Podcast Summary: The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

Episode 450: Elaine Culotti—California is in Real Trouble
Release Date: September 16, 2025
Host: Mike Rowe
Guest: Elaine Culotti

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into California’s current woes, illuminating the state's problems through the eyes of multi-hyphenate entrepreneur Elaine Culotti—known for her roles as a farmer, developer, and reality TV personality ("Undercover Billionaire"). The conversation is personal, candid, and charged with urgency, focusing on post-fire mismanagement, government bureaucracy, and the state’s political and fiscal breakdown. Rowe and Culotti discuss the deeper cultural and systemic issues behind California’s decline and the urgent need for civic renewal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. California in Crisis: The Opening Frustration

• Mike Rowe opens the discussion by lamenting California’s challenges: post-fire debris mismanagement, slow governmental response, and the public’s growing exasperation.
• Many long-time residents are leaving; Mike and Chuck reflect on the reasons people, including high-profile names like Joe Rogan, make the exodus.
• “It just feels like something truly, truly is amiss, and we're not being incentivized or motivated to do anything other than endure and ignore the thing that's clearly visible right in front of us.” — Mike Rowe (03:18)

2. Meet Elaine Culotti: Serial Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Culotti’s identity spans many trades: “At the moment, I prefer saving California and fixing our beautiful Los Angeles after the fires.” (08:20)
• She recounts growing up as a military brat in the U.S. and Europe, starting a shoeshine business as a teen, flipping it, then running a lucrative (but nameless) vintage denim operation. Her drive is rooted in self-sufficiency and curiosity.
• “My dad always gave me good advice, but my dad was the opposite of extravagant...I had to be very careful about, you know, bragging. It's unbecoming and not allowed.” — Elaine (24:35)

3. Reality TV, the COVID Pivot, Farming, and Fresno

• Her stint on "Undercover Billionaire": dropped in Fresno with $100, she converted a dilapidated hostel into a community business offering essential services, including a farm delivery. “I made it an essential business. It was Covid. It didn't have windows and doors...Farming is essential.” — Elaine (11:13)
• Her Fallbrook farm: citrus, avocados, seasonal produce, and a bevy of animals (swans, dogs, horses, a turtle).
• The show, according to her, was “incredibly honest,” and tested her scrappy, self-starting instincts.

4. Philosophical Interludes & Wit

• The episode is punctuated by poetic references (Orlando Gibbons, ragtime songs), banter about swans and cranes, and playful asides like the origins of “loss of consortium.”
• “Biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” — Elaine’s father (16:30)

5. The Fire, Its Aftermath, and Bureaucratic Paralysis

• Post-disaster, major failures in debris clearance due to slow permits, governmental sclerosis, and unclear leadership.
• “That building department...They only have the power to say no.” — Elaine (48:03)
• Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA performed quickly and admirably, but ultimately local mismanagement and uncoordinated communication hampered recovery.
• “If our resources are for the people in the Palisades, we should be issuing One Stop permits for people in the Palisades as they come in the door. And we're not doing that.” — Elaine (51:18)

6. Debris Dilemma: A Case Study in Dysfunction

• Elaine meticulously describes the sheer volume of post-fire debris—millions of truckloads, not the “6,800” claimed by government reports.
• “It broke my heart. Like, it's just rubble. I mean, it's insane. It's so big. It's far bigger than Gaza.” — Elaine (56:44)
• She details a ready-made solution: a $500-million rail terminal, built specifically for disaster debris removal, but left unused due to unopened emails and bureaucratic inertia. Her attempts to escalate the issue (via Bobby Kennedy and Lee Zeldin) highlight the difference in responsiveness between political factions.

7. Political Frustration, Identity, and the Challenge of Change

• Elaine’s political evolution moved from apolitical to disillusioned, eventually more conservative, triggered by events like Benghazi and pandemic policies.
• “I just wanted a more fiscal, educated president, I wanted somebody that understood working and signing the front of a paycheck. It wasn't really that I had an opinion one way or another.” — Elaine (41:56)
• Resistance to labeling all issues as left-right, but an acknowledgment that policy decisions, funding, and government competence have a profound effect on practical life.

8. Systemic Dysfunction: Elections, Money, and the ‘Grift’

• Discussion of why so many run for governor (“It’s a grift”—money can be raised and maintained with minimal actual oversight or mandate; campaign funds sit in accounts, sometimes recycled through cycles or used dubiously).
• Broad critique of California’s supermajority government, campaign finance, and the disconnect between electorate and outcomes.
• “Campaigns...it's all covered under our campaign stuff.” — Elaine (72:50)

9. Red vs. Blue, Gerrymandering, and Political Options

• A cited poll: “48% of Californians would consider voting Republican.” (05:53, 82:34)
• Urging voters to consider registering as Republicans (regardless of final vote) to send a message of dissatisfaction.
• “Stop voting blue right now because it’s bad.” — Elaine (83:16)
• Discourse on gerrymandering, registration obstacles, and government accountability.

10. A Vision for Fixing California: Agency and Hope

• The need for technocratic, action-driven leadership and a willingness to ask for practical help; critique of politicians more focused on image and career than solving local issues.
• Elaine proposes the establishment of hyper-local building departments, better communication channels, and fiscal conservatism.
• “Nothing has changed here. It's the best topography. It's the best weather...The only thing that's wrong is the management. It's just the government. If you get rid of the government and get a new government. We're back.” — Elaine (80:26)
• Final advice: communities must organize, stop tolerating poor management, and push for genuine reform.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On State Management:
  “Our current administration is sabotaging it…sabotage everything. I don't know if it's by design or accident…I honestly don't want to give them enough credit to say it's by design.” — Elaine (68:54)

• On Political Shifts:
  “It's a lot easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” — Mark Twain, quoted by Chuck (38:01)

• On Olympia and Federal Aid:
  “It might be very hard...to swallow your tongue and whatever, kiss the ring, whatever you want to say. We need federal assistance because our current administration has lost or stolen or who knows, all of our money.” — Elaine (91:12)

• On Hope and Resilience:
  “If you get rid of the government and get a new government. We're back. We have got to get rid of the insanity.” — Elaine (80:53)

Essential Timestamps

• 00:03 – 08:00 — Introductions, Elaine’s background, setup of California’s troubles
• 09:49 – 15:55 — Reality TV experience, COVID pivot, farming and entrepreneurship
• 41:56 – 44:37 — Elaine’s political journey and parenting
• 46:27 – 48:56 — Property loss in the fire, local government failures
• 53:42 – 66:47 — Debris removal, FEMA/Army Corps, unused infrastructure, bureaucratic inertia
• 68:54 – 80:26 — State leadership failings, the need for civic engagement, and optimism for change
• 82:34 – 84:44 — Polling data, the challenge of changing political identity
• 91:12 – 91:50 — Final thoughts: the urgency of federal assistance, and a call for practical governance

Ways to Connect & Take Action

• Elaine is spearheading the formation of a Pacific Palisades Building Department to facilitate local recovery efforts.
• She invites listeners to connect and follow her work via Lipstick Farmer on Instagram and her website elaineculotti.com.
• Californians are urged to get informed, advocate for practical government, and participate in the upcoming elections with awareness of the real stakes for their community.

The episode concludes with Mike Rowe’s wry summation:

"You’re living a big life. I’m really glad you did this…A pleasure to meet you." (91:50)

This episode is a must-listen for anyone concerned with California’s future and interested in the intersection of entrepreneurship, disaster response, resilience, and political reality.