477: Adam Carolla Has Some Thoughts

Adam Carolla sits down with Mike for a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation on comedy, culture, and California. Adam breaks down his no-nonsense approach to making people laugh, building a podcasting empire, and telling the truth as he sees it—whether it's popular or not. The two also take a hard look at the Palisades more than a year after the fire, the growing frustration with California's regulatory maze, and what Adam really thinks about Newsom. Spoiler alert—it ain't good. Oh, you better believe Adam Carolla has some thoughts.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:04Mike Rowe?

  My old friend Adam Carolla is standing by to share some thoughts with you, which is why this episode of The Way I Heard It is called "Adam Carolla Has Some Thoughts", Chuck. I thought I'd go just guns blazing with all the literalness I could muster.

• 0:18Speaker 01

  You really hit it on the head, man.

• 0:21Mike Rowe?

  You know, I feel it's in keeping with the tenor of this conversation to speak clearly and to tell the truth and to not obfuscate in any way. It's always fun to talk to Adam.

• 0:34Speaker 01

  Go ahead.

• 0:35Mike Rowe?

  Well, you never know where it's gonna go.

• 0:37Speaker 01

  But you always know that he's gonna be honest with you. He's just always got a truth cam on him. And he really does always tell the truth.

• 0:45Mike Rowe?

  It sure seems that way. It's funny, you know, you look around and you realize all of a sudden that guy's kind of been in my life. You know, like all the way back on Love Line with Dr. Drew, you know, the first time I came out to LA for any length of time. In my car, I just remember listening to these two in the middle of the night going, "Oh, man, that is a very unusual show, you know, for radio." And then he kind of blew himself up. I think he got fired from K-Rock, maybe it was.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  Did he? I don't know. I don't remember that.

• 1:16Mike Rowe?

  Yeah, there was all kinds of radio drama, and then he was one of the first guys to podcast, you know?

• 1:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, that I knew, yeah.

• 1:23Mike Rowe?

  I think he still has the... Well, I can't imagine this. I guess it's true.

• 1:26Speaker 01

  The most downloads or something, yeah. It's like Guinness Records, something, blah-bitty-blah.

• 1:31Mike Rowe?

  Think about Adam is, you know, I've done his show, I don't know, three or four times, I guess, and he's been on here before remotely. This is the first time he actually came by and sat in our new chairs here at our new table.

• 1:43Speaker 01

  Sweet. It's really cool.

• 1:44Mike Rowe?

  But it's difficult to know how to introduce the guy, which I'll demonstrate briefly. I mean, what is he? You know, is he a bestselling author? Is he a comedian? I mean...

• 1:53Speaker 01

  Sure, yeah, he does stand-up, you know, and he's done stand-up shows, too.

• 1:56Mike Rowe?

  The thousands.

• 1:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:58Mike Rowe?

  Yeah, but he's also an interviewer and he's a podcaster, and of course, he's a great guest. And now I...

• 2:06Mike Rowe?

  Citizen journalist, raconteur, observer of the human condition?

• 2:11Speaker 01

  Yes, citizen journalist for sure. I mean, what he's done over the last year because of the Palisade fires, which is his backyard, he was personally affected by this. And he called it from the get. The very first day that he broadcast after those fires, he said, "Nothing's gonna get fixed here, guys."

• 2:31Mike Rowe?

  Yep.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  You know? And he explained exactly why. And like a prophet, he has, uh, he has been correct.

• 2:37Mike Rowe?

  Yeah, well, we're 14 months now, T minus 14 months or so.

• 2:42Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 2:42Mike Rowe?

  From the fire. Virtually nothing has happened. The government here in Santa Monica and LA in general, and California for that matter, in my own view is paralyzed. Apologies in advance, you know, we're gonna talk candidly and maybe a little uncharacteristically about some political issues. But I just think we're at such an extraordinary inflection point in California.

• 3:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're local issues for you and me. We live in this state and we love this state and we wish it were run better.

• 3:11Mike Rowe?

  Yeah, and gosh, how many of my friends, how many people in our industry have just left? I mean, up and left.

• 3:18Speaker 01

  A lot.

• 3:19Mike Rowe?

  Oh, anyway, Adam I just thought would be an interesting hang because I wanted to talk to him about all that stuff and whatever else is on his mind. And of course, Adam Carolla has some thoughts.

• 3:30Speaker 01

  Yes, he does.

• 3:31Mike Rowe?

  About virtually anything and everything. So much fun to talk to him. It was great to see him again in person. I think you're gonna enjoy every minute of the one hour and 40-some minutes we spent.

• 3:43Speaker 01

  Give or take, who cares?

• 3:44Mike Rowe?

  Now you don't care anymore, do you?

• 3:45Speaker 01

  No, I can't, you know why? Because it doesn't do any good. Doesn't do any good to care.

• 3:49Mike Rowe?

  Well, it's true.

• 3:50Speaker 01

  You do not care that I would like this, that I care, yeah.

• 3:55Mike Rowe?

  No, I don't, you know, I mean, and honestly, if I'm being totally candid, I don't care if the listener cares either. Because, I mean, no, I say that with love and respect. But look, I mean, how hard is it to stop listening if you don't want to listen anymore?

• 4:09Speaker 01

  That's so true.

• 4:10Mike Rowe?

  Or fast forward.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  You can always do that.

• 4:11Mike Rowe?

  You know, it's just like.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  But do you want people to listen to you at double speed?

• 4:16Mike Rowe?

  That's an interesting question, man. No, I feel like double speed is too much.

• 4:21Speaker 01

  It's off putting. What's your limit?

• 4:23Mike Rowe?

  Well, it depends. If I'm listening to, say, Ben Shapiro, who talks at double speed anyway.

• 4:28Speaker 01

  You gotta listen to him at half speed, right?

• 4:31Mike Rowe?

  No. You know, I'll tell you what, man. You can get used to virtually anything. And I remember you and I were out just walking. It was around here and I gave you an airbud. I'm like, here, listen to this, right?

• 4:44Speaker 01

  Right.

• 4:45Mike Rowe?

  I forget who it was, but I had it at like 1.75.

• 4:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 4:48Mike Rowe?

  And you were like, dude, what is this, Swahili? What's even happening? And it's like, the truth is, I felt that way at 1.25 and then 1.5 and then, and you just get used to it.

• 5:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:01Mike Rowe?

  So, look, if you want to listen to me at double speed, you can do it. I can't stop you, but you'll be cheating yourself out of a rich, well-modulated baritone.

• 5:11Speaker 01

  Say that three times fast.

• 5:13Mike Rowe?

  Anyway, Adam Kroll is the guest. He has some thoughts. We couldn't do this without our amazing sponsor, one of which I'd like to introduce you to right now.

• 5:26Mike Rowe?

  The service I'm about to recommend to you is absolutely free and it can easily save the average user over $1,000 a year. It's called Chapter and it's the best way to make sure the Medicare plan you're on is the one you should be on. Because every year Medicare plans change and so do you. And just because your plan might have been the best choice when you were 65 doesn't mean it's the best choice today. At Chapter, independent advisors compare Medicare plans nationwide. They look at your doctors, your prescriptions and your budget to help you find coverage that fits your needs. And they're not paid more to recommend one plan over another. You don't need to sort through all the options yourself. You can talk to somebody who understands them.

• 6:08Mike Rowe?

  Ask your questions and get help comparing the costs and benefits. So if your current plan is still the right fit, they'll tell you. If there's a better option, they'll tell you that too, and they'll help you switch. Again, the service is free, and a review can take less than 20 minutes. This is the time of year to make sure you're squared away for 2027. So if you haven't checked your Medicare coverage lately, give Chapter a call. It's a simple way to make sure your plan still works for you. And with potential savings of $1,100 a year, it's worth a free review. 804-Chapter. Call them today. 804-C-H-A-P-T-E-R.

• 6:52Mike Rowe?

  So how many books total at this point?

• 6:54Speaker 02

  Well, you know, technically, seven books, but I don't really count the first one. That was just a book me and Dr. Drew wrote a long time ago.

• 7:03Mike Rowe?

  I mean, at what point does it come? Joining me today is Adam Kroll, author.

• 7:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:10Mike Rowe?

  I mean, seriously, seven is not a... I mean, I wrote one, just because everybody said I ought to, but I found it... What's the word? Laborious? Or is it soul-dedding? Or is it futile?

• 7:24Speaker 02

  Well, I mean, it depends, because you can look at it from an interesting perspective in the sense that, like, let's say, one of my books was an autobiography of, you know, it was myself, and so...

• 7:41Mike Rowe?

  That's so many autobiographies.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  Yeah. No, there's autobiographical, and then there's autobiography, but sorry. Well, I would never write a book about myself unless someone paid me to write a book about myself.

• 7:55Mike Rowe?

  Sure.

• 7:56Speaker 02

  But when they do, then you have a book about yourself. And you would never do it before, but I would never write any of my books if someone didn't pay me. So they come to you. And you know, they probably should have done this when I was in high school. They just go, we'll give you one quarter of the money up front for the book report. And I'd go, well, I want all the money up front. And they'd go, no, no, no, if we give you all the money up front, Mr. Corolla, we're never going to get a book report. And we want a book report.

• 8:26Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  So I'll tell you what, Mr. D minus, we'll give you one quarter of the money up front to write that report on Levi Strauss. And then, once you hand it in, we'll give you another draw. We're not giving you all of it until you graduate.

• 8:42Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 8:42Speaker 02

  And until it gets proofread. And what it essentially does is they force guys who may not be good at writing books to write a book by incentivizing them. And it's kind of how the human mind works. And it's also how humans are wired.

• 9:00Mike Rowe?

  Well, did they give you an advance? Was there any of that?

• 9:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, what they do is they go, yeah, they go, we will give you, I think, the first book. They go, we'll give you a $350,000 advance. And you go, that sounds pretty good. And then you get a check for $71,000. And you go, what happened to my big fat advance? And they go, well, that's just part. We're not, if we give it to you all, imagine giving comedians. You know, imagine like Artie Lange, we got a $1 million advance for you and you're getting it all up front.

• 9:29Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 9:30Speaker 02

  Do you think Artie Lange is going to give you a book?

• 9:33Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 9:33Speaker 02

  You will never see that book. You will see him in court.

• 9:36Mike Rowe?

  Sure.

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Years later, when you try to wrestle some of your money back. That's been spent, by the way.

• 9:41Mike Rowe?

  Was the first one autobiographical?

• 9:43Speaker 02

  No, the first one was in 50 Years Will All Be Chicks, which was just sort of a take on society and life. And then the second one was not Taco Bell material, and that was biographical.

• 9:55Mike Rowe?

  That's awesome. I, um,

• 10:00Mike Rowe?

  publisher asked me to write a, I guess, a memoir, which I just thought was indecent. Because you shouldn't do that until you're very old, like, really kind of done, it seems. Because there's just so much opportunity to be so wrong.

• 10:15Speaker 02

  Ariana Grande is probably working on her third autobiography right now. Like, some people write them at 19, you know? But... I mean, it kind of depends. By the time I got to my mid 50s, or early 50s, I guess, when I was asked to write that, I feel like I'd had so many different lives at that point that somebody could get some use out of hearing about starting here and then going there and then ending up here.

• 10:48Mike Rowe?

  Sure.

• 10:48Speaker 02

  So, but there's still more. There'd be more life to live, for sure.

• 10:53Mike Rowe?

  Was it like, publishers love a look into the world, or a world that most people don't know. I know in my TV life, they became besotted with the idea of, you know, okay, we're going into the Amish world, or we're going into the Alaskan Bush people world, or we're going into this world. That's the hook. That's the whole thing. We're gonna show you a world that you didn't know, which is very different than an autobiography, but you slap the two together and maybe you get some, maybe you learn something about comedy and Adam at the same time, or construction, or whatever it is you're gonna riff on. But for me, I was stuck. I wound up writing,

• 11:37Mike Rowe?

  I took like 30 short stories about famous people that I had written as mysteries and interrupted them with like two pages of things that happened to me.

• 11:48Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 11:49Mike Rowe?

  Growing up, so it was like half autobiography, half biography. I thought it was terribly clever, but as it turns out, it's confused a lot of people.

• 11:57Speaker 02

  That's got a little Paul Harvey to it.

• 11:59Mike Rowe?

  That's what, I mean, he called it the rest of the story. I called mine the way, the way I heard it.

• 12:06Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 12:06Mike Rowe?

  And Chuck, you remember, we got a, we got a FedEx here. Oh, yeah. Oh, God. I mean, I hadn't written a book yet, but I was doing a show and a column called The Way I Heard It, and it was a FedEx from Paul Harvey. Certified mail. Certified mail from Paul Harvey Jr.

• 12:23Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 12:24Mike Rowe?

  This can't be good. This can't be good, because I'm literally talking about his dad and the influence he had on me and how I'm shamelessly taking his idea.

• 12:32Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 12:33Mike Rowe?

  He said, "My old man is looking down and giving you two thumbs up, and I'm giving you this check for your foundation, because I love it."

• 12:42Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 12:43Mike Rowe?

  And I felt like such an ass, because I was like, I just expected the absolute worst.

• 12:49Speaker 02

  I think it's up there. I'm the same way. If anyone says, you know, can we talk after work? I go, oh, God, what is this? He knows I'm banging his wife. He knows it. He knows it. Yeah, it's always, it's always, it's only three guys in the office, but so it's not everybody. If you just go, like, I have a kind of a wiring where someone goes, oh, so and so was talking about you. I go, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. But why not? Like, why wouldn't it be good?

• 13:22Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 13:23Speaker 02

  Or a nice thing?

• 13:24Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 13:24Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? It's such a, somebody is writing, it's such a weird, I guess we're always trapped in our sort of eight-year-old mind or something. Somebody's writing a long, detailed exposé on me. And first thing, okay, I don't even know how to describe it. He works for a major newspaper. I can't remember the name. One of them writes these big, long exposes on like Norm MacDonald and guys like that in the past. A lot of like luminary type. So my first impulse is, why are you talking to me? What are you talking to me for? Why would you talk to me? And he's like, well, you're really, you're interesting because you do this, you do that, but you're not really this, and you're not really that. And I gotta follow you around for days and write about you.

• 14:09Speaker 02

  And he goes, well, who could I talk to about you that was sort of interesting? Like, who do you know that'd be cool, you know? And I said, well, I, you know, I'm kind of friends with Kevin Costner, but I don't know. I don't want to bother him. Like, I felt that way about every person, Jimmy Kimmel, Alec Baldwin. I said, these are all guys I know and they're interesting guys and they like me, but I don't want to hassle them, man. They're all so happy to do it and waxed on and very gracious. But my default setting is like, why are you hassling these guys? And it's like, it's such a weird default set. Well, not weird, but sad.

• 14:49Mike Rowe?

  Like, when you get the, when somebody puts the long arm on you, maybe it's a foreword for a book or even just a blurb or, or something, is your like, is your first impression, oh, God, homework?

• 15:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I tried to stave you guys off for as long as I could.

• 15:05Mike Rowe?

  I mean, you really did. It's been like five years. I came on your show five, probably five years ago.

• 15:12Speaker 02

  I'm a big fan. And I, listen. I am a very soft touch in that I love to do people's stuff. I interview people for essentially a living. I don't always want to talk to everybody. I'm not interested in every person I interview. And I love being interviewed and I love the format. And I've always been like a radio guy and a broadcast guy. And so anybody's podcast or anybody, you know, can put the arm on me. I'm always happy.

• 15:49Mike Rowe?

  Are you a better host or a better guest?

• 15:53Speaker 02

  I think I'm a better guest and that the guest is sort of the freestyle.

• 15:58Mike Rowe?

  Well, let's see.

• 15:59Speaker 02

  And the other part's the compulsory. Yeah. Yeah. Although when you interview enough people, you get pretty good at it.

• 16:05Mike Rowe?

  Sure.

• 16:06Speaker 02

  But it's not, you know, when you're interviewing, you're kind of there to interview and not necessarily be the life of the party.

• 16:14Mike Rowe?

  When did you feel like you were good at it? And I'd like, like the difference between coming in with like questions or the comfort, freedom, just have a conversation. And I don't mean with a comedian either, because you guys don't count as a cohort, because you just live in a different sort of zip code for that. But I mean, like the real business, there's a scene in a movie called The Big Kahuna. It's Danny DeVito's best work. Right? It's that whole character riff.

• 16:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:43Mike Rowe?

  And he says this thing to, uh, it's not Kevin Spacey. It's whoever the kid is.

• 16:49Speaker 02

  I remember the movie.

• 16:50Mike Rowe?

  They're salesmen and they're like at a convention. And he says, you know, the last time you talked to somebody, you know, like really had a conversation, ask him about his kids, not, not come in with a pitch or an agenda or an idea, because once you do that, then you, you put your hand, that's what he says. He says, you put your hands on it and you guide it. And then it's not a thing. That's a really, and it really struck me at the time, because that is our business. And, you know, you get six minutes on the news or you get 10 minutes, you're doing a hit with O'Reilly once upon a time. You can't really have a conversation. You have a moment.

• 17:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:24Mike Rowe?

  And so, I don't know, like, how do you think about all of that in terms of just being understood?

• 17:33Speaker 02

  Well, you know, I think there are so many different formats. And I feel like you have to be a little bit of a decathlete these days, you know? You don't have to be a world champion in long distance running, or the javelin, or the shot put, or the long jump, or whatever, but you should be competent in all those. And if you're competent in all of them, they may add up to a gold medal. And so like, I would do, you know, Dancing with the Stars, and they'd go, you know, there's no swearing, this is prime time, you know, this is network prime time.

• 18:18Speaker 02

  And then you would do terrestrial radio, and there was some, you know, you could say, you know, this guy's a GDA hole, you know, everything was sort of abbreviated with the letters. Right. You know, it's always funny, when you do terrestrial radio, you get, like, I know people who swear a lot, and I go, you shouldn't swear so much, and they go, you know, why the f**k not? You know, and I go, because then when you get in front of people and you don't want to swear, you end up swearing, and they go, I can handle my, and at some point, they're like in front of the judge, I go, this motherf**k is going eighty f**k miles an hour, your honor. And I'm like, you can't stop yourself from doing that.

• 19:02Mike Rowe?

  Here's a crazy idea. What if there was an academy out there that paid students to learn, instead of the other way around? Specifically, men and women who want to work in the skilled trades. And what if this academy not only paid for your training, but also covered all the expenses associated with your training? Like travel, and food, and lodging? And finally, what if this academy guaranteed you a job at the end of the training period? Well, that's exactly what's happening at America's Workforce Academy by Meta. This is a five-week, highly immersive, pre-apprenticeship program that gets you all

• 19:43Mike Rowe?

  All the necessary certifications you'll need to start a career in the skilled trades immediately. I'm talking about AI-proof, six-figure jobs, helping to build out the new infrastructure that our economy is depending on. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, welders, fiber optic technicians, these jobs, they are all in demand like never before. And again, every graduate of America's Workforce Academy is guaranteed a job on a Meta website. I first announced this program a few months ago, and I have been watching the response ever since. It's extraordinary. This is a nationwide, unprecedented fast track to a long-term career in a skilled trade.

• 20:28Mike Rowe?

  If you, or your spouse, or your kid, or your grandkid are looking for a straight path into a career with no cost at all, check out the opportunities for yourself at meta.com/america'sworkforceacademy. That's meta.com/america'sworkforceacademy.

• 20:46Speaker 02

  So, when you do terrestrial radio, you'll find yourself on the weekends going, "These GDA holes with their effing..."

• 20:54Mike Rowe?

  And your buddies are going, "What's happening to you?"

• 20:56Speaker 02

  You can say the whole word, and they're like, "No, I can't, I gotta have one mode." But, for me, it's like, you know, you can do a podcast, you can get dirty, you can go do network TV, you can keep it clean, and you can interview someone seriously and have a serious conversation, you can talk to a comedian, but you need to have like, different modalities. And I kinda learned it early with people and partners, because I've had a number of partners in my career. I was partnered with Jimmy Kimmel, I was partnered with Dr. Drew, I was partnered with Skip Bedell when we were doing our home improvement Catch a Contractor show.

• 21:41Speaker 02

  And Skip, and Drew, and Jimmy are all wildly different. And when you partner with Jimmy...

• 21:50Speaker 02

  Jimmy is the alpha. He's gonna throw it to commercial. He's gonna welcome back from commercial. And so I would sort of step aside a little and go, yeah, go ahead. Throw it to commercial, take it back. We get paid the same. Talk more than me. Fine. Then when I get partnered with Drew, I'm now the host and I'm throwing to commercial and bring it back from break and interviewing the guest or whatever. And Drew's become the sidekick. And when I was working with Skip, Skip didn't have any on-camera real experience. So I was kind of setting up and sometimes even literally just moving him away because the camera, he was getting his back in front of the camera. You know, the camera guy couldn't see him and stuff like that.

• 22:34Speaker 02

  But I realized you can't just have one mode. You have to have, I'll be alpha, I'll be beta, I'll be teacher, I'll be student. You know, and if you can kind of learn who people are and kind of understand who they are, then it's much easier. You can't have like two alphas interview each other. It just becomes kind of cluster F's, I would say.

• 22:57Mike Rowe?

  Well, it's such a different world to this. I mean, I'll call it the host paradigm, for lack of a better. Host, interview, narrator, raconteur, whatever, than, than an actor, certainly. Than a comedian. Like, back to the book thing for a second. The reason I wanted to riff on that initially, not that I had a plan, but now that I think about it, hmm, like, it's hard. Because once you write the thing down, it's there forever. It's on the shelf and it's between the covers and it, there's no excuse, man. Whatever's between the covers must be exactly what you want it to say. But the minute you're done, there's a fire in the Palisades. And now you give a damn about something else entirely. And now there's, you know, whatever's going on in your life, right?

• 23:42Mike Rowe?

  And so the book, it's like, ah, it's like the snapshot of this moment, but it never goes away. It just sits on the shelf forever and people read it. But it's not who I am anymore. It's not who you are anymore. That's my favorite part about this, like what you do and what you did in, in podcasting initially. It was so, it was so immediate, you know? For better or worse, you did it. And then you come back the next day and do it again. It's the opposite of writing a book, really.

• 24:12Speaker 02

  Yeah. I mean, to a certain extent.

• 24:17Speaker 02

  You know, if you go and look at a autobiography, you go, well, that was me zero to this age. And it doesn't include the Palisades and the Malibu fires, because it was there. But it's a historical account of at least what I was doing from that year to that year.

• 24:37Mike Rowe?

  Sure.

• 24:37Speaker 02

  And then, you're right, it's locked off. You know, the thing that there's stuff that's interesting about podcasting is if you ever listen to one of your own that's like 15 years old, you can hear and go, oh, I had to come back from this place and then I drove that way and then my kids, you know, were three at the time, you know, you're hearing a kind of, it's a dear diary. I mean, it's an auto, it's an audio diary. Now, if you're doing Paul Harvey's show, then it really isn't. But if you're doing a free-flowing conversational podcast, then yeah, you would be talking about

• 25:21Speaker 02

  COVID or the Malibu fires or how you were affected. You know, I had to flee during the Malibu fires, for instance. And so I would be saying, oh, I had to get up at 2:00 in the morning and take off and went to Burbank. And, and if I heard it, or my kids heard it 20 years from now, they'd go, that's what happened that day.

• 25:40Mike Rowe?

  Or they might say, flee, Dad? Really? You used the word flee. Like, you couldn't leave, you couldn't escape, you couldn't vacate, you couldn't run. You fled.

• 25:49Speaker 02

  I evacuated. Yeah, there was a fire about a week before that where I didn't want to go and then at some point could see the flames and decided to go. But yes, I was, I fled the fire. I think it was like 2:00 AM, it was the middle of the night.

• 26:08Mike Rowe?

  Well, in a weird way, I may have seen you, sort of. I was here. I landed that day.

• 26:14Speaker 02

  Oh, you were here?

• 26:15Mike Rowe?

  I landed that day. I was filming a thing down south, not far, on the other side of Venice and driving up.

• 26:26Mike Rowe?

  I mean, like alarms were going off and you could see smoke, but people were still shopping. It was the strangest thing. And then I went up on the roof here.

• 26:33Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 26:34Mike Rowe?

  As the sun was going down.

• 26:35Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 26:37Mike Rowe?

  Geez, I'll never forget that, man. I will never forget how orange and horrible and apocalyptic it was.

• 26:46Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:46Mike Rowe?

  And then coming down in the, uh, over there at the Huntley.

• 26:50Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 26:50Mike Rowe?

  Up in that restaurant, which looks dead in that direction.

• 26:54Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 26:54Mike Rowe?

  Standing next to a woman who was watching her house burn, who turned and told me that her dog was in it. And they wouldn't let her in. And just going like this, this is like happening. I mean, obviously it's so much bigger than a dog, but it was such a little moment. And I thought about all my friends who lived there. And I'm like, tomorrow's gonna be a crazy day. And I mean, has your life even been remotely similar since then? It's the old days?

• 27:24Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, I'm pretty resilient. My place did not burn down. Everything in front of it and most of the stuff to the right and behind it and stuff, everything kind of around it burnt down. And I think people sometimes use a little hyperbole, like my whole neighborhood burnt down. I was the only one that survived, but it's pretty close to that. Every single structure in front of me along the ocean is gone. And about 60% of the stuff on the hill I'm on is gone. It's mostly gone.

• 28:00Speaker 02

  It'd probably be maybe out of 50 structures, 10 survived, let's say, out of 50 or 60 structures. I happen to be one of them, so that was good, but you couldn't go back for six months or what have you. So I was just kind of renting houses and sort of out and about and sleeping on, you know, people's guest houses and that, that kind of stuff. You know, it was a, it was a pretty big inconvenience, but I realized I grew up on a service porch on like a cot mattress. And then later moved into a garage and, and I, you know, with no heat, no air and stuff. And had like one bedroom apartments with three roommates and slept on futons and stuff.

• 28:45Speaker 02

  I was pretty used to camping out. It'd been a while, but I was always.

• 28:54Speaker 02

  Kind of resilient that way. I was just used to roughen it a little bit.

• 28:59Mike Rowe?

  But your camping in those days wasn't the the result of a calamity. It was, right, more or less. In fact, I couch surfed for a couple of years and I remember it like almost romantically. It's kind of fun.

• 29:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's fun. You know, when you're young and you have energy and there's people and you have a crew to sort of be miserable with you.

• 29:22Mike Rowe?

  Sure. Is that from our roof, Chuck?

• 29:24Speaker 02

  Yeah. Wow, it's a picture from the roof. That is really dramatic.

• 29:28Mike Rowe?

  And that wasn't even, I mean, it got worse. Now, obviously, the darker it gets, the more apocalyptic.

• 29:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah, so my place is just sort of past that wall of flame. It was sort of miraculous that it didn't burn down, but like I said, I'm kind of philosophical and I can handle stuff and I was, you know, ready to roll with whatever it was.

• 29:57Mike Rowe?

  On a micro level, I get it, but, you know, I was I try and stay in my lane. I don't want to make undue trouble, but I've lived in this state for my 20, 20 some years. You were born here, right?

• 30:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:14Mike Rowe?

  So, you know, our friend Elaine Colati was here about six months ago and we were just texting. It looks like she's going to be running for governor and I've made it a point to to stay out of overt politics, but this feels different to me. Like the fate of the state, it feels so consequential right now. Not just for the state, but I mean, I think a lot of the countries looking here and taking their cue from our elected officials and trying to try and weigh and measure all of that. And I, I wonder, like, to the extent that I have any influence, I got a little platform here. I find myself wanting to talk about this stuff.

• 30:58Mike Rowe?

  And I know, I mean, you've been blogging constantly. You know Elaine, you've been, you're really paying attention to it. So I guess if there's a question in here, it's like, to what extent are you doing this? To, um, to change the course of the state's trajectory.

• 31:16Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, I've been here my whole life and I've seen where it's heading. And it's not going in a good direction. And I would say frequently, several years ago, I would say, when are we gonna change direction? And pick a new, chart a new course? And then people would say, the number one answer, which is always sort of sad is, well, we haven't bottomed out yet, we gotta bottom out. And I said, why do we have to bottom out? Why can't we just see we're heading to the bottom and Not do that. Change course? They go, well, you gotta bottom out. I said, this is like me saying, it's like if I, if you had a teenage son and you'd walked in his room and you found heroin syringes

• 31:57Speaker 02

  and then he'd got a couple of DUIs and been arrested a few times and, you know, Let's wait for the overdose. Yeah, let's wait till his flatlines. And then we'll get him some help. And I'd be like, no, no, a good parent would see what's going on and before the kid's heart stops, get him into rehab. That's what we should be doing. And so, we're like sort of spiraling into deep addiction and dark waters and people are saying, wait till we flatline. And I'm like, or we could just go into rehab. We should change things now. Now, the fire may have been the bottoming out. Could have very well been that moment of bottoming out.

• 32:38Speaker 02

  For me, I felt interested in sort of cataloging all the destruction. It was so visually compelling to me to live in that neighborhood when everything was just flattened all around me. And that you could go down the coast and drive for a mile and just see nothing but devastation. You know, I guess it's like being a war correspondent or something. Like, there's a part of it that's very sad, but there's another part that's very visually compelling

• 33:18Speaker 02

  to just see, you know, what was a $25 million mansion at the sea and now there's like just one piece of rebar sticking out of the ground and there's a crow sitting on it. And you're just kind of looking at it and you're going, this is so visually insane.

• 33:41Mike Rowe?

  Couple of weeks ago, on this very podcast, I talked with Brooke Rollins, our Secretary of Agriculture, about the incredibly complicated business of delivering affordable beef to our citizens without disadvantaging American ranchers. We also discussed the very controversial decision to import 300,000 metric tons of ground beef from various foreign countries and the maddening policy that allows meatpackers to label imported meat as a product of the USA. Well, shortly after that conversation, one of my sponsors, Good Ranchers, reported an unusually high level of interest in their product. And this is not surprising.

• 34:21Mike Rowe?

  Given a choice, most people would prefer to buy their meat from American ranchers. And Good Ranchers is the number one company in America that delivers 100% American meat straight to your door. They partner with over 100 local farmers and ranchers to deliver pasture-raised meat with no antibiotics and no added hormones. They've got 25,000 five-star reviews on TrustPilot. 25,000, including my own. This month, when you visit GoodRanchers.com/row, you'll get a free Angus ground beef bundle with your first order. Again, that's GoodRanchers.com/row for four bonus pounds of ground beef raised right

• 35:04Mike Rowe?

  here in these United States, and that's guaranteed. Support your local ranchers by insisting on American meat delivered at GoodRanchers.com/row.

• 35:27Speaker 02

  And so I thought, well, I should start sort of capturing it and then also kind of discussing what it would be like to rebuild and the permitting process and then things of that nature, because I realized that I was pretty intimately familiar with that, being a contractor for so many years in this city and sort of having to deal with the city and plan check and bureaucracy and... All of that's coming and I was very aware of it in a way that most people who were either comedians or commentators or had a vlog or podcast or something.

• 36:11Speaker 02

  I didn't know anyone who had an intimate understanding of building and codes and construction. So I was like, I think I should be the guy who talks and knows how to talk, but also understands what these guys are dealing with in terms of a construction, engineering permitting and that sort of thing. I think I can take them both. So it was kind of interesting. I fled to Burbank and then checked into hotel at literally like four in the morning. And the following day, got up to speculation of whether my home was

• 36:50Speaker 02

  there or not. Nobody knew. It was a lot of footage of everything in front of my house. I could see the news crews, you know, were on the street and I could see everything in front of me was gone. So What'd you take with you? Um, I really just took like socks and underwear. Like I didn't really grab any keepsakes or anything, but to be fair, most of my stuff worth keeping is at my warehouse. Anyway, this was just sort of beach housey stuff, you know? So I woke up the next day to rumors that my place was gone. And I was doing the math because the fire was started

• 37:31Speaker 02

  up on the hill and it ended at the ocean and my house was on the hill and everything at the ocean was gone. So I did a math, which is everything in between that and the ocean's got to be gone. And I was in between. But literally, the restaurant and the buildings, everything just below where I live are all gone. So I was like, I guess it's gone, but I can't verify it because you can't get back in and something, something. So, but we had a podcast to do and the winds were so powerful that they toppled over a

• 38:09Speaker 02

  electrical pole, a telephone pole, and the power was out where my studio was. And so now I'm like, well, we've You know, the power's out, everything's a mess, it's helter skelter. And do I really need to do a podcast like every single day? Like, can we just run a best of? You got, I talked to Seth MacFarlane for over an hour, just run that, you know? And I started thinking about it, I go, yeah, but I think people are gonna wanna hear what, you know, you're in the middle of all this, they're gonna want a little checkup on, on what's going on.

• 38:49Speaker 02

  So, I just, in my hotel room, eh, just kinda moved a table, moved the chair, and set the thing, and put the mic in the, on the table, and, and shut the drapes, you know, and somebody with an iPhone, kinda thing, we just kinda, and I said, you know what? It's only gonna be 10 minutes, I'm just gonna check in, let, give, give, let them know I'm okay, and here's what's going on, and blah blah. And of course, it went an hour of me complaining, but it was, it was that morning, after the fire, where I just sort of explained to everyone, there's not gonna be permits, you think, they're gonna talk about fast-tracking stuff, and the city's gonna snap in action, none of this is gonna happen, there's gonna grind everyone to a nub,

• 39:33Speaker 02

  they're not in the business of handing out permits, or fast-tracking engineering, plan check, I've dealt with this, it's a bureaucracy, they're not gonna change. And you think they would, under these emergency conditions, they have no intention of doing it, and it's never gonna happen, and you people who lo- love these people formally, are gonna learn to hate these people when it's time for you to pull a permit. And, and it was literally like eight hours after the fire, and-

• 39:59Mike Rowe?

  You're talking about people who voted for those particular officials?

• 40:03Speaker 02

  I'm saying, in general, those areas of this part of the city, where we're at now, Malibu and Palisades, they like those types. They're progressive, blue-leaning type, in general. I, I would say this is, you know, not a lot of them do anything for deer hunting season, or do a lot of bass fishing, or where there are- Oakley blade sunglasses on top of their trucker hats. There's not a lot of Ram dooleys parked in the parking lot. It's an electric car, vote blue, kind of go Gavin kind of crowd. I said, you guys are going to be in for a real rude awakening because you're going to find out

• 40:46Speaker 02

  what this city does and how it does not function or perform. And you're going to find out how sort of arrogant and cruel they are because they're not going to be in any hurry to help you. And they're not even going to pretend like they're here to help you. And I don't even know if they want, they don't want you to rebuild as far as I'm concerned. So good luck. This is what's going to happen. Look forward to this. And, you know, that was 13 and a half months ago. And now everyone's wandering around going, where are the permits? Where, how come no one has a permit? It's like, I told you where they were. They're, you're not getting them.

• 41:19Mike Rowe?

  That last guy I told you about, Jeff Childers, who writes that column, Coffee and Covid. Today's column was called, I Told You So. And, you know, he's coming from a point of view as a lawyer who fought mask mandates and a lot of other adjacent things five years ago. And now the evidence demands a verdict.

• 41:40Speaker 02

  Right.

• 41:40Mike Rowe?

  And it's clear. I shared your podcast that day. I thought it was brilliant. And not brilliant. I thought it was smart.

• 41:50Speaker 02

  I think, yeah.

• 41:51Mike Rowe?

  I thought it was really smart to do it because I think the initial impulse on a lot of people would have been exactly that. Seth MacFarlane is funny. It's a great interview. Let's just put it up. I got, I'm dealing with stuff. But, you know, back to the book thing, you know, this is not the guy you are in the books you wrote before. Now you've got, now you've, you have an audience and they trust you, man. You've got an enormous amount of permission to to be as candid as you want and to share as much as you want. I think generally the country is super hungry for that. The fact that you hunkered down and did that on a couple of iPhones was just interesting. It reminded me, this is a bit of a stretch, but remember when Bourdain was caught in Beirut?

• 42:35Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 42:36Mike Rowe?

  That was probably 10, 10 years ago now. Well, I mean, you didn't have to do a show. You just needed to turn the camera on and be a reliable narrator or a witness to whatever that was. And that's what I meant by permission. You grew up in this state. You live in that zip code. You know how to communicate. You know how to be a host. You know how to be a guest. And you've got a front row seat to something. But what was interesting for me when I, when I shared that, the comments, I still remember a lot of people going, well, you know, he's, I mean, he's being very pessimistic. You know, he's like be very much of a Cassandra, you know, a prognosticator, you know?

• 43:19Mike Rowe?

  We'll just see, because it sure seems like all, all the brass are saying, oh, no, no, no. All the bureaucracy is gone. All the roadblocks are coming down. They were talking about issuing thousands of permits in months.

• 43:33Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 43:34Mike Rowe?

  And dude, you were right. They haven't, what have they done?

• 43:39Speaker 02

  Well, they've done a little bit in the Palisades, a little bit, and pretty much zero in Malibu along the coast. Because I think the Coastal Commission had to get involved with that. Plus, it's kind of academic. Like what people don't really fully understand is I could issue you a permit for these places that live, these lots that were burned down along PCH on the water side, on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway. And

• 44:18Speaker 02

  You know, a picture tells a thousand words. So there are, there's some stuff out there Chuck that is me chronicling a job site. There's one job site on PCH. I don't know, Adam Carolla, PCH Foundation work, or something like that. I've literally got the drone up in the air and

• 44:40Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 44:40Speaker 02

  sending all this stuff. So what I'm saying is, is even if you had a permit to build your home back on PCH, part, the engineering for that home that you're going to rebuild is 35 caissons that are 36 inch in diameter going five stories into the ground. Now, we'll find you the pictures. I'm not using any hyperbole here. It is caissons which are drilled with a caisson rig and a giant auger bit. It's essentially just drilling down into the earth,

• 45:24Speaker 02

  but not drilling down 15 feet, drilling down five stories and not seven of them, like 35 of them. Now, we need video Chuck of that. It's out there somewhere.

• 45:40Mike Rowe?

  This is it. It's in.

• 45:41Speaker 02

  Oh, it's in my vlog though. You'll see it in the vlog. I don't think you'll see it as clearly in my show. Well, you'll find it. Anyway.

• 45:48Mike Rowe?

  Caissons alone deserve some sort of rhetorical detour. I mean, just so people understand, you know, I mean.

• 45:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's a vlog, but now you have to, what are you typing in? And I'll see if I can help you. That's the vlog. I typed the drone footage, Adam Carolla drone footage. But look at that. PCH.

• 46:10Mike Rowe?

  Look at that.

• 46:10Speaker 02

  But you didn't put the word foundation. I guess not. That's why.

• 46:16Mike Rowe?

  There you go.

• 46:16Speaker 02

  You're not seeing it.

• 46:17Mike Rowe?

  That's a key word.

• 46:17Speaker 02

  That's why I said foundation. But that's earlier stuff where it's destroyed. Now, so the architect told, and now by the way, that's just the caissons. Then there's the seawalls. Then there's the slab. The engineer architect, he told me there'd be 3,000 yards of concrete in this, in this foundation. Um, three.

• 46:47Speaker 02

  All right, you're, you putting the word foundation in?

• 46:50Speaker 01

  I did, yeah, yeah. I'm not doing good.

• 46:52Speaker 02

  We'll get a new one, a new video pop up.

• 46:54Speaker 01

  How'd you spell it?

• 46:57Speaker 02

  So.

• 46:58Speaker 01

  Hold on, let me get this out of here.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  It'll be a construction site is what I'm saying. This is stuff of just a burnt out place. But, all right, for your audience, 3,000 cubic yards of concrete, a full-size concrete truck holds 10 yards. So, one truck.

• 47:18Speaker 01

  Right.

• 47:18Speaker 02

  Is 10 yards. Each caisson is about 20 yards. So each caisson is two full trucks pumped, and there's 30 some odd caissons. And that's just the stuff poking up from the ground.

• 47:34Speaker 01

  Why do you need a caisson in this case?

• 47:37Speaker 02

  You don't. You don't. So I'm talking to the engineer, and he goes, I'm looking at this, and I'm anxious for you to see it as I sound buggin', Chuck, because you're gonna go, oh, my God, like, I had no idea. All right, Chuck, what are you poking in there?

• 47:54Speaker 01

  Okay, so I got something on Instagram.

• 47:56Speaker 02

  All right.

• 48:02Mike Rowe?

  Ever since Chapter started advertising on this podcast, I've been getting letters and emails from satisfied customers all over the country. Last week, I got one from Joseph, a retired veterinarian in Texas, who just learned his Medicare plan was shutting down. I can't tell you Joseph's last name because his medical history is complicated and personal, but his situation is not uncommon at all. Given his medical history, Joseph was unable to find a local provider that would include the doctors he'd come to rely on. Happily, Joseph listens to this podcast, and Joseph heard me talking about Chapter just last week. And Chapter exists for one reason, to help people on Medicare find the plan that's right for them.

• 48:48Mike Rowe?

  It's a free service. Anyhow, Joseph called Chapter. He connected with an advisor named Heidi. And Heidi caught something that most people miss. Because his current plan was about to close. Joseph had a limited window to continue with his current coverage through a new plan, without any additional medical underwriting. In other words, Heidi found a way to get Joseph the coverage he needed with the doctors he preferred. Then, she found great coverage for his wife, too. Moral of the story? Medicare plans are constantly evolving. You are, too. Call Chapter. Make sure you're on the best plan for you.

• 49:27Mike Rowe?

  Also, people who switch plans after calling Chapter save an average of $1,100 a year. 804-Chapter. That's the number. Call it today, it's free. Whole thing takes about 20 minutes. 804-Chapter.

• 49:43Speaker 02

  Is this right? What'd you type in? I typed in Adam Carolla, PCH Foundation. All right. This, let's see, let's see. This has a couple of quick shots of it. Let's see. Put in the word. Okay. Get rid of, get rid of "foundation." Put "Casson." Okay. Which is an interesting spelling. I think it's C-A-S-S.

• 50:08Mike Rowe?

  Yeah. I think there's an "i" in it, too.

• 50:11Speaker 02

  Yes. But...

• 50:12Mike Rowe?

  Those were the things that like, that's, they used to build bridges with these things.

• 50:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, they build bridges with them. They hold up freeway overpasses. I mean, they go down into the ground.

• 50:21Mike Rowe?

  And you pressurize it underwater. And that's what lets you work in an, in an area and pour concrete, you know, 50 feet underwater, or more.

• 50:29Speaker 02

  Yes. Might this be it? What's it say? Rebuilding real estate nine months after the blaze. Now, this'll be like the most recent one, I think. Okay. So this is not it? Now, this is me explaining that the Equinox Gym across the street's been closed for nine months, but the Taco Bell has been open the entire time.

• 50:51Mike Rowe?

  Who is it with you and Taco Bell, man?

• 50:54Speaker 02

  I tried to get a, I tried to get a job there once, and they denied me.

• 50:58Mike Rowe?

  Well, that was the second book, not Taco Bell material.

• 51:01Speaker 02

  That, that was it, yeah.

• 51:02Mike Rowe?

  And here, I mean, like, the irony of that, and now today, doing stand-ups on Instagram, on an iPhone.

• 51:11Speaker 02

  I know.

• 51:11Mike Rowe?

  Chronicling one of the greatest, you know...

• 51:14Speaker 02

  Maybe pick, do a picture, do a photo.

• 51:18Mike Rowe?

  Hey, there you go. Click images.

• 51:20Speaker 02

  Hit images. Case, uh, no, foundation, PCH, Adam Carolla, image, I think something will.

• 51:29Mike Rowe?

  By the way, you know, I can't imagine a more, really, like, right now to be Chuck has, has to be one of the most annoying things.

• 51:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know.

• 51:37Mike Rowe?

  You've been on Rogan and you've seen Jamie do it with like two fingers.

• 51:41Speaker 02

  There's a thousand of these, hold on a second. All right, now just found a fa- foundation that's being rebuilt. You want it, you want it like from the last, uh, how, like what time? The last ones, let's see if those, the most recent, the most recent. I'm gonna go past month, that's why nothing came up. So, the guy, as they're pouring 3,000 yards of concrete, I'm sitting there talking to the architect, and I go, and what about the old foundation? Cause you had to pull out a bunch of stuff. And he said, oh, those were all just piles, just telephone poles, pounded down in the ground. That's like to build piers and everything on just a telephone pole that got whacked in the ground.

• 52:22Speaker 02

  And he goes, um, I go, wait a minute, there was no, he goes, there's no concrete. I said, none? He goes, no, no, it was all wood, everything was wood. I said, it lasted for 70 years and then the fire got it, but the foundation never gave way. And he goes, no, everything was wood. That's the way they built it in 1957. And it was going fine until the fire got him. And I said, okay, how much is this foundation? And he said, about 2.5 million. I said, 2.5 before you bring in the first two by four to build? He said, yes, you're gonna be into this about two five with just foundation.

• 53:03Speaker 02

  And then you can start building your home here after you're into that 2.5. I said, who's got the money for this? Who can do this? And by the way, the time, I mean, they got full. Kason rigs like a five-story piece of engineering role and you know, telling tank tracks and everything's shovel, steam shovels, backhoes, like it is, it is an insane proposition. The amount they're putting into that. Each Kason has a rebar cage that's essentially looks like a long slinky made out of number six rebar, which is like three-quarter inch

• 53:44Speaker 02

  thick rebar, has to be hung up on a giant crane, five stories long and lowered all the way down into each one, times like 36. All right Chuck, there's no way you don't have a picture of that foundation.

• 53:59Mike Rowe?

  I think he drew one. I think he's got, he's pretty talented with charcoal.

• 54:03Speaker 02

  I could go up the coast and get a quick shot and come back.

• 54:06Speaker 01

  This is not working out well at all. I, this is, oh shit.

• 54:10Speaker 02

  Well, let me ask you this Chuck. Do you know what a foundation looks like?

• 54:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:14Mike Rowe?

  Okay, like if you were to see one.

• 54:16Speaker 01

  I got a picture of some Kason's right here. There you go. But I don't think that's what you're looking for.

• 54:23Speaker 02

  Those are the oldy ones. I've got, well, maybe I'll just pull my phone out.

• 54:29Mike Rowe?

  I mean, at this point.

• 54:30Speaker 02

  At this point.

• 54:31Mike Rowe?

  Um, well, I mean, like, oh, we'll find it. But the moral of the story.

• 54:37Speaker 02

  The last vlog from the fires will probably have something.

• 54:41Mike Rowe?

  Adam Carolla's last vlog.

• 54:42Speaker 02

  The date on it'll be, I don't know, three weeks old or a month old. But anyway, go ahead.

• 54:48Mike Rowe?

  Why are you doing this?

• 54:49Speaker 02

  Uh, it's nearby where I live. I am very fascinated with all forms of buildings. So I will come poking around if you're building and I'm walking past whatever it is you're building. I just come poking around. Like I just like it. I like seeing how it's built.

• 55:16Speaker 02

  I, it is kind of my Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It's taken sort of comedy and commentary and sarcasm and humor, mixed in with building and kind of put together my peanut butter cup. Like the two things I kind of like, you know, assembled essentially.

• 55:42Speaker 02

  This is one month ago. All right, let's. Now we're getting somewhere. Let's see what this is. This is health consequences. Uh, let's see. Nah, I don't think it's this one. Ah, for the love of all that's holy. Uh, go the one, uh, go forward. You can scrub it for it. Can I? No, I don't think it's this one. One, one more before this one probably. Let's see. What, okay. One year later, they're trying to see if that one's something. The one year later one? Yeah, I thought I hit that one already. Oh, maybe. You had nine months later, I think. Well, this is, I mean, how many, how many vlogs have you done? I've done a lot. I've done a lot of them. It's definitely not this one. That much I can. Oh, well, that's, there you go.

• 56:23Speaker 02

  We'll find it. So I walk around, I just look at it, but uh, with the point I'm trying to drive home, I'm not doing a good job of. Is this it? Uh. This is the one year later. Yeah, you just let it run. Well, now it's, it's really no longer about your story. It's just about whether or not Chuck can find this. Well, this is, it is more about, it is more about Chuck at this point. At this point, yeah. All right, my, here's my point. My point is what used to take no money and little effort is now Herculean and involves a lot of engineering and a lot of permitting and stuff. There it is. You can stop it there for a second, Chuck. Oh, Kenny? Oh, can you? Yeah. There it is. Okay, good.

• 57:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, we'll let it even get even closer, but that's the job site and those are all the caissons that they're pouring. That are, yeah, let it roll a little more. Let's see if we can get a little closer to it. Trying. Okay, that's all right. Yeah, there it is. You can let it roll there. Those, those things go five stories into the ground. That's just for a single family residence. That's not, you know, it's not the Germans at Normandy. That's just a single family home with seawalls filled.

• 57:38Speaker 02

  To the top with rebar, with doweling into the rebar with the seawall goes 20 feet down in the ground.

• 57:47Mike Rowe?

  Explain why that is a thing.

• 57:48Speaker 02

  All right, you can just pause it there for a sec.

• 57:50Mike Rowe?

  Nice job.

• 57:53Speaker 02

  They have, good job, Jack, you're back. They have to build a seawall, basically because they're gonna put a septic system in there, and they're essentially building a 20-foot-high, 14-inch-dick, concrete wall all the way around it so the septic system can't leak and go into the ocean. Are you kidding should be the name of my next podcast.

• 58:16Mike Rowe?

  Or book.

• 58:18Speaker 02

  This is total and utter insanity, and it's what the city makes you do. And so my point is, is this is a metaphor for California. You wanna know, how come there's not enough low-cost housing? How come we don't have this? How come? Because you guys make it impossible to do because of regulation. See, we could rebuild a home the way it was built before, but this is total insanity, and it's the safety thing we talk about all the time.

• 58:50Mike Rowe?

  Sure, but what's the end game? What's in it for the county, making it impossible? I mean, that house, when it's done, is gonna be tens of millions of dollars.

• 59:00Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 59:01Mike Rowe?

  Easily.

• 59:02Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 59:03Mike Rowe?

  And like to your earlier point, who's got the dough? How are you gonna build back with those kinds of protocols?

• 59:09Speaker 02

  The county simply adds things on, and they never peel anything away. So if the regulation 20 years ago was number four rebar, now it's number six rebar, soon it'll be number eight rebar. And all they know is how to keep ratcheting up the thing that they always hide under the umbrella of safety. It's always some sort of safety-related thing. But like I used to say, when I, I had houses from the 20s, 1923, maybe 1927.

• 59:48Speaker 02

  My first couple house and I'd be building some stuff and you get to engineering and I'd go, this is way over engineer and they go, we're in earthquake country. I'd go, yeah, where do you think the house, you think the house was in Idaho? In nineteen, when, in seventy-one when the big one hit and in uh.

• 1:00:04Mike Rowe?

  Ninety-four.

• 1:00:04Speaker 02

  Ninety-four, thank you, when the Silmar one hit. They're both here, nothing happened. There's nothing, they weren't engineered for anything, there's no caissons, there's no anything. It's just, here it is, here it sat. So, yeah, there's nothing wrong with engineering, there's nothing wrong with being safe, but building one thousand fold as strong as you need to is like saying, you know, everyone goes, sell a car, should have an airbag and a crumple zone in front. Okay.

• 1:00:36Mike Rowe?

  And a safety belt.

• 1:00:36Speaker 02

  But it doesn't, and a belt, but it doesn't need a fire suppression system and a fuel cell and a roll cage.

• 1:00:42Mike Rowe?

  Right, because the actual.

• 1:00:44Speaker 02

  But it would be safer.

• 1:00:45Mike Rowe?

  It would be safe.

• 1:00:46Speaker 02

  But it's not practical.

• 1:00:48Mike Rowe?

  So the actuary, like I, I'm fascinated with that argument with the car thing because, and people just, I broke a few eggs.

• 1:00:57Speaker 02

  Look at that.

• 1:00:58Mike Rowe?

  That's a beauty.

• 1:00:59Speaker 02

  By the way, all those caissons that we're seeing now, and we're not seeing all of them, some are underground, but they're all going five stories into the ground.

• 1:01:07Mike Rowe?

  Wow.

• 1:01:08Speaker 02

  That's, I mean, I, I can't imagine. That's for a house. It's a bunker. That's why I need to show you the picture Chuck.

• 1:01:12Mike Rowe?

  Okay, good work, good work.

• 1:01:16Mike Rowe?

  So, we start every year knowing thirty-five to thirty-eight thousand people are gonna die on the highway. We know it.

• 1:01:27Mike Rowe?

  And you can have your crumple zones and you can have your double airbags and your restraints and you do it all. But that's, doing all that gets you thirty-five to forty thousand fatalities.

• 1:01:38Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:01:38Mike Rowe?

  You wanna knock it down to twenty? I get the speed limit to 35. You want it down to 15, mandatory helmets.

• 1:01:46Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:01:46Mike Rowe?

  You want it down to 5,000, no left turns.

• 1:01:49Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:01:49Mike Rowe?

  You want to get it down to zero?

• 1:01:51Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 1:01:51Mike Rowe?

  Wrap them.

• 1:01:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:53Mike Rowe?

  Wrap them in rubber and not, I mean, so.

• 1:01:55Speaker 02

  Like a tugboat.

• 1:01:56Mike Rowe?

  Exactly right. So you start with the idea that you could absolutely eliminate automotive fatalities.

• 1:02:03Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:02:04Mike Rowe?

  But it's been weighed and measured and we've decided 35 to 40,000 fatalities is something we can live with. We can live with it.

• 1:02:12Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:02:13Mike Rowe?

  We're not running the same, there is no corollary for this.

• 1:02:17Speaker 02

  No, because this is zero fatalities because in this equation, the old car with no airbags and no crumple zones would have been this thing built on the telephone poles that were pile driven into the ground, but the pier, which is a half block down the street, is over 100 years old and it sits on those telephone poles.

• 1:02:41Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:42Speaker 02

  The same ones. So this is your grandpa's old Osmobile with no fatalities ever and still we're requiring the roll cage and the fire suppression system.

• 1:02:52Mike Rowe?

  I'm just saying like all these additional things, like through the lens of a safety protocol, yeah, but this is through the environment. This is like saying we, we will spare no expense to keep any amount of septic sewage from potentially leaching.

• 1:03:07Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:03:08Mike Rowe?

  You know, can we live with a 1% chance? No, we can't. It has to be zero and it doesn't matter what it costs.

• 1:03:14Speaker 02

  Right. Well, another thing is the modern systems are so good that there is none of that leaching that goes on every time, every time I talk to someone, they go, they say you can drink whatever's in the leach field. And then they pause, they go, but I don't.

• 1:03:29Mike Rowe?

  But I don't.

• 1:03:30Speaker 02

  Oh, good. I was just about to offer you a cup of piss water, but okay. I get it. You don't do it. No, it's, it, listen, nothing that was built there before had a seawall. Previously, there's zero seawall.

• 1:03:43Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 1:03:44Speaker 02

  And everyone is on a septic system.

• 1:03:45Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 1:03:46Speaker 02

  And by the way, the thing that, I'll tell you what hurts the floor and the fauna and the ocean, it's a fire that burns everything in the ground and then mudslides where everything that was up on the hill, including burnt out Priuses and foam mattresses and sofas and carpeting, all slides down the hill into the bay.

• 1:04:04Mike Rowe?

  That's bad.

• 1:04:05Speaker 02

  That's bad, much worse than a leach field.

• 1:04:07Mike Rowe?

  But isn't it interesting that the degree to which we're willing to mitigate automotive fatalities allows for 35,000 deaths?

• 1:04:19Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:04:19Mike Rowe?

  But the degree to which we're determined to mitigate an environmental problem is zero. And that's, that's where we're out of whack. We have elevated the environment.

• 1:04:33Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:04:33Mike Rowe?

  To so far above the value of a human life.

• 1:04:37Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:04:38Mike Rowe?

  But we're still having the conversation as if, well, let's not really talk about how that happened, but it's not much different than saving a dog from drowning instead of the 10-year-old kid. Now, it's your dog and you love the dog and you don't know the 10-year-old kid. And so now there's a value judgment. Do you save your dog that you love or do you save that kid?

• 1:05:01Mike Rowe?

  I'd like to talk about initiative, if I could, for just a moment. Here at MicroWorks, we value it a great deal. In fact, it's the most important quality we look for in our work ethic scholarship applicants, but everybody wants it. I'm talking about the, the quality in a Lyft driver that inspires him or her to carry your bags to the door without even asking, or the grocery clerk who shows you where an item is on the shelves, or a doctor who personally calls you to explain your test results. If you're hiring, you want to encourage initiative because it's invaluable. And ZipRecruiter has a way to allow a candidate to tell you, in their own words, why they're interested in your job, not just why they're qualified, but why they're interested.

• 1:05:46Mike Rowe?

  This is a way that allows the best candidates to distinguish themselves from the competition and a great way for you to separate the wheat from the chaff, as it were. Right now, you can try it for free at ziprecruiter.com/row. ZipRecruiter is the number one hiring site, in large part because of this new initiative that shows you the most interested, qualified candidates first. So you meet the right people faster. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within one day. Try it for free. ZipRecruiter.com/row. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter.

• 1:06:24Speaker 03

  Build your team. Build it sooner. Meet your match at ZipRecruiter. Try it free.

• 1:06:35Speaker 02

  Well, there's another element here, which is, you know, in the car metaphor, you go, well, a roll cage and a fuel cell with a bladder and a fire suppression system and fire suit and everything. You know how much a Toyota Camry would cost with that? And then they go, you don't think the rich guy from Malibu can afford a Camry, even if it's $500,000? And it's like, yes, he can afford it. It doesn't mean you should do this. And by the way, once you take this mindset and bring it, we do, right? We go, we're suggesting homeless for the housing.

• 1:07:16Speaker 02

  These are 400 square foot bachelor apartments, $950,000 per unit. It's like, how did we get to that price? We got to that price. How that place get to that price? Because you guys required so much more than what was practical or feasible. It can't be built and there's no economic system that'll support it. And the people who build it, they move to Texas and they just go, I don't want to deal with this.

• 1:07:42Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 1:07:42Speaker 02

  So that's what you get and that's why we get it. So all this stuff under the name of safety is really grinding everything to a halt. And there is literally, that one foundation you saw is the only construction going on in the entire PCH. That's it. There's no other, just one. And it's for that reason. And you say, we want to fast track this. Again, even if you fast track it, if it takes 3,000 cubic yards and basically...

• 1:08:19Speaker 02

  You're building a launch pad for, you know, for NASA. Which is essentially what they're gonna end up building because they have to do a one-foot slab on top of all those caissons with grade beams, by the way, in between. I mean, there's a lot more to go. It's not practical. It's not feasible and people aren't gonna do it and know they're not gonna rebuild. So, and they do this little kind of wordplay thing, which is, yeah, we'll give you a permit to do something you can never do.

• 1:08:50Mike Rowe?

  Don't you think about, like, that's what I meant earlier about why California feels so consequential to me for the country? Because if that attitude that exists in, you know, the community supervisory, what do you call it, like, like, like the tyranny of the small government, like, we, all the headlines are about, you know, DC, but the real, like, the real action is, is here. And, like, how would we ever be able to convert our domestic manufacturing capability into a wartime footing with this kind of thought? How would we rise to any occasion

• 1:09:33Mike Rowe?

  that we've historically risen to if the most important thing is to keep the septic thing from leaching? And if we're okay forcing people to just squeeze through hoop after hoop after hoop after hoop after hoop?

• 1:09:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I think we've proven that we can't because we had all of these mechanisms in place. And I was friends with Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamill, and they lived in Malibu on the ocean, and they loved it, and they had a home there for many, many years. And, I don't know, maybe in 96 or somewhere, it burnt down. And then they went to rebuild. And they loved living in Malibu, but when they tried to rebuild, by the way, you know, it's, it's another thing, too. It's, it's kind of cruel to have someone's home burned down. And then really not let them rebuild. You know what I mean?

• 1:10:32Speaker 02

  It's not like I go, I, I'm gonna open a brothel with the speakeasy on the roof and they could go, "Okay, no, no, we're gonna slow roll that part." But this is your family's home burnt to the ground because of their negligence, by the way. It burnt to the ground because of the government not managing the forestry and so on and so forth. They burnt, and then they want to rebuild it at their own expense and they won't let them do it, which is cruel at the end of the day. So Alan Hamel and Suzanne Somers, who adore Malibu, and who would come back from Palm Springs to stay at a hotel in Malibu every chance they got, went through about six years of trying to pull a permit. Coastal Commission just kept telling them to pound sand.

• 1:11:17Speaker 02

  And eventually, they went, "We're too old for this shit." "We can't spend our golden years arguing with the Coastal Commission, who won't let us rebuild and has a million hoops to jump through that no one could ever satisfy." So they move out and there is no rebuild. And I was always kind of aware of that. But you're talking about a wartime situation. How would we react? Would we? Well, this is a nice simulation. Everything burned to the ground. Trump came into town a week later and he said, "We need to hurry. This is unfair to these people. We need to fast-track this thing." This is, was supposed to be a war simulation.

• 1:11:56Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:57Speaker 02

  We, this is extraordinary circumstances. Many homes lost, many families displaced. And now, like in wartime, we're gonna fast-track this stuff and we'll be building Liberty ships at the count of, you know, one every 40 hours. If we can fast-track this stuff and tell the unions to back off a little in wartime. Well, this is it. This is wartime and I think we got our answer.

• 1:12:23Mike Rowe?

  Well, that's why people said, you know, what you said earlier. And I'm guilty of it too. Sometimes things have to go splat. But- To your point, if that's not splat, what are you waiting for? Like, what other calamity could possibly? I mean, there's nothing left but war, truly.

• 1:12:43Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:12:44Mike Rowe?

  Anyway, maybe some of what's going on too on a national level is we're just not a terribly sympathetic part of the country, you know? Oh, the millionaires lost their houses.

• 1:12:54Speaker 02

  There's definitely an element of that.

• 1:12:56Mike Rowe?

  Yeah. But Al-ta'deen is a different story.

• 1:13:00Speaker 02

  Agreed.

• 1:13:00Mike Rowe?

  And then if you go the other extreme, what was the, um, that train derailment? Palestine.

• 1:13:07Speaker 02

  Oh, right.

• 1:13:08Mike Rowe?

  East Palestine.

• 1:13:09Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 1:13:09Mike Rowe?

  That's not on anybody's vacation brochure.

• 1:13:12Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 1:13:13Mike Rowe?

  But we managed to ignore the hell out of them, too.

• 1:13:15Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:13:16Mike Rowe?

  You know, how squeaky does the wheel have to be?

• 1:13:19Speaker 02

  Will we assign a lot of value? I mean, a good-looking person dies, it's a tragedy. Ugly person dies, it's just not as bad, you know?

• 1:13:27Mike Rowe?

  Famous person, mom, goes missing?

• 1:13:30Speaker 02

  Geez, somebody's got to find her because I can't take any more news about that.

• 1:13:34Mike Rowe?

  I don't even, I mean, are we even allowed to kind of not joke about it, but acknowledge the, I mean, what is it, like 3,200 kids have been found by ICE? Found that had previously been just, just lost in the country during this same period?

• 1:13:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:13:55Mike Rowe?

  I don't know anybody's name, I don't, where's that kid? Where's the story? Where's the triumphant? We found another one.

• 1:14:02Speaker 02

  Weird in the priority department, yes. No disrespect to Nancy Guthrie, but

• 1:14:07Mike Rowe?

  None.

• 1:14:07Speaker 02

  she was kidnapped and I don't need an hourly update on it. I hope they find her and I hope she's alive and I hope, I hope for all the best, but it's not something I need to hear every day.

• 1:14:23Mike Rowe?

  Don't you, I mean, maybe it's even worse than that. Maybe there's something that really deleterious for the human mind to constantly be told about a circumstance or a situation that you can't do anything to remedy. And if that's just a steady drip, drip, drip, and that's just one story.

• 1:14:43Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:14:43Mike Rowe?

  You think of all, you know, people say, ah, you gotta take a break from the news because it's all bad. I don't think it's that. It's not that it's bad, it's that you can't do anything about it.

• 1:14:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was funny. I was talking to Dr. Drew about this today and I mentioned that

• 1:15:01Speaker 02

  I didn't have a take on Nancy Guthrie and I didn't have an Epstein take and I don't have takes on everything because there's stuff I just don't know about and I'm not going to talk. I have takes on caissons and foundations and Chuck not being able to retrieve them from the internet.

• 1:15:19Mike Rowe?

  We all have a take on that.

• 1:15:20Speaker 02

  But I do not have a take on Guthrie's mom being abducted because I have no insights. And I worry about people that feel compelled to have a take on everything all the time because you can't be a Swiss Army knife all the time. You can't be everything all the time and I'm perfectly happy to just go, I have no thoughts. I feel like it's sad. I hope they find her. Now I gotta get back to talking about foundations.

• 1:15:51Mike Rowe?

  But see, that is a sane and rational approach for a true civilian. But you're not a true civilian. You've got the, you know, you've got the microphone, you've got the cameras, you have an audience. Do you feel any kind of obligation?

• 1:16:07Speaker 02

  I feel very obligated to talk about things I'm aware of, I know about, harkening back to doing our makeshift studio hotel room fireside chat. I felt compelled and obligated. Living in Malibu, probably at the time thinking my place was burnt down, construction background, so on and so forth. Very compelled. Then there are other subjects like Epstein's list. I just don't know anything about it. I don't know anyone. I've listened to 30 different versions of it. I can't get a straight answer.

• 1:16:46Mike Rowe?

  You're not on it?

• 1:16:47Speaker 02

  I'm not on it. And as a part of me, it's like, I would have taken the flight at least, but, but to prom, I used to do this joke.

• 1:16:58Speaker 02

  I did it like five times and I felt bad, but I said, I said, the problem with the pedophile accusation is like you go, you see Tom Hanks' names on the thing. And the problem with pedophilia is you go, oh, come on, Tom Hanks. He would ne- ah, wait a minute. So like there's that, there's that thing. And I used to do this joke where I'd go, because like if you said to me, your stepdad, John, what about it? Could he murder someone? I'd go, absolutely not. John's a good guy. He's a gentle soul. And what about, could he be an arsonist? No, no, no. What about going to an island with a bunch of models? Which island? That was kind of the joke because it's

• 1:17:42Speaker 02

  sort of true. Like, you don't know what anybody is capable. And every time it's someone who seems unlikely, you go, oh, come on. And then you go, wait a minute. What island? Be specific.

• 1:17:57Mike Rowe?

  Right. Um, my favorite metaphor so far, you kind of glossed over it, but you were talking about Reese's. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Yesterday, there was a big article, um, kind of a scandal. Um, the grandson of Reese bought a bag and ate one and just threw the whole thing in the trash.

• 1:18:20Speaker 02

  Really?

• 1:18:20Mike Rowe?

  And said, this, this cannot stand, right? So never mind all the ingredients in the cup. The two that are conspicuously absent are peanut butter and chocolate. There's not a trace of any of it.

• 1:18:36Speaker 02

  Really?

• 1:18:37Mike Rowe?

  And so some lawyer at Reese's, a very artful rejoinder, just said, look, our iconic cups haven't changed at all. Well, no, your iconic ones haven't, but the ones you sell now in the store have. And so this is going to be like, you'll read about it soon. It's like a, it's a thing. But you were comparing the fundamentals, the foundational fundamentals, chocolate, peanut butter. It's not that complicated.

• 1:19:07Mike Rowe?

  Unless you keep calling the same thing, or if this new thing, you call it the same thing. It kinda looks like a foundation, but it's not made. There's no wood, there's no concrete. There's no rebar. It's all something else and it's unpronounceable. And I think something, it's part of the, the general fraud. It's been perpetrated upon us. The ingredients aren't what we thought they were. And, and we can't even pronounce the stuff that is in it. And it all just feels like it's just going off the rails, you know?

• 1:19:45Mike Rowe?

  And that, you know, your vlog is, to me, just feels like an attempt to, you know, put the truth on the label for God's sakes.

• 1:19:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'll tell you the number one abused word in all ingredients is honey. If you look at honey cough syrup or like honey vicks or honey shampoo. Go see if you can find honey anywhere. The, the label's got a giant B on it that's dipped in honey. You turn that thing around, I don't care what it is. If it says honey something on it, there is no.

• 1:20:20Mike Rowe?

  Honey bunches of oats?

• 1:20:22Speaker 02

  There's no honey. There's no honey in anything that advertised as the first word of honey. Which it's the weirdest is like for cough medicine. It's like honey, vicks, whatever. And you look at it, you go, there's zero honey in here.

• 1:20:36Mike Rowe?

  Here's what we're desperate for. I think, we just wanna hear the truth. The best cough drop I ever saw, I forget the name of it, but I bet, God, I hesitate to say. But if you Google it.

• 1:20:50Speaker 01

  I got the peanut butter thing up.

• 1:20:52Mike Rowe?

  Their slogan was, tastes terrible, works great.

• 1:20:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:20:59Speaker 02

  Smuckers.

• 1:21:00Mike Rowe?

  With a name like that, it has to be good.

• 1:21:03Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:21:03Mike Rowe?

  It was Mason Adams.

• 1:21:04Speaker 02

  You should do V L work.

• 1:21:06Mike Rowe?

  One of these days. But that, that to me, that's the key, right? You can't just, it can't all be great. Part of it has to be crap. And then if you give them the truth about the crap, then you can tell them the good news. You just need permission.

• 1:21:23Speaker 02

  I have found, I mean, the thing that I think attracts me to going on to the job sites and, and now I am touring some of the rebuild sites up in the hills of the Palisades inland, in other words, not touched by the coastal commission. And there's houses that are sort of half framed and getting close to, getting close to finish. And I'm touring the houses and, you know, none of it lies. It's just what it is. There's no theory about it. There's no, I have a dream about a house that gets framed. Buckley's award winning campaign, right?

• 1:21:58Mike Rowe?

  It tastes awful. And it works.

• 1:22:00Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:22:00Mike Rowe?

  I'll, I'll buy that. I'll believe it.

• 1:22:08Mike Rowe?

  So as some of you may have heard, I went to Congress 16 years ago to testify before a House Subcommittee. And then again, a year later, to testify before a Senate Subcommittee about the need to reinvigorate the skilled trades with some kind of national effort that would make a more persuasive case for a lot of good jobs out there that didn't require a four-year degree. Well, 15 years later, I finally heard back from the government and I am delighted to tell you about a program called BuildFreedom.us. This is the national PR campaign that MicroWorks has been talking about for a decade and a half now.

• 1:22:51Mike Rowe?

  And it's focused on 300,000 or 400,000 excellent jobs in the defense industrial base. These are the electricians and the plumbers and the steam finners and the pipe fitters and the CNC operators and the shipbuilders and so forth. But in this case, all of those trades are Focused on building out our national infrastructure through the defense industrial base. So people who are building our autonomous weapons, our planes, our ships. It's only a matter of national security and it's a very big deal. And on a personal level, it's really been very gratifying. Build Freedom donated $10 million to MicroWorks. The money's available right now for you.

• 1:23:31Mike Rowe?

  If you want to pursue a skill that's in demand and work in the defense industrial base. I think it's an opportunity of a lifetime. Go to buildfreedom.us, see what's available and then apply for a scholarship from MicroWorks. The money's there. Burning a hole in my pocket. Go get some. BuildFreedom.us.

• 1:23:51Speaker 02

  I think everyone feels that way. For some reason,

• 1:23:56Speaker 02

  it scares Madison Avenue. It sort of scares society. Like it scares, you know, the people that are selling you stuff, but I happen to like that. And they used to do like VW Bug used to have campaigns talking about they looked ugly, but they got, you know, got gas mileage or whatever, like self-deprecation was always good.

• 1:24:19Speaker 02

  I first off, self-deprecation is a great quality. It's kind of bygone. You know what I mean? Like I kind of miss.

• 1:24:26Mike Rowe?

  I was never really good at it.

• 1:24:30Speaker 02

  It's just a great thing that we should get back to. I think it's always, I always liked that guy or that woman who makes a joke at their own expense.

• 1:24:39Mike Rowe?

  Can't go too far. Then it's as artificial as, you know,

• 1:24:45Mike Rowe?

  being void of it totally. But yeah, a little bit of it.

• 1:24:48Speaker 02

  I did a few of those types of jokes. I would do jokes in the vlog, which, you know, people are sort of, I don't know, I had mixed feelings about it because there's people's houses were burnt to the ground and I was kind of joking around, but it was always fun. So I found a guy early and you won't have to look for Chuck, but it was, he had, it was everything on PCH and this guy got jobs, his company cleaning the lots.

• 1:25:18Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:25:18Speaker 02

  And he'd go in there and clean these lots out. He's doing the stuff Trump was saying we need to do now. And one of them, the lots would be cleared out, but their, his company would plant an American flag in front of the lot and.

• 1:25:35Speaker 02

  I said to the guy, I said, just go along with me on this. And I got my cameraman and I said, the American flag, Old Glory, this is amazing. Everything burnt, everything burnt, but yet this remains. The true testament of a country. And they, these colors won't run. Amazing. Statistically, how could you even think about it? Everything is gone, but yet Old Glory still waves. And then he comes up and he goes, we put it there this morning.

• 1:26:02Speaker 02

  And he nailed the line, by the way, which is, which is funny.

• 1:26:07Mike Rowe?

  Do you feel like an obligation to be funny when you're, I mean, just in general?

• 1:26:14Speaker 02

  No, I, I'm, I like to have a meaningful conversation. At some point, when I'm discussing something, I'll use some sort of metaphor or something and someone will laugh, but I'm not really trying for that. I'm just trying to paint a sort of peanut butter cup picture.

• 1:26:30Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:26:31Speaker 02

  You know? And no, I feel like there are times when you're in certain situations where you need to be funny, because that's sort of what they're asking.

• 1:26:45Mike Rowe?

  People bought a ticket.

• 1:26:46Speaker 02

  Right. Oh, yeah. Totally. 100%. You come watch me do stand up. I do not get preachy. I don't talk about the government.

• 1:26:54Mike Rowe?

  No lectures, no service.

• 1:26:55Speaker 02

  I don't do any of that. I just want to be funny, because that's why you bought a ticket, and so I'm going to oblige. And then there's other situations that are like more conversational, more interesting. And I think you should be able to toggle back and forth, you know, between those personas. And I also feel like if you are a little more serious, a little more interesting, a little more thought provoking, it'll set up the humor for when it's, when it's time. And it's also more about a batting average than it is about times to the trips to the plate.

• 1:27:30Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:27:31Speaker 02

  You know? And I, I used to tell people all the time, they used to hear me on Howard Stern. They go, oh, I love you on Stern. So funny. How do you do that? And I'd go, I don't say anything if I don't have anything funny to say. I'll just hang back and let the conversation go. And if I have something funny, I'll punch it in and then hang back again. But It's the people that feel like they have to get to the plate and swing all the time. They're just, they're gonna get some hits, but they're gonna have a bad batting average.

• 1:28:02Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:28:02Speaker 02

  I'm like, just sit back and wait for your pitch.

• 1:28:06Mike Rowe?

  Who do you admire? Like, who's doing that right now in the, in the zeitgeist?

• 1:28:13Speaker 02

  I think there's some crazy guys out there like Shane Gillis.

• 1:28:21Mike Rowe?

  I knew you were gonna.

• 1:28:21Speaker 02

  This is real strong. Like, he's funny. Not, you know, not everybody's funny. He's funny. Tim Dillon's funny, you know, there's. I'm not a real connoisseur of comedy because I'm sort of a mechanically minded person. And if you, if you'd say, well, what do you look at online? It's like car auctions, you know, or some guy's rebuilt a Datsun Z car and I want to check it out. You know, something like, I'm sort of blue collarly minded and, and a little less, let's check out this guy's stand-up special on YouTube, you know? And I'm fine with it. It's just, I do it for a living and when I'm done,

• 1:29:07Speaker 02

  I'll put it to you this way. Times I've been to a comedy club where I'm not performing?

• 1:29:12Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:12Speaker 02

  Almost zero. Times I've walked to that job site in Malibu for free?

• 1:29:17Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:17Speaker 02

  Two thousand.

• 1:29:18Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:19Speaker 02

  So that's where my interests are. That's literally what I'm doing. And I find myself much more interested in monkeying around with building and cars and mechanical stuff than I do in the sort of arts world.

• 1:29:35Mike Rowe?

  Yeah, but there's a metaphor there too. I mean, you know, the mechanics of a joke, the construction of a, a tight five minutes.

• 1:29:44Speaker 02

  I believe.

• 1:29:46Speaker 02

  It has to live somewhere in some reality. And depending on the style of your humor, but my humor is sort of a, people have to kind of go, yeah, okay, yeah, I know what that is, or I've heard of that, or I believe that. Like, for me, it's very important that we live in a, oh yeah, I know what he's talking about, or right, how come, blah, blah, blah. And, and that's to me what sort of building is, is it's kind of a reality and a practicality and a kind of a, kind of a gravity. And when I used to build, I would talk to the, it would always be the women who were remodeling the houses, the guys never, I never talked to the guys, it would always be the women.

• 1:30:30Speaker 02

  And the guy was at work most of the time and the women were there and they would say, like, I wanna get rid of this whole wall and just make one big open expanse, one big great room, you know? And I'd go, well, if it's a load-bearing wall, then we're gonna have to pick up the load, you know? And I'd go, put my head, and I'd go, the joists are running the wrong direction, there's, yeah, it's a load-bearing wall. So then I'd go, alright, so we can get rid of the wall, but we gotta put a big header to pick up the joists, the load. And then the woman would go, I don't want a header, I don't want to look at a header, I want it to be smooth and, you know, flat and all the way down.

• 1:31:11Speaker 02

  Then I'd go, well, we could put a header up in the ceiling, we gotta put a post down at some point, because it's gotta be a smaller header. No, I don't want the post, I don't want the post. And I'd go, well, we could put a piece of steel up there and that'll span it, but that's really expensive, I don't want to pay for that. I'd go, alright, what you want is a magic wand, so you can affect gravity.

• 1:31:35Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:31:36Speaker 02

  I'm giving you these options, and you gotta pick one. And that's that. And you could bring in 10,000 other guys and they'll tell you exactly the same thing. So this is where we're at, so we gotta figure this out. And that's just kind of my approach to life. Now, I know you don't want to look at a header, and I don't want to look at a header, and you don't want a post, and I don't want a post, but that's it, we don't have a choice.

• 1:32:01Mike Rowe?

  But if you are a general contractor, metaphorically, and you are, and if you're, you know, not a subject matter expert, but... You know, you're in the decathlon and you want to be competent at all of these things. I mean, all of that really tracks, you know, you've done a lot of stand up, you've written your books, podcast thing and all of it. And I, when I think of you interviewing Gavin Newsom. Now, that's gonna hold up. And that, that wasn't comedy. That wasn't, whatever that was, it suddenly revealed something. And, uh, you know, I wonder what it's like now for people who don't

• 1:32:44Mike Rowe?

  know what I'm talking about. Just give me a real quick synopsis of what happened and when. And then, talk about maybe what you think now when you see him, you know, in Europe and elsewhere, doing his thing.

• 1:32:59Speaker 02

  Um, it was several years ago, I interviewed him, maybe 13 years ago now. And I didn't have any strong opinions about him one way or the other before he came in. I wasn't planning on being adversarial, but I had some thoughts and corrections that I was looking to impress upon him. And I thought he'd be sort of amenable to some of those thoughts, you know, and there were kind of basic thoughts, which was, I started seeing, I'll give you an example of a sort of basic thought. I would see people in Los Angeles who got into minor fender benders,

• 1:33:41Speaker 02

  consistently standing in the third lane of the freeway, in the, in the middle of the freeway, in the middle of the traffic, exchanging information, taking pictures, talking outside the car, and creating a giant traffic jam, right? And I would say, they're gonna get killed, number one. Number two, the car's fine. It's, it's amazing what a car can do. I've driven the Toyota Celebrity Grand Prix five times. I've seen cars completed on three wheels with, every time there's a, a high-speed chase, at some point the guy's running, then there's a spark coming out. Like, you could drag a car off the, I'm gonna pull over to the, to the shoulder. You're gonna get killed and you're stopping the freeway.

• 1:34:24Speaker 02

  And I started saying, why don't they just put that up on the freeway sign, you know? Like, if you have a little fender bender, pull, it's the law, pull it over. And- People started sending me pictures from like Montana signs by the side of the freeway said if it steers it clears. I mean, pull it over. They had a campaign. Well, here we are in Los Angeles, the worst traffic in the world, and nobody knows. They think it's a crime scene or whatever. So, put it up on the sign. And I think he's gonna say to me, "Oh, it's a good idea. You know what? You're right." Or, better yet, like, "Yeah, I know. I've been talking about this, and I wanna get it done, and I wanna put it..." Whatever. He just looked at me and sort of went, "What?" I said, "In Montana, they

• 1:35:09Speaker 02

  have signs that say, 'Get out of here.'" He thought I was kidding. And then, so I said to him, "No, it's a big problem, and it's just you could put it on the freeway sign and start a campaign." He goes, "I saw a sign I like. I saw a sign that said, 'You're not in traffic, you are traffic.'" And I was like, "What's that have to do with...?" "What's that mean?" I didn't know what it means. "But I wanna alleviate traffic." He was laughing the whole time. And then, later on, he brought up blacks and Hispanics, 50% of them in California don't have access to a checking account. Now, first things first, when people start butchering the language with the "access," everyone, "What do you

• 1:35:53Speaker 02

  mean? What's that mean, no access?" You know what I mean? Like, they would go, "Hobby Lobby denies access to birth control or reproductive, you know, health." They don't provide the pill. That's not denied access. I would tell people all the time, I have 20 people who work for me. I don't deny them access to lunch. I just don't buy them a sandwich. They get their own sandwich. I don't slap it out of their hands. It's denied access. So, he started telling me that 50%, which is an insane number of blacks and Hispanics, don't have access to a checking account. So, I said, "What's wrong with them?" And he was like, "What?" And I was like, "Well, why aren't they doing it? Why wouldn't they get a checking account?" It's like, "What? Oh, I don't know." And he just kept bringing

• 1:36:38Speaker 02

  up the problem, but never bringing up a fix for the problem. And he went in circles and circles and circles for a lot of subjects, a lot of time, homelessness and everything. And I realized he had no answers, but he also didn't intend on any answers. And he didn't... I guess what it is, is...

• 1:36:59Speaker 02

  He didn't find it to be problematic that he had no answers to the problems that he brought up. You know what I'm saying? Yep. And it didn't bother him at all. He didn't even seem to really recognize it or hear what he was saying. And I kept saying to him, what is wrong? And by the way, he didn't go, 50% of blacks and Hispanics in California don't have access to checking accounts, so I have an amendment to a bill that will give us mobile checking account vans where we can pull into these cities like the blood mobile and get these people, these underprivileged people, sign up. He had nothing. He just kept stating the problem.

• 1:37:44Speaker 02

  And then I realized he doesn't know what he sounds like and he's a sociopath. Like, he doesn't really understand anything. He doesn't... It's all a kind of a fake laugh and hair gel and a deep leg cross, which is a thing they just cross their legs super violently hard. Extraordinary, yeah. Extraordinary for a man to do and unfazed and unbothered by zero answers and zero remedies. With everything is kind of a laugh it off. Oh, you're making a joke. And I'm like, I'm serious. People get killed standing in the middle of the freeway. They should move their cars. Yeah. That's all he does.

• 1:38:27Speaker 02

  He doesn't say, huh, I hadn't thought about that, but you're right. That's a good idea. We should just put it up on the sign and make people aware of it. Pull over. He doesn't say anything. He told me that the homeless... I said to him 13 years ago, I said, the homeless are junkies who are schizophrenic. They're mental issues and they're addicted to drugs. And that's who's on the sidewalk. And he said, he said, how about the true face of homelessness? And I said, who's that? And he said, oh, he said, the true picture of homelessness. I said, who's that? So it's a mother of two, full-time job, minimum wage, just got divorced, got put out with her kids.

• 1:39:10Speaker 02

  I said, that's nobody. That's nobody. By the way, you want to not solve a problem? Then don't mislabel a problem, or don't diagnose a problem.

• 1:39:20Mike Rowe?

  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. There's no chocolate or peanut butter in his point.

• 1:39:25Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:39:30Mike Rowe?

  If you work in boots all day long and your feet sweat, I feel your pain. And I'd recommend trying the socks that I wear every day from Camel City Mill. These guys sent me a box as a gift long before they sponsored this podcast. And I started wearing them and eventually I reached out to them because I love the product. And I wanted more sponsors on the podcast who make things in America. And now here they are again sponsoring another episode. Camel City Mill makes their socks in North Carolina with American wool in an American factory. Their merino wool blends help wick sweat away from your skin. And their no sweat vent lets heat and moisture escape. That helps keep your feet dry and comfortable when you're spending long days in work boots.

• 1:40:14Mike Rowe?

  They also reinforce the heel and the toe with double plated nylon to stand up to the wear those boots put on your socks. Remember, it's not the feet that wear out your socks. It's your boots and they back their socks with a 10 year durability guarantee. If you get a hole or a tear in the first decade, they'll replace them for free. If you're a hardworking guy dealing with sweaty, uncomfortable feet, I'm telling you, these are worth trying. I wear mine every day and I'm glad to have the company on the podcast. CamelCityMill.com. Use code ROW. Get 10% off my favorite work socks. CamelCityMill.com code ROW.

• 1:40:52Speaker 02

  And that's what it is. He labels something, something else and then moves on. And the homeless problems got a lot worse last 13 years. The homeless problems got a lot worse because he diagnosed it as a mom with a full time job who just got divorced.

• 1:41:08Mike Rowe?

  Right.

• 1:41:09Speaker 02

  That's how he diagnosed it.

• 1:41:11Mike Rowe?

  So, I mean, just staying on that issue for a minute. That was 13 years ago. How many billions have been spent in California?

• 1:41:18Speaker 02

  24.

• 1:41:19Mike Rowe?

  24 billion dollars.

• 1:41:22Mike Rowe?

  Has it gotten better or worse?

• 1:41:24Speaker 02

  It's gotten worse, but why wouldn't it? Because you've not identified.

• 1:41:29Mike Rowe?

  The true face of homelessness.

• 1:41:31Speaker 02

  Well, if you walked in a house and someone decided it was termite infested and then the guy said, I think it's because it's haunted and then left. Well, that's not really going to solve the termite problem, is it? You've misdiagnosed what's going on. You got the termite part right.

• 1:41:48Mike Rowe?

  But you might get a show on the Travel Channel.

• 1:41:52Speaker 02

  Tent that house. Yeah.

• 1:41:54Mike Rowe?

  Tent it. Well, you look, I think of the high speed rail. I think of the fires. I think of homelessness. And then I read the profile and what was it Vogue? The other day, which is just amazing. And I just watched yesterday in real time. I think he, I forget who he was in front of, but it was a large assemblage of, of black people. And he said, I have a, what is it like a 980 on my SAT? But I can't read either. You know, there's some form of dyslexia and he's, he's getting lit up for it. Cause I think he said, I'm just like you.

• 1:42:28Speaker 02

  Yeah. 960, I think.

• 1:42:29Mike Rowe?

  960, right.

• 1:42:30Speaker 02

  But.

• 1:42:31Mike Rowe?

  I was rounding up.

• 1:42:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:42:32Mike Rowe?

  But I mean, so look, he survived the exchange with you 13 years ago. He survived all of these things.

• 1:42:38Speaker 02

  He doesn't, he doesn't really fully understand it. And I can tell you that, you know, sometimes you have to sort of get in the ring with somebody to really feel their power or lack thereof. You know what I mean? You can't just watch them on TV. And their boxing bouts, you know, you have to really kind of experience it. And I've sat in a room for an hour and a half with him, listening to him try to answer questions and he doesn't track. So there's something missing. Like I would say, you know, with a lot of people, when they go, oh, what do you think of Adam Schiff?

• 1:43:21Speaker 02

  I go, oh, that liar, that guy's lawyer, bullshit artist. But, and you can say, well, what do you think about AOC? And I go, she's a narcissist with a 10 cent head. But you go, what do you think about Gavin Newsom? I go, something's wrong with him. That's plain and simple for me. And it's not for me. I'm telling you reliably, something is wrong with him. And when you see him sort of do what he does, that's what you're seeing. But you're only seeing it on TV. You're not smelling as Musk.

• 1:43:54Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:43:54Speaker 02

  His nutty Musk when you're in studio with him.

• 1:43:58Mike Rowe?

  Chuck, Google nutty Musk.

• 1:44:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, I have to make it nut Musk.

• 1:44:02Mike Rowe?

  I just want to see what comes up.

• 1:44:06Mike Rowe?

  I know we got to land the plane here soon, but I mean, is there like a scenario where you'd even consider running for some kind of elected office?

• 1:44:17Speaker 02

  No, but I'm flattered that people tell me that.

• 1:44:20Mike Rowe?

  You're on lists. You're on lists.

• 1:44:22Speaker 02

  I guess. I, again, it sounds so far away from my version of myself that lives in my head. You know, like Adam Carolla for governor sounds insane to me. But on the other hand, writing a book is pretty far away.

• 1:44:41Mike Rowe?

  Not Taco Bell material?

• 1:44:42Speaker 02

  The version.

• 1:44:42Mike Rowe?

  Blogging live from your, I mean, look, it's all insane.

• 1:44:46Speaker 02

  I totally get that it's all insane, but this one seems totally insane. But I would be very good at it because I would approach it like we're on the job site. Which is, here's what we're gonna do and here's what we're not gonna do and here's what works. And there's a kind of pragmatism that is missing from what we're talking about. And it can be found on the farms and in the barns and on the job sites. A kind of a brass tacks pragmatism that is missing. The bluer the state gets, the more that enzyme is missing.

• 1:45:26Speaker 02

  You know, it needs some ranchers and some hunters and some folks that put things together.

• 1:45:33Mike Rowe?

  Did you see Fareed Zakaria's thing?

• 1:45:35Speaker 02

  Yes, I did.

• 1:45:37Mike Rowe?

  On Mondami?

• 1:45:38Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:45:39Mike Rowe?

  And New York in general. What'd you think?

• 1:45:40Speaker 02

  And blue states in general.

• 1:45:42Mike Rowe?

  In gen- well, blue cities.

• 1:45:44Speaker 02

  Oh, blue cities. Yes.

• 1:45:45Mike Rowe?

  But what he did, I, he kind of left the door open for a comparison between blue and red cities. But I, like. Can you think of a red city?

• 1:45:56Speaker 02

  That's a good point. Yeah, there's red states, but not so much red cities.

• 1:46:00Mike Rowe?

  Right. And I think, you know, the point of managing a population, it's kind of, the line to me is interesting between, well, are you managing a city or are you managing?

• 1:46:10Speaker 02

  Well, I can say to some degree, there are surprisingly couple of Orange County cities that in California that could be considered red in the way they sort of conduct themselves, you know? And Long Beach, you know, didn't want to give in to all the COVID mandates and shut the beach and stuff like that. They have, there's some little bastions and you can tell because if I go to the Irvine Improv, which I, you know, performed at quite a few times over the years. When I'm driving out of LA and I'm on the 5 freeway and I'm looking at Damnation Alley

• 1:46:53Speaker 02

  with hobos wandering in circles and graffiti everywhere and garbage everywhere. And at some point, the road opens up and the pavement smoothes out and the garbage and the homeless go away. And the graffiti goes away and I look around and I go, I guess we're in Orange County now. Like we've literally, there's a palpable difference. When you're driving, it hits you pretty hard because it just, all of a sudden, everything has changed. And so there are certain cities that are at least run reddish, even if they're not completely red, but I.

• 1:47:29Mike Rowe?

  $127 billion.

• 1:47:32Speaker 02

  For a budget. Yeah. More than Florida's.

• 1:47:34Mike Rowe?

  More than Florida, more than Thailand.

• 1:47:36Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:47:37Mike Rowe?

  More than Greece.

• 1:47:38Speaker 02

  Right. Yeah, it's insane, but the thing that's insane about it is there's a bravado to it, which is kind of, if you, it's really nervy. It's a bravado because what it's saying is, is you go.

• 1:47:55Speaker 02

  Look, you guys spend more money than the country of Greece and the state of Florida. Okay, and you're gonna go up to the podium and say you want more money and people need to pay their fair share and we're gonna tax this group and that group. Is there any part of you that thinks about reeling it in a little bit in the spending department? And then why is that off the table? Like, why is that a nonstarter? Because you can either tax people more or you can spend less and you'll end up in the same place. It's the same difference.

• 1:48:33Mike Rowe?

  But throw in 5% of that population left.

• 1:48:36Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 1:48:38Mike Rowe?

  I mean, that's a lot of people. And you can kind of hide that kind of big crazy number with big crazy numbers of people. But the number of people who are leaving is on the rise, so that just means your budget's higher and now fewer people have to pay more. And it's just, I mean, watching Fareed talk about this was, I thought it was really instructive because he didn't enjoy talking about it. But at least he, like, he told us the truth in the ingredients. Like, he was talking about real chocolate and real peanut butter, I thought, you know?

• 1:49:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was refreshing, his candor.

• 1:49:14Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:49:15Speaker 02

  And I think that's his brother's name, by the way. Candor Zakaria. So, I liked it, and yeah, when people on that side of the aisle are speaking that way, that should be a sobering moment to those guys. And also, there should be some element of sort of humility that they don't seem to have, which is, you are spending a grotesque amount of money, this is an impossible scenario, and you're going to have to try to re-engineer what you're doing here. And there never seems to be that sort of come-to-Jesus moment.

• 1:50:00Speaker 02

  It's just lots of posturing about needing more money.

• 1:50:04Mike Rowe?

  I just think, you know, the photo that Chuck finally found, and good work, Chuck. That's the ultimate. I mean, your point was you can't go backwards. You know, if you're gonna-

• 1:50:14Speaker 02

  They won't go backwards.

• 1:50:15Mike Rowe?

  If you're gonna put in the barbecons, or you're gonna put in the caissons, and you put in five, you're never gonna put in four. It's only gonna be six. It's only, everything's gotta go big, big, big, bigger.

• 1:50:26Speaker 02

  You, you really, in order to really like, fully appreciate this, for me, I did it for a living for several years, a decade or more, but then I got in the show business, and I didn't do it for a long time. And then at some point, some years later, I like, came back to it because I was doing some projects on my own, and there were, I was pulling permits. And, you know, I was talking to the engineer, and I was like, oh, we gotta build a sheer wall here. And I'd go, alright, yeah, okay, two by fours, four by fours, and number four. And they go, no, no, six by six, two by six, two by, and I'd go, what? No, no, that's not how you build a sheer wall. I know what the specs are, I've done it. You know, half inch flat, no, no, three quarter inch flat.

• 1:51:11Speaker 02

  I know the nail link schedule is six on center. No, no, it's three on center. I'd go, what, what's, what happened? What happened is I, I laid off for seven years, and the codes-

• 1:51:21Mike Rowe?

  Sure.

• 1:51:22Speaker 02

  -kept moving. You step away, and then you reintroduce yourself, and it's completely insanely over. And I'm walking around going, oh, you gotta be kidding me. There's no way they need this, you know, they need that. Oh, they have the pads on each side, but they need a bond beam to tie them together. I go, they don't really need a bond beam, we got the pads on this. I was like, no, no, that's, you know, engineers are like, that's the new code. That's the new code. And so, no, they never repeal anything. They just keep adding things on. And there is a cottage industry that springs forward from all that gets added on. And then those people have lobbyists.

• 1:52:04Speaker 02

  So, you know, we now have more bureaucracy in the teachers' unions than we have teachers, right? I mean, there's more office workers than there are coaches and teachers and, you know, boots on the ground. That number just keeps growing and growing and growing because it becomes a leviathan. It becomes its own sort of machine. And then they get political clout. And then you try to strip them and make them lean and mean and whatever, and then they go, remember who got you into office. And then the political will goes away.

• 1:52:41Mike Rowe?

  This is why people say it's gotta go splat.

• 1:52:44Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 1:52:45Mike Rowe?

  And I don't know what it means, but the country ought to be paying attention to California.

• 1:52:52Speaker 02

  I agree.

• 1:52:54Mike Rowe?

  I'm glad you are, man. I really, it's just, it's, I'm glad I know you too. You were very kind years ago. Invited me on back in the Dirty Jobs days, said some nice things about me, you know? In fact, you were like, you know, I really admire your career. Like, I love the fact that you're out there, like, doing a show that felt... I'm always amazed in this industry, you know? I got a call one time from Patrick Warbarton.

• 1:53:22Speaker 02

  Warbarton.

• 1:53:23Mike Rowe?

  Hard to say, but, you know, he was like, you know, I've been watching Dirty Jobs and...

• 1:53:28Speaker 02

  He's a good dude, by the way.

• 1:53:30Mike Rowe?

  He sure seems like it.

• 1:53:31Speaker 02

  Oh, he is.

• 1:53:32Mike Rowe?

  And he had an idea. He was like, what if you and I were just to go through, like, Napa Valley? Like they did on Sideways, only just as us, just, you know, drinking wine and hanging out. It's like, is that a show? I'm like, yeah, I guess it could be. But I'm thinking, you know, you're putty, you're killing it on Seinfeld, you're the tick, you're like, all these things. And he's looking at Dirty Jobs and finding something that he, that he envied, you know, something that's different. And, you know, I guess we all do that, you know? Like, I envy your career a lot. I'm happy with mine, but it's always interesting to see how people turn out after 30 years.

• 1:54:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:54:14Mike Rowe?

  Of doing what they do.

• 1:54:15Speaker 02

  Well, thanks. But listen, I see you and I go, oh, man, that's what I should be doing.

• 1:54:19Mike Rowe?

  Yeah.

• 1:54:20Speaker 02

  Because I love the work. And one thing I do wanna say to you specifically on that subject and all...

• 1:54:31Speaker 02

  You know, I know that all the vocational training and all that sort of bring back shop class near and dear to your heart. I say all the time, you go up and down PCH as I do. It is littered with people working. Now, it's all, it's all roadwork. They're all doing roadwork. They're not building any houses, but that's all road crews. And then I go up the hill and I walk on the job sites and it's all these crews. I see crews everywhere. I do not see one black face. I only see Hispanics. And I've said for a million years, can somebody go down to the inner city and find these kids

• 1:55:13Speaker 02

  that are on a bad path, that are heading for gangs or heading for worse and get a hold of them and go, there's good money to be made, there's dignity, there's pride. You're two years away from it. You're 17, you've been suspended five times. You're not going to be a rapper. We don't need to expose you to music. We don't need to take you to a museum. You need a trade, man. And there's plenty of work to be done. You know the pitch better than anybody. But could somebody go down there and get to these people and tell them? Because I don't see one of them working in this entire Vista. And I pass hundreds of guys every single day and not one person from the inner city.

• 1:55:58Mike Rowe?

  Well, the answer is yeah, but nobody who ever won an election. In Baltimore, there's an organization you would love called Project Jump Start. And these guys, this is the construction industry, who basically threw up their hands and said, we can't find apprentices. We're really in a, in a world of hurt. So they set up this pre-apprenticeship program. Through the inner city, so some guys coming out of jail, some guys about to go in, you know, all at risk and you know, and they, they went in there, they took two retired shop teachers and put willing participants through this pre-apprenticeship program. And it had consequences, like you could screw it up.

• 1:56:42Mike Rowe?

  You're late, like they would give you a stipend, but if you're late, they'll take money. Shirts untucked, cellphone goes off, all that, you know, there are consequences. Bottom line, it was not involved at the time anyway with any kind of local taxes. And it was vibrant and I mean, there are these stories, I mean, guys who, you know, electricians make 140 grand a year, who were out of, out of cards.

• 1:57:08Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:57:08Mike Rowe?

  I mean, the exact kid you're talking about. So yeah, LA could do that. They could absolutely do it, but I wouldn't know what elected official to turn to. It's going to take private industry.

• 1:57:18Speaker 02

  I've never heard it come out of anyone's mouth, but someone should have said, Altadena's burned to the ground, Palosales burned to the ground, Malibu's burned to the ground. I don't need a bunch of people coming in from Oklahoma to pick up the pieces. We have tons of strong, young people. It doesn't take that long to figure out how to pull some Romex through some studs or whatever. It's not, it's not rocket science. It's experience and, and it's hands-on, but it's just, you can do it in a year and you can get on a job site. You'll, by the way, when you're on a job site, eight, 10 hours a day, every day, you learn real fast.

• 1:58:03Mike Rowe?

  Real fast.

• 1:58:04Speaker 02

  Right. And three years from now, these guys will be 20, 21, and they'll be making good money and they'll have dignity and pride and a sense of purpose and all that. Somebody just go, let's do this. And I've never heard, I've never heard a word from anybody ever.

• 1:58:18Mike Rowe?

  Hey, look man, I mean, Maybe we ought to do it.

• 1:58:22Speaker 02

  All right. I've been bitching about it for a long time.

• 1:58:25Mike Rowe?

  Hey, I'm glad you stopped by. Sorry it led into this giant, life-changing promise made in front of three cameras, but yeah, let's do it.

• 1:58:34Speaker 02

  I'm game. Yeah. Oh, good.

• 1:58:38Mike Rowe?

  Really appreciate you coming by, man.

• 1:58:39Speaker 02

  Thanks, Mike. Always appreciate talking to you.

• 1:58:41Mike Rowe?

  I owe you one. Actually, I think this makes it even, but it doesn't matter. I'm at your disposal.

• 1:59:11Speaker 04

  This is Jason Timp from Hoops Tonight with Jason Timp. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability, and it starts with a great deal on an off-road ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's longest-lasting trucks, combining power for work, tech for adventures, and style in between. Built on a reputation for quality and reliability, Toyota trucks are known for holding their value, which can mean big savings when it's time for your next Toyota. So get a great deal today and great value tomorrow. Shop toyota.com for more. Toyota, let's go places.

• 1:59:42Speaker 05

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.