TRIGGERnometry - October 03, 2022


Adam Carolla： ＂I Can't Wait to Leave California＂

Topics
middle world California liberalism vs. restrictions broken families
Hosted by
Francis Foster Konstantin Kisin
Mentioned
Adam Carolla Trump Gavin Newsom Larry Elder Burcham Beautiful Noise Jimmy Kimmel Benny Hill Bill Barr Carroll Shelby Forest Hills Drive Glenn Washington Jordan Peterson Brett Weinstein Sweet Caroline Boris Johnsons Heather Hying Prince Andrew Andrew Doyle Hunter Biden and 9 more
Lord David Frost： ＂The Budget Was Absolutely the Right Thing to Do＂ ＂The System is Rigged Against the Poor＂ - Darren McGarvey

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 2 minutes

Words per minute

171.72

Word count

10,813

Sentence count

891

Harmful content

Misogyny

20

sentences flagged

Toxicity

63

sentences flagged

Hate speech

12

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Comedian Adam Carolla joins us to talk about growing up on the beach in the late 80s and early 90s in Los Angeles, how he went from being a carpenter to being a stand-up comic, and how he became one of the funniest people in the world.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.700 Broadway's smash hit, the Neil Diamond Musical, A Beautiful Noise, is coming to Toronto.
00:00:06.520 The true story of a kid from Brooklyn destined for something more, featuring all the songs you love,
00:00:11.780 including America, Forever in Blue Jeans, and Sweet Caroline.
00:00:15.780 Like Jersey Boys and Beautiful, the next musical mega hit is here, the Neil Diamond Musical, A Beautiful Noise.
00:00:22.600 Now through June 7th, 2026 at the Princess of Wales Theatre.
00:00:26.800 Get tickets at Mirbish.com.
00:00:30.000 When I grew up, you go to the beach, there was a sign that said no, and all it was was fireworks or, you know, no manslaughter.
00:00:41.960 The beach sign gets something, it's no Frisbee now, no digging holes, no alcohol, no dogs, like no, no.
00:00:50.220 So, you were living in a place where the beach, if you think about the beach and the ocean, it's like, it's a metaphor for freedom.
00:00:58.980 It's like, I'm going to the ocean, or they sailed across the ocean to be free, you know, and they landed in Venice Beach or Pismo Beach or whatever.
00:01:07.580 It's like, it's literally, it's like a metaphor.
00:01:09.120 Well, in California, there's a never-ending list of things you cannot do on the beach, and every year they add one.
00:01:18.160 Do you have a sort of moving?
00:01:19.140 Yes.
00:01:20.140 No, I have a couple of kids, and I tell everyone I will be attending their graduation in a U-Haul truck.
00:01:31.680 I will pull up in a moving truck, and wave to them during their graduation, and I'm going.
00:01:39.120 They just can't admit they were wrong.
00:01:41.080 Gay marriage was illegal in Arkansas, it's going to be legal in California, and then one day Arkansas will make it legal, and then they'll look at us. 0.96
00:01:48.680 Right.
00:01:49.800 Except for what happened is we just kept going, and we never stopped, you know.
00:01:54.120 Hey, Francis, do you like locals?
00:02:05.760 I live in London, mate, so obviously not.
00:02:08.620 The only pleasure I get from the locals is when we share an intimate moment as we watch a Japanese tourist get trapped in a tube door.
00:02:17.540 That is good.
00:02:18.360 But I wasn't talking about their locals, I was talking about our community on Locals.
00:02:24.320 You mean the one where you get phenomenal behind-the-scenes content when you...
00:02:28.640 Where you get to ask incredible guests like Jordan Peterson, Brett Weinstein, Bill Burr, Sam Harris, Adam Carolla, Heather Hying, and others your questions?
00:02:44.100 Not just that, you can get supporter-only benefits like trigonometry mugs, monthly calls with other top supporters, and even a regular meal with me and Francis.
00:02:53.700 You also get phenomenal behind-the-scenes footage of our trip to America, where we met a whole host of incredible guests and gave ourselves terminal indigestion.
00:03:05.740 We're also starting to do monthly giveaways for locals only.
00:03:09.040 The first one will be signed copies of Andrew Doyle's new book.
00:03:12.220 Plus, you get access to an incredible community of like-minded people who share memes, have fun conversations, and most importantly, you get to make new friends.
00:03:24.960 You can support us with as little as $7 or about £5 a month, or give us more for the higher-tier benefits.
00:03:31.700 Go to trigonometry.locals.com
00:03:34.480 Go to trigonometry.locals.com and support the show!
00:03:39.360 Hello, and welcome to Trigonometry on the Road from the USA.
00:03:45.560 I'm Francis Foster.
00:03:46.820 I'm Constantine Kissin.
00:03:47.900 And this is a show for you if you want honest conversations with fascinating people.
00:03:53.400 Our brilliant guest today is a comedian, radio podcaster, author, actor, he's done a bunch of stuff.
00:03:59.380 Adam Carolla, welcome to Trigonometry.
00:04:01.120 Thanks, I was just writing something down.
00:04:02.760 You were just writing something down.
00:04:03.780 Listen, great to have you on the show.
00:04:04.940 Well, thank you for, first of all, for letting us tear up your set in order to do this.
00:04:09.140 He doesn't look happy about it.
00:04:11.880 No, that's fine.
00:04:12.960 I'm flattered that you guys wanted to stop by and have a chat.
00:04:15.820 No, we appreciate that, man.
00:04:17.060 Well, listen, we love you.
00:04:19.100 We're big fans of yours.
00:04:20.160 A lot of our fans are big fans of yours.
00:04:21.680 But there's also a lot of people in the UK who are less familiar with your life and story and stuff like that.
00:04:25.900 So who are you?
00:04:26.640 What's been your journey through life?
00:04:27.740 I grew up out here, not too far away from this studio.
00:04:33.620 I was a carpenter out of high school.
00:04:37.720 I didn't go to college.
00:04:38.960 I wasn't really a good student.
00:04:41.800 And I didn't take the SATs and forget about trigonometry.
00:04:46.360 I didn't take algebra.
00:04:47.720 I literally didn't.
00:04:49.100 Like everyone else took it in the ninth grade.
00:04:50.780 I was taking math, took high school math.
00:04:53.480 You know, I grew up in a sort of blue-collar, kind of semi-depressed, you know, divorce, you know, sort of some welfare, some food stamps, you know, just a little sort of impoverished to some degree.
00:05:06.760 And so I got out of high school and I just went to work, you know, and I just, you know, I got a job just as a laborer, you know, just working on construction sites, just kind of using my back, you know, moving stuff, digging holes, you know, cleaning stuff.
00:05:21.460 And it was sort of relegated to a pretty, you know, blue-collar kind of just, you know, grunt work kind of labor on a construction site.
00:05:31.180 I mean, what I did, you know, everyone who comes here from Mexico or some other place who doesn't speak the language and doesn't have the proper identification, they work on a construction site as a laborer, you know. 0.99
00:05:46.200 So that's kind of what you do, that's the lowest kind of rung on the socioeconomic ladder and that's, I was no different.
00:05:52.920 I was just born here, but I just went to work.
00:05:55.960 And I, you know, I worked my way up and I became a carpenter at some point and bought some tools and a truck and learned the skill of carpentry.
00:06:07.740 And then at some point I was just like, man, this is hard and it doesn't pay well and it's kind of, I don't like the guys I work with and it's not very interesting or stimulating or anything.
00:06:19.900 And so I made the conscious decision to try to see if I could, like, make my way into comedy somehow because it was only two sort of tangible assets that I had.
00:06:33.860 I almost said gift, but I was, you know, funny and I was good with my hands.
00:06:40.500 Those were like my two things and I couldn't read very well, I couldn't write, I wasn't going to work, I wasn't going to be an attorney or anything.
00:06:47.440 But I was like, I think you could try doing comedy.
00:06:50.560 So then I just started training in comedy in my kind of early 20s and I couldn't quit my day job.
00:06:59.120 I'd just work all day and then at night I'd go take a comedy class, an improv class, acting class, something like that.
00:07:06.040 And I'd just work all day, have an apartment with a couple of roommates and at night go out and try to learn comedy.
00:07:14.860 Man, that's awesome.
00:07:15.700 Sorry, Francis, let me just finish this quick point.
00:07:17.460 So the thing I really love about what you do is the way you talk about it, it comes from that blue collar place of like the real world, right?
00:07:27.040 And that's what I think makes you so interesting and so interesting to listen to and funny as well because you're talking from a real space that a lot of people connect with.
00:07:36.820 And we've traveled around the country, we've been all over the place, east coast, west coast, south, you know, everywhere.
00:07:41.840 And I have a feeling that you'd have quite a unique insight into this because we've loved the trip.
00:07:48.500 We're so inspired by the United States.
00:07:50.600 It's a great country.
00:07:51.500 There's so many amazing things going on.
00:07:53.820 And yet so many people that we talk to are afraid, they're, you know, they're angry, they're politically very, you know, it's a divided time in this country.
00:08:03.480 Why is that, Adam?
00:08:04.320 You know, the middle is no longer an attractive place to be, you know, people used to kind of strive to get to the middle, like middle class.
00:08:18.500 You know, I got a home, you know, I got 14 more years on the mortgage and I own it, you know, free and clear.
00:08:25.720 And yeah, it's not much, but it's mine.
00:08:27.700 You know what I mean?
00:08:28.200 It's like a lot of like, you know, we got two cars.
00:08:31.320 I got to work on one of them all the time, but we got two cars and, you know, I'm taking care of my kids and I'm feeding my family.
00:08:38.760 You know, it's like a kind of a pride in sort of that middle world.
00:08:44.260 And then at some point we decided there was some nobility on, in the ultra rich and or the, she's a mother of 14 and doesn't have a pot to piss in, but she's got her pride. 0.84
00:08:59.540 You know what I mean?
00:09:00.160 Like, it's this weird, we got into this weird kind of class thing and everyone had to kind of pick a side.
00:09:08.480 Like, oh, you want to be Elon Musk or you want to move into a project in Chicago?
00:09:13.520 Like, and, and we kind of just, you know, the middle is like, you know, but maybe it was like more like, like, like, you know, the worst thing you could say about somebody's art standup routine painting or something is go like, eh, it's okay.
00:09:32.360 You know what I mean?
00:09:33.060 Like, you, you almost want people to go, I hate it.
00:09:35.460 I hate that guy's comedy. 0.54
00:09:36.680 I can't stand that guy.
00:09:37.620 Or he's a genius.
00:09:38.800 You know, there's a sort of middle is not sexy and it's just kind of like, we, we, we almost like the metaphor we think of is like, if you'd like to go to the beach and you'd like to not get pummeled by the waves, then stay on the beach or swim beyond the breakers where it's calm. 0.99
00:09:58.960 The middle is just you getting sand up your ass. 0.71
00:10:03.600 But what's interesting about you talking about the middle is you found fame with a character called Mr. Burcham, who in many ways was an epitome of the middle. 0.98
00:10:11.780 He was a guy in the middle who was getting put upon by everybody and he was just very frustrated.
00:10:18.420 Yeah, the, I, I came upon that, that guy, uh, Burcham, um, I think you must pronounce it a little bit, but I'm not going to hold you, hold you to.
00:10:29.080 We're from Britain, man.
00:10:30.160 Yeah.
00:10:30.540 Forgive us.
00:10:31.460 Yeah, I can say Benny Hill.
00:10:34.800 So, um, but everyone can say Benny Hill.
00:10:39.440 Uh, Burcham was a blue collar guy.
00:10:42.780 He was, uh, he was a shop teacher at a junior, at a junior high.
00:10:47.960 And he was kind of based on a lot of my shop teachers that were mean and hated the kids and so on and so forth.
00:10:54.300 But the, the, the appeal to that character, so I got to the radio, um, well, I guess we got time.
00:11:04.940 So here we are.
00:11:06.400 I was, uh, I, I was not having success in comedy or radio or TV or, or anything.
00:11:14.000 I'd been, at this point, I had been at it for, you know, about, about eight or nine years.
00:11:21.120 And it just, I'd, I'd been training, but I just never had any success.
00:11:25.880 And I, I came time to maybe get a shot to do something on the radio.
00:11:32.060 But it was only because I was working as a boxing coach and I trained Jimmy Kimmel to box.
00:11:38.960 And he was on the radio.
00:11:41.360 And it, it was a morning stunt, zoo stunt thing where this guy was going to box that guy.
00:11:48.000 And they needed trainers.
00:11:48.860 And Jimmy was doing sports.
00:11:50.680 He wasn't anybody, you know, this is back in 94.
00:11:55.820 So he didn't, he was sort of sidekick guy on a morning radio.
00:12:00.700 And I trained him to box.
00:12:02.940 He thought I was funny.
00:12:04.820 And so he said, you need to, I said, how could I get onto the radio?
00:12:09.820 And he's like, well, you know, you're a boxing coach, you know, like, how am I going to pitch you as a comedy guy?
00:12:16.080 And I go, well, I do comedy, but I just happen to be a boxing coach.
00:12:19.420 And he said, well, I won't tell them who you are because they'll go, it's the boxing coach.
00:12:25.760 You know, that guy thinks he's funny.
00:12:27.440 But you've got to come up, you know, with a character.
00:12:29.780 And you come up with a character.
00:12:30.960 You can try it out on Monday on the show.
00:12:33.380 You know, it's probably, they're probably not going to like it, the guys who host the show.
00:12:36.500 But I'll, I'll get you in.
00:12:38.440 And so then I came up with the woodshop teacher, Mr. Burcham.
00:12:42.260 And it just became a, like an overnight sensation.
00:12:45.000 Isn't that the problem with the way America is in a way that you were asked that you wanted to go on the radio and you had something to give.
00:12:54.820 But people just thought because you had like a blue collar job that suddenly like you didn't have anything to say.
00:13:00.620 You couldn't make people laugh.
00:13:01.780 When actually the reality is, is because you've experienced this, you have far more of a connection with a regular audience than people who went to an Ivy League university or college.
00:13:12.280 And, you know, had come up just doing improv and not having to worry about money.
00:13:16.460 Yeah, I had a real kind of base, a foundation.
00:13:22.200 And I, and I knew who those guys were, the blue collar and the teachers.
00:13:27.780 And, and I, I had this base and, and I had this base of knowledge because I was a carpenter.
00:13:32.840 So my character, the thing that made the character really intriguing is he was funny, but he also knew the subject so well that people kept thinking, I know this guy's a comedian, but I also know he's a woodworker and a, maybe, maybe he's a, maybe, maybe he teaches woodshop.
00:13:54.140 I, I, I taught, let's see, I taught remedial wood at Louis Pasteur Middle School in Monrovia.
00:14:04.060 Everything was made up, you know, and then Mr. Burcham was the guy.
00:14:08.300 And, and so it's like people would say things and I, I would take some phone calls sometimes and like some woman, I remember she called up, she goes, oh, it's my husband's birthday and I want to, he's got a table saw and I want to give him a big deluxe fence.
00:14:23.020 That's the guide.
00:14:24.480 I want to give him a fence and the guy at the store said it was a, a B, he said something with a B.
00:14:29.620 I said, Biesmeyer.
00:14:30.720 And he's, he's like, yeah, it's a Biesmeyer. 0.87
00:14:32.180 Yeah, that's the best fence.
00:14:33.260 I go, yeah.
00:14:34.020 And then everyone would go, how do you know all the, the stuff?
00:14:37.100 And I'd go, I didn't say it on the air, but I lived that life and then I just brought it all into, into comedy.
00:14:45.300 And Adam, one of the things that we have in the UK is like, it often feels like most of the people who are on air, who are talking about stuff,
00:14:52.660 most of the comedians, most of the media personalities, they're not really that connected to ordinary people.
00:14:58.220 And it explains a lot of the political situations we've seen in recent years.
00:15:03.600 You, you're on the radio all the time.
00:15:05.240 You talk to normal people.
00:15:06.540 Like, what do people actually care about in this country at the moment?
00:15:10.800 People, you know, it kind of depends what side you're talking about.
00:15:14.880 But like in, in general, people live in this country to be left alone.
00:15:20.980 And, and more and more, there's a lot of like, what's the government going to do about, you know, X, Y, and Z.
00:15:26.220 But most people just kind of want their space and to get along and, and kind of, kind of go, go about their life.
00:15:35.340 It's really the, you know, I think the attraction of this country is come here from wherever you were.
00:15:42.800 Once you get here, just leave everyone alone.
00:15:45.660 Just go about your work.
00:15:47.360 And, and by the way, if you don't hurt anyone or you pay your taxes, then you'll get left alone.
00:15:52.680 And then everyone will, everything will be copacetic.
00:15:55.520 And recently, we started down this path where we wanted the government to get more involved with things, which never really has a good ending.
00:16:07.760 But somehow we decided they needed to be doing more about like, with your kids, you know, the schools, the meals, the, who's taking care of kids.
00:16:18.000 It's like, I was like, you take care of your kids.
00:16:20.100 That's who's taking care of the kids.
00:16:21.940 That's how it works.
00:16:23.060 And I would get into trouble because I would say, you know, they'd say, they're going to close the schools for COVID.
00:16:34.040 A lot of these kids are on meal programs.
00:16:35.920 How are they supposed to eat?
00:16:37.360 And I'd say, your parents are supposed to make sure you're fed, not the government.
00:16:42.780 And then I don't want the government feeding you starting at age nine.
00:16:47.080 I just feel like that's a bad precedent.
00:16:48.840 Like that could go on well in your 40s, you know, like.
00:16:53.060 And I've been on that end.
00:16:54.500 I've seen what that inspires in people.
00:16:58.400 Like I got a front row seat.
00:17:01.480 Like I remember when I was nine, I said to my mom, why don't you get a job?
00:17:05.240 If you get a job, maybe we could have nice stuff, like a nice car or something.
00:17:11.200 And she's like, if I get a job, I'm going to lose my welfare.
00:17:15.000 Like she was like, you got to think, boy.
00:17:17.380 Horrible message.
00:17:18.780 But I was like, oh, she's not working because she doesn't, because she's being incentivized. 0.99
00:17:23.900 Like she's capable of a lot.
00:17:26.120 And then I sort of saw her atrophy because it's like this person that could have won out and did something was told to stay home and wait for that check.
00:17:36.800 And it hurt her.
00:17:38.340 And it hurt me.
00:17:39.360 It hurt my sister.
00:17:40.580 You know, we had a sort of front row seat to this sort of lethargy.
00:17:44.300 Yeah, and you know, you are a penultimate interview in the year.
00:17:47.460 The only one we've got left is Bill Burr tomorrow.
00:17:49.880 But everyone we've spoken to and every place we've been, and we've been, like I said, in New York, in Washington, in Virginia, in Nashville, in Austin, and now in L.A., California is supposed to be the most liberal place in this country, right, from what I understand.
00:18:05.520 And yet I feel more restricted here than I have in any of the other places we've been.
00:18:10.360 Like you get off the airport, masks, masks, masks, masks, masks.
00:18:14.620 You get in the taxi, masks, masks, masks.
00:18:16.540 We went into a cafe.
00:18:17.840 We've been filming like a vlog of our trip.
00:18:20.700 We've been filming in every cafe and restaurant.
00:18:22.660 No one's ever said a word except the first place we come in L.A.
00:18:26.000 You can't film here.
00:18:27.340 How is it that the most liberal place, I mean, liberal means freedom, the liberal place in this country, and that's the impression that we get as visitors.
00:18:35.760 How does that happen?
00:18:36.340 I think you're spot on or bang on, whatever you guys say.
00:18:40.920 Spot on.
00:18:41.720 You're on.
00:18:42.560 You're on.
00:18:44.660 Well, it has sort of devolved into that, although the people that are making the rules look at it as evolving into it.
00:18:52.200 And, you know, I always say this, you know, Carroll Shelby, the guy who built all the race cars, he lived in Texas.
00:19:02.340 He's a Texas guy.
00:19:03.720 And he came to Venice Beach, California in the 60s because he wanted to build cars.
00:19:09.960 Now, obviously, everyone is leaving California now to go to Texas because they want to do something, and they want the government to leave them alone, you know.
00:19:20.440 It is a kind of a – we – California is very blue.
00:19:25.600 It's very Democrat.
00:19:26.920 It's kind of Democrat supermajority.
00:19:28.960 And any place where the Democrats are involved and have no enemies in the wild, so to speak, they just start regulating.
00:19:39.480 And it's basically – you know, I always say it this way.
00:19:43.300 You know, when I grew up, you go to the beach, there was a sign that said no, and all it was is fireworks or, you know, no manslaughter.
00:19:55.760 The beach sign gets something – it's no Frisbee now, no digging holes, no alcohol, no dogs.
00:20:02.440 Like, no, no.
00:20:05.040 So you were living in a place where the beach – if you think about the beach and the ocean, it's like it's a metaphor for freedom.
00:20:13.380 It's like I'm going to the ocean.
00:20:15.140 Or they sailed across the ocean to be free, you know, and they landed in Venice Beach or Pismo Beach or whatever.
00:20:21.860 It's like – it's literally – it's like a metaphor for it.
00:20:25.320 Well, in California, there's a never-ending list of things you cannot do on the beach, and every year they add one.
00:20:33.520 Now it's 14.
00:20:35.300 When my kids are in their 20s, it'll be 34 things you can't do on the beach.
00:20:41.180 They never remove them.
00:20:42.380 And so it's essentially – California is just sort of like if you took beavers and you put them on top of the Empire State Building, they'd go, we've got to find some wood.
00:20:55.040 You'd go, for what?
00:20:55.880 We've got to make a dam.
00:20:56.980 You'd go, why?
00:20:57.980 Because that's what we do.
00:20:59.340 We're beavers.
00:21:01.280 We're politicians.
00:21:02.820 We make rules.
00:21:03.840 In California, there's a checks and a balance in other places, and California doesn't have that.
00:21:10.640 So you'll see a sticker on every thing in Home Depot that says cancer-causing whatever.
00:21:17.600 It's California.
00:21:18.500 It's – everything's California.
00:21:19.700 Like if you build stuff – I build stuff.
00:21:24.100 You'll say like, oh, I want to get the tempered glass railing on the whatever.
00:21:29.300 They go, are you in California?
00:21:30.660 They go, yeah.
00:21:31.140 Oh, we can't ship the tempered.
00:21:32.760 We have to do the laminated stuff there.
00:21:34.960 And I go, well, you can ship it everywhere else in the country.
00:21:37.400 It's like, yeah, California's got a rule.
00:21:39.120 They got a rule about everything.
00:21:41.200 And they don't look at that as oppressive.
00:21:44.060 They look at it as progress.
00:21:46.900 But to many of the people who live here, it feels not like progress.
00:21:51.960 It feels like oppression.
00:21:53.880 Hey, KK, do you believe in spring cleaning?
00:21:57.060 Yes, but only when my wife does it. 1.00
00:21:59.340 In Russia, men who clean are executed for not being real men, which is correct. 1.00
00:22:04.100 Well, for those men who are living in the 21st century, Manscaped has an incredible offer for you.
00:22:10.260 Manscaped are the global leaders in men's below-the-waist grooming and have forever changed the grooming game with their amazing performance package 4.0.
00:22:21.540 Inside this care bundle, you'll find a lawnmower 4.0, trimmer, weed whacker, ear and nose hair trimmer, crop preserver, ball deodorant, crop reviver toner, performance boxer brief, and a travel bag to hold your goodies.
00:22:34.540 This elite trimmer is designed to trim hair on loose skin.
00:22:38.420 Although your werewolves might look like a couple of Boris Johnsons, treat them with respect and benefit from their proprietary skin-safe technology.
00:22:48.420 Complete your grooming game this spring with the new refined cologne signature scent by Manscaped.
00:22:53.240 This stuff is legit and will have you smelling like royalty.
00:22:56.560 The good kind, not Prince Andrew.
00:22:58.140 Get 20% off and free shipping with the code TRIGGER20 at manscaped.com.
00:23:03.940 That's 20% off and free shipping with the code TRIGGER20 at manscaped.com.
00:23:10.740 It's time to throw out all your old hygiene habits and upgrade your life.
00:23:15.620 I take that on board with everything that you say and it makes complete sense.
00:23:20.200 But there's also the flip side of it, which is a homeless situation in this state is out of control.
00:23:26.220 The last time I was here was 2007.
00:23:28.600 And what I've seen just driving about in the short time that I've been here, I found genuinely shocking.
00:23:33.540 Well, so there's another thing, which is sort of the beginning of the end of a civilization, which is California has very intense rules for people who pay taxes and play by the rules.
00:23:51.020 I mean, insane amount of regulation, red tape.
00:23:55.860 But conversely, if you do not want to pay taxes or you can then construct yourself a shelter on the side of the freeway and you will be left alone.
00:24:08.820 So basically it's this. 0.98
00:24:10.900 We have some of the most stringent building codes and they're up your ass every step of the way. 0.93
00:24:17.600 So if you own a home and you want to build a gazebo in your backyard, that's a two-year permit situation there. 0.91
00:24:25.860 But if you'd like to not pay taxes or property taxes and just build a plywood home in the park, you will be left alone.
00:24:35.720 And that's why we have over-regulated for those who are playing by the rules and almost zero regulation for anyone who wants to just slam drugs and live in the street.
00:24:48.800 And why is that?
00:24:49.880 What's the philosophy behind that from the powers that be?
00:24:52.620 I, I, there's a, there's a kind of a weird system, which is like, you have money, you can afford a home.
00:25:01.660 You know, that homeless person is sort of noble and needs our help and we're going to punch up.
00:25:07.980 We're not going to punch down and leave them alone.
00:25:10.520 And I, I chronicled this in a, a book I wrote a few years ago, which is, I started noticing, there's a street, it's called Forest Lawn Drive and it goes by the cemetery and it's three miles from here.
00:25:25.020 And so there's a big cemetery there.
00:25:26.600 And so on one side of the street, you have a lot of poor Latino people who go down to the flower mart.
00:25:36.040 Latinx, please add a bit.
00:25:37.480 Latinx.
00:25:37.980 And they buy, it's the most obnoxious thing ever.
00:25:43.140 So they buy flowers and then they sell them cheaply to people that are going to visit Nana, who died four years ago.
00:25:51.400 And, and so on one side of the street, you have, and it's a mess, like the boxes and the trash and everything on one side of the street.
00:25:59.120 And they're just running a bootleg flower shop from the street.
00:26:02.960 They're just street vendors, you know, and street vendors, street vendors everywhere here, as you guys probably know.
00:26:09.380 Okay.
00:26:09.840 On the other side of the street, there's a cop and the cop's on a motorcycle and he's backed up the driveway to the Jewish cemetery.
00:26:19.940 And he's got his radar gun out.
00:26:22.380 He's given tickets to taxpayers and soccer moms that are going five miles an hour too fast down Forest Lawn Drive. 0.53
00:26:31.560 The other side of the street is illegal activity going on.
00:26:36.220 And first off, they're not paying taxes.
00:26:38.880 Nothing's permitted.
00:26:39.680 They don't have a business license.
00:26:40.720 If they're undercutting the flower store up the street, who has to pay insurance and, and all the expenses that are incurred with running a business in Los Angeles, those people operate with impunity.
00:26:52.980 And our government is handing out tickets to the soccer mom who's driving her kid to school. 1.00
00:27:00.020 I noticed that about 10 years ago and I was like, something's broken here.
00:27:04.660 You either have to bust both people or you got to let the soccer mom go too. 1.00
00:27:09.720 And so we start, that's the path, that's a progressive path.
00:27:14.700 I don't know what, I don't know what's considered compassionate about letting people just sort of die in the streets or sell their goods in the streets or all cash under the tail.
00:27:25.340 It's some compassion.
00:27:26.800 We also have a racial thing too, because those are Hispanic people on that side of the street.
00:27:31.080 And if you come down on them, then that's going to be like a bad optic. 0.96
00:27:34.080 We're, we're a mess.
00:27:36.340 We don't know what, I, I, I went out on a boat with a guy who ran the Staples Center, which is now, I don't know, the crypto center or whatever it is.
00:27:46.840 And I said to him, I, I walked out of a Lakers game a couple of years ago with my son.
00:27:53.100 There's besieged with people with makeshift hot dog carts and propane tanks just selling street food.
00:28:00.460 But I said, it was all on your property.
00:28:02.700 It's all on the Staples Center.
00:28:04.420 It wasn't, it was right by, right, there's the door.
00:28:06.800 And as you walk out of the venue, it's like a bang into a guy that, he pulled out his phone and he showed me a picture of one of those carts with a giant cockroach cooking on it.
00:28:16.900 And he said, he said, we hate it.
00:28:18.920 We hate it.
00:28:20.460 Well, what can you do?
00:28:21.700 I said, well, what can you do?
00:28:23.340 You're, you're inside charging 14 bucks for a hot dog.
00:28:27.060 These guys are charging two bucks for a hot dog.
00:28:29.140 There's no permit.
00:28:30.000 There's no license.
00:28:30.800 They're dealing with food.
00:28:31.940 There's no health ordinance or something.
00:28:34.360 They're on your property.
00:28:35.540 They're just selling.
00:28:36.580 He said, oh yeah, they, they load them up in vans and they bring them out, you know, and they're all cooking out front there.
00:28:43.280 I said, go to the city council.
00:28:45.240 You guys were one of the biggest taxpayers in the, you, you took downtown and resurrected it by building the Staples Center.
00:28:52.380 You gotta be one of the biggest taxpayers, employers in the city. 0.98
00:28:54.940 Go down to the commission, city council, tell them, clean this shit up. 0.96
00:28:59.020 We don't want this stuff out of, he goes, I don't want to get into trouble. 0.99
00:29:03.240 What?
00:29:04.020 That's the way those exact words to me.
00:29:05.500 I don't want to, I don't, I don't, I don't need that kind of trouble.
00:29:08.400 What does that mean, Adam?
00:29:09.940 It just means if he, he as the taxpayer who runs the Staples Center, if he goes to the city council and says, I want you to get these people off of my whatever, they'll go after him.
00:29:22.020 Like, that's, I mean, we did the same with COVID.
00:29:25.360 It's like, that's, that's just where we're at.
00:29:27.200 That's why people are leaving.
00:29:28.900 And this is why I was going to ask you, because when we were in Austin, we, we did Joe Rogan's show.
00:29:33.120 And one of the things he's trying to do is get a bunch of people down there, sort of like a building new scene.
00:29:37.840 Have you ever thought of moving?
00:29:39.440 Yes.
00:29:39.760 But you haven't.
00:29:44.580 No.
00:29:45.740 And that's why I'm a good interviewer.
00:29:49.140 No, I have a couple of kids, 16-year-old twins, and they're in high school, and they're coming into their junior year.
00:29:58.020 And I tell everyone I will be attending their graduation in a U-Haul truck.
00:30:04.320 I will pull up in a moving truck and wave to them.
00:30:08.480 They're in their graduation, and I'm going.
00:30:11.620 Texas, I don't know, Nashville, Florida.
00:30:14.140 It doesn't, it doesn't really matter. 0.99
00:30:15.860 You know, the thing about California is it's so screwed up. 0.85
00:30:21.400 People used to come to California, like Carol Shelby, with a dream. 0.97
00:30:26.280 You know, they'd come here.
00:30:27.840 It was like, hey.
00:30:28.840 Now, when I talk to, and I grew up in California.
00:30:34.240 In California, it's like, you would never leave California if people come to you.
00:30:38.480 You know what I mean?
00:30:39.140 Like, you look at people in other states and go, well, you bet you, it's only a matter of time before you come down here.
00:30:47.000 I'm not going to you.
00:30:48.100 Yeah.
00:30:48.340 And you talk to people now and go, you want to leave California?
00:30:52.700 And they go, yeah.
00:30:53.420 And then I go, where are you going?
00:30:55.060 And they go, it doesn't matter.
00:30:57.220 Like, that's how bad California's got.
00:30:59.100 They're not even, it's not like they found a place they think is better than California.
00:31:03.620 They just want anything.
00:31:05.460 It's different.
00:31:06.500 I'm kind of the same way.
00:31:07.560 It's like, oh, Nashville or Austin or, you know, Florida or whatever.
00:31:12.540 It's just like, yeah, I'll figure it out.
00:31:14.620 But don't you think there will ever be a moment where you can sort of turn California around?
00:31:20.160 Because surely it can't keep going down that path.
00:31:22.600 Nobody likes to live with the descriptions that you've just described.
00:31:26.160 Nobody likes to see that.
00:31:27.760 Even people who are just very much on the right would be like, well, surely these people need help.
00:31:32.780 You know, they need psychiatric help.
00:31:35.420 We can't carry on like this.
00:31:37.140 And then presumably, I mean, you tell me what you think, but you'd expect there to be a political backlash against this.
00:31:43.660 Like people be having their cars robbed every day, you know, drugs, blah, blah, blah.
00:31:49.360 You know, you know, the full deal.
00:31:50.880 You'd expect people to start voting not only with their feet, but also in the voting booth or not.
00:31:55.680 Well, you know, it's kind of a weird thing.
00:31:58.860 And so, you know, I guess it depends on how ensconced you are in a way of doing things.
00:32:07.320 Like, you know, we had a, tried to do a recall on our, Gavin Newsom, the governor, you know, he won by a landslide.
00:32:15.760 And my mom, who's, I talked to my mom about it, and about six months ago when this whole thing was going on, she's a lifelong kind of Californian and progressive.
00:32:30.260 I said, so what do you think?
00:32:31.680 Are you going to vote for Gavin Newsom again or Larry Elder, the other guy?
00:32:36.160 And she's like, I don't know anything about the other guy, the Republican guy.
00:32:40.680 She's like, but I'm just going to play it safe and vote for Gavin Newsom.
00:32:43.960 It's like, all right, baby.
00:32:45.760 More homeless people.
00:32:47.440 Like, it's kind of a, the way people think over here is, it's like, look, I don't really know what Gavin Newsom's up to.
00:32:55.660 I'm not a big fan of that guy. 0.90
00:32:57.500 But the other side, those guys are racist. 0.96
00:33:00.320 And I would much rather just have bad governing than a racist running. 0.99
00:33:05.920 Larry Elder, well-known racist. 0.94
00:33:07.880 Yeah.
00:33:08.160 Yes. 0.98
00:33:08.680 The LA Times called him the black face of white supremacy. 0.97
00:33:12.820 So he's actually a black guy who grew up in Compton, but he's, evidently he's a white supremacist. 0.95
00:33:20.380 So that's what they do. 0.99
00:33:22.180 Now, the bigger question is, what the fuck's wrong with my mom? 0.99
00:33:26.340 You know what I mean? 0.99
00:33:27.040 Like, I know the LA Times told you the middle-aged black man was a racist, but don't you see a pattern forming here?
00:33:35.700 Can everyone be a racist who disagrees with you?
00:33:38.300 Right.
00:33:38.840 So the racist guy is for school choice because he's racist?
00:33:44.120 Like, why, how does, how does it work? 1.00
00:33:47.500 And the answer is people are stupid. 1.00
00:33:49.700 They're stuck. 1.00
00:33:51.080 It's a cognitive dissidence.
00:33:52.860 And, and, and really what I think it is, is they just can't admit they were wrong.
00:33:58.100 They just made a mistake.
00:33:59.060 Like, this guy, I know he's, you know, a Democrat.
00:34:02.840 I know he's on your side.
00:34:03.840 I know you, you like him. 0.95
00:34:05.080 And he's, he's a disaster.
00:34:07.620 Just, you got to go another direction.
00:34:09.320 Sorry.
00:34:10.180 You know, and, you know, people say, well, you know, maybe when we bottom out, we're not quite, we're not there.
00:34:19.340 We're almost there.
00:34:20.640 But then when, when change happens, when you bottom out and I go, okay, so you have to bottom out.
00:34:28.540 Like, yeah, that's when the change happens.
00:34:30.580 So it's like, we're, we got a teenage daughter and we removed all of the nail polish remover from her bedroom because she's huffing it in a sock.
00:34:40.420 But she's not flatlined yet.
00:34:43.020 Like, she's not OD'd officially.
00:34:45.140 She just has a problem with huffing varnish in the garage. 0.99
00:34:50.720 Maybe we could get her help now.
00:34:52.780 And their thing is like, wait till she OD's and flatlines.
00:34:57.240 Then we get help.
00:34:58.320 And I'm like, well, we see where this is going, right?
00:35:01.400 Like, maybe we could get a meeting now or some counseling now.
00:35:06.420 Like, I see where the trend is going.
00:35:08.280 We're bottoming out.
00:35:09.700 And in California, we're like, yeah, but we haven't hit bottom yet.
00:35:13.780 So we'll hit bottom.
00:35:15.860 Then we'll do something.
00:35:17.100 That's absolutely insane, the fact that they're thinking like this.
00:35:21.720 Why is it this, why is this the most progressive out of all the states in America?
00:35:26.760 Why?
00:35:28.100 We just, we decided that we lead the way.
00:35:33.280 So, and we say it, like politicians go, as California goes, so goes the nation.
00:35:38.880 You know, we think we're trendsetters.
00:35:41.280 And so we think we're setting fashion and trends and, you know, Hollywood and movies.
00:35:49.340 And we're very much like we are the tastemakers, you know.
00:35:53.660 So we sort of dictate.
00:35:55.600 So, you know, and we look at it almost like historically.
00:36:01.520 Like, like if, if, if there were two drinking fountains for black Americans and white Americans and California would certainly be the first place to outlaw that, you know. 0.94
00:36:11.480 And we go, because we set the trends, you know.
00:36:14.520 And historically, it's like, yeah, we do.
00:36:18.340 We've kind of set the trends and we're progressive.
00:36:21.480 And we'll show the way.
00:36:22.700 And so if gay marriage was illegal in Arkansas, it's going to be legal in California.
00:36:28.120 And then one day Arkansas will make it legal and then they'll look at us for, right.
00:36:33.300 Except for what happened is we just kept going and we never stopped, you know.
00:36:37.660 So now we're like, we need guys swimming with women and setting records.
00:36:43.800 Everything seems like the next, you know, progression.
00:36:47.480 It improves the sport.
00:36:48.540 You can't argue with it.
00:36:49.300 The times get better.
00:36:50.460 Everybody's happy.
00:36:51.180 Except the women. 0.99
00:36:52.320 Right.
00:36:52.700 So we.
00:36:53.400 And they're never happy.
00:36:54.300 We just got caught up in this.
00:36:56.160 We're sending, we're setting the trends, you know.
00:36:59.440 We're going to have a third transgender bathroom. 1.00
00:37:02.140 And we're going to, if a male identifies as a female, then he goes right to the female prison, you know. 0.87
00:37:08.900 Or she goes right to the female prison. 1.00
00:37:10.700 We look at ourselves like, we are so progressive that, you know, we just kind of go, well, what would they hate in Arkansas?
00:37:19.060 So, well, I would hate people to have guns and be able to drink a beer on the beach.
00:37:26.700 That's what they, that's what they want.
00:37:28.260 And we're doing the opposite.
00:37:29.620 Or, you know, that's just, so.
00:37:31.380 So, obviously, there was a time when it was, like, kind of a good thing.
00:37:39.380 We've gotten so far past that point and we don't, we don't pump the brakes.
00:37:44.340 So, it's like, what's Florida want to do?
00:37:47.240 He wants to keep the schools open during COVID.
00:37:50.800 All right, close the schools, you know what I mean?
00:37:53.000 And then he wants to keep the beaches open during COVID.
00:37:56.220 Close the beaches.
00:37:57.420 You know, that's how, what would Trump want to do?
00:38:00.980 He wants to build a wall.
00:38:02.780 No, no more wall.
00:38:05.540 That's, that's essentially, all they do is react to whatever.
00:38:08.940 They just do the opposite of whatever Trump wanted to do or whatever a red state wants to do.
00:38:14.900 But they're not really weighing in, like, hey, if you close all the schools,
00:38:18.020 maybe the kids are going to commit suicide.
00:38:19.900 They're going to get freaked out.
00:38:20.880 But I don't know.
00:38:22.040 We're not interested in that.
00:38:23.320 They said close the school.
00:38:24.920 Open the school.
00:38:25.680 We say close it.
00:38:27.060 Hey, Francis, what do you think is the best way to advertise a business?
00:38:31.080 That's easy.
00:38:32.300 All you need to do is spend shed loads of cash on an advert
00:38:35.800 that's going to be promoted on a dying medium like TV.
00:38:38.940 Then simply sit back and watch all your hard-earned money disappear down the toilet.
00:38:44.240 What about advertising with Trigonometry?
00:38:46.340 Why would I do that when I can advertise on ITV3
00:38:49.760 for the measly sum of 20 grand and be watched by six people?
00:38:54.700 Because Trigonometry now has over 350,000 subscribers
00:38:58.240 across the different platforms and gets 2 million views and downloads a month.
00:39:02.020 That's right.
00:39:02.900 You can place an advert with us and we'll promote your brand on one of our episodes.
00:39:07.340 Your advert will be written by two professional comedians.
00:39:10.500 Yeah, that's right.
00:39:11.240 We're hiring two professional comedians.
00:39:14.940 Where we make our ads funny and engaging to the point where some people say
00:39:19.120 the ads are their favourite parts of the show.
00:39:21.440 Yeah, we probably shouldn't admit that, mate.
00:39:23.440 All you need to do is contact us on marketing at triggerpod.co.uk.
00:39:28.800 That's marketing at triggerpod.co.uk.
00:39:32.160 Advertise with us and we'll get your business cancelled.
00:39:36.440 And Adam, you mentioned both Trump and Florida, so DeSantis, obviously.
00:39:40.820 You know, looking from the outside in America, went through just four years of absolute chaos
00:39:45.520 or six years of absolute chaos now at this point.
00:39:48.200 What happens going forward?
00:39:49.500 Well, it kind of, I guess it depends.
00:39:55.360 Now, so people will do this thing where they'll go, Trump drove everyone insane.
00:40:03.240 He gave everyone, had Trump derangement syndrome and so he drove everyone insane.
00:40:07.320 And then they'll say, if we can get some more moderate type in there, not Trump,
00:40:12.540 but somebody who's more moderate, then we could live with that.
00:40:15.720 But they will go nuts over anybody who gets elected who's a Republican
00:40:20.820 because they've kind of painted themselves in a corner, 0.96
00:40:24.940 which is they've said anyone who's a Republican is a racist and homophobic 0.94
00:40:28.780 and transphobic and everything phobic.
00:40:32.100 So then there would be some concern if you actually thought that someone who is racist 0.70
00:40:38.900 and homophobic and transphobic and everything else was running your country.
00:40:43.360 There would be definite thoughts about that.
00:40:45.440 But, I mean, they will, Larry Elder wasn't a racist until he ran against Gavin Newsom,
00:40:54.600 who's a Democrat and who's a white guy.
00:40:57.160 Then the black guy became a racist because, not based on anything. 0.90
00:41:02.360 It's a tool. 0.99
00:41:03.120 It's a tool.
00:41:03.720 It's a tool that is bizarrely ingested repeatedly by people.
00:41:13.000 If I was in charge of calling everyone a racist who opposed me,
00:41:20.320 I would feel like, oh, come on, who's going to buy it the 126th time?
00:41:24.800 It can't be some sort of magical equation where everyone who disagrees with you is a racist.
00:41:32.880 It's a pretty preposterous notion, but they're going, we're going back to that again.
00:41:37.640 And they just do.
00:41:40.260 And I don't...
00:41:41.700 So you don't think DeSantis, you can say, well, look, I'm from a Latino background.
00:41:45.480 You know, I mean, obviously it didn't work for Larry Elder.
00:41:48.580 You don't think that a more moderate person like him...
00:41:51.640 Because, let's be honest, Trump was incendiary.
00:41:53.660 Yes.
00:41:54.220 On purpose.
00:41:55.040 Yes.
00:41:55.520 Right?
00:41:55.980 Yes.
00:41:56.320 A more moderate person who has many of the same policies, who is confident, who looks good,
00:42:01.800 sounds good, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:42:03.380 You don't think that will help?
00:42:05.000 I mean, it'll get it a little, anything but Trump, for sure, but they will go nuts on DeSantis.
00:42:16.220 I mean, they're already starting with him because they feel like maybe he's viable or something like that.
00:42:21.780 So there's going to be lots of hit pieces on him.
00:42:24.760 And it'll, it's the same playbook.
00:42:27.240 They'll find misogyny, racist, some COVID stuff where he didn't care, you know, whatever they're going to do.
00:42:34.740 But they'll, they'll do it.
00:42:37.200 I don't, I don't really know what the end game is.
00:42:40.040 And I'm not sure why so many people go along with it.
00:42:44.260 I interviewed a, oh God, I'll think of his name.
00:42:48.780 Glenn Washington, I think his name is.
00:42:50.520 A black man who is the, and he worked for NPR or something like that.
00:42:55.280 And he, he unfortunately came in here the day after Trump was elected.
00:43:00.160 And he's like, I got to talk to my kids about where we're living now.
00:43:06.420 Like what, what's, I got to tell them, they got to look over their shoulder, you know,
00:43:09.480 they run serpentine to the mailbox and everything. 0.97
00:43:11.960 And it was like, what do you think Trump's doing out hunting black people or something? 0.62
00:43:15.980 Like, what do you think his policy is?
00:43:17.580 He just, tell your son, go to school, you know, go, go enjoy your life.
00:43:21.860 He lives in San Francisco.
00:43:23.500 He's like, oh man, I got to talk to my kid.
00:43:26.760 And I'm like, I, I, I don't know.
00:43:29.400 I don't, don't talk to your kid, by the way, you're going to screw them up.
00:43:32.600 But also like, do you think, like, what do you think is going on?
00:43:37.300 And I, I don't know the answer.
00:43:39.740 I did.
00:43:39.980 I, did they believe it?
00:43:41.420 Like, what are they?
00:43:42.140 I mean, I had, you had so many people like freaking out.
00:43:46.060 Like, I got to talk to my kid.
00:43:47.300 I got to leave the country.
00:43:48.260 It's like, whatever.
00:43:49.480 And he's going to, you know, X, Y, and Z.
00:43:52.840 And, and I'm like, all right, but after X amount of years and nothing happens, is it okay?
00:43:58.300 And they're like, he wanted, it went, it went from like, he's going to do this to he wanted to do it.
00:44:04.500 Now, now we're living.
00:44:06.520 He would have done it.
00:44:06.820 Yes.
00:44:07.160 We're in some weird hypothetical where this is what he wanted.
00:44:10.200 It shifted from here's what he's going to do to here's what he wants to do.
00:44:15.040 And then it gets into some, we have to stop him from doing the thing he wanted to do, but never did.
00:44:22.400 So you're essentially an arsonist who's never lit a match, but you want to burn down the synagogue, but you never did.
00:44:31.080 But I got, it's because I'm going to stop you.
00:44:33.560 So it's a weird hypothetical world.
00:44:36.360 And I don't know if you can ever win that hypothetical argument. 0.99
00:44:40.700 You know, you don't think the shit is going to end at some point? 0.99
00:44:42.760 You think it's just going to get worse and worse? 1.00
00:44:45.040 Well, I mean, I can't imagine it being worse than it already has been.
00:44:48.620 Can't you?
00:44:49.100 No. 0.99
00:44:49.980 It's been fucking brutal. 0.99
00:44:51.580 I mean, the news outlets have an endless ability to churn. 0.99
00:44:58.680 You know what I mean?
00:44:59.320 So they're going to, they're, they're going to do what they're going to do.
00:45:02.840 You know, the question is, is sort of people, you know, when do people hit a saturation level?
00:45:09.760 Like somebody said to me, I was talking to Dr. Drew on my podcast and he said something about monkey pox.
00:45:17.060 And I'm like, I'm not, whatever the CDC is talking about, I'm not, I'm, I'm no longer listening. 1.00
00:45:22.180 I'm just, they, they were so full of shit with COVID. 0.99
00:45:24.760 They got so many things wrong. 0.99
00:45:25.860 I had so many people telling me what to do and what not to do and so much misreporting and so much everything that I was just like, whatever goodwill I had with the, you know, with this group or that, you know, I've lived in this country my whole life.
00:45:40.580 The CDC was like, yeah, whatever they tell you to do, you do it, you know, because they're the, they're the experts.
00:45:45.200 They don't have an agenda other than your health, the nation's health or whatever it is.
00:45:50.180 And I, honestly, that's how people felt about CNN a few years ago.
00:45:54.900 It's like, look, it's whatever CNN said, that's, that's what happened.
00:45:58.180 Like, that's the news.
00:45:59.180 Now everyone's like, oh, sure. 1.00
00:46:01.120 Oh, so Trump took a shit on the grave of the unknown soldier. 0.99
00:46:06.020 Who told you this happened? 0.99
00:46:07.880 Oh, no one saw it.
00:46:09.140 Oh, one person saw it.
00:46:10.500 Oh, they work for CNN.
00:46:11.660 Like, it's like now everything is just dubious world.
00:46:15.460 And it's really, it's just a bad way to relationship to have with news or the CDC because they may be right.
00:46:25.280 I mean, there could be a pandemic coming down the pike and the CDC could say, Adam, here's what we need you to do. 0.99
00:46:32.440 And I'm like, yeah, I'm going to have another beer, bitch. 1.00
00:46:35.240 And then I die. 1.00
00:46:36.700 You see what I'm saying? 0.96
00:46:37.820 Yes.
00:46:38.100 But that is a terrifying place for America to be in because if you no longer have faith in the institutions, doesn't that really say you've got no, you don't really have faith in America itself?
00:46:48.040 I think you shift it to, you know, you get back to sort of God guts and guns.
00:46:54.420 Like, I'm no longer listening to what the FBI experts have to say about Hunter Biden's laptop, you know what I mean?
00:47:01.940 The 51 security experts signed off to say it was, it was fake Russian propaganda.
00:47:08.220 It's like, all right, so these guys are experts or Fauci or CDC or, you know, infectious disease, like experts, like, or Twitter or Facebook.
00:47:18.360 Like, you're pulling off doctors who disagree with you, you're putting on doctors who do agree with you.
00:47:25.040 I think people are just going to have a different relationship with experts, so to speak, or even the FBI or the institutions.
00:47:33.360 And, yeah, it's definitely going to erode some of your relationship with the government if you hear the FBI or the CIA or the CDC or Dr. Fauci or the vice president says, and you go, sure it did.
00:47:52.520 Yeah, yeah, and then you end up going, well, let's go over to Substack and see what these guys have to say about monkeypox, because I don't believe what the president is saying about monkeypox, you know what I mean?
00:48:06.540 Or Don Lemon on CNN, like, all right, let me go on.
00:48:11.500 So it's going to force people to then go into these alternative places and find information, which then the mainstream will label as dangerous misinformation.
00:48:25.820 It's like dangerous misinformation who was right about most of COVID as the dust settles.
00:48:32.420 Yeah.
00:48:33.580 Moving forward, how do you think we heal America, Adam?
00:48:36.700 How do you think that we bring this?
00:48:37.760 Well, we don't heal it because we're foreigners.
00:48:39.280 Yeah, exactly.
00:48:39.840 How do you heal America?
00:48:40.740 You, Adam.
00:48:42.400 I think, you know, ultimately, people have to understand that politics used to be a very small, boring part of our culture that nobody really wanted to talk about at a dinner party.
00:49:01.380 Nobody knew other people's politics.
00:49:04.180 It was just sort of like, I don't know, that guy votes.
00:49:06.140 I never asked.
00:49:06.920 Why would I care?
00:49:07.620 You know, it was like a very small group.
00:49:11.140 I have friends in Hollywood, you know, who I disagree with politically, but we're still great friends.
00:49:20.280 And we just don't talk about politics.
00:49:22.020 And we never did.
00:49:22.960 It's not like we put a moratorium on talking about politics.
00:49:26.460 We never talked about politics.
00:49:27.980 It just wasn't.
00:49:29.580 We talk about comedy.
00:49:30.660 We talk about cars.
00:49:31.580 You know, we talk about sports.
00:49:32.360 You know, we talk about, you know, good football, real football.
00:49:37.280 But I don't know.
00:49:39.260 There was no – there wasn't much room in our conversation for politics because it was considered sort of boring and stuff old guys talked about.
00:49:48.080 We want to talk about fun stuff.
00:49:49.620 And so I think we – I think we need to just start tacking back toward a place where it wasn't such a – in the zeitgeist.
00:49:58.380 Like, it wasn't such a big part of everyone's day in and day out.
00:50:03.000 Like, I never spoke to my family about politics.
00:50:06.440 It just wasn't a – it wasn't a thing.
00:50:08.780 And I think we're going to have to realize that, you know, CNN or Fox or whatever, they may want you to talk about all this stuff.
00:50:19.660 But ultimately, that's them.
00:50:23.640 And that's them getting paid, ginning up interest in something that's probably detrimental.
00:50:32.000 Like, look, you can turn on the TV and see a thousand commercials for fast food.
00:50:36.540 It doesn't mean it's good for you.
00:50:37.780 It means they're getting paid, but hopefully you're consuming it.
00:50:41.520 But at some point, you're just going to have to step back and not consume.
00:50:45.120 So we've got to make politics boring again.
00:50:47.600 Yes.
00:50:47.860 Which we'll try to do.
00:50:49.340 We do it on our show all the time.
00:50:50.940 But, Adam, you've written the new book.
00:50:53.560 Oh, that's right.
00:50:54.880 It's right there.
00:50:56.000 There's a lot of copies of it here.
00:50:57.840 What do you talk about?
00:51:00.120 What's it about?
00:51:01.360 Well, normally I write a comedy book.
00:51:03.360 I just sit down and think, what do I think is funny?
00:51:05.700 And what have I been ruminating on or thinking about?
00:51:08.400 And then I sort of tend to write it.
00:51:11.460 I guess that's how everyone writes their comedy books.
00:51:13.720 But in this book, people are asking me questions.
00:51:17.260 Some celebrities and some fans.
00:51:19.620 And they're saying, here's a question.
00:51:22.760 And so now, I'm now forced to go, I never considered that.
00:51:28.320 I was planning on writing about this.
00:51:30.800 So, my past books, I just drive around, see stuff that pissed me off, and go, oh, I've got to write about this. 0.99
00:51:37.220 Damn Mexicans on Forest Lawn Drive. 1.00
00:51:39.660 Oh, there's a cop giving tickets out to soccer moms. 1.00
00:51:42.320 Give me that pen.
00:51:43.340 And, you know, this is people asking questions.
00:51:46.640 And then I've been sort of forced into a position where I go, hmm, I never considered that.
00:51:55.180 And then it has forced me to kind of stretch out, grow a little bit comedically,
00:52:00.560 because I was just doing what I wanted to do in past books.
00:52:05.360 And the books were funny, but this is more like somebody asked me a question, and they said, it's 2022.
00:52:14.280 Men and women in this country have basically gotten on an equal playing field, and many men stay home.
00:52:22.080 Many women go to work, and many men cook, and the women bring home the bacon and all that kind of stuff. 1.00
00:52:27.400 But still, when you see someone riding a motorcycle, the guy's on front, and the woman's behind.
00:52:32.740 And it's 2022, like, why is that the standard architecture of people on a motorcycle?
00:52:39.960 Because that goes back 50 years, you know?
00:52:42.340 The patriarchy, Adam.
00:52:43.380 Yeah, the patriarchy.
00:52:44.660 But why?
00:52:45.460 Why is that still in 2022 when everyone is, there's more women lawyers and more women in college than men? 1.00
00:52:52.680 And I remember just thinking, that's interesting.
00:52:56.160 Why is that?
00:52:57.120 Because I don't see it laid out any other way.
00:52:59.480 And so I was like, what would explain that?
00:53:05.660 And I thought, I think I have an answer.
00:53:09.880 But it took me a minute.
00:53:11.420 I was like, because it is a very true statement, but it also wouldn't be true inside of a college campus.
00:53:18.800 There's many female professors now and female CEOs and stuff like that. 1.00
00:53:23.360 And I thought, a progressive couple, a couple that was more modern, more progressive, and more of all these things we talked about, would never own a motorcycle.
00:53:36.180 Right.
00:53:36.420 It's too dangerous.
00:53:37.780 Right.
00:53:37.840 People were double masking during COVID and wiping down their tennis shoes before they walked into the house.
00:53:43.960 So the people who are progressive emotionally that way, politically, whatever, a motorcycle would be way too dangerous for them to own.
00:53:54.480 They're all driving Volvos with, you know, 15 airbags in them.
00:53:57.920 And the people who would go out and ride a motorcycle in this dangerous days out there, they are much more traditional.
00:54:07.540 And they have a different relationship with danger.
00:54:10.540 It's a little more traditional.
00:54:11.620 Like, they wouldn't be yelling at the kid to put a helmet on when he was walking to the bathroom, you know.
00:54:16.520 And so it's a self-selecting group.
00:54:20.340 Right.
00:54:21.120 And that's why that's the only way you see it laid out.
00:54:24.440 Yeah.
00:54:24.560 And I was satisfied with that answer.
00:54:26.420 Yeah.
00:54:26.680 Man, I really look forward to reading it because you're a very funny guy.
00:54:29.680 And these anecdotes will probably give you, like, we haven't had a chance to read it yet.
00:54:33.600 But I really look forward to it because the anecdotes probably give you, like, great launching pads to go into stuff like that.
00:54:39.560 Yeah.
00:54:39.960 It was, everything's a launching pad for me.
00:54:43.380 But I did kind of get a lot of questions and went, it was like, it's kind of the difference between going out and doing stand-up and kind of going, here's what I'm talking about.
00:54:57.060 And I got my set.
00:54:58.180 Here it is.
00:54:59.400 Versus somebody in the room going, talk about, and then they yell something out, you know.
00:55:04.220 And now it's like it's a little different dynamic.
00:55:08.260 And you're kind of going, I wasn't planning on talking about that.
00:55:11.520 But now you're sort of challenged, like, how do I make this interesting, funny, unique, and what have you, given it wasn't something I was planning on talking about.
00:55:21.280 And I found it to be kind of interesting that way.
00:55:24.860 Adam, do you feel constrained in your comedy more than you did 10, 20 years ago?
00:55:28.840 Could you get away with more stuff before than you could now?
00:55:31.860 Well, you know, I think it's all about sort of how you position yourself and, you know, if you, I say horrible things all day, but no one ever asks me to apologize because I've sort of positioned myself as someone who doesn't apologize.
00:55:51.620 So if you kind of position yourself in a certain way, then you can avoid a lot of this stuff.
00:55:59.300 Now, I don't know that it's going to help your career that much, per se, but for me, I've always just kind of felt like, well, I'm a comedian, so I have some license to say whatever I want to say whenever I want to say it.
00:56:16.080 Now, we've kind of changed the rules of that recently, but I never changed my mind on that rule, which is I get to say what I want to say because I'm a comedian.
00:56:27.660 I'm not setting policy.
00:56:29.220 I'm telling jokes, you know, and it's funny, though.
00:56:33.440 I mean, to be honest, you know, you say to people, comedians always go, it was a joke.
00:56:37.380 It was a joke.
00:56:38.080 Yeah, it was a joke, but I felt that way.
00:56:39.980 I mean, if I make a fat joke about a skinny guy, it's not really going to work.
00:56:44.100 You know what I mean?
00:56:44.840 You've got to be that way.
00:56:46.080 So I joke about a million things.
00:56:48.180 I do mean most of the things I joke about, but they're jokes, so I get to say what I want, and my feeling is like, you know, I'm a carpenter.
00:56:59.400 I can go back to swinging a hammer if I have to.
00:57:02.980 I have a trade I could fall back on, and I would never want to compromise what I want to say.
00:57:10.060 I just, I feel like that's a Faustian deal with the devil.
00:57:15.340 Like, it's just, and why, why would you ever want to alter or even trim what you have to say?
00:57:24.300 And I get there's certain language and there's certain sign of the times and, you know, that kind of stuff.
00:57:29.160 But for me, no.
00:57:33.440 And then also, you'll just find a new crowd who appreciates your authenticity, I guess, although I hate that I call myself authentic. 0.99
00:57:45.460 Yuck, I've got to take a rape shower. 1.00
00:57:48.800 But I just mean, I never looked at it as having a choice. 0.98
00:57:53.840 It's just like, here's what I have to say, now I'm going to say it.
00:57:57.040 This is not open for negotiation.
00:57:59.220 And it's not because I'm bold or a hero or take a stance or anything.
00:58:04.600 It's just like, I talk.
00:58:05.880 I have to say what I think.
00:58:08.600 It's a sign of your success that you can do that as well.
00:58:11.620 Because when you've got a big audience, I think that probably makes it easier, which is great.
00:58:15.740 That was great for you.
00:58:16.860 Adam, thank you so much for your time.
00:58:18.580 I really appreciate it.
00:58:19.340 We're going to ask you a couple of questions for our supporters, only from our supporters.
00:58:22.940 But before we do, the last question for the main interview is always the same, which is, what's the one thing we're not talking about as a society that you think we really should be?
00:58:31.140 Well, we're not talking about dads and the importance of dads.
00:58:34.800 I think, you know, we sit around and we kind of chase problems.
00:58:38.140 Like, what's going on with all this street crime?
00:58:41.440 What's going on with failing school systems?
00:58:44.340 You know, what's going on with all the substance abuse or, you know, homelessness or suicides?
00:58:48.980 You know, prison overcrowding.
00:58:50.780 You know, we were kind of like, who are all these people in prisons, you know?
00:58:55.360 And then we do this thing where we go, we need to either build more prisons or just let the people out who are in prison.
00:59:03.740 And my thing is, is why don't we find out why they're in prison?
00:59:07.780 Like, maybe that's, maybe that's something.
00:59:10.480 You know what I mean?
00:59:11.040 Like, we have two choices.
00:59:13.380 And my feeling is, like, maybe there's a third choice, which is, like, where are their dads and what roles do they play in their life and what the hell happened?
00:59:23.060 And dads are super important.
00:59:26.200 We somehow decided that they were part of the problem.
00:59:29.380 There's, like, toxic masculinity or some nonsense.
00:59:33.140 They're not.
00:59:34.040 They're vitally important.
00:59:35.760 We got in some weird world where, like, she's a single mom and she's doing her best.
00:59:40.040 And then we applaud and no one goes, where's the dad?
00:59:42.840 Where's dad?
00:59:43.680 We decided that they didn't really have a role or as an important role as they did in the past.
00:59:51.660 Everything we see is just an offshoot of broken families, absent dads and bad parenting. 0.93
00:59:58.580 And we're fools just to chase it around. 0.97
01:00:01.760 Like, this guy, he's 16. 0.99
01:00:04.520 He shot one guy.
01:00:06.100 Then he went into the system.
01:00:07.700 Then he got let out.
01:00:08.960 Then he punched this woman and pushed her onto the tracks at the subway. 0.78
01:00:12.900 Then he got arrested again.
01:00:14.980 Then he was out on the street that afternoon.
01:00:16.820 It's like, all right, we can follow that one kid around.
01:00:19.660 It's costing us millions of dollars because he gets into the system and so on and so forth.
01:00:23.760 Or we can try to go back a little further and figure out where the dad is.
01:00:27.400 How come the dad didn't raise him correctly?
01:00:31.080 How come he didn't discipline him?
01:00:32.860 All the things you get from that.
01:00:34.620 We could do that.
01:00:36.520 Politicians never do that because that's like a third rail and it starts breaking down along racial lines and it turns into a nightmare.
01:00:45.720 So they talk about the problem, which is essentially the damage that the termites do.
01:00:54.880 But they never talk about eradicating the termites or how they got in the house or whatever it is.
01:00:59.680 It would be like if an exterminator just chased around ants and hit them with a slipper individually.
01:01:05.900 It's like, where's the colony?
01:01:07.340 Where are they coming from?
01:01:08.240 What are they attracted to?
01:01:09.420 They like moisture.
01:01:10.400 Good.
01:01:10.620 You have a leaky pipe.
01:01:12.060 Fix the pipes.
01:01:12.940 They're attracted to the moisture.
01:01:14.140 You know, we're not.
01:01:15.100 We talk about like root causes all the time.
01:01:17.480 We never get to the root of.
01:01:18.920 Everyone goes, why is there so much violence?
01:01:21.400 What's going on?
01:01:22.180 There's 15-year-old boys punching people on the subway.
01:01:25.280 It's like, yeah, ask these guys where their dads are.
01:01:28.440 Go to prison and find out everyone's relationship with their dad.
01:01:32.320 Okay.
01:01:33.220 That's the problem that would fix all the other problems around.
01:01:38.420 We never talk about it.
01:01:40.240 That's why we love Larry Eldon.
01:01:41.620 That's why we had him on the show.
01:01:42.680 He's very good on that.
01:01:43.880 But I'm really glad. 0.99
01:01:44.840 Oh, that white supremacist black guy. 0.98
01:01:48.740 Adam, thank you so much for your time. 0.99
01:01:50.280 Really great to chat with you.
01:01:51.560 I look forward to reading the book.
01:01:53.140 I'm sure everybody else watching and listening does as well.
01:01:56.020 Thank you, Adam.
01:01:56.980 And thank you guys for watching and listening.
01:01:58.400 We'll see you very soon with another brilliant episode like this one or Or Show.
01:02:02.520 All of them go out at 7 p.m. UK time.
01:02:04.140 And for those of you who like your trigonometry on the go,
01:02:06.760 it's also available as a podcast.
01:02:08.760 We'll see you on Locals with a couple of your questions for Adam in a second.
01:02:11.860 Take care and see you soon, guys.
01:02:15.240 Adam, what have you changed your mind about in the last five to ten years?
01:02:21.560 We'll see you soon.
01:02:51.560 April 28th through June 7th, 2026, the Princess of Wales Theatre.
01:02:56.220 Get tickets at mirvish.com.