I’m a regular listener of the Catholic Guy show. I came to this forum by way of a link on Lino’s Facebook page, and I thought I’d chime in here.
I recall the episode you’re talking about, and honestly, I don’t recall anyone poking fun at the deceased person with the unclear name. However, I do recall that the whole point of the thing (and yes, there almost always is a point) was that Fr. Rob was being called upon to be pastoral and celebrate a Mass in a moment when he literally knew nothing about the person, not even the person’s sex - and the Mass required that the priest use gender-specific words. And though he was doing so with humor, Lino was pointing out a serious situation - how CAN a priest be pastoral with the grieving family when the priest literally knows nothing about the deceased?
Does Lino push boundaries of “good taste”? Yeah, sometimes, but life is like that, and Lino refuses to be false in his approach. That’s why he looks up to Howard Stern; not because of the material that he presents, but because he refuses to be fake in how he approaches the material. You may not like Howard Stern (heaven knows I don’t), but you can’t accuse him of being fake. So does Lino’s approach work? Yes. I hear callers all the time say things like, “I haven’t been to confession in years and my embarrassment and fear of it has kept me away from the Church. But you’ve convinced me to just bite the bullet and go this Saturday.”
Lino’s show is meant to reach out to a broad audience of people who are put off by the ultra-pious offerings of the EWTN bunch (not trying to stereotype everyone at EWTN, but I think you know what I mean). Much of his audience is on the fringes of the Church - regular people who maybe watch reality TV who are Catholic at heart, but maybe just haven’t been to Mass in a while for a variety of reasons; or maybe folks who don’t go to Confession as often as they ought; or maybe they do, but they find themselves struggling with the same old stupid sins week after week. Folks like us who fit into one or more of those categories look at the super-holy super-serious folks and say, “Gosh, those people are nothing like me. They’ve got this religion thing down pat. And as grim as they seem to be, I’m not sure I want to be like them.”
Lino has what I consider a six-part over-arching message - 1) I’m a sinner, a poor schlub that manages to screw life up on a regular basis, and these are the ways I do that; 2) going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be HARD and AWKWARD, primarily because of the ways I’ve screwed up; 3) the Church, for her part, is made up of people who are sometimes equally awkward at being welcoming and inviting to those who need what the Church has to offer; 4) the first three points are often hilarious, and it’s okay to laugh about it; 5) nevertheless, in the end, I find comfort and healing in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and thank God for that; 6) so if a total screw-up like me can find God’s grace, despite my own awkwardness and the Church’s sometimes grim and imposing facade, YOU CAN TOO.
Lino tries to make the message of his show come through first, through an entertaining way, without being preachy and/or political. Lino RARELY brings up politics because it’s just so polarizing and alienating to the people he’s trying to reach. On those rare occasions when he does, you can sense his discomfort, and he usually only addresses the least political part of the topic. If preachy or political is what you find inspiring or entertaining, then Lino’s show is not for you, and that’s okay. When you have a SiriusXM subscription, you already have a wide-ranging choice of political and religious talk channels to choose from.
(PS - As an aside, I’m not sure I know what you mean by “politically liberal light”, but the Church really is neither completely conservative or completely liberal, but some of both. For instance, her stance regarding abortion, contraception, and gay marriage may be considered quite conservative; but her stance regarding capital punishment is quite liberal, as are her positions on human rights, workers’ rights, and treatment of the poor and disadvantaged. I once heard someone say that Catholics in modern-day America are politically homeless when you consider where our political parties currently stand, and I completely agree with that statement. No particular party or standardized political viewpoint has a lock on all of Catholic teaching by any stretch of the imagination. I live in hope for a political party that will one day cover all of Catholic teaching, both the “liberal” and the “conservative” aspects.)
(PPS - You know, as I previewed this post, I realized that I come off as quite the fan-boy. Eh, I guess I can live with that. 
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