Adam Carolla Show
Episode: Exposing Small Town Corruption with Chef Andrew Gruel
Date: October 8, 2025
EPISODE OVERVIEW
Adam Carolla welcomes Chef Andrew Gruel back to the studio for an uncensored, wide-ranging conversation blending food talk, small-town and California politics, rampant bureaucracy, and their frustrations with modern culture. The episode offers Carolla’s signature blend of humor, rants, and candid views, with Gruel bringing firsthand political insight from his current seat on the Huntington Beach city council. The discussion focuses on local government corruption, California’s regulatory bloat, the roots of politicized lawsuits, shifting work culture, and virtue signaling, interspersed with lively banter—plus a side of pizza and sandwich talk.
KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS
1. Pizza, Sporks, and Food Philosophy
[02:49 - 09:20]
-
Adam and Andrew start with their favorite pizza toppings and the mystery of pepperoni oversupply from chain restaurants.
- Adam: “Pepperoni dominates... it’s too salty... Domino’s? You get a pepperoni pizza, it is littered with pepperoni.” [03:26]
- Andrew explains the difference between sliced and crumbled sausage as toppings, favoring fresh ingredients.
-
Adam’s skepticism toward pizza Parmesan packets leads to Gruel’s chef-grade take:
- Andrew: “The Parmesan cheese...pre-grated stuff... that’s treated with so much anti-caking agents and ultimately wood pulp. That’s not even Parmesan.” [06:49]
-
They discuss the overlooked value of sporks, with Gruel revealing he had metal sporks made for home use.
- Andrew: “We’ve got specialty sporks at home. You open the drawers... We’ve got spork, spork, spork, knife.” [08:17]
2. Inside California’s Local Government & Corruption
[09:31 - 24:47]
-
Gruel shares his city council experience in Huntington Beach, illuminating the franchise-like dynamic between Sacramento (the “franchisor”) and municipalities (“franchisees”).
- Andrew: “If you’re a city that bucks against that trend...they're going to defranchise you.” [11:51]
- Adam: “Here, our politicians were cool...and then at some point we got all fucking bloated with kickbacks. And now I feel like California's more corrupt than any other state...” [10:09]
-
Explains California’s housing element mandate and resulting lawsuits when cities resist state housing quotas.
- Andrew: “If you don’t have the housing element adopted, then the builders can come in and override any of your local zoning code ordinances...they will build sky high.” [13:08]
3. Hot-Button Lawsuits: Voter ID & Library Content
[13:18 - 21:21]
-
Huntington Beach is the only CA city to pass a voter ID law—leading to lawsuits:
- Adam: “You need an ID for everything...The notion that in these modern times they would be fighting for this is insane...the only conclusion...is they want people who are here illegally to vote.” [15:17]
- Gruel: “I had my license expire...It was the toughest week of my life.” [16:28]
-
Library book restrictions fuel further litigation with the ACLU challenging parental controls for controversial books:
- Andrew: “We said...we’re gonna move these [books] into a section...where it’s like 18+ or you gotta have a parent...We weren’t removing them, but of course ACLU sues you.” [19:34]
4. The Leftward Drift of Institutions & Lawsuit Culture
[21:21 - 24:47]
- Carolla and Gruel discuss why nonprofits—Sierra Club, ACLU, NAACP—wind up aggressively left-leaning and weaponize litigation.
- Andrew: “Much of this is just financial warfare. They pile these cases on you, and ultimately you have to settle.” [21:21]
- Adam: “Everything was tied up with lawyers and the Sierra Club and the Coastal Commission...And we just argued.” [24:16]
5. Work Ethic, Team Sports, and “Pussified” Culture
[24:47 - 44:43]
- Carolla rails against the gentle coddling of professional athletes after mistakes (“babyfied world”) and how old-school coaching built resilience and standards.
- Adam: “Football is a team sport and you let the team down, you’re in trouble. It’s like the military.” [25:10]
- They segue into broader societal changes: from hard men to “mushy” 50-year-olds, the ban on non-American flags, and the symbolism of policy fights.
6. Virtue Signaling, Media, and Punching Down
[44:43 - 62:54]
- A long segment features Carolla’s takedown of Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s viral speech about immigrants, alpha males, and “punching down.”
- Adam: “Every white guy I knew was with me on a construction site, digging ditches, fucking carrying drywall. That’s all we did, all of us.” [46:09]
- Andrew: “To pretend like these are people leaving their war-torn country...That is not true. That is fundamentally not true.” [49:12]
- They critique the impulse to pathologize all right-of-center views as “mean,” without grappling with policy or economic realities.
7. Bureaucracy & Overregulation in Building
[81:55 - 99:04]
- Carolla unleashes a classic rant about insane construction permitting in Malibu, with multi-million-dollar regulations for home foundations.
- Adam: “Every house that burnt down now, that was built there in the 40s and 50s, sat on telephone poles... And now you got these cages, and it's going to be 200 grand a cage to drill it, drop it, form it, fill it with concrete. And that just gets you to the dirt.” [93:43]
- Clip from Carolla’s iconic “nothing” rant about shoddy 1929 construction still standing strong, contrasted with modern overbuild ("Now that house was built in nineteen goddamn twenty nine. And you know where it is today, right?...It has moved not an inch.” [96:34])
8. Random Highlights: Sandwich Contests and AI Job Losses
[66:32 - 82:33]
- The show takes a lighter detour rating “mom sandwiches”—from homemade sourdoughs to the new winner of “shittiest sandwich” (white bread, American cheese, and jelly).
- Adam: “I’ve never heard of that sandwich. Child abuse calls child protective services.” [69:56]
- News bits: AI’s job risk for nurses/truck drivers/accountants, fireman pay, and Trump/Diddy/Jack Johnson’s “Mann Act” history.
NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS
-
On California Politics:
- “If you're a city that bucks against that trend...they're going to defranchise you. They're gonna deflag you.” – Andrew Gruel [11:51]
-
On Voter ID:
- “You need an ID for everything...the only conclusion...is they want people who are here illegally to vote. Because there’s no other conclusion.” – Adam Carolla [15:17]
-
On Modern Work Culture:
- “If you took 10 50-year-old dads from 1972...they’re hard men...Now...most of them are mushy.” – Andrew Gruel [36:40]
-
On Institutional Drift:
- “They all drift over, and I’m guessing money starts coming in, and then they start doing the bidding of...” – Adam Carolla [20:35]
-
On Overregulation in Building:
- “...my house was built in 1929...no straps, no Teo clips and no 835s and no continuous shear wall and no moments and no nothing...Now that house was built in nineteen goddamn twenty nine. And you know where it is today, right? ...it has moved not an inch.” – Adam Carolla, Nothing Rant [96:34]
-
On Sandwich Hierarchy:
- “White bread, American cheese. Not grilled, just American cheese, white bread and jelly. That’s disgusting.” – Adam Carolla [69:41]
TIMESTAMPS FOR IMPORTANT SEGMENTS
- Pizza & Parmesan packet talk: 02:49 - 07:50
- Sporks and utensil innovation: 07:50 - 09:20
- Corruption & California politics: 09:31 - 13:18
- Affordable housing lawsuits: 13:08 - 13:18
- Voter ID mandate & lawsuits: 13:18 - 19:34
- Battling the ACLU and library content: 19:34 - 21:21
- Institutional “Left Drift” & Lawsuit Machine: 21:21 - 24:47
- Team Sports, Accountability & Culture Decay: 24:47 - 44:43
- Virtue Signaling & Political Hypocrisy: 44:43 - 62:54
- Sandwich hierarchy contest: 66:32 - 71:10
- Construction Overregulation Rant: 81:55 - 99:04
- Carolla’s Historic 'Nothing' Rant: 95:45 - 98:35
TAKEAWAYS
- Chef Gruel’s local political experience brings real-world insight into how California’s bureaucratic bloat and lawsuit culture is strangling autonomy and progress for small cities.
- Both hosts rail against virtue signaling, the “pussification” of American culture, and the inability of government and society to build efficiently or incentivize hard work.
- An entertaining blend of hard truths, irreverence, policy critique, and nostalgia for what’s been lost—anchored by Carolla’s rants and Gruel’s frontline perspective.
For listeners craving a raw, comedic, and unapologetic look at what’s ailing California and American culture, plus some deep food nerdery, this episode delivers on all fronts.