1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newtsworld. You know him from his 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,800 Speaker 1: hit Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs and his podcast The 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: Way I Heard It as a TV host, writer, narrator, producer, actor, 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: and spokesman. His performing career began in nineteen eighty four, 5 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: when he faked his way into the Baltimore Opera to 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: get his union card. I'm pleased to welcome as my 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: guest today, Micro a great entertainer and great American. Mike 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: has made a career out of shining a light on 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: the lives and experiences of American laborers. Mike became known 10 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,639 Speaker 1: as the dirtiest man on TV. He traveled to all 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: fifty states and completed three hundred different jobs, transforming cable 12 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: television into a landscape of swamps, sewers, ice roads, coal mines, 13 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: oil dereks, crab boots. He's in lumberjack camps. For this. 14 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: He has received both the credit and the blame for 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: Labor Day. We're sharing stories about the skilled workers who've 16 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: crossed Mike's path, the importance of work and rose fascinating 17 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: life there everywhere do they go look around down the 18 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: breed or understres, undergrowd. You don't need tomorrow bag you 19 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: don't need a robed. All you've got to get yourself. 20 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: I am particularly excited to have somebody who I think 21 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: has come for many Americans to personify the work ethic, 22 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: the legitimacy of work, the requirement that we understand how 23 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: many different jobs have to be done for a civilization 24 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: to succeed, and somebody who's also become in his own 25 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: right a household name a micro. I'm just thrilled that 26 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: you're with us new Hello and thanks. I'm flattered. It's 27 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: great to talk to you again. Did you ever imagine 28 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: when you were younger that you would end up doing 29 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: national television, doing podcasts, writing books, speaking to the Congress. 30 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you become sort of an institution 31 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: in your own right when you were in your teens, 32 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: in your twenties. Did you have any notion that this 33 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: is where your journey would take you? Absolutely not. I 34 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: hadn't really ruled anything out. I was a fairly curious kid, 35 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: and I had parents who encouraged me to look at 36 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: everything from every angle. But no, I grew up next 37 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: to a man who happened to be my grandfather, who 38 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: could build a house without a blueprint, and I was 39 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: determined and convinced that I would follow in his footsteps. 40 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: But the handy gene, as you may know, is recessive, 41 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: and it bounced over me. And so while I grew 42 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: up surrounded by farmers and tradesmen, and I had a 43 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: real appreciation that the kind of man my grandfather was, 44 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: who incidentally only made it through the seventh grade but 45 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: wound up a master electrician, plumber, steam fitter, pipe fitter, welder, mechanic. 46 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: I thought that is what I would become. I really 47 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: thought it. I was destined to be that person. And 48 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: it took me a few years to get it through 49 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: my head that my assumptions, my dreams, and my expectations 50 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: were in no way lined up with my skills. And so, 51 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: you know, as a teenager, even in my early twenties, 52 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: I think I was a lot like those contestants on 53 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: American Idol who realized, often for the first time, that 54 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: they can't sing after all, in front of a few 55 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: million people. Once it became clear that I wasn't going 56 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: to be that guy, I went to a community college. 57 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: I took every imaginable course I could, the broadest variety 58 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: of topics I could find, and at twenty six dollars 59 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: of credit. Back in those days, you could afford to 60 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: do that. I stayed in that community college for three years. 61 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: Then I went to work. Then I went to a university, 62 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: eventually got a degree in communications, and horace gumped my 63 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: way into the entertainment business, and way leads on to way, 64 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: as Robert Tropp said. And then one day I looked 65 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 1: up and I was forty two. I had had a 66 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: pretty decent freelance career. My grandfather was ill, ninety and dying, 67 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: and my mother called me at my desk at CBS 68 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: in San Francisco and said, Mike, before your grandfather dies, 69 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: wouldn't it be nice if you could turn on the 70 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: television and see you doing something that looked like work. 71 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: And I laughed and I said, yeah, that would be great. 72 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: And so I went out and I started filming a 73 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: series that turned into Dirty Jobs. And that's how it happened. 74 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: It took forty two years. It was a weird mix 75 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: of serendipity but luck and hard work. But you never 76 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: know how the story ends. But that's how mine began. 77 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: I mean, originally pitched it to something like Somebody's got 78 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: to Do It, and evolved into dirty jobs and then 79 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 1: went on raise eight seasons. This all grew out of 80 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: your mother calling you that's correct, growing up next to 81 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: a guy who was heroic in my eyes, the standing 82 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: of a true skilled tradesman in this country. Over time, 83 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: his image, her image has devolved, and people we once 84 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: viewed as heroic and almost magical in their powers to 85 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: fabricate a thing really became very much well invisible, almost, 86 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: you know, we just simply stopped valuing that kind of 87 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: skill and that kind of person. And so on a 88 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: personal level, I did it too. I became fundamentally disconnected 89 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: from a lot of things that fascinated me as a kid. 90 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: The way things are made, where our energy comes from, 91 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: where our food comes from. Those things fascinated me for 92 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: a long time, and then for a long time they didn't. 93 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: So between the guy my grandfather was and the person 94 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 1: my mother is, the two of them basically conspired to 95 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: inspire in me that weird combination of guilt and ambition 96 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: that led me to do something that turned out to 97 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: be brand new, And you're right. The segment was called 98 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: Somebody's Got to Do It. It first appeared on a 99 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: local show in San Francisco called Evening magazine. People were 100 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: equally horrified and fascinated by my adventures in a sewer, 101 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: my encounter with a giant rat, and the things we 102 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: learned about the infrastructure from an anonymous sewer worker in 103 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: the course of shooting that very strange episode. And yeah, 104 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: here we talking about it all these years later. You 105 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: couldn't script it if you tried. I think it was 106 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: John Gardner who said something like, if you overvalue philosophy 107 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: and undervalue plumbing, neither your pipes nor your ideas will 108 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: hold water. Your dcho however, has a couple of very unique, 109 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: sort of American qualities to him. One is, as I 110 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: understand it, you had a high school chorus teacher who 111 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: changed your life. I did. I've always believed that the happiest, 112 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: most prosperous people I've met can always look back into 113 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: their past and find mister Holland. You remember mister Holland's 114 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: Opus movie with Richard Dreyfus. I had him, mister Holland. 115 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: His name was mister King, and he was my high 116 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: school music teacher. And he was one of a couple 117 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: people in my life who just came along at the 118 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: right time, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck 119 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: and turned me in a slight lead different direction. In 120 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: this case, it wasn't so slight. Mister King was a 121 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: world champion barbershop quartet baritone in a quartet called the 122 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: Oriole Four, which won the international championship back in nineteen 123 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: seventy one. And I didn't know any of this. I 124 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: didn't know that there was an organization called the Society 125 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America. 126 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: I had no idea that my music teacher, who also 127 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: happened to be a Golden Glove boxer, an All Pro 128 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,959 Speaker 1: football player, who didn't have any of his original teach 129 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: but wore these insane dentures that he swapped out every 130 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,719 Speaker 1: couple of minutes just to freak his kids out. This 131 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: force of nature cured my stutter. I had a stammer 132 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: for most of my young life. He fixed me. He 133 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: used music to do it. He forced me onto a 134 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: stage to audition for a play. I didn't want to 135 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 1: be in demand. I learned a monologue and forced me 136 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: to consider a different path. And thanks to him, I 137 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: not only got a look at the entertainment industry in 138 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,079 Speaker 1: a way that I think I never ever would have 139 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: been afforded. But I got a chance to join the 140 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: course of the Chesapeake, which is one hundred and twenty men, 141 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: many of whom were veterans of the Second World War 142 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: Korea in Vietnam, who every Tuesday got together and sang 143 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: the old songs. And when I say the old songs, 144 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: I mean turn of the century tin pan alley typtoons, 145 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: four part harmony straight out of Norman Rockwell. Right, these 146 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,839 Speaker 1: quartets come together, they formed this giant chorus, and I'm 147 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: suddenly inserted into their midst. And for me, at seventeen 148 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: eighteen years of age, I'm suddenly exposed to a whole 149 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: different kind of music that none of my friends in 150 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: school are listening to. But more importantly, I'm sitting in 151 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: Johnny Jones tavern, you know, in southeast Baltimore, drinking a 152 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: draft beer while four older men sing unapologetically sentimental songs 153 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: and weep as they sing and laugh. And then there 154 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 1: were war stories, you know. So I just got pulled into, luckily, 155 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: this very strange part of our culture where a certain 156 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: kind of music and a certain kind of patriotism were elevated, 157 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,559 Speaker 1: and I got a weekly dose of that at a 158 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: very young age, and it too, ultimately informed a lot 159 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,079 Speaker 1: of what I would do over the coming decades. Now, 160 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: you moved from that kind of barbershop quartet and all 161 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: male chorus, and I find this almost as amazing. So 162 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: you moved to the Baltimore Opera Company I did. This 163 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: is quite a journey you're on. Yeah, well, look, I 164 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: reference far As Gump a little earlier, because sometimes I 165 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: really did feel that once you accept the idea that 166 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: you're on a very crooked path, then the twists and 167 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: turns and the zigs and zags are no longer alarming. 168 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: They just become kind of amusing. And that's where I was. 169 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: When I was twenty three or so. I was in 170 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: a barbershop quartet that was singing for money on the 171 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: weekends all over the country. I was still in school 172 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: during the week and working part time at a computer 173 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: company and looking for anything that just felt incongruous and different. 174 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: And one of my friends in the barbershop society said, listen, 175 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,719 Speaker 1: you could actually get your union card if you were 176 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: singing in the opera. And I'd been frustrated at that 177 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,960 Speaker 1: point because I knew I wanted to get into entertainment. 178 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 1: I thought commercial work would be fun. But you can't 179 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: get your Screen Actors Guild card unless you get a 180 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: Screen Actors Guild job, and you can't audition for those 181 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: jobs unless you have your card. So I was frozen 182 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: out of the union in a weird way back in 183 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four. But the loophole was, if you've become 184 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the 185 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: union that has jurisdiction over the opera, then you can 186 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: buy your Screen Actors Guild card. So the analysis was 187 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: really simple. The odds of me auditioning my way onto 188 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: a sitcom or into a movie were horrible. The odds 189 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 1: of me faking my way into the Baltimore Opera were 190 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: not good, but they were slightly better. So I learned 191 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 1: the shortest aria I could find. It was the Code 192 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: Aria from Labom. It was an Italian It was sung 193 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: by a guy named Samuel Ramy. I had a sony Walkman, 194 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,119 Speaker 1: and for a week or so I walked around Baltimore 195 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: listening to this guy, seeing these words. I had no 196 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: idea what the words meant. Becky Azimara Senkiras right I'm 197 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: just listening to him sing these sounds, and I eventually 198 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: get them in my brain and I go to an 199 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,719 Speaker 1: open call for the Baltimore Opera and I sang for 200 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: the chorus master and a genius named Billion Nutsie, who 201 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: spoke six languages and realized instantly that I had no 202 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: idea what I was singing about. And when I finished, 203 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: he said, mister Row, you have no idea of what 204 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: you're singing about, do you? And I said, no, I don't, 205 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: and they laughed. And as it turns out, they needed 206 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: young men with low voices, and at the time I 207 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: checked both boxes, so against some very long odds, they 208 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: let me in any way, and that opened the door 209 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: to the American Guild of Radio Artists and the Screen 210 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: Actors Guild. And my plan, honestly, Knute, was to sing, 211 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: you know, in one or two performances and then leave, 212 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: because I had no real interest in opera. But as 213 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: it turns out, the music was terrific. It was a 214 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: world class orchestra, the people were fun, and I payed 215 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: for seven years. So towards the end of that time, 216 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: something comes up and you end up applying for QVC, 217 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: which has certainly got to be a very big jump 218 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: from the opera. How did that transition occur? Again? Utterly unscriptable, 219 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: totally random. It was a Sunday afternoon, it was nineteen ninety. 220 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: The opera was in the middle of a production, but 221 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: we weren't on stage much. During the intermission and the 222 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: subsequent forty minutes of time where I didn't need to 223 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: be on stage. There was a football game being played 224 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: in Baltimore, and I wanted to watch it from the 225 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: bar across the street. It's called the Mountain Royal Tavern. 226 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: Walked over to the mount Royal Tavern dressed as a 227 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: Viking and drank a draft beer while I planned all 228 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: watching the football game. But the football game wasn't on. 229 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: The bartender was another actor in town and he was 230 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: watching QVC. I didn't know it was QVC at the time. 231 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: It was just a big guy in a shiny suit 232 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: selling pots and pans. But they were in town doing 233 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: a national talent search. And the more I looked at it, 234 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: the more I thought, well, I think I'm watching a 235 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: harbinger to the end of Western civilization, but I'm also 236 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: looking at potentially an actual job in the entertainment industry. 237 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: So I went down the next morning, auditioned and got hired, 238 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,359 Speaker 1: And three days later I was sitting in Westchester, Pennsylvania, 239 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night at three am, trying 240 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: to make sense of an endless panoply of indescribable products, 241 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: the kinds of things you might expect to find on 242 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: the midway of a carnival, and those machines with the claw. 243 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: I did not mean a crazy collection of products. We got, Noah. 244 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: We got the ark, dogs and cats living together, and 245 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: every other form of beast on here as well. For 246 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: twenty seven dollars and seventy nine cents. It's the sailing 247 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: ship Noah carry bag. You simply grabbed the handle at 248 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: the top, pick up the carry bag, and go on 249 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: your merryway. And I spent the next three years sitting 250 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: there in the middle of the night figuring out how 251 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: Life TV worked and trying to make sense of the 252 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: products they would bring me the show. And did you 253 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: actually sell products millions and millions of dollars? You know what? 254 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: I can't actually say I sold them. People bought them. 255 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: I was a non traditional salesman because I had no 256 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: idea I would actually get hired for that job. And 257 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: no real understanding of what it was, had really nothing 258 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: to lose. I was very honest with the viewer. They 259 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: had no training program in nineteen ninety. There was no 260 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: way to know who was going to work and who wasn't. 261 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: So I was hired because I was able to talk 262 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: about a pencil for eight minutes. And then I was 263 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: on a three month probationary period. And the way it 264 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: works is if you don't go up in flames during 265 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: the next three months, and if you show up every 266 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,360 Speaker 1: night for work on the graveyard shift, then you actually 267 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: get a contract. But they didn't actually train us. They 268 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: didn't actually tell us what the products were. That was 269 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: up to us to figure out. But I didn't know that. 270 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: And so the first night I was presented with something 271 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: called a Health Team Infrared Pain Reliever, and it was 272 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: purportedly would relieve arthritic pain in your joints with infrared light. 273 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: Now I have no idea if this is true or 274 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 1: even possible. It seemed crazy. I remember sitting there with 275 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: this strange item. It looked like a flashlight with a 276 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: red bulb screwed into the end, and I looked into 277 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 1: the camera and I said, Hi, everybody, my name's Micro. 278 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: It's my first night. This is the Health Team infrared 279 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: pain reliever. I don't know what it does, but if 280 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: you own one, or if you've seen one before, it 281 00:17:57,840 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: would be terrific. If you could call the number on 282 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: the screen, ask for the producer. His name is Marty. 283 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:04,639 Speaker 1: He'll put you on the air and maybe you can 284 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: tell me how it works. And the phones lit up, 285 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: and so for the next three hours I sat there 286 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: as these insomniacts around the country called in to tell 287 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: the new guy how the products he was supposed to 288 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: be selling actually worked. And it was one of the 289 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:26,199 Speaker 1: great lessons for me in my own life, and certainly 290 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: a lesson in humility and in honesty. Once I realized 291 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 1: the audience would help me, that I didn't have to 292 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: pretend to no more than I did. Well, then TV 293 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:40,120 Speaker 1: got really interesting and QBC turned out to be probably 294 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: the greatest training ground for me that I could have 295 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: possibly had. The lessons I learned there they continued to 296 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,440 Speaker 1: inform just about everything I do. Do. You stay there 297 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: for three years, but then you go on and you 298 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: stay in television. Right when I left QBC, they fired 299 00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: me three times, justifiably, but always hired me back explicably. 300 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: But when I finally left in nineteen ninety three, I 301 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: left with a toolbox that I never thought I would 302 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,359 Speaker 1: have before. It's interesting, you know. My grandfather told me 303 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: years before when it became obvious that I would not 304 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: follow in his footsteps. But I was not going to 305 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,239 Speaker 1: be a traditional tradesman. He said, look, Mike, you can 306 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: be a tradesman. Being a tradesman is a state of mind. 307 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:28,120 Speaker 1: You just need a different toolbox. It took me a while, 308 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: but the toolbox I assembled when I left QBC really 309 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: allowed me to audition for just about anything in Hollywood 310 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: or in New York and get booked a lot. I 311 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: wasn't looking for a full time job. I love the 312 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: idea of working like a jobber, like a tradesman. When 313 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: I was thirty, I moved to Hollywood, and I booked 314 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: a lot of work on a lot of projects that 315 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 1: I'm not really proud of them. I wasn't looking for 316 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: the work to provide me with any real sense of accomplishment. 317 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 1: I was just looking to do a good job on 318 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: any project, whether I was writing, producing, narrating, or impersonating 319 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,680 Speaker 1: a host, and then enjoying three or four months a 320 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: year to travel and take my retirement in early installments, 321 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: and I did that from thirty probably until forty two 322 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: when Dirty Jobs came back around. It was really a miscalculation. 323 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,400 Speaker 1: Like I said, my mom called suggest that I pitched 324 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 1: something that looked like work, and I had no idea 325 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: Discovery would order three hundred of them. We made a 326 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: deal for three episodes, but again just goes to show 327 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: the minute you think you haven't figured out, something else 328 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: will come along and make you think twice. Why do 329 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: you think Dirty Jobs took off? Timing a couple of 330 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: things happened. My pitch to Discovery, on the one hand, 331 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: was kind of different. You know that at the time 332 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: that brand is defined by experts and authority, So whether 333 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: it was Jacques Cousteau or David Attenborough or Jane goodall 334 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: big expert voices that could satisfy curiosity in a way 335 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: that we all grew up with and remember fondly. But 336 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: it seemed to me that something was shifting in TV. 337 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: Reality TV was becoming a thing. But more than that, 338 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: it seemed like authenticity was slowly replacing authority, and the 339 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: idea of being curious didn't necessarily have to come hand 340 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: in glove with being terribly informed. The Discovery brand is 341 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: a curiosity brand, and satisfying that curiosity has to come 342 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: from some sort of expert. But my question was, what 343 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 1: if the titular figure in a show isn't the expert. 344 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: So if I can find anonymous people who really know 345 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: what they're talking about in a variety of vocations, then 346 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: maybe we can satisfy curiosity in a way that doesn't 347 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: require me to be a host, but something more like 348 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: a guest or a cipher or an avatar. So it 349 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: was a clunky pitch, but the network said, okay, let's 350 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: try that, and they hired me to go on a 351 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: series of expeditions in this sort of avatar format. And 352 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: along the way they said, maybe we could do a 353 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:31,639 Speaker 1: few hours of something that looks a little more structured 354 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: that allows us to introduce you to our viewer. Well, 355 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: at that point I had done somebody's got to do 356 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: It for CBS. I had this idea for dirty Jobs. 357 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: They didn't really see it as on brand, but they 358 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: said give it a try, and so we tried it. 359 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: In two thousand and three, the Discovery Channel was testing 360 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: all kinds of different programs and they had this one, 361 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: which was terrific, and that one, which was amazing. And 362 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: then they had this thing called Dirty Jobs, which is 363 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: like that gets a smart alec and a sewer doing 364 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: these weird things. They put it on the air, and 365 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: it was the viewers who really told them what the 366 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,639 Speaker 1: situation was. You can't argue with the people, and the 367 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: people wanted to see a version of themselves doing a 368 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: version of work. They recognized how rapidly did the word 369 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,159 Speaker 1: of mouth spread. Yeah, I indicate that you head a 370 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: winning show. At that point. It was overnight. And this 371 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: is interesting too, because there was no Facebook then, at 372 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: least it was just beginning. There was no real social media. 373 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: It was still two thousand and four, two thousand and five, 374 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 1: that was just kind of becoming a thing. But Discovery 375 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,400 Speaker 1: built me a chat room, the Dirty Job's chat room. 376 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: We called it the Mudroom, and fans of those early 377 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: episodes all went there. And I made it really clear. 378 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: I took all the lessons from QBC a decade and 379 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:57,120 Speaker 1: a half earlier, and I put them onto this new thing, 380 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: and I said, look, Dirty Job needs to be programmed 381 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,920 Speaker 1: by the fans. I want all the ideas we do 382 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: for the show to be suggestions in the dirty jobs 383 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: chat room, this mudroom, they called it, and I don't 384 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: want to do second takes on the show. I don't 385 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: want to ask people to perform. And that was a 386 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: fairly revolutionary thing. You know. We hired a documentary camera 387 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: to film the making of the show, and that footage 388 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: wound up becoming dominant. And so as a viewer, you 389 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: got a really honest, unvarnished look at what I saw 390 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 1: on a dairy farm, or in a sewer, or building 391 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: a bridge or in an opal mine. You saw what 392 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,680 Speaker 1: I saw. And as a fly on the wall, you 393 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: got a fairly authentic look at a job you might 394 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: not have known existed that took place in a town 395 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: you've never been to, performed by a man or woman 396 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: who's utterly anonymous. It was that level of reality that 397 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: people responded to, and we knew it immediately because we 398 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: were looking at thousands of suggestions that we got from 399 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: people who were saying, Mike, where do you meet my grandfather, uncle, brother, 400 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,920 Speaker 1: cousin's sister, mom, whatever, Why do you see what they do? 401 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: So there really was a hunger in the country in 402 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: two thousand and five for a lot of people who 403 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 1: I think felt both anonymous and forgotten to show the 404 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: country what they did and how they added value to 405 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:39,400 Speaker 1: the larger mosaic. So you're developing this remarkably successful show, 406 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 1: you have a great brand, and along comes Deadly as Catch, 407 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 1: and you're offered to do either show, and you choose 408 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 1: to host Dirty Jobs but narrate Deadly as Catch rather 409 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,000 Speaker 1: than the reverse. Well, what was your thinking? What really 410 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 1: happened was the first couple episodes of Dirty Jobs went 411 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: on the air, and they really did cause some serious 412 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,640 Speaker 1: cognitive dissonance with the network. What do you do when 413 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: your audience loves something that you don't want them to love. 414 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: It's very confusing time, and so they kind of took 415 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: a deep breath and said, look, Dirty Jobs we don't 416 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 1: really want to run with as a series. We have 417 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: these other expeditions we want you to take, but we 418 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: also have this thing that we're not quite sure what 419 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: it is, but it's up in Alaska and it's crab Fisherman. 420 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,719 Speaker 1: Why don't you go up there and work as a greenhorn, 421 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: work as a host, go out on the ships, and 422 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: let's see if there's actually a show up there. And again, 423 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: this is two thousand and four, we don't know what 424 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: deadliest catches. Dirty Jobs hasn't really found an audience yet, 425 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: and I went up there and wound up staying for 426 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: six weeks. I worked on a couple of different boats 427 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: and basically did my best Stone Phillips impersonation, doing a 428 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,880 Speaker 1: kind of a documentary, kind of a magazine tight series 429 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 1: look at what Derby style crab fishing was in the 430 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: Bearing Sea, and what it was was unlike anything I'd 431 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 1: ever seen. You can't script the Bearing Sea right. It's 432 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: an utterly authentic work environment, terribly dangerous, with men doing 433 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: a hard job under difficult circumstances, some prospering and some dying. 434 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: I went to six funerals in six weeks at the 435 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,479 Speaker 1: end of two thousand and four, early in two thousand 436 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: and five. So when we came back from that trip 437 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 1: and we looked at the footage, it was obvious that 438 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,879 Speaker 1: there was something enormously important going on up there in 439 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: the way of a potential show. But it also became 440 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: obvious that, for whatever reason, immersing me into work was 441 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: a good formula. So they circled back and looked at 442 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: Dirty Jobs and said, okay, if we order this and 443 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: order Deadliest Catch at the same time. You can't host both. 444 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: So to answer your question, I chose Dirty Jobs. A 445 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: because it was deeply personal and B because my name 446 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: was sent the title and went in doubt picked a 447 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: show with your name and the title. So I opted 448 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: to run with Dirty Jobs, and they invited me to 449 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 1: narrate Deadliest Catch, and incredibly, I'm driving into San Francisco 450 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: to narrate the final episode of season fifteen of Deadliest Catch, 451 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: which is still on the air. It's it's really a phenomenon. 452 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: You then reach out in a philanthropical way and you 453 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: create a foundation which really is designed to help us. 454 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: Remember the work matters. Talk some about the micro Works 455 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: Foundation what you hope to achieve with it. By the 456 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: middle of two thousand and eight, thirty Jobs was on 457 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: in two hundred countries. It was the number one show 458 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 1: on Discovery, and it had launched directly or indirectly a 459 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: couple of dozen other hit shows. I had done well 460 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: as a result, and in the summer of that year 461 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: July two thousand and eight, the economy was starting to teeter, 462 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: and on the show, you know, I always took the 463 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: crew out for a beer afterwards. I always invited our 464 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: hosts to join us, and I always wound up having 465 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: long conversations with small business owners who had prospered in 466 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: this dirty jobs world, and I always asked them, you know, 467 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: the same questions typically, what was their biggest challenge? And 468 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: what I heard from two thousand and five until two 469 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: thousand and eight and to this day consistently was the 470 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: biggest challenge was finding people who were enthused and willing 471 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: to learn a skill that was actually in demand and 472 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: then show up and apply a work ethic to that skill. 473 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: A ratio Alger kind of light motif. But I heard 474 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,480 Speaker 1: it over and over again. And when the economy tanked 475 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: in earnest and the unemployment rates were headline news every day, 476 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 1: seven eight, nine, ten, every day, I was still hearing 477 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: from people that their biggest challenge was finding qualified workers. 478 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: And it just seemed like such an odd competitive narrative. 479 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: Some other narrative was going on in the country. Nobody 480 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: was talking about the skills gap. Everybody was talking about 481 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: the number of unemployed people. And wherever I went on 482 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,720 Speaker 1: Dirty Jobs, I'm still seeing help wanted signs. So it 483 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: just seemed like, in some way we were talking past 484 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: each other on the national level, and at the time, 485 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, we had 486 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,240 Speaker 1: two point three million open positions, many of which didn't 487 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: require a four year degree, they required training. So on 488 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: Labor Day of two thousand and eight, I launched micro Works, 489 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 1: which began really as a pr campaign for those two 490 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: point three million unwanted jobs that to me represented the 491 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: existence of opportunity at a time when we were being 492 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: told almost across the board that opportunity was dead. And 493 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: at that time I remember shaking my head and thinking 494 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: that we can't really believe the reason we have ten 495 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: million unemployed people is because we don't have ten million 496 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: jobs available. We can't really believe that, but of course 497 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: we do. We think unemployment can be cured by creating 498 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: more jobs, even as today we have seven point three 499 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: million jobs open. So I was just fascinated by the 500 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 1: dynamics of the skills gap and by the existence slash 501 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: non existence of opportunity, depending on how you see it, 502 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 1: and I wanted to shine a light as best I 503 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: could on the jobs that really and truly existed. That's 504 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 1: how it started. What it turned into was a scholarship 505 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: program for the skilled trades today, we've awarded somewhere between 506 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: five and six million dollars for training for steam fitters, 507 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: pipe fitters, welders, mechanics, heating, air conditioning, electricians, plumbers. It 508 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: is kind of remarkable because the foundation truly is the 509 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: legacy of the show, and the show is really a 510 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: tribute to my grandfather, and the scholarships are proof positive 511 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: that his jobs, the jobs I grew up watching him perform, 512 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 1: are not only still very much in demand, but still 513 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: for horrific opportunities for people who really want to learn 514 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 1: that skill and apply themselves. When you show the world 515 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: a welder who's making one hundred fifty thousand dollars and happy, 516 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: you create in much of the country the same kind 517 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: of cognitive dissonance that we did on the show when 518 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: we portrayed people in a sewer covered with the worst 519 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: muck there is who are prospering and understanding their role 520 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: in the scheme of things is in no way minor. 521 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: That's the goal of the foundation. That was the happy 522 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 1: unintended consequence of the show. What you're doing really has 523 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: a moral purpose, and I think that's a very important 524 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 1: part of the regeneration and revival of Americas to recognize 525 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: that work is a moral good, and that people should 526 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: expect to work, and that all work has an inherent dignity. Correct. 527 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: All narratives need a protagonist and an antagonist. All stories 528 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: need a villain an enemy, and a very popular narrative 529 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: today has cast work as the enemy. The proximate cause 530 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: of your unhappiness is the fact that you need to work, 531 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: as opposed to the proximate cause of your prosperity is 532 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: your opportunity to work. That has been a seismic shift 533 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: over the last two generations. And it's understandable. It's not rational, 534 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 1: but it's not really a mystery. We've made work the enemy, 535 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: and once you do that, then your arguments are going 536 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: to be informed by that belief. Whether you're arguing over 537 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: the minimum wage or rent control, or social security or 538 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:53,920 Speaker 1: welfare or any political program. You know, you can almost 539 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:59,760 Speaker 1: always figure out where somebody's coming from by their belief 540 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: around work, and so you know, to answer one of 541 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 1: your earlier questions. That's why dirty jobs worked too. At 542 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: its core was one of the few unifying realities of life. Labor, 543 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: which of course is different than work, right, but these 544 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 1: two things, the business of earning a living can either 545 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: be seen through the lens of incredible opportunity or through 546 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 1: the lens of drudgery and despair. So much of what 547 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,000 Speaker 1: we're teaching our kids to expect these to the work 548 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 1: lines up on the drudgery and despair side. And so 549 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 1: when you see a show like Dirty Jobs, you see 550 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:49,320 Speaker 1: people laboring hard and sweating and struggling, but then you 551 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: also see them laughing and prospering. That was a really 552 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 1: important juxtaposition to present to the country, and it still 553 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,759 Speaker 1: is because the only way you're going to challenge the 554 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,480 Speaker 1: idea that work isn't the enemy is to offer examples. 555 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:08,279 Speaker 1: I stay in touch with the thousand or so people 556 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,960 Speaker 1: who have gone through our scholarship program, because now I 557 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 1: can go back and I can find a kid who 558 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,080 Speaker 1: five or six years ago learned to weld and who 559 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: today is up on the high plains in North Dakota 560 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: or maybe down in the Gulf, making one hundred and 561 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 1: eighty thousand dollars a year with no debt, raising a 562 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: family right. And that story needs to be told because 563 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 1: the path to prosperity still exists, viz. A skilled trade. 564 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 1: It's not about a four year degree, it's not the 565 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: best path. So the most people. One point five trillion 566 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 1: dollars in student loans is currently on the books. We 567 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:54,759 Speaker 1: have seven point three million jobs currently open, the vast 568 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 1: majority of which don't require a four year degree. But 569 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: we're still tell our kids that if you don't get 570 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,719 Speaker 1: before year degree, if you don't sign on the line 571 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 1: and assume whatever the debt is, then you are going 572 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: to wind up with some kind of vocational consolation prize, 573 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:15,799 Speaker 1: and you're going to spend the rest of your life 574 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,440 Speaker 1: pushing the boulder up the hill. It's a false, nonsensical argument, 575 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: but it's real, and we've been selling it for a 576 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,879 Speaker 1: long time in much the same way we've been lending 577 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:29,759 Speaker 1: money we don't have to kids who are never going 578 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,360 Speaker 1: to be able to pay it back to training for 579 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 1: jobs that don't exist anymore. It's a busted system. So 580 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,000 Speaker 1: if you had a chance to talk personally to every 581 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:42,080 Speaker 1: twelve year old in the country, but as individuals, one 582 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 1: on one, what would your core message me. Put it 583 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: all on the table, look at everything, and don't limit 584 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: yourself to the things you think you're interested in. Your 585 00:37:55,080 --> 00:38:01,279 Speaker 1: passion is important, your dreams are important. But if your 586 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:05,800 Speaker 1: strategy is to follow your passion and chase your dream. 587 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 1: If that is your fundamental strategy, then you're taking a 588 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,279 Speaker 1: horrible risk and you're limiting yourself in ways. You don't 589 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 1: have to put things on the table that you're not 590 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:23,680 Speaker 1: interested in, explore things that you have no affinity for, 591 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:28,399 Speaker 1: because you're twelve and you don't know anything, and when 592 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:31,600 Speaker 1: you're eighteen, you're not going to know much more, and 593 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 1: when you're fifty, you're not going to know nearly as 594 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:38,359 Speaker 1: much as you think you do. The idea that your 595 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:43,680 Speaker 1: success and your happiness could be way over here in 596 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:47,080 Speaker 1: some place that you hadn't considered is the thing that 597 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 1: I want you to consider, because that's how it was 598 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:55,320 Speaker 1: for me. I didn't follow my passion, I took it 599 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:59,760 Speaker 1: with me, and as a result, I'm very passionate about 600 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,960 Speaker 1: where I am at fifty seven years of age. And 601 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,520 Speaker 1: as a bit of revisionist history, when I look at 602 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,040 Speaker 1: the people on Dirty Jobs, the people that we featured 603 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:16,160 Speaker 1: who resonated the most with the viewers, they were those people, 604 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,759 Speaker 1: the people who didn't follow their passion, but who were 605 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: nevertheless passionate about whatever it was they wound up doing 606 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:27,919 Speaker 1: somehow or another. That's the message the seventeen year old 607 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 1: who's trying to figure out do I borrow forty fifty 608 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,480 Speaker 1: grand a year to go to a four year school, 609 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,960 Speaker 1: or do I take some time maybe in a community college, 610 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 1: or maybe in an apprenticeship program, or maybe just a 611 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,600 Speaker 1: gap year. Not a gap year to screw around and 612 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:51,279 Speaker 1: waste time, but to figure out where your competency and 613 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:57,040 Speaker 1: your desire meet, because that's the trick. And the more 614 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 1: we tell kids that the secret to their happiness is 615 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,840 Speaker 1: to follow their passion, I think the more we're sending 616 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 1: them on a snipe hunt, I can't imagine a better 617 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: message for this Labor Day it, or a more relevant 618 00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: message for every American. I think you've already had a 619 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:18,239 Speaker 1: amazingly fascinating opening phase of your life, and I have 620 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:20,920 Speaker 1: a hunch that the next phase is going to continue 621 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:24,719 Speaker 1: to evolve ended up being even more interesting. You have 622 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,279 Speaker 1: a book coming out, yeah, a little bit over a month, 623 00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:29,800 Speaker 1: call The Way I Heard or can tell us just 624 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:32,120 Speaker 1: for a minute, what led you to write the book 625 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,360 Speaker 1: and what's in it. The book is named after the 626 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,200 Speaker 1: podcast The Way I Heard It, which I started writing 627 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago as an homage really to 628 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:45,080 Speaker 1: Paul Harvey. He famously had a radio program called The 629 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:50,560 Speaker 1: Rest of the Story, where he told five minute biographical mysteries. 630 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: All of them had a twist at the end, so 631 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 1: you wound up learning something you didn't know about somebody 632 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,720 Speaker 1: you thought you did. And I just thought they were terrific, 633 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,200 Speaker 1: the kinds of stories that you can't get out of 634 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,360 Speaker 1: your car until you hear the end of. So you 635 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,720 Speaker 1: get two guests along the way who he's talking about. 636 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: That project started as a podcast for me a couple 637 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:14,360 Speaker 1: of years ago. It was a hobby that became completely 638 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,719 Speaker 1: out of hand, and now it's a book. And it's 639 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,920 Speaker 1: an odd book because it takes thirty five of those 640 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:30,080 Speaker 1: aforementioned biographies and juxtaposes them with thirty five autobiographical remembrances 641 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:34,360 Speaker 1: of me. So it's really half memoir, half mystery, and 642 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,279 Speaker 1: kind of, I hope, an interesting look at how we 643 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: remember history with a capital H, and of course our 644 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 1: own histories, the way we recall these things, the way 645 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:46,640 Speaker 1: we talk about ourselves and the people we admire and 646 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,160 Speaker 1: maybe not admire, and all smashed together into a hot 647 00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:53,360 Speaker 1: mess of good natured recollections. I think the publishers call it. 648 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,640 Speaker 1: So it'll be out in October, but people can pre 649 00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:01,000 Speaker 1: order now right. That'd be terrific micro dot com slash book, 650 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:03,880 Speaker 1: And yeah, we're really excited about it because it's a 651 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,719 Speaker 1: great way to talk about the podcast, which has been 652 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,120 Speaker 1: gangbusters for me and my foundation, and really just a 653 00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:15,879 Speaker 1: fun way hopefully to make history interesting and a little 654 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:20,759 Speaker 1: more accessible, as I'm sure you know, making history attainable 655 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:24,359 Speaker 1: and kittilating even for the masses as a tough trick. 656 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:27,640 Speaker 1: So that's what the book attempts to do in some way, 657 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:37,600 Speaker 1: just as the podcast does. News World is produced by Gingwish, 658 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:42,520 Speaker 1: Sweet sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producers Debbie Myers, our 659 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:46,720 Speaker 1: producer is Garnsey Sloan, and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 660 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:50,360 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 661 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,440 Speaker 1: Special thanks to the team at Ginwich Sweet sixty. If 662 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:56,840 Speaker 1: you've been enjoying news World, I hope you'll go to 663 00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:00,520 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts and both rate us with five stars and 664 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:03,520 Speaker 1: give us a review so others can learn what it's 665 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:06,920 Speaker 1: all about. Sign up to receive three free columns from 666 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:10,120 Speaker 1: me every week. Go to Gingwich three sixty dot com 667 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:24,040 Speaker 1: slash newsletter I'm new Gingrich. This is news World. This 668 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:28,040 Speaker 1: episode was previously recorded in September twenty nineteen.