Every long-running internet beef eventually needs a third party to step in. For Big Cat and The Yak boys, that third party turned out to be Mayor Brad Cavanagh of Dubuque, Iowa — a guy who probably did not wake up this week expecting to mediate a Barstool civil war from his office. But here we are, and honestly, this is exactly the kind of unhinged content the timeline was built for.
The Yak ended up running the actual segment, putting Cavanagh on a video call with the hosts to hash it out in real time. Lower-third chyron, Google Maps cutaway of Dubuque, the whole production — they treated it like a press conference, which is the only correct move when you've decided a sitting mayor is the neutral party in your podcast drama. The hosts then proceeded to absolutely cook themselves on the negotiation.
The Yak posting the mayor segment with a self-deprecating jab at how the talks actually went.
Whatever Cavanagh said worked, because within minutes Big Cat was waving the white flag and re-branding the entire show. The Yak is now, by official decree, a Dubuque and Balltown show. Take back every shot, every subtweet, every barb — all of it walked back in the name of small-town Iowa diplomacy. Mayor Brad gets the W.
The Beef has been officially squashed. We are now a Dubuque (and Balltown) show. Thank you to Mayor Brad Cavanagh. Great guy. I take back all the things I said @BradCavanaghDBQ @BarstoolYak
The bit works because the bit is ridiculous. A media beef between coworkers got resolved by a guy whose actual job is fixing potholes and cutting ribbons in a city of roughly 60,000 people on the Mississippi. Balltown, for the uninitiated, is the speck of a community next door that's home to Breitbach's Country Dining, the oldest bar and restaurant in Iowa. Now they share a podcast. America is healing.