Stage right
Stage right: Theatre major Grace Curley ’14 lands a starring role in talk radio
By Kirsten Fleming ’00
Grace Curley ’14 didn’t set out to be an opinionated talk radio host. But a hot take on cold beer took her from girl Friday to media star.
Curley’s accidental ascent began shortly after she graduated from Providence College with a theatre degree. She was waiting tables on Martha’s Vineyard when her mother, Jean, learned that conservative talk show host and Boston Herald newspaper columnist Howie Carr was looking for an administrative assistant at his new company, the Howie Carr Radio Network.
Jean urged her to apply, and Curley landed an interview with Carr’s wife, Kathy, who was upfront about the position. It was a standard office job, not a glamorous on-air or editorial position. She’d be handling mail, answering phones, and pitching in wherever needed.
But Curley didn’t care. She was eager, showing up 15 minutes before the interview, a fact she later learned weighed heavily in her favor.
“It’s not the most interesting thing, but nowadays, it’s a big deal,” Curley said of her early arrival. “I was just excited about starting somewhere.”
Plus, the Carr brand was extremely popular in the Curley household in Milton, Massachusetts.
“My mother listened to Howie all the time. She’d pick us up from school and ask if we could take an extra lap around the neighborhood so she could listen to the Chump Line,” Curley said, referencing a segment that features voicemails from listeners.
A young Curley even called her future boss once during a segment about animals to report that a seagull had nicked a hot dog from her poor sister as the family enjoyed a beach day.
The assistant gig didn’t last long. Curley found a way onto the air in 2015 thanks to an office conversation about Budweiser’s decision to ditch the Clydesdales and focus on a younger demographic. Curley chimed in, noting that no one was drinking “Bud Heavy” anymore, so the new focus wasn’t a stretch.
Carr’s interest was piqued. He asked Curley if she wanted to talk about it on the air.
“He saw an opportunity to have a younger voice bringing a different perspective,” Curley said.
Her sudsy point of view sparked a new role at Carr’s growing network. He added her to his lineup to discuss pop culture, like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s split and “anything to do with Tom Brady. We just set up this dynamic. I guess I could speak to a younger generation. And it was funny. I started getting my own segments.”
Carr’s audience was charmed by his chemistry with Curley, as well as her youthful enthusiasm and sharp wit. Eventually, Carr and his wife wanted to try her out as a solo act with a standalone show that would lead into his weekday afternoon program on WRKO 680 in Boston. In 2021, Curley launched The Grace Curley Show, covering culture, politics, and current events. After the initial nerves wore off, she honed her bold but breezy and approachable style.
“When they let me have my own show, I was falling into the trap of trying to sound like the smartest person in the room, but I very quickly realized that wasn’t why people were tuning in,” Curley said. “They could get an encyclopedic rundown of a topic anywhere. They’re coming to me because I have an angle on it. It’s like I’m calling my sister to fill her in on some drama. That’s the way I like to talk to my audience.”
Her down-to-earth delivery resonated with listeners who tune in to hear her yap for hours a day, as well as to interview right-leaning political commentators such as former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, David Harsanyi, Miranda Devine, and Karol Markowicz.
But the chatty Curley’s secret sauce is comedy, including politician impersonations, dramatic readings of court transcripts with Carr, and self-deprecating mockery of her habit of butchering big words and sayings.
“I’m certainly guilty of that,” Curley said. “It doesn’t matter how brilliant someone is if people aren’t having a good time. People want to laugh. They want to be entertained.”
Curley’s command of the microphone shouldn’t have surprised anyone who knew her. She is vivacious and clever.
I first heard about her a few years ago when Ryan Buckley ’66, the father of my college roommate, recommended that I check out her show. Curley, married and the mother of two, also contributes articles to The Spectator magazine and the Boston Herald newspaper. As fellow Friars with big mouths, we developed an online friendship. I’ve been a guest on her show, and in March, Curley came to my office in the New York Post newsroom for a tour and a visit that lasted close to four hours.
Lest we forget, she’s a performer — one who had roles in nearly every theatre production during her four years at PC, where she studied under professor John Garrity ’73, whom she calls a formative figure in her life.
In the Curley household, the gift of gab was both abundant and compulsory.
“I have three siblings and we all love to talk. And my parents love to talk. They are both charismatic and can tell a great story. So, in our home growing up, that was what I remember the most: telling stories and doing impressions of people. And that’s why my mother encouraged me to get into theatre,” Curley said.
She recalled her foray into acting as a sixth grader. She watched her classmates try out for their school play, Oliver, and returned home impersonating a student who auditioned with an English accent. Her mother suggested she try out by simply doing an impression of her classmate. Curley did, landing the role of Oliver, and thought, “Maybe my mom was right about this.”
Ten years later, her mother’s instincts proved correct again when she nudged her daughter to apply to work with Carr. But what transpired seemed almost preordained for the loquacious Friar.
“I know it sounds corny, but I love talking. I get to do that for a few hours a day and I get to call that work,” Curley said. “And that is pretty crazy. That will never get old to me.”
Kirsten Fleming ’00 is a features columnist who writes about pop culture, sports, and politics for The New York Post.
