitter.


  • Registered Users Posts: 209 ✭✭hermano


    CorkRed93 wrote: »
    Any sign of this coming back?

    No sponsor will go near him. One pulled out coz he was sharing gript articles. Hes too aggressive on Twitter and burnt too many bridges


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,191 ✭✭✭✭Utopia Parkway


    CorkRed93 wrote: »
    Any sign of this coming back?

    He actually had some very interesting guests on during the last run even though the whole thing needed serious editing. Some 3+ hour episodes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,489 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    hermano wrote: »
    No sponsor will go near him. One pulled out coz he was sharing gript articles. Hes too aggressive on Twitter and burnt too many bridges

    That's it in a nut shell.

    OTB used to give him an opportunity and he completely destroyed that relationship with how he attacked the media for their coverage of Ireland Rugby.

    Your point about twitter is 100% accurate, he responds to anyone who disagrees with him and is not only aggressive but abusive at times and that's just a grenade companies don't want to be handling.

    Still surprised the podcast didn't proceed, they're relatively cheap to produce until you get in to a space of paying for higher value contributors but surely there are enough people looking to get their message out there around the pandemic that would have waived their fee to allow it to proceed long enough to gain some traction.


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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I’d rather untangle a very large box of cables than listen to MacKenna.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,943 ✭✭✭Billy Ocean


    Based on his Twitter he's either completely toxic or mentally unwell


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,573 ✭✭✭ArielAtom


    As many have stated his presence on Twitter and his often bizarre posts have alienated him from potential sponsors.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 18,122 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatFromHue


    I didn't think they'd sponsor before so why would it be a problem now?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,352 ✭✭✭Still Ill


    I think a lot of podcasts start out without a sponsor. A first season can be treated almost as a loss leader - gain an audience, show your value to potential sponsors. Can't keep doing it for free forever though - unless it's just a hobby.

    I know Dunphy didn't have any sponsor for quite a while until Tesco got onboard.


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,489 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    Still Ill wrote: »
    I think a lot of podcasts start out without a sponsor. A first season can be treated almost as a loss leader - gain an audience, show your value to potential sponsors. Can't keep doing it for free forever though - unless it's just a hobby.

    I know Dunphy didn't have any sponsor for quite a while until Tesco got onboard.

    George Hook put a few feelers out looking for a sponsor for a podcast after he left Newstalk. Don't think the podcast ever took off though so maybe they weren't biting or he decided not to go ahead for different reasons.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 10,650 Mod ✭✭✭✭Say Your Number


    Wasn't Hook championing Irexit and anti-vaccine nonsense, you can understand why any brand run by someone with a brain wouldn't want to be associated with either of them.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Wasn't Hook championing Irexit and anti-vaccine nonsense, you can understand why any brand run by someone with a brain wouldn't want to be associated with either of them.

    I liked George Hook on the radio, and felt he was fairly hard done by even if his time on air was going to come to a natural end anyway. He’s become a terrible crank on Twitter since though. In the same vein as Paddy Cosgrave and MacKenna.

    No brand wants to touch that sort of contrarian for the sake of it nonsense.


  • Registered Users Posts: 125 ✭✭Ciaranis


    Based on his Twitter he's either completely toxic or mentally unwell


    Both.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,919 ✭✭✭The Floyd p


    I recall he was waffling recently about having read the Constitution (presumably for the first time) and deciding that it's not worth anything at all. Actually I found it. This is quasi GO'D stuff, absolute baloney

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EwanMacKenna/status/1375005227724726278


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  • Registered Users Posts: 209 ✭✭hermano


    Hes back looking to get the podcast going again. Did he not get the hint last time from the sponsors?


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 10,650 Mod ✭✭✭✭Say Your Number


    Made the mistake of reading his last few tweets, Mother of Jesus, feel like washing my eyes out with bleach, not a hope any brand would want to be associated with that paranoid conspiracy nonsense.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,243 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Made the mistake of reading his last few tweets, Mother of Jesus, feel like washing my eyes out with bleach, not a hope any brand would want to be associated with that paranoid conspiracy nonsense.

    It's almost word for word the same rubbish you read clogging up the Covid forum day in day out. The same remedial and reactionary opinions. Gobbledegook presented as facts.

    It's sad in a way. I never was the biggest fan of his shtick when he was a journalist - even if he occasionally slayed some sacred cows, he was still fundamentally a sour contrarian - at least he used to be slightly tethered to planet Earth.

    He's well left orbit at this stage.


  • Registered Users Posts: 21,489 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    Arghus wrote: »
    It's almost word for word the same rubbish you read clogging up the Covid forum day in day out. The same remedial and reactionary opinions. Gobbledegook presented as facts.

    It's sad in a way. I never was the biggest fan of his shtick when he was a journalist - even if he occasionally slayed some sacred cows, he was still fundamentally a sour contrarian - at least he used to be slightly tethered to planet Earth.

    He's well left orbit at this stage.

    I was a fan when he started out in the Tribune and argued for a long time that we needed journalists like himself and Kimmage who weren't just fan boys.

    Can't understand his motivation at this point. He could have really pushed on with a decent career in print, radio contributions and the occasional book if he wasn't so eager to make enemies. And I'm not talking about giving up on his morals totally either.

    Kinda sorry to see.


  • Registered Users Posts: 261 ✭✭Fantomas9mm


    I was a fan when he started out in the Tribune and argued for a long time that we needed journalists like himself and Kimmage who weren't just fan boys.

    Can't understand his motivation at this point. He could have really pushed on with a decent career in print, radio contributions and the occasional book if he wasn't so eager to make enemies. And I'm not talking about giving up on his morals totally either.

    Kinda sorry to see.

    He is now claiming to have photographic evidence of NPHET members (presumably breaching guidelines).

    He wants “them” to “stop”


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,352 ✭✭✭Still Ill


    He's really become obsessed with the Covid lockdown. At the beginning he was one of the most critical of our measures not being strict enough.

    You just know that if we'd opened everything up months ago that he'd be tweeting obsessively that we need to lockdown too. Just a contrarian for the sake of it. Nasty individual too. Saw him making fun of someone replying to him for being fat. I presume that's what he was going for when he mentioned 'giving up deserts' anyway. For an award winning journalist, his spelling is atrocious.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,674 ✭✭✭Raoul


    He is now claiming to have photographic evidence of NPHET members (presumably breaching guidelines).

    He wants “them” to “stop”

    Comes across very much like blackmail but he says it isn't.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,243 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Raoul wrote: »
    Comes across very much like blackmail but he says it isn't.

    I suppose it'd be blackmail if they paid any attention to him in the first place.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Ewan MacKenna is part of that wider online crank crew that also includes headers like Paddy Cosgrave and that baldie chef from Kerry. Loudmouthed bores who whip up their pirate flag followers into a frenzy.

    I presume no one actually listens to his podcast?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,573 ✭✭✭ArielAtom


    Ewan MacKenna is part of that wider online crank crew that also includes headers like Paddy Cosgrave and that baldie chef from Kerry. Loudmouthed bores who whip up their pirate flag followers into a frenzy.

    I presume no one actually listens to his podcast?

    I had a quick look at Tortoise Shack who hosted his podcast. There is no sign of it up there and not in their archives.


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