The Adam Carolla Podcast Reviewed

Very few things can make a long day at the office seem bearable. For the past one hundred and five business days, the thing that has made my nine-to-five a little less soul crushing has been the Adam Carolla Podcast. This may sound silly, but I can honestly say that the past four and a half or so months have been greatly enriched by listening to Adam's dulcet tones.

I used to listen to Loveline , and watched its MTV counterpart, but I never listened to Adam's radio show (mostly due to ignorance than lack of interest). I was not the target demographic for The Man Show, though I did not hate what I saw of it. I was aware of his involvement in Drawn Together and Crank Yankers, but my interest and knowledge in Adam Carolla were very basic.

When my friend Monica told me, "Dude, you've got to download this podcast," I scoffed a little bit. After all, I was perfectly happy listening to the same Star Wars audio book over and over and over. Of course, that did eventually get old, and I bit the bullet, as it were. From the first second, I was hooked. You see, Adam has a way of making the listener feel as though he or she is a part of the conversation. His long-form interviews take the guests - and the listeners - on what Adam calls "the journey". Even those guests whom he's had on his radio show are treated to the same "journey" format, from where they began to where they are now.

Interspersed in the journey of the guest, Adam throws out rants on any and every topic imaginable. Whether it be the use of torture on terrorism suspects, the state of driving in Los Angeles (his interview with George Takei, who was on the transportation board of LA for a time is particularly insightful), The Land of the Lost being the worst television show ever produced, or jerky neighbors, give Adam a topic and he will be able to "do five" on it, easily.

Adam's guests tend to be fellow comedians, although he has had representatives from Ford, Jack in the Box, and a variety of internet start-ups. Teresa Strasser and Bryan Bishop, who were both involved in the radio show on K-ROC, are frequent guests, and David Allen Grier and Loveline co-host Dr. Drew Pinksy have made repeat appearances.

The thing about Adam's podcast, at least for me, is that it has given me the false sense of camaraderie with Adam. I get home from work then detail at length what Adam talked about, as though it were a conversation he and I had been having, just the two of us, instead of me listening to him talk to someone else. One of his more recent guests commented to Adam that "I tell your stories like they're my stories", and that is entirely true. I find myself invoking Adam's name whenever I'm trying to make a point: "Well, Adam Carolla says..." In point of fact, I now just call him "Adam", as though we are the best of friends, and as though he has any idea who I am.

For a podcast with several hundred thousand downloads per day, the Adam Carolla podcast is anything but intimate, but Adam still makes it feel that way. He goes on "the journey" each and every day, allowing the rest of us a chance to travel along with him. It is my hope that he continues to do so. Mahalo, Adam.