The Karol Markowicz Show: Joel Pollak on the California Post, Newsom’s Policies, and the Fight for California’s Future

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Karol Markowicz Show — Joel Pollak on the California Post, Newsom’s Policies, and the Fight for California’s Future

Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show / The Karol Markowicz Show
Guest: Joel Pollak (Opinion Editor, California Post)
Date: March 6, 2026
Host: Karol Markowicz

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Overview

This episode features a deep-dive interview with Joel Pollak, the opinion editor of the newly launched California Post, a news outlet aiming to provide a fresh, hard-hitting perspective on California’s social, political, and cultural issues. The discussion explores the mission of the California Post, California's unique challenges, optimism (or lack thereof) for the state’s future, critiques of Governor Gavin Newsom's policies, and personal philosophies on resilience, family, and living a better life.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Mission of the California Post

[03:24]

• Joel Pollak describes the California Post as delivering non-partisan, wide-ranging coverage:

  "It’s about providing a new hard hitting journalistic perspective on everything happening in California... a real opportunity to reach people and to hold up a mirror to California."

• The Post is modeled after the New York Post, covering everything from politics to celebrity gossip, with a focus on an underserved audience including not just Republicans, but also Democrats dissatisfied with the state’s trajectory.
• Emphasis on covering the full diversity of California, geographically and culturally.

2. The Challenge of Statewide Coverage

[04:56]

• Acknowledges the complexity of reporting on a state as diverse as California, likened to covering “three small countries.”
• LA serves as headquarters, but teams are present throughout the state, including Sacramento and San Francisco.
• Regions are “interdependent,” with key issues—like water policies—linked across North and South.

3. Is California "Over"? Joel's Optimism vs. Realism

[07:06]

• Karol Markowicz raises the perception that California is in irreversible decline amid outmigration and governance failures.
• Joel is investing in California—but admits to deep daily pessimism:

  “Is my day to day feeling one of optimism? No. No, it really isn’t.” [07:30]

• Personal turning point: surviving and fighting the Palisades fire, which drove home that California’s broader problems could no longer be ignored even in relatively protected enclaves.

4. Sharp Critique of Gavin Newsom’s Leadership

[09:53]

• Joel details multiple grievances:
  • Failure to clear brush contributing to wildfires
  • Ballooning budgets without visible improvements
  • Rampant fraud (e.g., "$20 billion out the door during the pandemic for unemployment... maybe $30 billion")
  • Expensive failed projects ("the train to nowhere... 18 billion already")
• Most damning: Newsom’s signing of AB218, removing statute of limitations on sex abuse lawsuits, enabling large-scale retroactive suits that are bankrupting school districts and cities.

  "Santa Monica... is now in severe financial distress because they had to pay out something like a quarter of a billion dollars because of some city employee like 40 years ago..." [12:09]

5. Culture of Victimhood and Policy Critiques

[13:43–15:57]

• Joel laments a moral and fiscal culture lacking boundaries, governed with “child-like” irresponsibility:

  "California is governed by children. It is governed by people who know no boundaries and refuse to accept boundaries, whether fiscal or moral..." [14:03]

• Critiques on gender policies, reparations (“Why does California have to pay reparations to anybody?” [15:05]), and a culture that rewards victimhood over achievement.
• Suggests this direction is unsustainable, harming the present and future.

6. The Prospect for California’s Future

[16:23]

• Despite his skepticism, Joel believes improvement is possible:

  "No, but I am optimistic that it can be better. So I don’t think it’s going to be saved just yet, but I do think it can be better."

• Both Joel and Karol express regret at the state’s course, recognizing California’s unique beauty and potential.

7. California Post’s Editorial & Cultural Touches

[21:05]

• Reflects the New York Post by considering “esoteric beats,” like a daily surf report—though recognizes the unique challenges in summarizing localized surf data.
• Personal anecdotes from Joel about surfing in LA, adapting to the cold Pacific, and appreciating California’s diversity ("I have, in fact, surfed and skied in the same weekend...").

8. Personal Reflections: Family, Resilience, and Advice

[24:08]

• Most proud of: His wife and their family:

  “There’s no way in which I deserved to have married this incredible woman. She continues to amaze me every single day.” [24:08]

  • Shares details of family life, professional life of his spouse (chief economist at the Department of Labor), and their approach to parenting without nanny support.
• Offers dating advice to men: perseverance and clarity of intent are key.
• Shares the personal impact of the Palisades fire—how it shifted his worldview from the national to the hyperlocal.

9. Five-Year Outlook and Life Advice

[31:03, 33:50]

• Five-year prediction focuses on personal and community recovery after the fire:

  "I hope my community is rebuilt, ...we will hopefully have a beautiful community again." [32:17]

• Advice for improved living:
  • Exercise regularly:

    "Physical health is really the foundation of everything else. And if you can exercise daily or almost daily, you’ll find that your mental and emotional outlook is a lot better..." [33:50]

  • Journaling: Inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Joel fills out journals six days a week—advises listeners to do the same to clear mental clutter and boost creativity.
  • Book recommendations: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.
  • Notable Moment: Joel demonstrates his daily journal to Karol:

    “This is my latest journal. I have dozens and dozens of these that I’ve filled…” [35:49]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On optimism:

  "I don’t know if California is going to be okay long term. I’d like to believe it is." — Joel Pollak [07:48]

• On California’s crisis:

  "We are deliberately impoverishing the children of today because of some abuses that happened to children a generation or two ago..." — Joel Pollak [12:36]

• On his greatest achievement:

  "I am most proud of my wife. There’s no way in which I deserved to have married this incredible woman. She continues to amaze me every single day." — Joel Pollak [24:08]

• On advice for life:

  "Physical health is really the foundation of everything else. And if you can exercise daily or almost daily, you’ll find that your mental and emotional outlook is a lot better." — Joel Pollak [33:50]

• On journaling:

  “I have dozens and dozens of these that I’ve filled… The challenge is you gotta fill the page.” — Joel Pollak [35:49]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:24: Joel describes the mission of the California Post.
• 07:06: Discussion on whether California is in decline ("over") and Joel’s personal turning point.
• 09:53: Critique of Gavin Newsom’s record and AB218.
• 13:43: Impact of victim-focused culture and state-level policy failures.
• 16:23: Joel’s (lack of) optimism and hope for improvement.
• 21:05: Unique editorial angles for the California Post (surf reports, etc.).
• 24:08: Joel’s reflections on family, marriage, and parenting.
• 31:03: Five-year outlook after personal and community trauma.
• 33:50: Life advice—exercise, journaling, and book recommendations.
• 35:49: Joel shows his journal and discusses the benefits of daily writing.

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers both a critical, personal perspective on California’s governance and future, and a touching insight into the human side of resilience, family, and living intentionally. Joel Pollak’s honesty—about both his skepticism and his hope—anchors a discussion that’s as much about community and values as about politics and policy. The interview concludes with concrete advice for listeners on building better lives, regardless of circumstance.

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Check out the California Post for fresh perspectives on California news and culture.

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For further episodes and more thought-provoking conversations, follow The Karol Markowicz Show on iHeartRadio or your preferred podcast app.

Transcript

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[Joel Pollock]

Thy ticket, lady Jennifer of Coolidge. Well, many thanks, good sir.

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They accept Discover at Renaissance Fairs?

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah, they do here.

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Discover is accepted at the places I love to shop.

[Joel Pollock]

Getth with the Times.

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With the Times.

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You're playing the loot.

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Yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

And it sounds pretty good, right?

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[Carol Markwood]

Welcome back to the Carol Markwood show on iheartradio. My guest today is Joel Pollock. Joel is the opinion editor of the brand new California Post. Hi, Joel. So nice to have you on.

[Joel Pollock]

It's great to be with you.

[Carol Markwood]

So what are you guys doing out there? What's the California Post all about?

[Joel Pollock]

California Post is about providing a new hard hitting journalistic perspective on everything happening in California. And my part of it is the opinion page. So I'm dealing with a lot of politics, a lot of debates over lifestyle and culture. But the paper, as you know from reading the New York Post, is also about sports, it's about celebrity. It's got everything in there that you want to hear about, gossip. And that's what keeps people coming back to the news pages and the opinion pages. So it's a real opportunity to reach people and to hold up a mirror to California. You know, the other publications, some of whom are doing great jobs, are primarily aimed at a left of center audience. And there's a huge underserved market in California and it's not a partisan thing. This is not about reaching the Republicans because there are plenty of Democrats who read the New York Post as well.

[Carol Markwood]

Sure, yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

There are Democrats who like the California Post and we've even had people who are fierce opponents of President Trump writing already in the California Post. But it really is about reaching an audience of people who work for a living, people who care about their families and the future, and people who believe they deserve better, not just from government, but from popular culture. People who believe in this country, believe in the state of California, the vision, the dream of California, and, and feel it slipping away a little bit and want to fight to preserve it.

[Carol Markwood]

California Post it, the fact that you're covering the whole state is that, I mean, that's kind of a big job. California is the size of like three small countries. Is it hard to. I mean, the issues of Northern California are not the issues of Southern California. How are you guys going to do that?

[Joel Pollock]

Well, we do have teams in Sacramento and in San Francisco, so we do have a headquarters in LA that branches out from there. LA is the primary market for just about anything in California, just because there are more people there. But it's really interesting, as you point out, maybe three separate countries, maybe more. San Francisco and the Bay Area are where our leaders come from. Most of our political leaders are from that area. Most of our business leaders, the billionaires, the Silicon Valley tycoons, they're obviously from the Bay Area. There is also a Silicon beach in la. And of course you got Hollywood. But yes, it is a lot to cover and it's all intertwined and it really is a wonderful state with this incredible diversity of regions. I mean, I like to write about water and there's a lot more water in Northern California than in Southern California. And what we've done over the decades and now centuries to manage that water is a fascinating story. And you can't really disentangle the northern from Southern California. The two are so interdependent, even though they do specialize in different things. So, yeah, it's a tough task to cover the entire state, but we're going to build out our coverage and we're going to cover the Central Valley, the Inland Empire, the border region, far Northern California, Mendocino and the Sierras and Shasta and all the stuff going on. It's an incredible place and I love it. I feel alive when I'm there. I go back and forth now between LA and DC because my wife is in dc, where I am actually at the moment. I was in LA yesterday, I'll be in LA tomorrow, but I'm in D.C. today. So it's a bit of a mission, but it is a lot of fun.

[Carol Markwood]

You know, the sense in the right of center world is that California's over.

[Odoo Advertiser]

Right?

[Carol Markwood]

I mean, people are leaving in larger numbers that are coming in. The governance is obviously like a model for bad governance throughout the country. But starting California Post is a very optimistic move. Are you personally optimistic on California?

[Joel Pollock]

I'd have to say yes, because I'm investing so much in it. So I think yes. Is my day to day feeling one of optimism? No. No, it really isn't.

[Carol Markwood]

Right.

[Joel Pollock]

No, I get that.

[Carol Markwood]

Yeah. Look, you know, that was me in New York. Like, I think they're going to be okay long term, but day to day I'm like, I got to get out of.

[Joel Pollock]

I don't know if California is going to be okay long term. I'd like to believe it is. Let me tell you what really motivated me to join the California Post. It was the Palisades fire. My house is in Pacific Palisades. It survived the fire. I put the house, or I put the fire out on my fence and on my property and the adjacent properties. I put it out with my bare hands and with help from some neighbors. We fought the fire ourselves. We had no running water and it was a transformative experience. Before the fire, I thought, I can engage in national politics in a way. I'm not really ever going to get involved in local and state politics. I know what's going on. I report on what's going on. I take an interest. But I live in this little enclave that is part of the city of Los Angeles, but has largely been untouched by some of the pathologies of la. The homelessness, the drugs is the crime. We're up on a little hill. There's no gate around our community. We're the kind of community where celebrities go to live if they want to live like ordinary people, without a barrier between them and the rest of life. It was a little throwback, Pacific Palisades to an earlier era of a small town vibe where everybody would come out to the baseball field for Little League playoffs and where you would just meet everybody at the mall. I mean, literally everybody. A list celebrities. My wife was having lunch one day and in walks one of the Wahlbergs with. I can't even remember the other celebrities they were with and just. They're just having lunch with you. You know, it was that kind of place, but it was isolated. And California's problems were something we wrote about, but they were somebody else's problems and they became my problem. I don't think California right now, on the present course has a long term future. I think California is digging itself up by the roots. And I'm going to give you an example of that. That's a little bit controversial, but we

[Carol Markwood]

love controversy on the Carol Markowitz show.

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah. You might have heard of some of the stuff Gavin Newsom has done. I mean, some of it has been just terrible. Failing to clear the brush for the fire. The fraud that we presume is going on in California's government because how could you double the budget without seeing any commensurate improvement services? Right. Where's that money going? 20 billion out the door at least. Maybe 30 billion during the pandemic for unemployment. Fraud, maybe other kinds of fraud. Half a billion on a 911 system that never worked the train to nowhere. 18 billion already, something like that. Okay. But possibly the worst thing Gavin Newsom has done is sign a law called AB218. AB218 basically made it a lot easier for People to sue for past sexual abuse. Now, I'm not saying that victims shouldn't have some recourse, of course.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

Yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

And some of the people who have come forward probably did experience some really terrible things. However, we have this concept of a statute of limitations. And it's not some kind of misogynistic device or a way to protect pedophiles or whatever. It's a way of limiting the damage of the sins of a few individuals. Because why should the rest of us suffer? Because a couple of people were horrible. Really horrible. So what is the result of this law? The result is that a bunch of lawyers have organized a bunch of these sex abuse lawsuits. And the craziest part of this law is that you have five years to sue from the moment you remember the abuse. So make it up as you go along is definitely a possibility. I'm not saying that that's actually happening. But there's no safeguard on this really. So they're suing or threatening to sue. And what's happening? State governments or, excuse me, local governments. Local governments in California and local school districts are being bankrupted. I mean, really just emptied of cash. Santa Monica, which is a fairly wealthy community on the coast, is now in severe financial distress because they had to pay.

[Carol Markwood]

Remember one of these lawsuits? Wow.

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah. They had to pay out something like a quarter of a billion dollars because of some city employee like 40 years ago who abused a bunch of people. And in this case, apparently it really was abuse. But it was 40 years ago or something like early 80s, 50, I don't know how many years ago. A quarter of a billion dollars. So they're cutting back on city services. How about this one? The LA Unified School District, the public school district in la. You know how many poor kids are in LA and how they depend on the public schools because that's the only way they're going to get anywhere, is going to school. Their parents are working, can't teach them. You got to go to school. Public School, Louisiana. They just borrowed $750 million to pay these old sex abuse claims. Borrowed it. They don't have the money, so they're going to have to pay back $750 million loan with interest. And that's money that could have been used to educate children. So we are deliberately impoverishing the children of today because of some abuses that happened to children a generation or two ago in LA County. Massive county has to provide for a lot of people a lot of different services. $4 billion. $4 billion. So you drive around California, beautiful place. And you wonder, why are the roads so bad? Why is the infrastructure falling apart? Why does the coastline not look as good as it should, even in the fancy nice parts? And the answer is that we are bankrupting ourselves on garbage. Sorry. I mean, I get it. It's.

[Carol Markwood]

Obviously, you want people to be held accountable and you want to see bad people go to prison, but 40 years later, those people are, what, largely not alive or not going to prison. Right?

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah. Yeah. You could be suing who's dead. Yeah, yeah. So. So we are digging ourselves up by the roof. It's.

[Carol Markwood]

Yeah, so.

[Joel Pollock]

So it's. It's. It's. I think my wife said it best. She said children think they can have whatever they want. And it's the. It's the responsibility of adults to set boundaries. And California is governed by children. It is governed by people who know no boundaries and refuse to accept boundaries, whether fiscal or moral or whatever. And I'm a libertarian on social issues. I don't care what people do in their personal lives. But if you tell me that I feel I'm under threat of personal violence unless someone uses my pronouns, or that if my parents know that a. You know, that I'm transitioning at school, that means I'm going to be bullied. Yeah. I mean, this is all like. We thought the cry bully phenomenon when it emerged at Yale and really started the woke movement over Halloween costumes 12 years ago, we thought that that was a campus phenomenon. It's basically become the dominant culture in California. And if you can claim victimhood, I mean, California's gonna.

[Carol Markwood]

Kind of the left in general, I'd say. Yeah, yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

But I mean, California leads the left. How about this? Reparations. So Newsom is smart enough not to pay a lot of cash or any cash so far, but he's creating an office of reparations. Why does California have to pay reparations to anybody? Yeah, California entered the union as a free state. That was a choice made at the time. It was in 1850. So states could choose. There were some incentives to become a slave state. You get a lot of people moving there with labor to do stuff. And California needed labor. California made a moral choice not to be a slave state. Why are we paying a penalty when the moral choice was made not to be a slave state, to be a free state? And then I hear, well, you know, there was housing discrimination. Okay, but pay the people who lost property or who, you know, compensate the individuals.

[Carol Markwood]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

Don't make it this thing. So this is the problem, is that we've developed a culture that emphasizes victimhood and where you aren't somebody unless you've suffered. And that's just not healthy. It's not healthy. We live in a beautiful state. We need to emphasize the positive and the forward and the future and ultimately that's the only thing that's going to pull us out of this. So am I optimistic about California?

[Carol Markwood]

Are you optimistic? Yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

No. But I am optimistic that it can be better. So I don't think it's going to be saved just yet, but I do think it can be better.

[Carol Markwood]

Well, we're rooting for you for sure. Not just for you personally, but for the whole state. It's such a beautiful state. I've always enjoyed my time in California and I would hate to think that it's a failed state. Although obviously, again, I'm very concerned about the path that it's on and the fact that Gavin Newsom is planning to take that amazing leadership, possibly national. We're going to take a quick break and be right back on the Carol Markowitz Show.

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the

[Carol Markwood]

New York Post has what I would consider some, you know, esoteric beats. They, you know, they cover specific issues in New York City politics. Is California Post going to have kind of their pet issues?

[Joel Pollock]

When we were starting up, one of the things I suggested is that we should print a daily surf report.

[Carol Markwood]

Oh, I like that.

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah, it turns out to be very hard because even in the same city with the same weather conditions in the atmosphere, you can have very different ocean conditions.

[Carol Markwood]

Right.

[Joel Pollock]

I asked my friends. I'm a very casual surfer. I mean, I'm really at the beginning level of surfing and if I stay on the board, I'm happy with myself, you know, like, I, I kind of wimp out, especially in the winter waves. The winter waves will really dump you. I, I wimp out and I basically surf the white water, the foam, you know, just to get up on a board and have some fun. But I do enjoy it and I, I have friends who are very serious and I've said to them, where do you go for information about what the surf conditions are? And they'll list a whole bunch of websites. And they were the most skeptical that you could summarize this information in one place. They're just like, ah, it's kind of hard. I mean, I'm not saying we won't do it in the future, but yeah, we could do the surf report, we could do the ski report. You know, people always want to know how much powder there is on Tahoe or Mammoth or whatever. It's a great state. I have, in fact, surfed and skied in the same weekend, which is like, you know. Yeah.

[Carol Markwood]

I always say the, the ocean in LA is just. It's way too cold for me. And I'm, you know, I'm a New Yorker. I swam in the cold Atlantic. The LA Pacific Ocean is.

[Joel Pollock]

I don't know, you get used to it sort of. Yeah. There were a period of years where I would go in the water almost every single day. And I have a tradition of going in on New Year's Day. I'm one of those January 1st people who go to the water and, and it's not that cold, but basically from January to April, it's below 60 degrees by the coast in the water.

[Carol Markwood]

Yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

And you start to feel your chest compress after about a minute.

[Carol Markwood]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joel Pollock]

So you get out and like, if you've been in water that cold, you start, you'll understand, like, you just kind of feel this compression here and it kind of is down into your stomach and you're like, I got to get out of here.

[Carol Markwood]

But that's your body telling you you shouldn't be doing this.

[Joel Pollock]

But the feeling you have after you're out of the water is incredible. I mean, the rush of the cold water, I'm told by People who swim in cold water regularly, that it's supposed to be very good for your immune system.

[Carol Markwood]

Cold plunge thing.

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, so I like it. I like the cold water. I do think it's hard to take kids into the cold water. I have one child who just adores the water and doesn't care what temperature it is. And I have one child who, if it's a hair below 80 degrees, yeah, that's me.

[Carol Markwood]

I can't even do Miami in, like, the winter months anymore. When we first moved here, like, December, ocean was great. Now it's like, oh, no, it's winter cold. I can't. What are you most proud of in your life?

[Joel Pollock]

I am most proud of my wife. I'm most proud of my wife. There's no way in which I deserved to have married this incredible woman. She continues to amaze me every single day.

[Carol Markwood]

How long are you married?

[Joel Pollock]

We have been married for 16 years. We've been married for 16 years, and we've known each other for 21 years.

[Carol Markwood]

So what's so great?

[Joel Pollock]

And we have four kids, four beautiful kids who have, thank God, been very healthy and rambunctious and very good. We have had no problems with any of that. And my wife is the chief economist of the Department of Labor here in D.C. we ended up in D.C. and we have four kids without a nanny. We do take the baby to daycare, but the eldest is 14. The youngest is just over one year old, and she balances everything. And I don't really know how she does it, but she's just this incredible woman. She's also incredibly attractive, and I just. I have inappropriate thoughts about her all day. So that's. That's the thing.

[Carol Markwood]

I'm saying so much. I really do. A lot of people say they're kids. You know, that's like, kind of the automatic answer. I love that you are so effusive about loving your wife. That's just beautiful.

[Joel Pollock]

But proud of her. Like, it's. You know. Yeah, it's. It's. It's. It's definitely my greatest achievement. I mean, I still don't know quite how I managed it, but I do think that if I had to give dating advice, it would be mostly for men, because I think men are the limiting factor in moving relationships forward. I think persistence is the key to everything that you. You don't want to become a stalker. Okay, sure. But if you show interest, you know, it goes a long way. And I. When I met her, I knew this was the woman I wanted to marry. And so I did not let go of it.

[Carol Markwood]

Oh, I love that so much. That is so awesome. This is a show about advice, also about living better. And a lot of people write in asking, you know, questions about relationships.

[Joel Pollock]

So I really, I don't want to over, I don't want to overstate that. I didn't realize it the instant I met, when I, the, the, the day I met her, I had other thoughts which are not repeatable on the broadcast. But then over time, when I managed somehow to land this incredibly attractive woman, I began realizing that I had fallen in love with her. So it was about three or four months in and then I said, okay, I'm putting aside the rest of my life to make sure this happens. So.

[Carol Markwood]

Oh, I love this. I love that story so much. Thank you for sharing that with us. We're going to take a quick break and be right back on the Carol Markowitz Show.

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[Carol Markwood]

give us a five year out prediction and it could be about anything at all.

[Joel Pollock]

My worldview has become a little bit more narrow since the fire when President Trump was inaugurated the second time. Normally I would have been watching TV and working on an article about it taking it all in or I would have been there. I was at his first inauguration. Instead I was with firefighters at the incident base camp in Malibu as they were deploying to different parts of the Palisades fire to check on hotspots and collect data and do all kinds of surveillance. The most of the fire was out by then, but they were still trying to contain it. And I remember listening to the president's inaugural address while I was with the firefighters. And it was a huge event, obviously, but it was also secondary to what I was dealing with. And a few days later, Trump actually came to Pacific Palisades and I was in the town hall meeting and spoke with him. And I met Melania Trump, the first lady. She was incredibly gracious. So my worldview has narrowed to what's happening in my community. And when I think of five year time horizons, that really feels to me like when I hope my community is rebuilt, I think it's not unreasonable to hope that.

[Carol Markwood]

Yeah, that sounds reasonable.

[Joel Pollock]

Five years it might not happen because there are so many roadblocks right now. But in five years, I'd like to be in my house, in my community. I know it's gonna be different than it was. We'll never get it back exactly as it was, but we will hopefully have a beautiful community again. I should say, beautiful neighborhood. The community is still there. People are still in touch on WhatsApp and all kinds of things. But I'm hoping that that happens. I'm hoping my kids are happy in school. It's very hard to balance the needs of children who are different and have different talents. My eldest, she's really into music. She's also into religion. My second, he is an avid baseball player. He's a very good baseball player. He likes religion, but he enjoys the kind of rough and tumble of public school a little bit more. He's more of a street kid Persona. Yeah. And my third and fourth are still developing who they are. But, you know, I'm hoping that the kids are happy and well adjusted and my daughter will be on her way to some good college. I hope something that's not.

[Carol Markwood]

If they'll still exist by then, you know.

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah. I mean, you know, I'm hoping for that kind of personal happiness and because if I can enjoy that, it probably means there's also a public happiness going on in my community as well. So that. That's where I. Things are five years out.

[Carol Markwood]

That's really great.

[Premier Protein / Miraval / Mint Mobile Advertiser]

I'm.

[Carol Markwood]

We're rooting for you, really.

[Joel Pollock]

Thank you.

[Carol Markwood]

I've loved this conversation. I feel like I didn't know that much about you and I've really gotten to know you on this. On this talk. Leave us here with your best tip for my listeners on how they can improve their lives.

[Joel Pollock]

I'll give you a couple. I'll give you a couple. Since I have a couple of props here, just unintentionally, it's an audio show, but. Okay. Yeah. Oh, I see. Well, I'll explain. So I've got some advice that came from my late friend Scott Adams, which is that physical health is really the foundation of everything else. And if you can exercise daily or almost daily, you'll find that your mental and emotional outlook is a lot better. And it doesn't have to be strenuous exercise. You don't. You're not becoming an Instagram fitness influencer, but just find something you enjoy. It could even be walking your dog around the park a couple extra times, not just to relieve the dog, but to just get some more steps in. It's really great. I mean, you'll feel. You'll feel better. And here's my problem. I mean, this is my favorite form of exercise, and I'm not trying to flex too hard here, maybe just a little bit, but, you know, this is. This is one of my boxing gloves. I mean, I discovered boxing almost 10 years ago, and I box about twice a week. And it's incredible. Just absolutely incredible. It's a wonderful. It's a wonderful form of exercise because it is challenging, it's difficult, but you're also not really going to get injured if you're not taking punches. So I do a little bit of sparring, but not much. Mostly what I'm doing is just fitness training and mitt work, and you're not really going to get injured. I did run before. Running is hard to keep up because after a while your knees start to hurt. Hamstring. I just love boxing. And the other piece of advice that was given to me more than 25 years ago that I actually followed was to keep a daily journal. And there's a. I do. There's a wonderful book called the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, where she advises that people write three pages a day. And lately I've only been able to manage one a day. But this is. This is my latest journal. I have dozens and dozens of these that I've. That I've filled. I mean, this is. This is my.

[Carol Markwood]

Wow.

[Joel Pollock]

Wow.

[Carol Markwood]

Joel is showing me really full pages in a journal.

[Joel Pollock]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, the challenge is you gotta fill the page. Really, you should fill three pages. But I have a lot going on

[Carol Markwood]

every day, every single day.

[Joel Pollock]

Every six days a week. I do. I do it. Yeah, six days a week. And it don't feel like such a

[Carol Markwood]

hero when I check my email every day.

[Joel Pollock]

You know, it really opened up a lot of pathways for me. I didn't become a screenwriter or award winning novelist. She advertises it as a way to unlock your creativity. But there are other ways to be creative. I just found ways of writing nonfiction that came out of that experience and I think that practice enables me to write a lot of material in a short period of time because I start the day by writing something for myself. And so you kind of get some creative ideas. You also get rid of the mental clutter that you wake up with and then you just write. So my advice would be get that book. Two books. I would recommend the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and then Scott Adams's book which I happen to have here, how to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. That's where he talks about many things, but also about exercise. That would be my advice.

[Carol Markwood]

Amazing. Thank you so much. Here's Joel Pollock. Check out the California Post. It is really awesome and we're really rooting for California and for the California Post and for you, Joel.

[Joel Pollock]

Thanks for coming on.

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[Joel Pollock]

here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

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