1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: If you're not laughing, the joke's on you. That's a 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: good point, my grandfather. You say, if you're in. 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 2: A room full of people and you can't figure out 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 2: who the stupid one is, you're in trouble. You just 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 2: figured it out, gragulations dumb at that voice right there, guys, 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 2: is not a normal one. So we'll explain why Mike 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 2: Rowe is on an army of normal folks right after 8 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 2: these brief messages from our general sponsors. Our whole podcast 9 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 2: is based on the platform that there's normal folks that 10 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 2: have financial troubles, family troubles, difficulties in life, and they 11 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 2: do extraordinary things in all corners of our culture and society, 12 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 2: and those stories are rarely told because we're dominated by 13 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 2: the press in New York and the division in DC 14 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 2: and the social media coming out of your neck of 15 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 2: the woods that says, if you don't look like me, 16 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 2: think like me, breathe like me, worship like me, or 17 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 2: vote like me, you must be my enemy. And this 18 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 2: decades long division that's been percolating in culture, I think 19 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 2: can largely be fixed or at least mended by the 20 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 2: celebration of normal people doing extraordinary things in their neck 21 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,839 Speaker 2: of the woods, because I don't care how you vote, 22 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 2: who you are, what you look like. We can all 23 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 2: celebrate humanity and decency in each corner of the world. 24 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: And so. 25 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 2: That's what the show is. And we have a an 26 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 2: occasional intermission form our normal folks stories and we will 27 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 2: talk to people who aren't so normal, and really the 28 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 2: not so normal people that we talk to, it's not 29 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 2: really about them, but it's about who helped them when 30 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 2: they were normal. In other words, what normal people helped 31 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 2: them to their success. And we call these special segments 32 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 2: supporting Greatness. And today we have a most normal of 33 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 2: non normal people that you could imagine. He's famed for 34 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 2: his show Dirty Jobs, and his name is Mike ro 35 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 2: and Bro. I can't tell you how much I appreciate 36 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 2: you joining us. 37 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: I can't. I can't think of a time that where 38 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: somebody has introduced me is abnormal in such a nice way. 39 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: But thank you. I'll take it. 40 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 2: Well, you are abnormal. So we want to talk about 41 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 2: who supported your greatness, and that's what we're going to 42 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 2: get into real quick. But first, Mike, I want to 43 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 2: know what's up with this thing right here. 44 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: I once had a whiskey made for me back in 45 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: a place called Tennessee. The taste was grand, so I 46 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: agreed to call my whiskey Noble. The noble Man come 47 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: to bring up bottle for everyone take. So that's me 48 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: uh singing a very old sea chanty called the Wellerman, 49 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: and the Wellerman was dragged back into the spotlight during 50 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: the lockdowns when some guy over in Scotland recorded it 51 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: in four part harmony and threw it out on TikTok, 52 00:03:54,520 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: and billions of people started a whole sea sea chanty craze. So, 53 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: speaking of normal people, I released a line of whiskey 54 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: during the lockdowns called Noble, named after the most normal 55 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: guy I knew, Karl Noble, who happened to be my granddad, 56 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: the guy to whom Dirty Jobs was dedicated and the 57 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: foundation that I run today. So to celebrate, or perhaps 58 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: mourn the return of Dirty Jobs, I got my hands 59 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: on some five year old Tennessee whiskey. I put my 60 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: pop's name on it, and I started having virtual drinks 61 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: with fans of Dirty Jobs sitting right where I'm sitting now. 62 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: I'd send a bottle out to a longtime fan, we'd 63 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: have a sip or two and have a conversation. I 64 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: started putting those out there into the world, and somehow 65 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: or another, we raised a bunch of money for my 66 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: foundation and launched a whiskey brand that started with that 67 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: very thing you just showed me walking along the beach, 68 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: turning the wellerman into the nobleman, and wondering if anyone 69 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: would pay. 70 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 2: Attention, which clearly they did. And it's whiskey I think 71 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 2: has made my home state right. 72 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: Right, it is down in Columbia, Tennessee. Yeah, you know 73 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: I'm here, Nashville. Yep. I didn't do like you kind 74 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: of look around if you're me and you take stock 75 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: in the landscape, and what you don't say is, oh, okay, 76 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,919 Speaker 1: I see what our country needs. Our country needs another 77 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: celebrity bourbon brand immediately. That's what needs to happen, right. 78 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,559 Speaker 1: And I didn't do the whole Matthew McConaughey thing, where 79 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: you know, you're walking in slow motion through a wheat field, 80 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: sampling and trying all the different possible recipes. I just 81 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: met a guy who had some five year old juice 82 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: in the barrel and a buyer. Well, it just didn't 83 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: work out the way it was supposed to and suddenly 84 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: it was available and I tasted it and loved it, 85 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: and that's what happened. That's what life is, Bill. 86 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 2: You know, you could have gone the Diddy version and 87 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 2: done some vodka and like break dancing in some cool 88 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 2: place in the same systems. 89 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: You never say never to these things. But in my experience, 90 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: you kind of play the play the cards you get. 91 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: It's kind of crawl, walk and then run. Here's the 92 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: stuff you're talking about. 93 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 2: It's it is. 94 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, we just did a barrel strength right, it's got 95 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: my power up. I keep it down here in the bunker, 96 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: you know, to break in case of emergencies. You never 97 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: know how these podcasts are going to go. Sometimes, well, 98 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: that's on reserve. It's it's always standing by absolutely. 99 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's Noble on reserve. I wonder how it 100 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 2: would go with a little splash of sweet vermouth and 101 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 2: a Maraschino cherry. Because I'm a Manhattan guy. 102 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: It would taste a lot like a Manhattan I dare say, 103 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: I dare say. 104 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 2: So that was a great segue too. I want to 105 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 2: talk about a few people that I've read about and 106 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 2: heard you talk about that did support your greatness and 107 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 2: The first one is grandfather, which you've touched on. But 108 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 2: why you know, I've read that he was kind of 109 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 2: a jack of all trades electrician, could do plumbing. I've 110 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 2: read the story of the toilet exploding, and you know, 111 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 2: I'd love for you to tell that story. But more 112 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 2: importantly for me, Mike, is why did he matter to 113 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 2: you so much? You know, not what he did that 114 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 2: makes him an amazing normal guy. But again, the topic 115 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 2: is supporting greatness. So what is it that you really 116 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 2: deeply defines you that is the piece of him that 117 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 2: lasts in your life forever. 118 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's a lot to unpack. But let 119 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: me first say that as you were describing what your 120 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: podcast is, I was I was chuckling to myself because 121 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: it sounded a lot like the pitch I gave to 122 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: Discovery for Dirty Jobs twenty years ago, which at the 123 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: time was pretty revolutionary. You know, there was no reality 124 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: TV on the air, per se, and all of the 125 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: nonfiction stuff that I'd ever been involved in relied on 126 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: abnormal people, right experts. But there there was a moment. 127 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: There was a moment there, like they call it the 128 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: Overton window, you know, where my little idea for this show, 129 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: Forrest gumped its way onto the air and found a 130 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: toe hold, and the whole pitch was, Look, what if 131 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:38,199 Speaker 1: what if we treated normal people the way access Hollywood treats. 132 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: Brad Pitt's right, right? What if we go into a 133 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: sewer with a full crew, and rather than turn the 134 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 1: sewer inspector into the punchline of some joke, or rather 135 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: than just revel in the pure spectacle of wading through 136 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: other people's crap, why don't we let him be the 137 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: expert and let me learn as his prentice, and just 138 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: let the cameras be a fly on the wall. And 139 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: that's really what the show was. And to answer your question, 140 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: the reason that show look the way it looked is 141 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: because that's how I grew up next to my granddad, 142 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: working as his apprentice, determined to follow in his footsteps. 143 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,680 Speaker 1: And of course, the great truth in life one of many. 144 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: And I'm sure you've seen this yourself and your exploits. 145 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: But just because you just because you love something, doesn't 146 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: mean you can't suck at it. 147 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: And it's so true. 148 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: And conversely, and maybe even more importantly, just because you 149 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: don't love something, just because you're not really into something, 150 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,479 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean you might not have a great facility 151 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: for it. Right. How many running backs did you meet 152 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: in your career that turned out to be a better 153 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: tight end? Maybe this or that, right, You don't really 154 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: know necessarily, But when I was fifteen or sixteen, I 155 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,559 Speaker 1: was pretty sure I was going to follow one of 156 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: my pop's footsteps. Who, to your point, could take apart 157 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: your watch and put it back together blindfolded, could deconstruct 158 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: a combine put it back together a combustion engine, could 159 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,559 Speaker 1: build a house without a blueprint. He only went to 160 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: the seventh grade, but he was a magician built right. 161 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: He was a magician in the sense that every day 162 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,439 Speaker 1: I remember seeing he and my dad would they'd wake 163 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: up clean, go out into the world to fix some problem, 164 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: to build a barn, to put in a waterline, to 165 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: dig a well, whatever it was, and come home dirty, 166 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: and somehow in between, magically a thing got fixed, a 167 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: problem got corrected, a thing was built right. 168 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 2: And now a few messages from our general sponsors. But first, 169 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,680 Speaker 2: we're now offering premium memberships for the Army of normal 170 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 2: folks for ten bucks a month. You receive special benefits, 171 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 2: such as being invited to a private yearly call with 172 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 2: other premium members and me access to monthly Ask Me 173 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 2: Anything episodes and occasional bonus audio. If you're interested in this, 174 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 2: I hope you go to normal Folks dot us and 175 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 2: click on premium. But guys, that's really not what it's about. 176 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 2: You get all that cool stuff, and we're going to 177 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 2: provide all that stuff. But the truth is we're trying 178 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 2: to grow the Army of normal Folks and have a 179 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 2: greater impact on the country, and with the premium memberships, 180 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 2: we can fuel our marketing efforts to grow it. This 181 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 2: podcast peaked at number ten on Apple's podcast chart and 182 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 2: all of the US, which is absolutely crazy, and it's 183 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 2: not about me. It's about the guests, and it's about you. 184 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,440 Speaker 2: So we've decided to set an exciting new goal of 185 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 2: trying to be on Apple's Top Shows chart for our 186 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:06,319 Speaker 2: entire first year, which will mean more attension, more listeners, 187 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 2: more Army members, and most importantly, more impact. But we 188 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 2: need you as always, so go to normal Folks dot 189 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 2: us and click on premium if you're down to help. 190 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 2: If not, just keep listening. We'll be right back. How 191 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 2: old Mike were you when you woke up to the 192 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 2: fact that you should revere your father and grandfather for 193 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 2: the hard work they were doing. When did that click 194 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 2: for you that they were special. 195 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: That's a great question, because there's no answer. I never 196 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: had a real liation or a parapetea. I never had 197 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: a big aha moment where I suddenly realized my dad 198 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: and my granddad were each great in their own way. 199 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,839 Speaker 1: I had a front row seat to their greatness, right, 200 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: And if the point of this conversation is really to 201 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: elevate that component, right, then I got to tell you 202 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: I got the best cards in the world. We didn't 203 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: have much money, but one of the genius things my 204 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: pop did, my grandfather I'm talking about Carl Noble, was 205 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: years ago when they put in ninety five, you know, 206 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,199 Speaker 1: the big interstate up and down the East Coast. His 207 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: little farmhouse was right in the way of an off ramp, 208 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 1: and so the state gave him the option of either 209 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: writing of a check or relocating his home right someplace 210 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,319 Speaker 1: of his choosing nearby. My granddad chose to put his 211 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: home on the top of a hill, an isolated hill 212 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: that was flanked on one side by Stemmers Run Creek, 213 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 1: on the other side by about one hundred acres of 214 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: lowland marsh and thick woods, and on the third side 215 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: the off ramp to ninety five, which would be built 216 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: about one hundred yards down a steep grade filled with 217 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: pine trees. It sounded like the ocean. In fact, my 218 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: mother told me it was for the first twelve years 219 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: of my life, and I believed her like a fool. 220 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: But my grandfather very strategically put his home in a 221 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: place where he knew no one could develop. But he 222 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: also knew that the power lines back in the woods 223 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: had to be maintained by the state. So the state 224 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: put in this gravel road, built a wooden bridge over 225 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: the creek, And I wound up growing up next to 226 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: my grandfather in a place that you just couldn't well, 227 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: you couldn't dream up up. It was completely isolated. It 228 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: felt like the middle of Colorado, somewhere we didn't actually 229 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: own all the land we had access too, but we 230 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: had access to it exclusively, so we built barns. There's 231 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: no one there. There's no one there, and the state 232 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: didn't care. 233 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 2: Where is that where I'm trying. 234 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: This is Baltimore County, Maryland. Yeah, I grew up on 235 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: a little farm in Baltimore County, Maryland that most people 236 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: would never even think of as farmland because it was 237 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: only three miles from the city line. And so I was. 238 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: I was. I was in a bubble bill the best 239 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: kind of bubble right, because I had a mom and 240 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: dad who were devoted to each other and raised my 241 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: brothers and me with great love and care. But right 242 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: next to them, I had this second set of parents, 243 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: my mom's parents, who functioned like this, like this walking 244 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: proof of every good lesson my dad ever tried to 245 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:13,840 Speaker 1: drill into my head. So you know, I never I 246 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: never felt poor, I never felt bored. I had access 247 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: to deep and endless woods. I had chores, I had 248 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: horsecrap to pick up every day, I had wood to cut. 249 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: Our home was heated by a woodstove. And I had 250 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: two men in my earliest memories, two men who were 251 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: always there, who loved each other. This father, this man 252 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: and his son in law. Right, they were very, very close, 253 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: and they raised my brothers and me in a way 254 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: that had so much meaning and so much impact that 255 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: we didn't have the good sense to know it until 256 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: decades later, when we looked back at it and saw 257 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: it for the unique situation that it was so. 258 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 2: Again, if if you can, I'm I'm an I'm a 259 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 2: touchy feely guy. What is the essence of your grandfather? 260 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 2: That is a part of the definition of who you 261 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 2: are today. 262 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 1: Humility. That's a great word, first and foremost. It's it's humility. 263 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,159 Speaker 1: And look, it's sound. It's a very weird thing and 264 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: maybe a little ironic to brag about your humbleness. I 265 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: would say that, and I don't. That's that's a definition 266 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 1: of irony. Bro Yeah, right, you know what makes me 267 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: so great? It's that I'm so damn humble. Mac Davis 268 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: had a great song about that. Remember, oh lord, it's 269 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 1: hard to be humbling, Yeah, when you're perfect in every way. 270 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, it's a great song. 271 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: So what happened to me was my my my granddad 272 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: was the very definition of humility. He affirmatively ran from credit, 273 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: and yet he was one of the most competent people 274 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: that I ever that I ever knew, and juxtaposed to me, 275 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: you know, once I realized that I wasn't going to 276 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,719 Speaker 1: follow in his footsteps, Once I learned gently in his 277 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: presence that the handy gene was recessive, and that the 278 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: things that came easy to him, did not come easy 279 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: to me. This was the guy by the way, Carl Noble, 280 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: who told me maybe the best advice I ever got. 281 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: He said, look, Mike, I get it. You want to 282 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 1: be like me. You want to be a tradesman. You 283 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: can be a tradesman. Anybody can be a tradesman. But 284 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: you need a different toolbox. And so and so I 285 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 1: got one. You know, I went to a community college. 286 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: I learned to do a bunch of things I wasn't 287 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: really interested in, like acting and writing and singing and 288 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: so forth. And you know, that way led onto a way, 289 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: and you know, I'm really summing up a couple decades 290 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: for you. But to answer your question, I found success 291 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,439 Speaker 1: in the entertainment business, not a ton of it, but 292 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: enough of it to become arrogant. I learned that I 293 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: could work pretty much whenever I felt like it. I 294 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: took many months off every year. I took my retirement 295 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: in early installments, and I felt I felt like I 296 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: had figured something out that was important. And then one day, 297 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,719 Speaker 1: when I was forty two years old, working right across 298 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: the bay there I can almost see my old office 299 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: at CBS, my mom called me. I was sitting in 300 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: my cubicle hosting a I'd been hosting a TV show 301 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: in those days called Evening Magazine, and she called to say, Michael, 302 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:49,159 Speaker 1: you know your grandfather turned ninety years old yesterday, and 303 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: I was just thinking, wouldn't it be terrific if before 304 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: he died he could turn on his television and see 305 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: you doing something that looked like work. 306 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 2: That he actually would respect. 307 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: I mean, it's not that he didn't respect everything that, 308 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Men like that. They want 309 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: to see something that reminds them of work. They want 310 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: to see something of themselves in TV shows. 311 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 2: I own. I own a hardwood lumber manufacturing facility, and well, 312 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 2: you know, it's it's a dirt it's a dirty job. 313 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 2: It's hot when it's summertime, it's cold when it's wintertime. 314 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 2: It's dust flying through the air, hydraulic grease everything. And 315 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 2: sure I have people in the office doing office stuff, 316 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 2: but the vast majority of one hundred and thirty employees 317 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 2: or outside working hard kilns, chains, conveyors, noise, ripsaws. You know, 318 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 2: if you have all one of all ten digits, you're 319 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 2: really not a lumberman. You know. It's that kind of place, 320 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:03,959 Speaker 2: and and I have I have an enormous amount of 321 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 2: respect for each of my employees that show up every 322 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 2: day at seven am and work till three point thirty 323 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 2: in any overtime hours. I ask them to help my 324 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 2: company be successful because those men they work, and those 325 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 2: men respect people that show up and work. And I 326 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 2: assume your grandfather would have had some of the same mentality. 327 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 2: When I say respect, I mean they respect, they understand. 328 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 2: There's there's just a there's a there's a shrinking number 329 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,400 Speaker 2: of people and our culture that understand what eight hours 330 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 2: on a jackhammer is. And I all right. 331 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: And there's no way to there's no way to teach it. 332 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 2: Well, there's one way. You get on top of it 333 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:48,919 Speaker 2: and pull the handle. 334 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,199 Speaker 1: That's right. That's it. I mean, it's just experience to 335 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: your point and regarding humility, you know, it was a 336 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: very uh, it was it was a very humbling moment 337 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: for me because after that phone call from my mother, right, 338 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,879 Speaker 1: I took a cameraman into the sewers of San Francisco 339 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: and I hosted an episode of Evening Magazine down there, 340 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: and that footage was so shocking, so inappropriate, and so 341 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: delightfully hideous that it actually got me fired from CBS, 342 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: but it became the heart. It became the demo tape 343 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: that I used to sell Dirty Jobs. And as Dirty 344 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: Jobs found its audience and really began to take hold, 345 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: two things happened that are relevant to the goal of 346 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: your podcast. The first is that I got a level 347 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:46,919 Speaker 1: of feedback I'd never seen before in TV. Not merely 348 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,160 Speaker 1: positive feedback, not oh, Mike, that's so funny or that's 349 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: so interesting. The feedback I got that shocked me was 350 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 1: you think that was dirty? Way do you see what 351 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: my dad does? What do you see what my grandfather did, 352 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: my cousin, my brother, my uncle, my sister, my aunt, 353 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: my uncle. Right, it's like, way, do you see the 354 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: lumber yard where they work? Way do you see this? Way? 355 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: Do you see that? And so I realized that there 356 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: was a giant world out there of pre built sets 357 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,959 Speaker 1: called job sites, and there were a giant number of 358 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 1: people out there, called real people from which we could 359 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:33,880 Speaker 1: learn something. And so once I realized that I once 360 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: I realized that I was a better guest than I 361 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: was a host in the TV world, then everything changed. 362 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: And and to realize that is very humbling. You you 363 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: have to you have to let go of the idea 364 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 1: that you're the expert, that you're the host, that you're 365 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,199 Speaker 1: the person with knowledge that you're going to share with 366 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: your audience. All that goes out the window and you 367 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:04,239 Speaker 1: become an apprentice. And if there's a if there's a 368 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: punchline to a joke, if there's a brunt to a joke, 369 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 1: it's on you. Yeah, right. The expert is the manner 370 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: of woman you're working with. So that's what my granddad 371 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 1: taught me. It's like, look, I had success in TV, 372 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: I was doing okay, I was happy, but things didn't 373 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: really blow up for me until I really kind of 374 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: re embraced the humility that that my pop had demonstrated 375 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: to me as a boy day after day, week after week, 376 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 1: month after month, and year after year. 377 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 2: So we can say that what supported the greatness of 378 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 2: Dirty Jobs was the lessons and the uh and and 379 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 2: the work done by your grandfather, who you've now named 380 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 2: a whiskey after, which is interesting too. Went Okay, so 381 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 2: we got humility from grand I got it. We'll be 382 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 2: right back. Talk to me about Glendon Huntington. 383 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: Well, you've done some research. 384 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 2: Good for you, Thank you. So much we can read 385 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 2: in Memphis. 386 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: Glen Huntingdon was a colonel in the army, and he 387 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: was probably the first man outside of men who were 388 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: related to me, that changed the trajectory of my life. 389 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: He was a Scout master in Troop sixteen, and I 390 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: was a weirdly shy kid, Bill. I had a bad stammer. 391 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,640 Speaker 1: When I was eleven twelve years old thirteen, my dad 392 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: and mom decided that the Boy Scouts would be good 393 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: for me. They drove me to Kenwood United Presbyterian Church 394 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:17,160 Speaker 1: one Wednesday night, pushed me out of the slow rolling 395 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,959 Speaker 1: station wagon with the fake lumber on the side, and 396 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: sent me into the church based family. 397 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 2: Roads where that's a family roadstream. 398 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, that's. 399 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:27,239 Speaker 2: What it was. 400 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: I think it was a I think it was a 401 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: town in country station wagon, the wood paneling down the side. 402 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:42,199 Speaker 1: Probably green, yeah, nice, Who knows. At that point everything 403 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: was green and beige. I lived in a green and 404 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: beige world, you know, including the boy Scout uniform, which 405 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:50,880 Speaker 1: I would confronted that night. 406 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,120 Speaker 2: Mike, you said you had a stammer. Do you mean 407 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 2: what is a stammer? Shy and couldn't gather as. 408 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 1: Words or like a real life ste I didn't know 409 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: at the time. I would learn. I would learn over 410 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:11,439 Speaker 1: the next couple of years. My my condition, whatever it was, 411 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: was cured partially by Glendon Huntington and partially by another guy. 412 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure you're going to ask me about a 413 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: high school music teacher, but I didn't. It wasn't a 414 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: full on porky pig of ebit to b B to B, 415 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: but that's all folks kind of thing it was. It was. 416 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 1: It was a nervous tick uh, brought on I think 417 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 1: by just a weird level of shyness. I didn't like 418 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: I didn't like people looking at me, and when they did, 419 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 1: I just froze up in a way that made t's 420 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 1: and s's problematic. 421 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 2: Given your career, that's almost mel Tillis type story. It's 422 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 2: it's like, doesn't fit, it's amazing. Well, that's where you 423 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 2: came from and that's who you are. Now that's crazy. 424 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,479 Speaker 1: Well, look, I mean, you can change the road that 425 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: you're on. You know, I don't think you. I don't 426 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,560 Speaker 1: think people can change the fundamental essence of who they are. 427 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:19,719 Speaker 1: But you can act like somebody you'd rather be, And 428 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 1: sometimes that's a big step in the right direction. That's 429 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: why we have role models. That's why we have mentors. 430 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,920 Speaker 1: You know, you're trying to figure out who you want 431 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,360 Speaker 1: to be Glendon Huntington and by the way, the quick Sidebar. 432 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,159 Speaker 1: The Boy Scouts of America in nineteen seventy five nineteen 433 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: seventy six, at least in Troop sixteen, was a different 434 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: Boy Scouts, right. This was not a safe space. This 435 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: was basically an organized gang run by a former colonel 436 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: who brought extraordinary discipline, extraordinary political incorrectness, an extraordinary sense 437 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: of consequence to the proceedings. We were divided into patrols. 438 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: We had patrol leaders. There was this senior patrol leader. 439 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: There was an oath, there were rituals, there were sacred pledges. 440 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: You know, we took all that stuff very seriously. There 441 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 1: was also a boxing ring where, you know, young men 442 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: settled their differences in a time honored way. There were 443 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:27,760 Speaker 1: shooting lessons, archery lessons. You know, we were all taught 444 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: how to handle firearms. It was it was a whole 445 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: new world for me. 446 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 2: I want I want to be in your Boy Scout troup. 447 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: I want to be in the cap man. I bet, 448 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:39,720 Speaker 1: I bet. 449 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 2: It was awesome. So how did he help you, how 450 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 2: did he support you? What did he do? 451 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: He taught me that, you know, most most coaches, most 452 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: most men who are really trying to instill some kind 453 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: of work ethic in their charges, will try and find 454 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: a way to help to help the person understand that 455 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: adversity needs to be confronted and challenges are not the enemy, 456 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: and that you have to be willing to be uncomfortable 457 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: in many, many different ways. What mister Huntington showed me 458 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: was that that's not quite enough. That's not quite where 459 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: you want to go. That'll get you so far, but 460 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: if you want to get beyond that, it's not enough 461 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 1: to be willing to endure something uncomfortable. You have to 462 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: find a way to like it, Like as the Navy 463 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: seals would say, you have to you have to embrace 464 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: the suck. You need to enjoy it. So and I 465 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: didn't know enough at the time, was just a boy. 466 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 1: But when I look around today, you know most of 467 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 1: the people who have truly distinguished themselves in life have 468 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: found a way to not just welcome adversity, but to 469 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: look at square in the face and laugh hysterically even 470 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: as they spit in its eye. And so the first 471 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,560 Speaker 1: lesson I had in a real world was he knew 472 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: I stammered, but he also knew you couldn't stammer when 473 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 1: you sang. And for all his machismo, for all of 474 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: you know, the boxing and the wrestling and the guns, 475 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: he loved poetry and he loved music. And the boy 476 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: Scouts at these jamborees, we'd have these fires, these big campfires, right, 477 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: and sometimes parents would come and other troops would come 478 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,040 Speaker 1: in one hundred people, two hundred people would be gathered 479 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: around this giant fire, and we would do these skits 480 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: and we would sing these songs. And Glenden Huntington forced 481 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: me to sing a song in front of a couple 482 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: of hundred people. And when I sang that song, I 483 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: didn't stutter and I didn't stammer, And it was the 484 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: first time a little light bulb went off in my head. 485 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: Now it was also a deeply inappropriate song that I 486 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: never should have sung in a boy Scout uniform at 487 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: a jamboree in front of a couple hundred people. The 488 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: question was, what's the song? I gotta know what the 489 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: song was. Do you remember a famous Harvard mathematician and 490 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: musician named Tom Lera. 491 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I wish I did, I don't I will 492 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 2: when we finished talking. 493 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: This guy was the ultimate satirist in the sixties and seventies. 494 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: He made very inappropriate albums and he sang like in 495 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: a Dixieland jazz type style. He wrote all his own compositions, 496 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: but all the songs were were parodies poisoning Pigeons in 497 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: the Park, the Vatican rag the songs like these. I 498 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: sang a song and don't ask me how I went 499 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: up with this album as a kid, but I had 500 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: it and I loved it. And I sang a song 501 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: called be Prepared. And of course be prepared is the 502 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: boy scout motto, right, And so Glendon Huntington insisted that 503 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 1: I sing a song. I didn't tell him what I 504 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,479 Speaker 1: was going to sing, but I walked out there in 505 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: front of the fire. I probably don't remember all the words, 506 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: but it went something like, be prepared. That's the boy 507 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: scout marching song. Be prepared, follow it, you won't go wrong. 508 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: Be prepared to hold your liquor pretty well. Don't write 509 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: naughty words on walls if you can't spelled, be prepared 510 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 1: to hide that pack of cigarettes. Don't make book if 511 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 1: you cannot cover bets. Keep that pot well hidden where 512 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: you're sure that it will not be found. And be 513 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,240 Speaker 1: careful not to turn on when the scout masters around, 514 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,959 Speaker 1: for he only will insist that it be shit. Be prepared, 515 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: not just the first verse, right, micro everybody would be prepared. 516 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: Thank you, take about like that's amazing. So your scout 517 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:19,000 Speaker 1: master hazed you out of stuttering. That's pretty much really 518 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: getting from Yeah, but in the most loving way. Yeah. Yeah. 519 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:28,759 Speaker 1: He started the process. And what he unlocked in me 520 00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:33,400 Speaker 1: was a realization that music a thing that I had 521 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: grown up with but had no interest in. My mom's 522 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: very musical, you know, I was always around. I just 523 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: didn't care, you know, But I can carry a tune, right, 524 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 1: And so that was the first time I realized, wait 525 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: a second, that music could be useful for something other 526 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:55,720 Speaker 1: than merely enjoying. Right. It's a It transformed the physiology 527 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: or the physiology of my body. And and and that 528 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: was interesting. That combined with the dangerousness of the games 529 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 1: that we played and the stakes and the whitewater rafting 530 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,520 Speaker 1: and the mountaineering in Cimarron, Sito in New Mexico and 531 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 1: insane games bill like Swing the Thing. Have you heard 532 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: of Swing the Thing? Swing? Jesus, this is Mike. 533 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:27,399 Speaker 2: This is you know, this is this is a family show. 534 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,279 Speaker 1: Well look not that thing. And besides you look, if 535 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:34,480 Speaker 1: you can swing that thing, good for you. I'm not 536 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: swing it and barely find it. But we we played 537 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:44,280 Speaker 1: games like Capture the Flag and British Bulldog violent games, 538 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: and this game called Swing the Thing. You would take 539 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,640 Speaker 1: up a tent bag and you would fill it with 540 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: wet rags, and then you would take a length of 541 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,960 Speaker 1: rope about fourteen feet long, and you tie it to 542 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: the top of the bag, and one guy would hold 543 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: the other end of the rope and start to swing 544 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:09,720 Speaker 1: the bag around right just about maybe maybe a foot 545 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: off the floor, no more than that. So he's in 546 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: the middle and you jump. So you got twenty guys 547 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,680 Speaker 1: all stepping in jumping over this thing that's being swung 548 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 1: at about forty miles an hour, by the way, there's 549 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 1: a lot of physics going on. And when that thing 550 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 1: hit you in the ankles, you went down like a 551 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:33,720 Speaker 1: cheap card table. People went home with contusions, chipped teeth, 552 00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: broken fingers. Was a blood bath. But you know, nobody died. Right, 553 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 1: All of that combined is my answer to your question. 554 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 1: That's what the boy Scouts did for me. And I 555 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:50,240 Speaker 1: recognized the value early on, and I stayed. I became 556 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: an eagle scout. Hell years later I became I think 557 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,359 Speaker 1: they call it a distinguished eagle Scout. And to this day, 558 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,920 Speaker 1: you know, I look back on those experiences. Is very instructive. 559 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: So on this one, the same question. If there's one 560 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: word to sum up the essence of what your scout 561 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:18,520 Speaker 1: master buried, built and harvested inside of you, If your 562 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:23,480 Speaker 1: grandfather's humility, what is the scout master. Well, if there's 563 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:25,840 Speaker 1: only one word, you'll forgive me if I employ the 564 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,680 Speaker 1: use of hyphens, but I'll go with embrace hyphen the 565 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:39,000 Speaker 1: hyphen suck and embrace suck. Yeah, embrace discomfort, be uncomfortable, Yeah, yeah, 566 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:40,880 Speaker 1: I mean the virtues of discomfort. 567 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 2: I fear of failures the greatest barrier to success. 568 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 1: And if you're unwilling to be uncomfortable and get out 569 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,560 Speaker 1: of that, you're you're never going to find any level 570 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:54,279 Speaker 1: of growth. Really, well, you've already gone as far as 571 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:56,360 Speaker 1: you're going to go right now. If you go any 572 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:00,000 Speaker 1: further and your goal is to be comfortable. You're only 573 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 1: going to progress through a series of happy accidents, you know, Yeah, Mike. 574 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:09,000 Speaker 1: And you know there's another lesson there, which is, you know, 575 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: a comfort zone is I think we all need a 576 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:13,320 Speaker 1: comfort zone. 577 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,319 Speaker 2: You know. It may be a church group, It may 578 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 2: be a foursome of golf. It may be a group 579 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 2: of people you play bridge with. It may be a 580 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,000 Speaker 2: little cafe corner table where you share a coffee or 581 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 2: glass wine where you kind of recharge your batteries and 582 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 2: share your most centimate secrets when the world hits you 583 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:34,000 Speaker 2: in the mouth. 584 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:35,520 Speaker 1: I have one. 585 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:38,759 Speaker 2: It's my leather chair, and I'm not kidding. If I 586 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 2: die in a fiery accident today and they cannot identify 587 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,520 Speaker 2: my body by dental records, they could match my app 588 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:47,480 Speaker 2: to the cushion on that chair and they'd know who 589 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,240 Speaker 2: I was, because it's my chair. 590 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,560 Speaker 1: That's forensic science right there, Bill. 591 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,960 Speaker 2: That's what it is. Kids don't sit in at nothing. 592 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 2: But it's my comfort zone. But you know the thing 593 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 2: about my time in that chair, nothing profound has ever 594 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 2: happened in my life for the lives of anybody around 595 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,160 Speaker 2: me while I was sitting in it. And I think metaphorically, 596 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 2: that is the problem with the comfort zone is if 597 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,239 Speaker 2: you're unwilling to if you have fear failure, or you're 598 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:17,680 Speaker 2: unwilling to embrace the suck, or you're unwilling to get 599 00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:20,879 Speaker 2: out of those comfortable places you have hit a human 600 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,680 Speaker 2: stops on. Like you say, I think that's absolutely true, 601 00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 2: and so embracing the suck makes a lot of sense. 602 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:30,839 Speaker 1: Well, there's a paradox in it too. You know, as 603 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,640 Speaker 1: much as you love the comfort of your chair, if 604 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,239 Speaker 1: you never leave it, you'll grow to hate it. You'll 605 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:39,120 Speaker 1: get bed sorece. 606 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:42,560 Speaker 2: That's profound, Mike. That's really good. 607 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:45,839 Speaker 1: You have to get up and leave the thing that 608 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:50,520 Speaker 1: makes you comfortable, not because it builds character, but simply 609 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:55,959 Speaker 1: because you won't have You can't even define what comfortable 610 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: is until or unless you've been uncomfortable. 611 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,680 Speaker 2: Makes a lot of sense, Mike. Hey, that's so you 612 00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:05,200 Speaker 2: can use it. 613 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,920 Speaker 1: Go ahead and take it, man. I'm let's start to 614 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:13,319 Speaker 1: my second book. I'm using it brilliance I learned one 615 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:24,640 Speaker 1: day chatting with Mike. There you get look, and that 616 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:30,160 Speaker 1: concludes part one of my really interesting conversation with Mike Rowe, 617 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:32,839 Speaker 1: and I hope you listen to Part two that's now 618 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:37,640 Speaker 1: available as Mike is not anywhere close to finished celebrating 619 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:42,799 Speaker 1: Youngsun heroes and normal folks who supported him. And if 620 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:45,560 Speaker 1: you have any ideas or know of any folks. 621 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 2: Who we should consider featuring on our special series Supporting Greatness, 622 00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:53,600 Speaker 2: write me anytime at Bill at Normalfolks dot us. I 623 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:55,319 Speaker 2: look forward to seeing you in Part two