The Rob Carson Show – “The Return of Hollywood’s Favorite Bad Decisions”

Date: January 23, 2026
Host: Rob Carson
Guest: Christian Toto (Hollywood in Toto)
Podcast: Newsmax Podcasts

Overview

This lively and wide-ranging episode of The Rob Carson Show combines humor, personal storytelling, pop culture, and partisan political analysis. Rob Carson opens with a hearty mix of weather banter and personal anecdotes before delving into discussions on AI, space travel, robots, and personal stories about adoption and resilience. Frequent guest Christian Toto joins for a spirited review of the Oscars, the state of Hollywood, and cultural hot topics, before the show pivots sharply into contentious political territory, discussing January 6th and current legal battles. Listeners are treated to memorable quotes, satirical segments, and a sense of Carson's signature irreverent tone.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Weather, Personal Anecdotes, and Human Connection

• Rob’s Weather Commentary: Opens with talk about a massive snowstorm affecting 180 million people, mixing practical advice and banter.
  • “You know who's gonna end up in the ditch? People who drive four wheel drives who are arrogant...” (00:23)
• Mailroom Encounters: Carson recounts meeting an intriguing British conservative, her life-saving dog, and helping a PTSD-afflicted veteran find a service dog.
  • “That's getting the most out of interactions in your life... I love meeting people.” (03:12)
  • Notable for showing Carson’s appreciation for personal connections and good deeds.

2. Technology, Translation, and the Future

• Smart Glasses & Real-Time Translation: Describes receiving language-translation smart glasses, reflecting on how technology will soon make language barriers moot and translators obsolete.
  • “Language is about to go the way of the dodo... you can translate in real-time.” (05:05)
• AI and Space Travel: Highlights Elon Musk’s vision for AI's exponential progress, quantum computing, space travel, and existential questions.
  • “Quantum computing gets things done like this. There’s no computation... you type it in and it’s done.” (06:18)

Notable Quote

• Elon Musk (Quoted):
  • “Probably by 2030 or 2031... AI will be smarter than all of humanity collectively.” (07:31)
• Rob Carson, On Robotics:
  • “If you’re a Gen Xer... there’s a real good chance that a robot is going to be taking care of you.” (07:54)

3. Abortion, Adoption, and Personal Storytelling

• Abortion Debate: Carson launches into a candid, emotional monologue tying the March for Life to his own adoption and origin, condemning Planned Parenthood and Roe v. Wade through personal narrative.
  • “Planned Parenthood was created by Margaret Sanger... she was a eugenist and a racist.” (12:23)
• Adoption Revelation: Shares the vulnerability and trauma of discovering his birth as the result of rape, describing the psychological toll and his path to healing.
  • “The reason why you were given up for adoption is because mom was raped... I went into the guest bedroom... and I would drink until I passed out.” (13:48)
  • “It was incredibly difficult to find out and to endure... but it’s made me who I am and I wouldn’t change any of it.” (18:50)

4. Hollywood, Oscars, and Cultural Commentary

With Guest: Christian Toto (Hollywood in Toto)

• Oscars & Movie Trends:
  • Discussion of horror movies receiving Oscar nominations, especially Sinners, and the rarity of the genre being embraced.
    • “Horror movies rarely get love from the Oscar voters. Sinners is an exception... it’s a really good movie.” (21:52)
  • Praise for creative storytelling and integrating American music history, Robert Johnson myth, and distinct stylistic influence.
    • “That scene where... they go through the history of Black music... God, that’s brilliant.” (22:27)
• Hollywood Updates:
  • Jokes about Bride of Frankenstein updates and fresh takes.
  • Gripes about Netflix’s insistence on plot redundancy due to "second screen" cell phone distractions.
    • “Netflix wants movies to restate the plot three or four times... because viewers are watching while on their cell phones.” (24:18)
• Dylan Mulvaney on Broadway:
  • Rob critiques Mulvaney’s casting as a woman in “Six,” questioning inclusivity and representation.
    • “Do you find this a little bit insulting to women for a guy to play a woman?” (27:12)
  • Toto demurs: “I think I’m numb to these headlines.” (27:38)

Notable Quotes

• Rob Carson:
  • “If you decide to have the baby, you will be surrounded with love. You really, really will.” (16:50)
  • [On pop culture and kids:] “Welcome to it, bro. You’re not as cool anymore to them. You used to be the sun, the moon and the stars. Guess what? You’re not even a comet now.” (21:03)

5. January 6th, Trump Trials, and Government Critique

• Capitol Hearing Outburst:
  • Recount of a heated congressional hearing where former officer Michael Fanon uses profanity at a congressman, Rob labeling him “dangerously unhinged.”
    • “He coughed, remember?... except for he said, ‘Go bleep yourself’ in front of a congressional hearing.” (31:15)
  • Carson frames January 6th as a “setup” and attacks law enforcement and media narratives.
    • “There was a setup. Reichstag, I told you. On January 7, I said, it’s set up.” (31:59)
• Trump Legal Woes:
  • Sharp criticism of DA Jack Smith’s handling of document dumps, characterizing it as judicial sabotage.
    • “So how do you prepare for trial in five months?... They tried to... take him off the battle, and they tried to murder him. All of that. All of that.” (35:56, 37:10)
• Legal Analysis:
  • Jonathan Turley weighs in, skeptical about the “speedy trial” excuse.
    • “It was abundantly clear to everyone that he was trying to get the trial before Trump faced the voters...” (36:41)

6. Humor, Parody, and Closing

• Song Parody Segment:
  • Ends on a light note with Jim Gossett’s parody song about Greenland (39:15), furthering the show’s signature combination of political commentary and satire.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rob Carson (on personal connection):
  • “How many times you go into the mail room... and you don’t talk to the people there? You, you meet some interesting people, man.” (03:12)
• Elon Musk (quoted):
  • “AI will be smarter than all of humanity collectively.” (07:31)
• Rob Carson (on pop culture):
  • “Netflix wants movies to restate the plot... because viewers are watching the movie while they're on their cell phones. What the hell?” (24:18)
• Christian Toto:
  • “Matt Damon and Ben Affleck... some of their thoughts and some of their predictions and some of their observations are just plain sad.” (25:57)
• Rob Carson (on January 6):
  • “There was a setup. Reichstag, I told you. On January 7, I said, it's set up.” (31:59)
• Jonathan Turley:
  • “It was abundantly clear to everyone that he was trying to get the trial before Trump faced the voters, because if he was reelected, his case would then die.” (36:41)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic/Event | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 00:20 | Winter storm banter, human-interest mailroom story| | 05:05 | Smart glasses/real time translation discussion | | 07:31 | Elon Musk on imminent AI superintelligence | | 12:23 | Carson’s abortion/Planned Parenthood commentary | | 13:48 | Carson’s adoption origin revelation | | 20:39 | Christian Toto joins; Oscar/movies talk | | 24:18 | Netflix/movie redundancy “second screen” gripe | | 27:12 | Dylan Mulvaney Broadway casting dialogue | | 31:15 | Capitol Hill hearing profanity & Jan 6th claims | | 35:28 | Trump trial, document dump, legal critique | | 39:15 | Song parody: “Greenland” by Jim Gossett |

Conclusion

This episode typifies Rob Carson’s blend of humor, personal engagement, conservative political commentary, and satire. Listeners are taken from down-to-earth stories of kindness to sweeping claims about AI and existential risk, through the fog of today’s politics and culture wars, rounded off with parodic musical comedy and plugs for Rob’s TV show. The fast-paced banter with Christian Toto offers both nostalgia and contemporary critique, while Carson's unfiltered take provides both entertainment and a window into a particular strain of American talk radio.