WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are opening 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:08.199 up a file that is equal parts sawdust and microphone 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:10.400 foam. That's a good way to put it. We're looking 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.800 at a figure who is, let's be honest, a massive 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.239 bundle of contradictions. He's a guy who started 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.420 out, you know, digging ditches and cleaning carpets, 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:22.230 a literal blue collar tradesman. Right. who somehow 00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:25.989 morphed into a Guinness World Record holder for 00:00:25.989 --> 00:00:28.629 digital media and a New York Times bestselling 00:00:28.629 --> 00:00:30.589 author. It is a fascinating trajectory. We're 00:00:30.589 --> 00:00:32.490 talking about Adam Carolla. And what makes this 00:00:32.490 --> 00:00:35.450 deep dive so interesting is that his career arc 00:00:35.450 --> 00:00:37.979 really. I mean, it really mirrors the evolution 00:00:37.979 --> 00:00:41.020 of modern media itself. It does. He goes from 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.520 terrestrial radio dominance to the Wild West 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:46.299 of early podcasting. And in doing so, he actually 00:00:46.299 --> 00:00:49.320 helped build the infrastructure that allows us 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.460 to be having this conversation right now. Exactly. 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:53.399 I think a lot of people know him as that guy 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:55.679 from The Man Show or, you know, the loud voice 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:57.619 on Loveline. Sure, the sound bites. But when 00:00:57.619 --> 00:01:00.520 you dig into the source material, the story is 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:03.079 about so much more than just telling jokes. It's 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:06.769 about tenacity. It's about carpentry. both literal 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:09.750 and metaphorical, and it is definitely about 00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:12.629 controversy. He is certainly a polarizing figure, 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:16.609 but whether you find him hilarious or abrasive... 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.120 You can't deny the impact he's had on the independent 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:21.459 media landscape. No, you can't. So our mission 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:24.680 today is to really unpack that transition. How 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:27.540 does a broke boxing instructor become a podcast 00:01:27.540 --> 00:01:31.340 mogul? And how does his specific worldview that 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:33.120 pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:36.620 inform everything from his comedy to, you know, 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:38.799 his legal battles? So grab your hammer and your 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.319 headphones. Let's start at the very beginning. 00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:42.219 And when I say the beginning, I mean a surprisingly 00:01:42.219 --> 00:01:45.439 chaotic one. You'd expect a guy who is so obsessed 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:49.209 with. order and construction to come from a structured 00:01:49.209 --> 00:01:51.569 background. But it was the exact opposite. The 00:01:51.569 --> 00:01:54.609 complete opposite. Yeah. Adam Carolla was born 00:01:54.609 --> 00:01:59.370 on May 27, 1964. No, even his birthplace is a 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:01.810 bit of a point of confusion in the records. Some 00:02:01.810 --> 00:02:04.370 sources will tell you Los Angeles. Some say Philadelphia. 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:07.790 But he identifies very deeply with his San Fernando 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:10.210 Valley upbringing. That's his identity. That's 00:02:10.210 --> 00:02:12.530 his brand. But the real chaos, as you said, it 00:02:12.530 --> 00:02:14.870 starts with his family dynamic. Right. His parents 00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:17.770 separated when he was young. And he has described 00:02:17.770 --> 00:02:22.110 his home life as just, well, unstructured. There 00:02:22.110 --> 00:02:24.530 wasn't a lot of guidance. And there is this hilarious. 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:28.120 but also kind of telling detail about his name. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:30.919 He doesn't have a middle name. He does not. Or 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:32.639 at least he didn't legally have one to start. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:35.139 And this is one of my favorite anecdotes from 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:37.439 the research. So he's a teenager, right? He's 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:38.819 filling out his driver's license application, 00:02:39.139 --> 00:02:41.620 and he gets to the box for middle name and realizes, 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.639 I don't have one. Right. It's just blank. So 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.460 as a joke, a complete throwaway gag, he writes 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:50.800 in, Lakers. Like the basketball team. Joste Lakers. 00:02:51.099 --> 00:02:53.479 Yeah. And the bureaucracy being what it is, I 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:54.879 mean, you'd think someone would flag that, right? 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:57.699 You would think. But no, nobody checked. It was 00:02:57.699 --> 00:03:01.120 processed. So for a time, his legal identification, 00:03:01.460 --> 00:03:04.340 his driver's license, essentially read Adam Lakers 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:07.099 Corolla. It's funny, but it also speaks to a 00:03:07.099 --> 00:03:09.840 sort of neglect he felt growing up. He often 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:11.819 jokes that his parents were so checked out they 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:13.560 couldn't even be bothered to give him a middle 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.560 name. It's a joke. But there's a kernel of truth 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.400 in there. Oh, absolutely. That theme of being 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.439 checked out, as you put it, that seems to plague 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:24.780 his education, too. He went to schools in North 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:26.560 Hollywood, but he didn't actually get his high 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:29.400 school diploma on time. And not because he failed 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:31.139 his classes, which is what you'd probably assume. 00:03:31.379 --> 00:03:33.680 Well, not entirely anyway. It was because of 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.340 a library fine. A library fine. Are you serious? 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:38.919 Completely serious. The school held his diploma 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:41.360 hostage over an unpaid library book. It's such 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.539 a petty, bureaucratic hurdle, but it's something 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:46.080 that just stuck with him. I can imagine. And 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.060 years later, in 2005, when he had his own TV 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:51.800 show called The Adam Carolla Project, he actually 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:54.900 went back to the school on camera, paid the fine, 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:57.340 and finally received the diploma decades later. 00:03:57.710 --> 00:03:59.810 That is playing the long game. That is some serious 00:03:59.810 --> 00:04:02.750 dedication to a bit. It is. But that resentment 00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:05.750 toward, you know, arbitrary authority and bureaucracy, 00:04:06.169 --> 00:04:08.610 that's a seed being planted right there. You 00:04:08.610 --> 00:04:10.469 see it come up again and again throughout his 00:04:10.469 --> 00:04:13.250 career. So he's struggling in school. His home 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:15.870 life is a mess. Where does he find stability? 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:19.829 Because he clearly found it somewhere that drive 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:23.589 had to come from, from someplace. Sports, specifically 00:04:23.589 --> 00:04:26.730 football. He played Pop Warner for seven years, 00:04:26.810 --> 00:04:29.649 and he credits that structure, the practice, 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:33.829 the clear rules, the physical exertion with basically 00:04:33.829 --> 00:04:36.649 saving him from the chaos at home. It gave him 00:04:36.649 --> 00:04:39.410 a framework. It did. And he wasn't just a benchwarmer. 00:04:39.490 --> 00:04:41.930 He was actually a standout player at North Hollywood 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:44.370 High. The records show he was first team offensive 00:04:44.370 --> 00:04:47.750 line in the Central Valley League in 1981. Offensive 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:50.490 lineman. That makes so much sense. It's the grumwork. 00:04:50.569 --> 00:04:52.709 Exactly. It's blocking. It's pushing. It's not 00:04:52.709 --> 00:04:54.069 the glory position. It's not the quarterback. 00:04:54.410 --> 00:04:56.550 But it's essential. You can't win without it. 00:04:56.569 --> 00:04:59.509 And that mentality, that sort of head down, do 00:04:59.509 --> 00:05:02.680 the work approach. carried over directly into 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:04.800 his early adulthood. We can call them the lost 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.500 years. The lost years, right. He's 18. He's living 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:10.259 on his own. He's on academic probation at a community 00:05:10.259 --> 00:05:13.180 college. And he eventually just drops out to 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:16.180 enter the workforce. And not in entertainment. 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:19.540 I mean, not even close. No. He is cleaning carpets. 00:05:19.579 --> 00:05:22.420 He is teaching traffic school. And most importantly, 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.839 he is working as a carpenter. He's working with 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.279 his hands. Yeah. And there is this great visual. 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:30.250 From the sources where he describes being absolutely 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:33.029 broke, just dirt poor, living with a bunch of 00:05:33.029 --> 00:05:35.990 roommates. But they pooled all their money to 00:05:35.990 --> 00:05:41.430 buy a 1963 Cadillac limousine. A very, very impractical 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:43.949 vehicle for a carpenter. Completely impractical. 00:05:44.029 --> 00:05:46.110 Can you imagine showing up to a job site in that? 00:05:46.410 --> 00:05:49.329 But it paints such a picture. Just these guys 00:05:49.329 --> 00:05:51.569 cruising around the valley in a beat -up limo 00:05:51.569 --> 00:05:54.610 trying to figure out lice. It does. But the carpentry 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:56.569 thing is so important. He wasn't just doing it 00:05:56.569 --> 00:05:58.329 for a summer job. He did it for a long time. 00:05:58.629 --> 00:06:01.269 He really identifies as a tradesman, as a builder. 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:04.189 He still does. He does. And that tradesman mentality? 00:06:04.779 --> 00:06:07.420 You know, measure twice, cut once, build a solid 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:10.360 foundation is something he explicitly applies 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:13.879 to comedy later. He views jokes as construction 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.660 projects. They have a structure. They need to 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:19.220 be built correctly to hold weight. If the foundation 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:22.180 is weak, the whole thing collapses. So how do 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:24.000 we get from the construction site to the radio 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.389 station? Because that is a massive, massive leap. 00:06:27.550 --> 00:06:30.089 It's not a logical career progression. No, it 00:06:30.089 --> 00:06:33.930 was pure serendipity. It's 1994. Carolla is still 00:06:33.930 --> 00:06:35.850 working construction, but he's also working as 00:06:35.850 --> 00:06:38.110 a boxing instructor on the side, another physical 00:06:38.110 --> 00:06:41.810 discipline trade. And the biggest morning radio 00:06:41.810 --> 00:06:44.310 show in Los Angeles on KROQ, Kevin and Bean, 00:06:44.490 --> 00:06:47.029 is doing a stunt. This is the famous Blida and 00:06:47.029 --> 00:06:49.649 Riseta. That's the one, exactly. They have their 00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:51.730 on -air personality, Jimmy the Sports Guy, who 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:54.129 is preparing to box another radio personality. 00:06:54.569 --> 00:06:56.430 in a charity match. And they needed someone to 00:06:56.430 --> 00:06:58.569 train him. They needed a trainer. And Carolla, 00:06:58.730 --> 00:07:01.129 who was a fan of the show, volunteered. He just 00:07:01.129 --> 00:07:03.269 called in. And Jimmy the sports guy turns out 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:05.410 to be. Jimmy Kimmel. Talk about a meeting of 00:07:05.410 --> 00:07:08.709 the minds. A sliding doors moment. It changed 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:10.750 everything for both of them, really. They hit 00:07:10.750 --> 00:07:13.069 it off immediately. Carolla wasn't trained to 00:07:13.069 --> 00:07:14.990 be a star. He wasn't auditioning. He was just 00:07:14.990 --> 00:07:18.889 being himself. Funny, loud, incredibly opinionated. 00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:22.610 And Kimmel, who has a great eye for talent, recognized 00:07:22.610 --> 00:07:24.779 it instantly. He saw something there. He did, 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:27.100 and this led to Carolla getting a recurring spot 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:29.540 on the show as a character named Mr. Burcham. 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:33.379 Oh, Mr. Burcham, the cranky, disgruntled woodshop 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:36.160 teacher. Which was barely a character, let's 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:38.639 be honest. It was essentially Carolla channeling 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:40.819 all his frustrations with the education system 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:43.720 and what he saw as the softening of society filtered 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:45.740 through the lens of a woodshop teacher who thinks 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:47.980 everyone is an idiot. It's the classic right 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.279 which you know. He knew woodshop and he knew 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:53.060 he was annoyed. And people loved it. That character 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:56.040 resonated deeply with the KROQ audience. It got 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:58.279 him his foot in the door. And once that door 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:01.300 was open, he kicked it down. This leads us directly 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:04.420 to the Loveline era. A huge era. Loveline. I 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:06.680 mean, for a certain generation, this was the 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:10.120 Bible of late -night radio. You had Dr. Drew 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:12.959 Pinsky, the board -certified physician, thoughtful, 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.540 calm. And then you had Adam Carolla. It's the 00:08:16.540 --> 00:08:19.120 oddest couple imaginable. It was a classic Iden 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.379 superego dynamic. It was perfect radio. Dr. Drew 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.779 was the reserved, thoughtful professional trying 00:08:25.779 --> 00:08:29.000 to give legitimate medical and relationship advice. 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:31.339 And Carolla was the everyman. He was the guy 00:08:31.339 --> 00:08:33.399 who would interrupt a serious medical diagnosis 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.279 to make a fart joke or go on a 20 -minute rant 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:38.919 about how traffic lights are timed inefficiently. 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:40.860 But that's why it works so well, right? If it 00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:43.220 was just Dr. Drew, it's a medical lecture. It's 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:47.059 informative, but maybe a little dry. He was the 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:49.720 chaos factor. He was. He served as a counterweight. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.340 Critics at the time described him as a toned 00:08:52.340 --> 00:08:54.899 down version of Howard Stern minus the huge ego. 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:57.799 He brought this relatable blue collar frustration 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:00.919 to the airwaves. He mocked the radio format itself 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.240 while he was on the air. He hated the tropes. 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:07.279 Hated them. The morning zoo cliches, the goofy 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.799 sound effects, the weather reports, the traffic 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:12.879 updates. He would deconstruct them live on air. 00:09:13.340 --> 00:09:15.480 He'd rant about why a traffic report telling 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:17.980 you there's traffic on the 405 at 5 p .m. is 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:20.379 the most useless piece of information imaginable. 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:24.220 Okay, let's unpack this. That became his whole 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:26.659 vibe. He would take something incredibly small 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:28.960 and just drill down into it until it was absurd 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.220 and hilarious. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:34.220 He has a history of, well, stepping on toes. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.820 He does. And an early example of this comes from 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:39.279 the Loveland period. In 2003, the show was actually 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.990 canceled in Hawaii. Canceled, like... just in 00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:44.610 that one market. Just in Hawaii. Corolla made 00:09:44.610 --> 00:09:46.750 some disparaging remarks about Hawaiians during 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:49.250 a broadcast, calling them dumb and inbred and 00:09:49.250 --> 00:09:51.970 a bunch of other things. The local station, KPOI, 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:54.049 pulled the plug immediately. There was a huge 00:09:54.049 --> 00:09:56.370 backlash. So that was an early indicator that 00:09:56.370 --> 00:09:58.909 his unfiltered style had real world consequences. 00:09:59.110 --> 00:10:02.129 A very clear one. But on the mainland, his stock 00:10:02.129 --> 00:10:05.110 was just rising and rising. And in 2006, he gets 00:10:05.110 --> 00:10:08.049 the call. The big one. The biggest one. Howard 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:11.190 Stern is leaving terrestrial radio for satellite. 00:10:11.429 --> 00:10:13.649 It leaves this massive void in morning drive 00:10:13.649 --> 00:10:16.529 time radio. And who do they call to fill that 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:19.730 slot in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, 00:10:19.830 --> 00:10:22.330 these huge markets? The carpenter. The carpenter. 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:24.929 It was a massive promotion. The Adam Carolla 00:10:24.929 --> 00:10:27.429 Show on Terrestrial Radio. He wasn't the sidekick 00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:30.330 anymore. He was the anchor. He was the guy. And 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:33.330 he was so convincing, so authentic as this cynical 00:10:33.330 --> 00:10:36.370 radio host that Hollywood actually started studying 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:39.029 him for parts. That's right. The actor Gerard 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:41.129 Butler, he was preparing for a role in the movie 00:10:41.129 --> 00:10:43.570 The Ugly Truth, where he plays a cynical talk 00:10:43.570 --> 00:10:46.169 radio host. So he actually sat in on Carolla's 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:49.049 show for days just to study him, to capture that 00:10:49.049 --> 00:10:51.950 specific brand of masculine, slightly jaded, 00:10:52.009 --> 00:10:54.789 rant -heavy radio personality. But the terrestrial 00:10:54.789 --> 00:10:57.629 radio era had an expiration date on it. It did, 00:10:57.730 --> 00:11:00.429 and not because of ratings necessarily, but because 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:02.730 of the shifting sands of the industry itself. 00:11:03.110 --> 00:11:06.629 In February 2009, the flagship station for his 00:11:06.629 --> 00:11:09.870 show, KLSX in Los Angeles, flipped formats overnight. 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:12.090 Flipped formats, which means... So you went from 00:11:12.090 --> 00:11:15.129 talk radio to top 40 music. So on Friday, you're 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:17.610 hosting a morning show for millions of people. 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:20.769 On Monday, they're playing Katy Perry on a loop. 00:11:21.049 --> 00:11:24.289 effectively yes he was fired the entire staff 00:11:24.289 --> 00:11:27.549 was let go the show was just gone and this moment 00:11:27.549 --> 00:11:31.049 february 2009 this is the pivot point this is 00:11:31.049 --> 00:11:33.009 the whole story this is where the empire part 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:35.730 of the title comes in because most people in 00:11:35.730 --> 00:11:37.730 his position would have immediately gotten their 00:11:37.730 --> 00:11:40.230 agent on the phone scrambled for another radio 00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:42.210 gig in another market right they'd try to get 00:11:42.210 --> 00:11:44.470 back in the system but carolla did something 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:47.009 completely different he didn't try to get back 00:11:47.009 --> 00:11:49.289 in the system he decided to build his own he 00:11:49.289 --> 00:11:51.549 went to his garage Or his home office, I guess. 00:11:51.629 --> 00:11:54.549 He launched the Adam Carolla podcast literally 00:11:54.549 --> 00:11:57.549 days after being fired. February 23rd, 2009. 00:11:57.990 --> 00:12:00.610 His radio show was canceled on a Friday. The 00:12:00.610 --> 00:12:02.950 first podcast was up the following Monday. The 00:12:02.950 --> 00:12:05.389 speed is incredible. And the numbers were instantaneous. 00:12:05.690 --> 00:12:08.149 We have to really put ourselves back in 2009. 00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:11.009 This is early for podcasting. People were still 00:12:11.009 --> 00:12:12.830 explaining to their parents what an RSS feed 00:12:12.830 --> 00:12:14.950 was. It was a niche medium. And yet, he gets 00:12:14.950 --> 00:12:18.190 250 ,000 downloads in the first 24 hours. A quarter 00:12:18.190 --> 00:12:21.269 of a million. By the third episode, he is the 00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:24.549 number one podcast on iTunes in the US and Canada. 00:12:24.970 --> 00:12:29.389 In that debut week, he hit 1 .6 million downloads. 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:32.679 Those are numbers. that major networks kill for 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:35.539 today, let alone in 2009 when maybe, what, 10 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.539 % of the population even knew what a podcast 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:40.000 was? It proved something fundamental. It proved 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.100 that the audience wasn't loyal to the radio station. 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:44.580 They were loyal to him. He had built what he 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:47.039 called his pirate ship. He owned the content. 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:49.639 He owned the distribution. He owned the relationship 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:51.360 with the audience. And it just kept growing. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:55.129 Exponentially. By May of 2011, so just over two 00:12:55.129 --> 00:12:57.929 years later, the show officially broke the Guinness 00:12:57.929 --> 00:13:00.730 World Record for the most downloaded podcast. 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:03.129 Guinness World Record. Yeah. We're talking 59 00:13:03.129 --> 00:13:08.610 ,574 ,843 unique downloads between March 2009 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:11.629 and March 2011. That is just staggering. He beat 00:13:11.629 --> 00:13:13.490 out Ricky Gervais, who was the previous record 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:15.470 holder. He did. He proved that an independent 00:13:15.470 --> 00:13:18.029 creator with a loyal audience could build a media 00:13:18.029 --> 00:13:20.450 entity bigger than what the traditional gatekeepers 00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:22.629 could offer. But that kind of... The success, 00:13:22.929 --> 00:13:25.389 that kind of disruption, it attracts attention. 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:28.350 And not always the good kind. We have to talk 00:13:28.350 --> 00:13:30.769 about the patent troll. This is a critical chapter, 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:33.370 and it's not just for Carolla's story. It's for 00:13:33.370 --> 00:13:36.049 the medium of podcasting as a whole. In 2013, 00:13:36.269 --> 00:13:38.649 a company called Personal Audio sued Carolla's 00:13:38.649 --> 00:13:41.129 production company, Lotsy Digital. And what were 00:13:41.129 --> 00:13:43.370 they claiming? That they invented ranting into 00:13:43.370 --> 00:13:46.269 a microphone? Close. They claimed they owned 00:13:46.269 --> 00:13:48.669 the patent for episodic content distribution. 00:13:49.809 --> 00:13:52.210 Essentially, they had a very vague patent from 00:13:52.210 --> 00:13:54.809 the pre -internet era about distributing audio 00:13:54.809 --> 00:13:57.690 in a series, like on cassette tapes. You're kidding. 00:13:57.909 --> 00:14:00.809 No. And they were arguing that any podcaster 00:14:00.809 --> 00:14:03.330 who released episodes in a sequence with a playlist 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:06.070 function was infringing on their patent and owed 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:08.190 them licensing fees. So they were trying to put 00:14:08.190 --> 00:14:10.389 a toll booth on the entire internet. They were 00:14:10.389 --> 00:14:12.250 saying, if you create a show that has an episode 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:15.090 one, an episode two, and an episode three, you 00:14:15.090 --> 00:14:18.580 owe us money. Precisely. They had already gone 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.940 after other big names in media and a lot of companies 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:25.279 just settled. It's cheaper to pay the troll a 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.879 few thousand or even a few hundred thousand dollars 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:31.139 than it is to fight a multimillion dollar legal 00:14:31.139 --> 00:14:34.000 battle. But Carolla said no. Carolla said no. 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:37.799 This is where that stubborn offensive lineman 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:39.919 mentality comes right back to the forefront. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:43.200 He viewed it as an existential fight for the 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.379 entire industry. He saw it as extortion. Just 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:48.700 fighting for himself. No, he was very clear about 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:51.340 that. He went public with it. He called them 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:53.600 out as patent trolls on his show. He refused 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.200 to settle. And he did something remarkable. He 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.460 crowdfunded his legal defense. He went to the 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:01.399 listeners. He went directly to his audience and 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:03.340 said, this isn't just about my show. It's about 00:15:03.340 --> 00:15:05.519 every podcast you listen to. Help us fight this. 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.240 And they did. Listeners contributed over $475 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:12.320 ,000 to his legal fund called Fund Anything. 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.059 Wow. That just shows the incredible connection 00:15:15.059 --> 00:15:16.500 he had built with his audience. They weren't 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:18.480 just listeners. They were constituents. They 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:21.820 were investors in the idea. And it worked. The 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:24.919 public pressure was immense. In August of 2014, 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.519 Personal Audio dropped the suit against him. 00:15:27.620 --> 00:15:30.480 So he won. He did. And he didn't stop there. 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:33.159 He actually countersued to try and invalidate 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:35.399 their patent entirely to take the weapon out 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:37.059 of their hands so they couldn't go after smaller 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:39.879 independent podcasters. They eventually settled 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.639 that with a quiet period. But Carolla had made 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.450 his point. He positioned himself as the defender 00:15:45.450 --> 00:15:47.809 of the medium. So if he had folded, if he had 00:15:47.809 --> 00:15:50.090 just paid them off. It could have set a precedent 00:15:50.090 --> 00:15:52.970 that would have made podcasting prohibitively 00:15:52.970 --> 00:15:55.070 expensive for independent creators. The whole 00:15:55.070 --> 00:15:56.830 landscape could look very, very different today. 00:15:57.009 --> 00:15:59.470 So while he's fighting these huge legal battles 00:15:59.470 --> 00:16:02.110 and breaking world records, he's also keeping 00:16:02.110 --> 00:16:05.370 a very active foot in television. We can't ignore 00:16:05.370 --> 00:16:07.509 the visual side of his career. No, and it really 00:16:07.509 --> 00:16:09.509 runs parallel to the audio work starting back 00:16:09.509 --> 00:16:11.769 in the late 90s. The most famous project, of 00:16:11.769 --> 00:16:14.970 course, is The Man Show. The Man Show. Ziggy 00:16:14.970 --> 00:16:19.110 zaggy, ziggy zaggy, oi oi oi oi. This was late 00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:22.490 90s, early 2000s Comedy Central. He co -created 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:24.850 it with his partner in crime, Jimmy Kimmel. It 00:16:24.850 --> 00:16:27.870 was a celebration of, well, unapologetic masculinity. 00:16:28.350 --> 00:16:31.370 It was beer, it was juggies, it was girls on 00:16:31.370 --> 00:16:34.309 trampolines, it was bathroom humor. It definitely 00:16:34.309 --> 00:16:38.500 has a specific... Looking back at it now through 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:41.519 a 2026 lens is an interesting experience. It 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:44.500 is. At the time, it was a massive hit. Critics 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:46.379 often called it sexist, and you can see why. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.559 It's very much a product of its time, that frat 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.100 pack era of comedy. But it was essential in establishing 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:55.240 Carolla's brand. He wasn't... Trying to be highbrower 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:57.659 sophisticated, he was the voice of the guy in 00:16:57.659 --> 00:16:59.960 the cheap seats. He also did Crank Yankers, which 00:16:59.960 --> 00:17:02.120 was another Kimmel collaboration. Yes, which 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:04.539 actually revived the Mr. Burcham character, this 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:07.099 time in puppet form. That show was basically 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:09.579 puppets making real prank phone calls. It sounds 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:12.099 ridiculous on paper. But it was huge. It had 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:14.599 successful runs on Comedy Central and later on 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.660 MTV, too. It was a cultural touchstone for a 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:18.660 little while. It was, but what's really interesting 00:17:18.660 --> 00:17:22.619 to me is his foray into reality TV because he 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:24.279 seems like the last person who would do it. He 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:26.660 did Dancing with the Stars in 2008. I have to 00:17:26.660 --> 00:17:29.019 stop you there. Adam Carolla, the carpenter, 00:17:29.059 --> 00:17:31.779 the boxer, the guy who rants about fixing your 00:17:31.779 --> 00:17:34.740 own sprinklers on Dancing with the Stars. It 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:36.940 went about as well as you'd expect. He was eliminated 00:17:36.940 --> 00:17:39.380 pretty early, I think in the fourth week. Shocker. 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.339 But in true Carolla fashion, he went out on his 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:45.799 own terms. His final dance was a Paso Doble. 00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:48.970 He rode a unicycle across the dance floor. A 00:17:48.970 --> 00:17:52.309 unicycle in a Paso Doble. That is. Yeah. That's 00:17:52.309 --> 00:17:55.109 a choice. That's a statement. It was. And then 00:17:55.109 --> 00:17:58.809 there was the celebrity apprentice in 2012. He 00:17:58.809 --> 00:18:01.269 was on the show and was fired by Donald Trump 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:03.569 in week four. What was the reason for his firing? 00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:06.470 The task was to create a presentation for a new 00:18:06.470 --> 00:18:09.519 car. Trump felt that Carolla didn't properly 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.259 utilize his teammate, the racing legend Mario 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:14.819 Andretti, during the presentation. Which is deeply 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:17.720 ironic because Carolla is a massive, massive 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:20.019 car guy. We'll get to that. It just seems like 00:18:20.019 --> 00:18:21.740 he struggles in these environments where he has 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:24.220 to play by someone else's rules. He does much 00:18:24.220 --> 00:18:26.559 better when he's the boss. Or when he's in his 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:28.740 element. Which brings us to the show, Catch a 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:31.190 Contractor. Right, on Spike TV. This was the 00:18:31.190 --> 00:18:34.109 perfect synthesis of all his skills. He used 00:18:34.109 --> 00:18:36.150 his legitimate background in construction to 00:18:36.150 --> 00:18:39.029 ambush and expose unethical contractors who were 00:18:39.029 --> 00:18:41.269 ripping off homeowners. He had the authority. 00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:44.430 He wasn't just a TV host playing a part. He could 00:18:44.430 --> 00:18:46.710 walk onto a shoddy job site and say, that's not 00:18:46.710 --> 00:18:49.390 up to code, or you didn't use the right materials 00:18:49.390 --> 00:18:51.609 here. Exactly. He wasn't just a host. He was 00:18:51.609 --> 00:18:53.869 an expert witness with a camera crew. It was 00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:57.430 a perfect fit. He also moved into film. And not 00:18:57.430 --> 00:19:00.900 just doing cameos. He wrote. produced and starred 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:04.309 in a movie called The Hammer. This is a bit of 00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:07.190 a hidden gem in his filmography. It's a semi 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.829 -autobiographical independent film from 2007. 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:12.869 He plays a guy who's nearing 40, works in construction, 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:15.789 but was a talented amateur boxer in his youth 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:17.609 and decides to give it one last shot. Sounds 00:19:17.609 --> 00:19:20.089 familiar. Very. But it was well -received. It 00:19:20.089 --> 00:19:22.710 got an 80 % on Rotten Tomatoes. And again, with 00:19:22.710 --> 00:19:25.609 the authenticity, it was filmed in a gym that 00:19:25.609 --> 00:19:27.829 he actually helped build with his own two hands 00:19:27.829 --> 00:19:30.289 years before. He also got into crowdfunding his 00:19:30.289 --> 00:19:33.029 films, much like he did his legal... He did. 00:19:33.250 --> 00:19:36.009 He raised funds for Road Hard, a movie about 00:19:36.009 --> 00:19:39.150 an aging road comic struggling after his TV and 00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:43.109 movie career dries up. Another semi autobiographical 00:19:43.109 --> 00:19:45.930 theme. You see a pattern here. And he also co 00:19:45.930 --> 00:19:48.529 -directed and produced documentaries which show 00:19:48.529 --> 00:19:51.400 a different side of him winning. The Racing Life 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.920 of Paul Newman. The 24 -Hour War, which is about 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:58.579 the Ford versus Ferrari rivalry at Le Mans. These 00:19:58.579 --> 00:20:01.380 are serious, well -researched films. They reflect 00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:03.859 his deep obsession with mechanical excellence, 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:07.019 with engineering, with history. It shows that 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:09.220 he isn't just a comedian. He's a historian of 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:10.859 the things he loves. And we have to mention the 00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:13.240 books. He's a multiple New York Times bestselling 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.420 author. With titles like... In 50 years, we'll 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:18.859 all be chicks, not Taco Bell material, and I'm 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:20.920 your emotional support animal. Yeah. They reflect 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:23.160 his persona perfectly. But the writing process 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:25.700 is unique. Right. He doesn't sit down at a keyboard 00:20:25.700 --> 00:20:28.960 and type. No, he hates typing. He openly admits 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.559 these books are largely dictated. He rants into 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:33.799 a microphone, records his thoughts and stories, 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:36.099 and a ghostwriter helps structure it into prose. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.880 It's essentially his podcast in book form. It's 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.339 efficient. You have to give him that. But, okay, 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:43.960 let's pivot to the elephant in the room. His 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:46.690 worldview. You cannot talk about Adam Carolla 00:20:46.690 --> 00:20:48.650 for more than five minutes without talking about 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:51.589 his politics and the controversies. It's completely 00:20:51.589 --> 00:20:54.430 central to his brand. And it's complex. He often 00:20:54.430 --> 00:20:57.710 describes himself as a mix of Republican and 00:20:57.710 --> 00:20:59.869 Libertarian. If you're not hurting anyone, you 00:20:59.869 --> 00:21:01.529 should be able to just do what you want to do. 00:21:01.730 --> 00:21:03.809 Yeah. That seems to be the core philosophy. That's 00:21:03.809 --> 00:21:06.410 the core of it. Yeah. He aligns with conservatives 00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:09.670 on things like secure borders and opposing what 00:21:09.670 --> 00:21:12.589 he calls the welfare state or freebie programs. 00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:15.950 He is huge on personal responsibility. If you 00:21:15.950 --> 00:21:18.609 fail, it's your fault. If you succeed, it's because 00:21:18.609 --> 00:21:20.900 of your merit. The get up and go to work mentality. 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.279 But then on the other hand, he lines with liberals 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.700 on a lot of other things. Completely. He is on 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:28.079 the advisory board of the Marijuana Policy Project. 00:21:28.460 --> 00:21:30.920 He's been a vocal advocate for legalizing weed 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:33.240 for years. He's against automatic weapons. He 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:35.380 supports nuclear power to charge electric cars. 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:38.839 And he's a staunch atheist. So he doesn't fit 00:21:38.839 --> 00:21:42.500 neatly into the Christian right box at all. Not 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:44.960 at all. But he has found himself in hot water 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.400 plenty of times over his comments. Repeatedly. 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:51.500 The list is long. A major one was in 2012. He 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:53.180 gave an interview to the New York Post where 00:21:53.180 --> 00:21:55.819 he flat out said, and I'm quoting, dudes are 00:21:55.819 --> 00:21:59.579 funnier than chicks. Oof. That is the third rail 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:01.859 of comedy right there. It sparked a massive, 00:22:01.900 --> 00:22:04.279 massive backlash from comedians and the public. 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.619 He later defended it by saying the media oversimplified 00:22:07.619 --> 00:22:09.299 his point, that he's talking about the different 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:12.160 styles of comedy, but the quote itself was pretty 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:14.339 direct and that's what landed. He also faced 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:17.559 criticism from GLAA. He did. For comments he 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.960 made about the LGBT community, specifically making 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:22.519 fun of a petition to have Bert and Ernie from 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:25.279 Sesame Street get married, it drew condemnation 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.839 and calls for an apology. And there was an incident 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.500 involving the Philippines? In 2010, yeah. He 00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:32.680 was talking about the boxer Manny Pacquiao and 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:34.740 called him a fucking idiot and then made some 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:36.779 pretty disparaging remarks about the country 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:39.819 as a whole regarding sex tourism. That one was 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:42.299 so intense he actually did issue an apology via 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:45.319 Twitter. Which seems rare for him. He tends to 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:47.339 double down rather than apologize, doesn't he? 00:22:47.500 --> 00:22:50.960 Usually. He views himself as a warrior against 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:53.900 cancel culture. He argues that we shouldn't judge 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:56.779 past behaviors like teachers paddling students 00:22:56.779 --> 00:22:59.700 in schools by today's standards, that the world 00:22:59.700 --> 00:23:02.019 has gotten too sensitive. And he put his money 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:03.619 where his mouth is on that one. He made a whole 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:06.200 documentary about it. He did. No Safe Spaces, 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:08.279 which he co -starred in with the conservative 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:11.099 talk show host Dennis Prager. It specifically 00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:13.480 attacks the concept of political correctness 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:17.259 and safe spaces on college campuses. It cemented 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:19.660 his position as a major voice in that cultural 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:23.180 debate. And very recently. in January of 2026, 00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:26.920 he made headlines again for leaning into that 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:29.960 role. Yes. A major performing arts venue was 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:32.680 controversially renamed the Donald Trump and 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:34.859 John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Arts. 00:23:35.059 --> 00:23:37.380 A lot of other performers canceled their appearances 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:39.539 in protest due to the political association with 00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:42.160 Trump. But Carolla said yes. Carolla agreed to 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.339 appear. It fits his brand perfectly, though, 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.720 defying the progressive orthodoxy going where 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.740 others won't. It does. And it raises that central 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:52.480 question. Is he becoming more political as he 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.099 gets older? Or is the culture just shifting in 00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:58.640 a way that makes his long -held views seem more 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:00.960 radical? That's the big question to unpack. It's 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.180 a fascinating dynamic. Let's shift gears literally. 00:24:03.609 --> 00:24:06.049 We touched on it with the Trump firing. But the 00:24:06.049 --> 00:24:08.690 man loves cars. This isn't a casual hobby. No, 00:24:08.769 --> 00:24:11.950 he is a serious, legitimate collector. The sources 00:24:11.950 --> 00:24:15.609 say he owns over 20 vehicles and not just shiny 00:24:15.609 --> 00:24:18.470 new Ferraris. He likes vintage race cars with 00:24:18.470 --> 00:24:21.890 history, with provenance. He owns some of Paul 00:24:21.890 --> 00:24:24.430 Newman's actual race cars. The Paul Newman connection 00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:26.589 is amazing. He directed a documentary on him 00:24:26.589 --> 00:24:28.930 and he owns the cars. He does. And there's a 00:24:28.930 --> 00:24:31.329 great story involving the show Pawn Stars from 00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:33.809 just a couple of years ago in 2020. What happened? 00:24:34.009 --> 00:24:37.269 He brought his 1972 Paul Newman Ford Escort race 00:24:37.269 --> 00:24:39.430 car onto the show. He was thinking of selling 00:24:39.430 --> 00:24:41.829 it, and his asking price was around $250 ,000. 00:24:42.150 --> 00:24:44.970 But the show's experts evaluated it and told 00:24:44.970 --> 00:24:48.269 him it was actually worth up to $300 ,000. So 00:24:48.269 --> 00:24:50.230 after learning it was more valuable than he thought, 00:24:50.450 --> 00:24:53.190 he decided to keep it. It shows he knows the 00:24:53.190 --> 00:24:55.369 value of what he has, and he's not just going 00:24:55.369 --> 00:24:58.630 to give it away. And he owns Lamborghinis, but 00:24:58.630 --> 00:25:01.450 the really rare ones, right? The Muras. He owns 00:25:01.450 --> 00:25:04.049 two of them. For anyone who doesn't know, these 00:25:04.049 --> 00:25:07.630 are incredibly rare, incredibly beautiful supercars 00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:10.930 from the 1960s. Many consider them the first 00:25:10.930 --> 00:25:14.410 true supercar. And he even lent one to the Peterson 00:25:14.410 --> 00:25:17.009 Automotive Museum in Los Angeles for an exhibit. 00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:19.279 It's another example of the carpenter side of 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.799 him. It's not just about the flash. He appreciates 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:23.920 the history, the design, the engineering. Absolutely. 00:25:24.019 --> 00:25:25.940 It's about how things are built. Let's look at 00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:27.519 the personal side of his life, which he's been 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:29.440 pretty open about on his show. He was married 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:32.359 for a long time. He was. He married Lynette Paradise 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:35.970 in 2002. They have twins, a daughter, Natalia, 00:25:36.089 --> 00:25:38.529 and a son, Sonny. But they announced their divorce 00:25:38.529 --> 00:25:42.569 in May of 2021. They did. After 19 years of marriage, 00:25:42.670 --> 00:25:44.470 he talked about it extensively on the podcast. 00:25:44.529 --> 00:25:47.150 It was obviously a very difficult period. That's 00:25:47.150 --> 00:25:48.950 a tough blow for anyone to go through, especially 00:25:48.950 --> 00:25:51.829 so publicly. It is. And for a guy who often preached 00:25:51.829 --> 00:25:53.589 about the importance of family and stability 00:25:53.589 --> 00:25:56.630 as the bedrock of society, it was a personal 00:25:56.630 --> 00:25:58.930 challenge to have to navigate that in the public 00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:02.349 eye. And on the faith front. You mentioned he's 00:26:02.349 --> 00:26:05.049 an atheist. Yes. The sources say he was raised 00:26:05.049 --> 00:26:08.069 in a light form of Buddhism by his parents, but 00:26:08.069 --> 00:26:10.509 he completely rejected it as he got older. He's 00:26:10.509 --> 00:26:13.470 a staunch, outspoken atheist. He believes in 00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:15.849 the here and now and what you can see and touch 00:26:15.849 --> 00:26:18.150 and build with your hands. He did receive a major 00:26:18.150 --> 00:26:20.349 honor recently, though, which must have been 00:26:20.349 --> 00:26:23.920 a validating moment. A huge one. In 2025, he 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:26.079 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:28.980 for his contributions to radio. That really feels 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:31.240 like a full circle moment. A kid who couldn't 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:33.339 get his high school diploma because of a library 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:36.640 fine now has his name permanently embedded in 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:39.519 terrazzo on Hollywood Boulevard. It absolutely 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.000 validates the entire journey from the construction 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.319 site to a public access TV show to the Walk of 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:47.920 Fame. It's a remarkable American story, however 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:51.339 you feel about him. So. When we put all these 00:26:51.339 --> 00:26:56.059 pieces together, what does it all mean? When 00:26:56.059 --> 00:26:58.559 we look at Adam Carolla, what are we really looking 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:01.500 at? I think we're looking at a bridge. He is 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:04.420 the bridge between the old world of blue collar, 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.279 manual labor, and the new world of digital media. 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:10.720 He's the guy who monetized ranting. He took the 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:12.539 frustration of the common man, the guy stuck 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:14.599 in traffic, the guy dealing with a lazy contractor, 00:27:14.859 --> 00:27:17.599 and he packaged it into a digital format. And 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.720 he proved you could build a business empire on 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:21.920 it without a corporate overlord. Exactly. He 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.599 cut out the middleman. And maybe most importantly, 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:27.859 he literally fought the legal battles to keep 00:27:27.859 --> 00:27:30.200 that bridge open for everybody else who wanted 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:32.599 to cross it. So whether you agree with his politics 00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:34.859 or his jokes, if you're listening to this right 00:27:34.859 --> 00:27:37.779 now on a podcast app. You owe a small debt to 00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:40.000 the legal precedent he helped set against those 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.240 patent trolls. He made the road a little bit 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:44.259 safer for all the independent creators who came 00:27:44.259 --> 00:27:46.359 after him. That's a really powerful takeaway. 00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:48.319 So here's a provocative thought to leave you 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:50.599 with. Adam Carolla started his career on The 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:53.180 Man Show, surrounded by beer and trampolines. 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:56.980 It was pure, unapologetic, juvenile escapism. 00:27:57.019 --> 00:28:00.940 Right. Now, he makes serious documentaries about 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:03.700 free speech in no safe spaces and appears at 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:06.720 highly politicized venues. So the question is, 00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:09.500 how much of that evolution is a change in Adam 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:11.980 Carolla himself and how much of it is a change 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:14.400 in the culture around him? Did he move to the 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:17.019 right, or did the center move so far to the left 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:19.240 that it left him standing in the exact same spot, 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:22.039 suddenly looking like a radical? That is something 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:25.200 to chew on. From the carpenter shop to the podcast 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:27.319 charts, thanks for diving deep with us. Keep 00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:29.000 asking questions. See you next time.