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Welfare is the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens. In most developed countries, welfare is largely provided by the government, in addition to charities, informal social groups, religious groups, and inter-governmental organizations. In the end, this term replaces "charity" as it was known for thousands of years, being the voluntary act of providing for those who temporarily or permanently could not provide for themselves.

Forms[link]

This section requires expansion.

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Welfare can take a variety of forms, such as monetary payments, subsidies and vouchers, or housing. Welfare can be provided by governments, non-governmental organizations, or a combination of the two. Welfare programs may be funded directly by governments, or in social insurance models, by the members of the Welfare scheme.

Welfare systems differ from country to country, but Welfare is commonly provided to individuals who are unemployed, those with illness or disability, the elderly, those with dependent children, and veterans. A person's eligibility for Welfare may also be constrained by means testing or other conditions.

In a more general sense, Welfare also means the well-being of individuals or a group - in other words, their health, happiness, safety, prosperity, and fortunes.

Subsidy Subsidizing a good is one way of redistributing wealth to the poor. It is money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue to function. In a budget constraint between ‘all other goods’ and a ‘subsidized good’, the maximum amount of ‘all other goods will remain the same but the budget constraint will shift outward for the ‘subsidized good’ because the cost of the ‘subsidized good’ is reduced for the consumer and so they have the ability to consume more of said good. Some people do not want to use subsidies because they want the poor to consume the subsidized good or service in a specific way or because subsidizing goods (such as health care) can lead to an over consumption of the good.

Voucher A voucher is like a subsidy that can only be consumed in a specific way like a school voucher or section 8 housing. For instance, families who receive school vouchers may only use them to send their children to schools to help pay tuition costs. Schools then exchange the voucher for cash. Similarly, in section 8 housing, families with this voucher can only use the voucher to pay a portion of their living costs in specified units or in a private sector. In a budget constraint between ‘all other goods’ and a ‘voucher good’ our budget constraint will shift out parallel to an amount equal to the amount of the voucher but the money we have to spend on ‘all other goods’ remains capped at the same amount we had to spend before the voucher. Voucher programs can make us worse off because of the cap on our ability to spend on ‘all other goods’ our indifference curves could limit us.

Direct Cash This is straight cash with no restrictions on how it can be consumed. Direct cash may cause greater budget constraint because the recipient can spend the cash subsidy on all ‘other goods’ or on a ‘subsidized good’. Direct cash increases the entire budget constraint and shifts the indifference curves outward allowing us to maximize individual utility.

Provision and funding[link]

This section requires expansion.

Welfare may be provided directly by governments or their agencies, by private organizations, or by a combination. The term Welfare state is used to describe a state in which the government provides the majority of Welfare services; the phrase also describes those services collectively.

Welfare may be funded by governments out of general revenue, typically by way of redistributive taxation. Social insurance-type Welfare schemes are funded on a contributory basis by the members of the scheme. Contributions may be pooled to fund the scheme as a whole, or reserved for the benefit of a particular member. Participation in such schemes is either compulsory, or the program is subsidized heavily enough that most eligible individuals choose to participate.

Examples of social insurance programs include the Social Security and Medicare programs in the United States.^[1]

Some opponents of Welfare argue that it affects work incentives. They also argue that the taxes levied can also affect work incentives. A good example of this would be the reform of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Per AFDC, some amount per recipeint is guaranteed. However, for every dollar the recipient earns the monthly stipend is decreased by an equivalent amount. For most persons, this reduces their incentive to work. This program was replaced by Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). Under TANF, people were required to actively seek employment while receiving aid and they could only receive aid for a limited amount of time. However, states can choose the amount of resources they will devote to the program. Some people believe this is how we should reform Medicaid.^[2]

History[link]

In the Roman Empire, social Welfare to help the poor was enlarged by the Caesar Trajan.^[3] Trajan's program brought acclaim from many, including Pliny the Younger.^[4]

In Jewish tradition, charity (represented by tzedakah) is a matter of religious obligation rather than benevolence. Contemporary charity is regarded as a continuation of the Biblical Maaser Ani, or poor-tithe, as well as Biblical practices, such as permitting the poor to glean the corners of a field and harvest during the Shmita (Sabbatical year). Voluntary charity, along with prayer and repentance, is believed to ameliorate the consequences of bad acts.

Distributing alms to the poor, abbey of Port-Royal des Champs c. 1710

The Song dynasty (c.1000AD) government supported multiple forms of social Welfare programs, including the establishment of retirement homes, public clinics, and pauper's graveyards ^[5]

According to Robert Henry Nelson, "The medieval Roman Catholic Church operated a far-reaching and comprehensive Welfare system for the poor..."^[6][7]

The concepts of Welfare and pension were put into practice in the early Islamic law^{[8][not in citation given]} of the Caliphate as forms of Zakat (charity), one of the Five Pillars of Islam, since the time of the Rashidun caliph Umar in the 7th century. The taxes (including Zakat and Jizya) collected in the treasury of an Islamic government were used to provide income for the needy, including the poor, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. According to the Islamic jurist Al-Ghazali (Algazel, 1058–1111), the government was also expected to store up food supplies in every region in case a disaster or famine occurred.^[8][9] (See Bayt al-mal for further information.)

There is relatively little statistical data on Welfare transfer payments before the High Middle Ages. In the medieval period and until the Industrial Revolution, the function of Welfare payments in Europe was principally achieved through private giving or charity. In those early times, there was a much broader group considered to be in poverty as compared to the 21st century.

Early Welfare programs in Europe included the English Poor Law of 1601, which gave parishes the responsibility for providing Welfare payments to the poor.^[10] This system was substantially modified by the 19th-century Poor Law Amendment Act, which introduced the system of workhouses.

It was predominantly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that an organized system of state Welfare provision was introduced in many countries. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany, introduced one of the first Welfare systems for the working classes. In Great Britain the Liberal government of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and David Lloyd George introduced the National Insurance system in 1911,^[11] a system later expanded by Clement Attlee. The United States did not have an organized Welfare system until the Great Depression, when emergency relief measures were introduced under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Even then, Roosevelt's New Deal focused predominantly on a program of providing work and stimulating the economy through public spending on projects, rather than on cash payment.

Welfare systems[link]

France[link]

Solidarity is a strong value of the French Social Protection system. The first article of the French Code of Social Security describes the principle of solidarity. Solidarity is commonly comprehended in relations of similar work, shared responsibility and common risks. Existing solidarities in France caused the expansion of health and social security.

Germany[link]

The Welfare state has a long tradition in Germany dating back to the industrial revolution. Due to the pressure of the workers' movement in the late 19th century, Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck introduced the first rudimentary state social insurance scheme. Today, the social protection of all its citizens is considered a central pillar of German national policy. 27.6 percent of Germany's GDP is channeled into an all-embracing system of health, pension, accident, longterm care and unemployment insurance, compared to 16.2 percent in the US. In addition, there are tax-financed services such as child benefits (Kindergeld, beginning at €184 per month for the first and second children, €190 for the third and €215 for each child thereafter, until they attain 25 years or receive their first professional qualification),^[12] and basic provisions for those unable to work or anyone with an income below the poverty line.^[13]

Since 2005, reception of full unemployment pay (60-67% of the previous net salary) has been restricted to 12 months in general and 18 months for those over 55. This is now followed by (usually much lower) Arbeitslosengeld II (ALG II) or Sozialhilfe, which is independent of previous employment (Hartz IV concept).

Under ALG II, a single person receives €379 per month plus the cost of 'adequate' housing and health insurance. ALG II can also be paid partially to supplement a low work income.

Canada[link]

Canada has a Welfare state in the European tradition; however, it is not referred to as "Welfare", but rather as "social programs". In Canada, "Welfare" usually refers specifically to direct payments to poor individuals (as in the American usage) and not to healthcare and education spending (as in the European usage).^[14]

The Canadian social safety net covers a broad spectrum of programs, and because Canada is a federation, many are run by the provinces. Canada has a wide range of government transfer payments to individuals, which totaled $145 billion in 2006.^[15] Only social programs that direct funds to individuals are included in that cost; programs such as medicare and public education are additional costs.

Generally speaking, before the Great Depression, most social services were provided by religious charities and other private groups. Changing government policy between the 1930s and 1960s saw the emergence of a Welfare state, similar to many Western European countries. Most programs from that era are still in use, although many were scaled back during the 1990s as government priorities shifted towards reducing debt and deficits.

Italy[link]

The Italian Welfare state's foundations were laid along the lines of the corporatist-conservative model, or of its Mediterranean variant. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, increases in public spending and a major focus on universality brought it on the same path as social-democratic systems. These policies proved to be financially unsustainable, as public debt and inflation grew alarmingly, preventing the Welfare state from developing completely. In the 1990s, efforts moving towards decentralization and privatization were used in an attempt to cope with European pressures for economic stability, which were finally reached by 2001.

Sweden[link]

Sweden has been categorised by some observers^[who?] as a middle way between a capitalist economy and a socialist economy.^{[citation needed]} Supporters of this system assert that Sweden has found a way of achieving high levels of social equality, without stifling entrepreneurialism. The perspective has been questioned by supporters of economic liberalization in Sweden.

Government pension payments are financed through an 18.5% pension tax on all taxed incomes in the country, which comes partly from a tax category called a public pension fee (7% on gross income), and 30% of a tax category called employer fees on salaries (which is 33% on a netted income). Since January 2001 the 18.5% is divided in two parts: 16% goes to current payments, and 2.5% goes into individual retirement accounts, which were introduced in 2001. Money saved and invested in government funds, and IRAs for future pension costs, are roughly 5 times annual government pension expenses (725/150).

Japan[link]

In Japan, the Oita district ruled on October 18, 2010, that foreigners with permanent residency have no rights to Welfare benefits.^{[16][dead link]}

United States[link]

President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, August 14, 1935

The Welfare system in the United States began in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. After the Great Society legislation of the 1960s, for the first time a person who was not elderly or disabled could receive need-based aid from the federal government.^{[17][dubious – discuss]} Aid could include general Welfare payments, health care through Medicaid, food stamps, special payments for pregnant women and young mothers, and federal and state housing benefits.^[17] In 1968, 4.1% of families were headed by a woman receiving Welfare assistance; by 1980, the percentage increased to 10%.^[17] In the 1970s, California was the U.S. state with the most generous Welfare system.^[18] Virtually all food stamp costs are paid by the taxpayers.^[19] In 2008, 28.7 percent of the households headed by single women were considered poor.^[20] The poverty rate for single-mother families in 2010 jumped to 40.7% compared to 8.8% for married-couple families.^[21] California, with 12% of the U.S. population, has one-third of the nation's welfare recipients.^[22]

In 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act changed the structure of Welfare payments and added new criteria to states that received Welfare funding. After reforms, which President Clinton said would "end Welfare as we know it,"^[19] amounts from the federal government were given out in a flat rate per state based on population.^{[23][dead link]} Each state must meet certain criteria to ensure recipients are being encouraged to work themselves out of Welfare. The new program is called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).^[24][25] It encourages states to require some sort of employment search in exchange for providing funds to individuals, and imposes a five-year lifetime limit on cash assistance.^[19][24][26] In FY 2009, white families comprised 31.2% of TANF families, black families comprised 33.3%, and 28.8% were Hispanic.^[25]

In a 2011 article, Forbes reported, "The best estimate of the cost of the 185 federal means tested Welfare programs for 2010 for the federal government alone is nearly $700 billion, up a third since 2008, according to the Heritage Foundation. Counting state spending, total Welfare spending for 2010 reached nearly $900 billion, up nearly one-fourth since 2008 (24.3%)".^[27]

Latin America[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

History[link]

The 1980s marked a change in the structure of Latin American social protection programs. Social protection embraces three major areas: social insurance, financed by workers and employers; social assistance to the population’s poorest, financed by the state; and labor market regulations to protect worker rights.^[28] Although diverse, recent Latin American social policy has tended to concentrate on social assistance.

The 1980s had a significant effect on social protection policies. Prior to the 1980s, most Latin American countries focused on social insurance policies involving formal sector workers, assuming that the informal sector would disappear with economic development. The economic crisis of the 1980s and the liberalization of the labor market led to a growing informal sector and a rapid increase in poverty and inequality. Latin American countries did not have the institutions and funds to properly handle such a crisis, both due to the structure of the social security system, and to the previously implemented structural adjustment policies (SAPs) that had decreased the size of the state.

New Welfare programs have integrated the multidimensional, social risk management, and capabilities approaches into poverty alleviation. They focus on income transfers and service provisions while aiming to alleviate both long- and short-term poverty through, among other things, education, health, security, and housing. Unlike previous programs that targeted the working class, new programs have successfully focused on locating and targeting the very poorest.

The impacts of social assistance programs vary between countries, and many programs have yet to be fully evaluated. According to Barrientos and Santibanez, the programs have been more successful in increasing investment in human capital than in bringing households above the poverty line. Challenges still exist, including the extreme inequality levels and the mass scale of poverty; locating a financial basis for programs; and deciding on exit strategies or on the long-term establishment of programs.^[28]

Latin America’s most recent shift in social policies[link]

The economic crisis of the 1980s led to a shift in social policies, as understandings of poverty and social programs evolved (24). New, mostly short-term programs emerged. These include:^[29]

• Argentina: Jefes y Jefas de Hogar
• Bolivia: Bonosol
• Brazil: Bolsa Escola and Bolsa Familia
• Chile: Chile Solidario
• Ecuador: Bono de Desarollo Humano
• Honduras: Red Solidaria
• Mexico: Oportunidades (earlier known as Progresa)
• Panama: Red de Oportunidades
• Peru: Juntos

Major aspects of current social assistance programs[link]

• Conditional cash transfer (CCT) combined with service provisions. Transfer cash directly to households, most often through the women of the household, if certain conditions are met (e.g. children’s school attendance or doctor visits) (10). Providing free schooling or healthcare is often not sufficient, because there is an opportunity cost for the parents in, for example, sending children to school (lost labor power), or in paying for the transportation costs of getting to a health clinic.
• Household. The household has been the focal point of social assistance programs.
• Target the poorest. Recent programs have been more successful than past ones in targeting the poorest. Previous programs often targeted the working class.
• Multidimensional. Programs have attempted to address many dimensions of poverty at once. Chile Solidario is the best example.

Critiques[link]

Income transfers can be either conditional or unconditional. There is no substantial evidence that conditional transfers are more effective than unconditional ones. Conditionalities are sometimes critiqued for being paternalistic and unnecessary.

Current programs have been built as short-term rather than as permanent institutions, and many of them have rather short time spans (around five years). Some programs have time frames that reflect available funding. One example of this is Bolivia’s Bonosol, which is financed by proceeds from the privatization of utilities—an unsustainable funding source. Some see Latin America’s social assistance programs as a way to patch up high levels of poverty and inequalities, partly brought on by the current economic system.

Others argue that the effectiveness of the programs relies on the ability of mostly free-trade oriented economic systems to address poverty.

See also[link]

Look up welfare in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Welfare

References[link]

• R.M. Blank (2001). "Welfare Programs, Economics of," International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, pp. 16426–16432, Abstract.
• Sheldon Danziger, Robert Haveman, and Robert Plotnick (1981). "How Income Transfer Programs Affect Work, Savings, and the Income Distribution: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature 19(3), pp. 975-1028.
• R.H. Haveman (2001). "Poverty: Measurement and Analysis," International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, pp. 11917–11924. Abstract.
• Steven N. Durlauf et al., ed. (2008) The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition:

"social insurance" by Stefania Albanesi. Abstract.

"social insurance and public policy" by Jonathan Gruber Abstract.

"Welfare state" by Assar Lindbeck. Abstract.

• Nadasen, Premilla, Jennifer Mittelstadt, and Marisa Chappell, Welfare in the United States: A History with Documents, 1935–1996. (New York: Routledge, 2009). 241 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-98979-4

Notes[link]

Adam Carolla
Carolla in Seattle, Washington, in 2007
Born	(1964-05-27) May 27, 1964 (age 48) Los Angeles, California, US
Occupation	Comedian, comedy writer, radio personality, television personality, actor, carpenter
Known for	The Adam Carolla Show (podcast), The Adam Carolla Show (radio)
Television	Loveline, The Man Show, Crank Yankers, Too Late with Adam Carolla, The Adam Carolla Project, The Car Show
Board member of	Marijuana Policy Project (advisory board)[1]
Religion	none (atheist)[2]
Spouse	Lynette Paradise (2002–present)
Children	2
Website
AdamCarolla.com

Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by Guinness World Records.

Carolla co-hosted the syndicated radio call-in program Loveline from 1995 to 2005 as well as the show's television incarnation on MTV from 1996 to 2000. He was the co-host and co-creator of the television program The Man Show (1999–2004), and the co-creator and a regular performer on the television show Crank Yankers (2002–2007). He hosted The Adam Carolla Project, a home improvement television program which aired on TLC in 2005 and The Car Show on Speed TV^[3] in 2011.

Carolla has also appeared on the network reality television programs Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice. His book, In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks, debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2010.

Early life[link]

Carolla was born in Los Angeles, California.^[4][5] His father, Jim Carolla, a psychologist of Italian heritage, and his mother, Kris (née Novello), who is of Hungarian descent, separated when Adam was young.^[6] Carolla was not given a middle name; on his driver's license application he filled the "middle name" blank with "Lakers" (after his love for the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team) and the made-up name still appears on his license.^[7][8]

Adam was raised in the North Hollywood district of Los Angeles. He attended Colfax Elementary School, Walter Reed Junior High, and North Hollywood High School. Carolla did not receive his high school diploma until years later as it was held by the school until a library fine was paid.^[9] Carolla can be seen paying off the book and receiving his diploma in an episode of his 2005 television show, The Adam Carolla Project.^[10]

During his earlier years, Carolla played Pop Warner football for seven years; he later suggested that being involved in sports saved him from a chaotic home life.^[11] During his senior year at North Hollywood High School, Carolla distinguished himself in football. In December 1981, he was named to the First Team Offensive Line, Central Valley League, one of 8 leagues at the time in the LA City Section of the California Interscholastic Federation.^[12]

He began living on his own at the age of 18. He briefly attended Los Angeles Valley College, a community college, where he was placed on academic probation before dropping out to work in a series of jobs, including carpet cleaner,^[13] carpenter, boxing instructor,^[14] and traffic school instructor.^[15] Although broke, Carolla and his friends and roommates owned a 1963 Cadillac limousine.^[16]

In the early 1990s Carolla studied improvisational comedy with The Groundlings and was a member of the ACME Comedy Theatre troupe.

Carolla's step-grandfather was László Görög, who wrote The Mole People.^[17]

Radio[link]

In 1994, Carolla volunteered his services as a boxing trainer to prepare Jimmy Kimmel for a bout being staged by KROQ-FM's morning radio program Kevin and Bean.^[5] Kimmel was a regular on the show as "Jimmy the Sports Guy" and he was set to fight another KROQ personality in a boxing exhibition which was being billed as the "Bleeda in Reseda."^[18] Carolla parleyed this opportunity into a long-running friendship and business partnership with Kimmel as well as a recurring role on Kevin and Bean as cranky woodshop teacher, Mr. Birchum.^[19]

Loveline[link]

Carolla was offered the job of co-hosting the radio call-in show Loveline with physician Drew Pinsky, a.k.a. "Dr. Drew", and Riki Rachtman in October 1995 after Pinsky had heard Carolla on Kevin and Bean^[5] (Rachtman left the show the following year).^[20] Loveline is broadcast on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles and is syndicated nationwide on the Westwood One radio network. While the format of the program was primarily a call-in show where listeners would ask questions about sex and relationships, Carolla would often spend much of the show ranting about various topics, from fart jokes to incessant radio weather and traffic reports. Carolla served as the louder, funnier side of the show in contrast to the reserved, thoughtful Pinsky. Carolla's character was described by one reviewer as "a toned-down version of Howard Stern minus the huge ego".^[20] Carolla left Loveline in November 2005 to start his own morning radio show, though he had stated that he'd have continued to do Loveline if it could be recorded immediately after his morning show, but Westwood One insisted that the show be broadcast live.^{[citation needed]}

The Adam Carolla Show[link]

In October 2005 Carolla was announced as the host of a new morning radio show on the Infinity Broadcasting network. His new show would replace the popular syndicated Howard Stern Show (which was moving to satellite radio) in twelve of the 27 markets in which Stern had been broadcast including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix and Portland, Oregon.^[21] The Adam Carolla Show debuted in January 2006.

On February 18, 2009, The Adam Carolla Show was canceled as part of a format switch at KLSX to AMP FM, a new top 40 station. The final show was Friday, February 20, 2009.^[22]

The Adam Carolla Podcast[link]

Carolla started a daily podcast on Feb. 23, 2009, at his personal Web site, which would evolve into the ACE Broadcasting Network. The first Adam Carolla podcast was downloaded more than 250,000 times in the initial 24 hours, and by the third podcast, it was the number one podcast on iTunes in both the U.S. and Canada.^[23] During the debut week, the Adam Carolla podcast recorded 1.6 million downloads. In the second week it recorded 2.4 million downloads. By the fourth episode of the second week, featuring former Adam Carolla Show sidekick Dave Dameshek, the show was downloaded more than 500,000 times.^[24] Adam stated that bandwidth cost more than $9,000 a month as of May 2009.^[25]

At the end of 2009, The Adam Carolla Podcast was selected by iTunes for its end-of-the-year awards as the Best Audio Podcast of 2009.^[26] On May 18, 2011, Adam announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live that The Adam Carolla Show has taken the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast ever from Ricky Gervais^[27][27] after receiving 59,574,843 unique downloads from March 2009 to March 16, 2011.^[28]

Television[link]

1999 through 2004[link]

Carolla began his first original television series with The Man Show, along with partner and close friend Jimmy Kimmel, on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2003. He left The Man Show at the same time as Kimmel, after having been reportedly offered $50,000 per episode to stay on. Carolla has continued his work with Kimmel as a writer and guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He also appeared on an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast around this time.

Carolla and partner Daniel Kellison are the heads of Jackhole Productions. The two created the television show Crank Yankers for Comedy Central, which revived the Mr. Birchum character. (The show premiered in 2002 on Comedy Central and returned to MTV2 on February 9, 2007, running again until March 30, 2007. The show screened in Australia on SBS Television and The Comedy Channel between 2003 and 2008.)

2005 through 2008[link]

From August 2005 to November 2005, Carolla hosted the talk show Too Late with Adam Carolla on Comedy Central.

Also in 2005, Carolla was featured in a home remodeling program called The Adam Carolla Project wherein he and a crew of old friends renovated his childhood home. The 13 episodes aired on the cable channel TLC (The Learning Channel) from October through December 2005. The house was then sold for 1.2 Million dollars.^[29][30]

In 2006, Carolla appeared on the special summer series Gameshow Marathon as a celebrity panelist on the Match Game episode.

On the February 18, 2008 broadcast of his radio show, Carolla announced that he would be one of the contestants on the next season of Dancing with the Stars. Later in the broadcast, it was revealed to Adam that his partner would be Julianne Hough.^[31] He was voted off on the April 8, 2008 episode after his performance of the Paso Doble.

Dancing with the Stars performances

On June 16, 2008 Carolla was selected to host a pilot^[32] of an American version of the popular BBC show Top Gear for NBC. In December 2008, NBC decided not to pick up the show.^[33]

2009 to present[link]

On February 21, 2009, a day after his Los Angeles-based morning radio show was canceled — as part of a format change at KLSX-FM — CBS ordered a comedy pilot starring the actor/comedian. "Ace in the Hole" was to star Carolla as a husband and father who works as a driving instructor. Carolla created and wrote the pilot with Kevin Hench ("Jimmy Kimmel Live").^[34] Carolla stated that Pamela Adlon was to play his wife and Windell Middlebrooks of the Miller High Life commercial fame will play his best friend. During his March 30, 2009 podcast, Carolla briefly described the show as being "All in the Family, essentially", with Carolla playing a similar role to that of Archie Bunker. On the July 23, 2009 episode of the Adam Carolla Podcast, Carolla announced that CBS was not picking up the pilot for the 2009 season, "in any way, shape or form."

On October 22, 2009, it was reported in Variety that Carolla had struck a deal with NBC to produce a half-hour pilot for a sitcom. The report was later confirmed on January 4, 2010, and was the first comedy pilot ordered by NBC for the season.^[35] The untitled project, written by Carolla and Kevin Hench, was a single-camera endeavor that starred Carolla as a contractor and father who attempts to rebuild his life after his wife leaves him.^[36][37] Carolla was set to executive produce the NBC project along with frequent collaborators Kimmel and Hench, as well as his agent James "Babydoll" Dixon, Jon Pollack from "30 Rock", Gail Berman, Daniel Kellison, and Lloyd Braun. Universal Media Studios, BermanBraun, and Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel's own Jackhole Industries.^[36][37]

On the February 13, 2010 episode of Carolla's CarCast podcast, he broke the news that The History Channel had picked up Top Gear US, which NBC had decided against in 2008.^[38] On the March 26, 2010 episode of CarCast, Carolla said that he would not be co-hosting Top Gear US because of scheduling conflicts with his NBC sitcom project. In June 2010, Carolla said that his NBC pilot had not been picked up, and was now "dead."^[39]

Carolla was also one of the contestants in NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice. He was fired in Week 4 along with Michael Andretti.

The Car Show[link]

Carolla's "The Car Show" debuted on Speed TV July 13, 2011. Appearing Wednesdays at 10 pm Eastern, it features Carolla as the host, along with Dan Neil, John Salley, and Matt Farah. It is a similar format as Top Gear, mixing car reviews, tests and humor. The show has been met with largely positive reviews from car enthusiasts and comedy fans. Talk show host and comedian Jay Leno called The Car Show, "...a lot of fun."^[40] The Car Show was cancelled after one season, after undergoing format changes and dropping John Salley due to low ratings, as Adam mentioned on his podcast January 13, 2012.

Voice acting[link]

Carolla has also done voice acting on cartoons, including Commander Nebula on the Disney animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Death on Family Guy (replacing Norm Macdonald) and Spanky Ham on Drawn Together.

Film[link]

In 2006, Carolla finished work on The Hammer, a semi-autobiographical independent film he co-wrote and co-produced, in which he stars opposite Heather Juergensen. The film is based loosely on his own life and is filmed at a gym he helped build with his co-star, Ozzie, played by Oswaldo Castillo, his friend in real life whom he met while building the gym when they both worked in construction.^[41] The film made its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and shortly thereafter received a positive review in Variety.^[41] The film was released on March 21, 2008.^[42][43][44] The film is rated 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Adam made a short appearance in Jeff Balis' Still Waiting... (a sequel to Waiting...) playing a pick-up artist guru.

Adam helped write an unproduced screenplay for a movie entitled Deaf Frat Guy: Showdown at Havasu.^[45]

He is the voice of Virgil in the independent short film Save Virgil.

Books[link]

Carolla and Drew Pinsky co-wrote (with Marshall Fine) the self-help book The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide to Life and Love which was published in 1998.^[46] The book is a compilation of some of the advice the pair had compiled while producing Loveline.^[47]

In November 2010, Carolla's In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks... And Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy was published by Crown Archetype and debuted at number eight on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover non-fiction on November 21, 2010.^[48] The book was compiled from rants Carolla had delivered on his radio show and podcast along with some new material and was dictated to and ghost written by Mike Lynch.^[49]

Carolla published a short, illustrated e-book entitled Rich Man, Poor Man in January 2012. The book details some similarities in the experiences of the very rich and the very poor which are not shared by the middle class.^[50] The book was illustrated by Michael Narren.^[51]

Carolla's next book Not Taco Bell Material will be published by Crown Archetype on June 12, 2012.^[52]

Controversy[link]

Carolla has been accused of making hasty generalizations abut various groups. In late 2003, for example, he said that Hawaiians are "dumb." The show was then cancelled on KPOI.^[53]

Personal life[link]

On September 28, 2002, Carolla married Lynette Paradise. Lynette gave birth to their first children, twins Natalia and Santino "Sonny" Richard Carolla on June 7, 2006.^[54] On The Adam Carolla Show, Adam repeatedly mentioned the birth was originally scheduled for June 6, but that he and Lynette decided to push it back one day as to avoid the symbolic 666 (06–06–06).

Regarding his religious beliefs, Carolla has stated, "I am not agnostic. I am atheist. I don’t think there is no God; I know there’s no God. I know there’s no God the same way I know many other laws in our universe. I know there’s no God and I know most of the world knows that as well. They just won’t admit it because there’s another thing they know: they know they’re going to die, and it freaks them out. So most people don’t have the courage to admit there’s no God and they know it. They feel it. They try to suppress it. And if you bring it up they get angry because it freaks them out."^[2][55]

Regarding his political views, Carolla has stated, "I guess I would be Republican, in the sense that I want a secure border, I'm not into the welfare state, I'm not into all those freebie lunch programs. It just kind of demeans people." He goes on to state, however, that he is also in favor of traditionally libertarian causes such as the legalization of marijuana and some progressive causes such as "... [being] against semi-automatic and automatic weapons. I'm not an NRA guy by any stretch of the imagination. I'd like alternative energy to be explored and electric cars to be used, but I want them to be powered by nuclear power plants."^[56] (he is a member of the advisory board of the Marijuana Policy Project^[1]). Elsewhere he has stated that "My feeling is this whole country is founded on the principle of 'if you are not hurting anyone, and you're not fucking with someone else's shit, and you are paying your taxes, you should be able to just do what you want to do.' It's the freedom and the independence."^[57] In November 2011, Carolla posed for the NOH8 campaign.

Carolla has stated that he consumes alcohol on a daily basis.^[58][59] He invented 'Mangria', which is red wine with vodka.^[60][61][62]

Carolla won the 2012 Pro/Celebrity Race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.^[63] The race was run on April 14, 2012 and was broadcast on Speed TV.^[64] Carolla has previously participated in the race in 2010 and 2003.^[65][66] He finished ninth among 19 racers (fifth among the ten celebrities) in 2010^[65] despite being regarded as a pre-race favorite.^[66] He is also a serious automobile collector with over 20 cars. His collection includes several Lamborghinis from the 1960s and early 1970s including two Miuras (of 764 examples ever produced), one of which he has loaned to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, two 400GT 2+2s (of 247 units produced) and a 1965 350GT (one of 135 built). At least one Ferrari and Aston Martin and several vintage race cars round out the collection.^[67]

Carolla is a part owner of Amalfi, an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles.^[68]

Honors[link]

Carolla and Pinsky received a Sexual Health In Entertainment (SHINE) Award from the The Media Project in 2000 for "incorporating accurate and honest portrayals of sexuality" in the talk show category for Loveline.^[69]

Asteroid 4535 Adamcarolla is named in his honor.^[70]

References[link]