1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: Hi, this is newt Twenty twenty is going to be 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: one of the most extraordinary election years of our lifetime. 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: I want to invite you to join my Inner Circle 4 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: as we discuss each twist and turn in the Race 5 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: and my members only Inner Circle Club. You will receive 6 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: special flash briefings, online events, and members only audio reports 7 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: from me and my team. Here's a special offer to 8 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: my podcast listeners. If you joined the Inner Circle today 9 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: at newtcenter Circle dot com and sign up for a 10 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: one or two year membership, I'll send you a free 11 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: personally autographed copy of my book Jettisburg and a VIP 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: fast pass to my live events. Join my Inner Circle 13 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: today at Newtsinner Circle dot com. Use the code free 14 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: book at checkout. Sign up today at Newts Inner Circle 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: dot com Code free Book. This offer ends January thirty 16 00:00:51,960 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: first on this episode of Its World. You know him 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: from his hit Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs and his 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: podcast The Way I Heard It as a TV host, writer, narrator, producer, actor, 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: and spokesman. His performing career began in nineteen eighty four 20 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 1: when he faked his way into the Baltimore Opera to 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: get his union card. I'm pleased to welcome as my 22 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:30,839 Speaker 1: guest today, microte a great entertainer and great American. Mike 23 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: has made a career out of shining a light on 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: the lives and experiences of American laborers. Mike became known 25 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: as the dirtiest man on TV. He traveled to all 26 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: fifty states and completed three hundred different jobs, transforming cable 27 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: television into a landscape of swamps, sewers, ice roads, coal mines, 28 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: oil derricks, crab boots, hillbillies, and lumberjack camps. For this, 29 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: he has received both the credit and the blame. For 30 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: Labor Day, we're sharing stories about the skilled workers who've 31 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: crossed Mike's bath, the importance of work, and rose fascinating 32 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: life there everywhere. Just take a look around, down the 33 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: bread or upstairs, reading underground. You don't need tomorrow bag, 34 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: you don't need a robed. All you've got to do 35 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,799 Speaker 1: you get yourself averted job. I am particularly excited this 36 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: Labor Day to have somebody who I think has come 37 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: for many Americans to personify the work ethic, the legitimacy 38 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: of work, the requirement that we understand how many different 39 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: jobs have to be done for a civilization. To succeed, 40 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: and somebody who's also become in his own right, a 41 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: household name micro. I'm just thrilled that you're with us. Newton, 42 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: Hello and thanks, I'm flattered. It's great to talk to 43 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: you again. Did you ever imagine when you were younger 44 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: that you would end up doing national television, doing podcasts, 45 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: writing books, speaking to the Congress? I mean, you know, 46 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: you become sort of an institution in your own right 47 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: when you were in your teens in your twenties. Did 48 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: you have any notion that this is where your journey 49 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: would take you? Absolutely not. I hadn't really ruled anything out. 50 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: I was a fairly curious kid, and I had parents 51 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: who encouraged me to look at everything from every angle. 52 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: But no, I grew up next to a man who 53 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: happened to be my grandfather, who could build a house 54 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: without a blueprint, and I was determined and convinced that 55 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: I would follow in his footsteps. But the handy gene, 56 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: as you may know, is recessive, and it pounced over me. 57 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: And so while I grew up surrounded by farmers and tradesmen, 58 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: and I had a real appreciation, but the kind of 59 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: man my grandfather was, who incidentally only made it through 60 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: the seventh grade, but wound up a master electrician, plumber, 61 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: steam fitter, pipe fitter, welder, mechanic. I thought that is 62 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: what I would become. I really thought I was destined 63 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: to be that person. And it took me a few 64 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: years to get it through my head that my assumptions, 65 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: my dreams, and my expectations were in no way lined 66 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: up with my skills. And so, you know, as a teenager, 67 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: even in my early twenties, I think I was a 68 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: lot like those contestants on American Idol who realized, often 69 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: for the first time, that they can't sing after all, 70 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: in front of a few million people. Once it became 71 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: clear that I wasn't going to be that guy, I 72 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: went to a community college. I took every imaginable course 73 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: I could, the broadest variety of topics I could find, 74 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: and at twenty six dollars of credit back in those days, 75 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: you could afford to do that. I stayed in that 76 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: community college for three years. Then I went to work. 77 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: Then I went to a university, eventually got a degree 78 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: in communications, and Horace gumped my way into the entertainment 79 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: business and way leads onto way as Robert Frost said. 80 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: And then one day I looked up and I was 81 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: forty two. I had had a pretty decent freelance career. 82 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: My grandfather was ill, ninety and dying, and my mother 83 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: called me at my desk at CBS in San Francisco 84 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: and said, Mike, before your grandfather dies, wouldn't it be 85 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: nice if you could turn on the television and see 86 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: you doing something that looked like work? And I laughed 87 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: and I said, yeah, that would be great. And so 88 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: I went out and I started filming a series that 89 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: turned into Dirty Jobs. And that's how it happened. It 90 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: took forty two years. It was a weird mix of serendipity, 91 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: good luck, and hard work. You never know how the 92 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: story ends, but that's how mine began. I mean, originally 93 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: pitched to something like Somebody's Got to Do It, and 94 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,239 Speaker 1: evolved into Dirty Jobs and then went on Freeze eight seasons. 95 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: Didn't this all grew out of your mother calling you 96 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: that's correct? Growing up next to a guy who was 97 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: heroic in my eyes, the standing of a true skilled 98 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: tradesman in this country. Over time, his image, her image 99 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: has devolved, and people we once viewed as heroic and 100 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: almost magical in their powers to fabricate a thing. Really 101 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: became very much well invisible, almost, you know, we just 102 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 1: simply stopped valuing that kind of skill and that kind 103 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: of person. And so on a personal level, I did 104 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: it too. I became fundamentally disconnected from a lot of 105 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: things that fascinated me as a kid. Things are made, 106 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,840 Speaker 1: where our energy comes from, where our food comes from. 107 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: Those things fascinated me for a long time, and then 108 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: for a long time they didn't. So between the guy 109 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: my grandfather was and the person my mother is, the 110 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: two of them basically conspired to inspire in me that 111 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: weird combination of guilt and ambition that led me to 112 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: do something that turned out to be brand new. And 113 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: you're right. The segment was called Somebody's Got to Do It. 114 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: It first appeared on a local show in San Francisco 115 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: called Evening Magazine. People were equally horrified and fascinated by 116 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: my adventures in a sewer, my encounter with a giant rat, 117 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: and the things we learned about the infrastructure from an 118 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: anonymous sewer worker in the course of shooting that very 119 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: strange episode. And yeah, here we sit talking about it 120 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: all these years later. You couldn't script it if you tried. 121 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: I think it was John Gardner who said something like, 122 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: if you overvalue philosophy and undervalue plumbing, neither your pipes 123 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: nor your ideas will hold water. Your Dtore, however, has 124 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: a couple of very unique, sort of American qualities to him. 125 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: One is, as I understand it, you had a high 126 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: school chorus teacher who changed your life. I did. I've 127 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: always believed that the happiest, most prosperous people I've met 128 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: can always look back into their past and find mister Holland. 129 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: You remember mister Holland's Opus movie with Richard Dreyfus. I 130 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: had him, mister Holland. His name was mister King, and 131 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: he was my high school music teacher. And he was 132 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: one of a couple people in my life who just 133 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: came along at the right time, grabbed me by the 134 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: scruff of the neck, and turned me in a slightly 135 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: different direction. And this OK, so it wasn't so slight. 136 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:08,839 Speaker 1: Mister King was a world champion barbershop quartet baritone in 137 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: a quartet called the Oriole four, which won the international 138 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,959 Speaker 1: championship back in nineteen seventy one, and I didn't know 139 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: any of this. I didn't know that there was an 140 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: organization called the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of 141 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: Barbershop Quartet Singing in America. I had no idea that 142 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: my music teacher, who also happened to be a Golden 143 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: Glove boxer, an All Pro football player, who didn't have 144 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: any of his original teach but wore these insane densures 145 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: that he swapped out every couple of minutes just to 146 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: freak his kids out. This force of nature cured my stutter. 147 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: I had a stammer for most of my young life. 148 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: He fixed me. He used music to do it. He 149 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: forced me onto a stage to audition for a play 150 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: I didn't want to be in demanded I learned a 151 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: monologue and forced me to consider a different path. And 152 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,439 Speaker 1: thanks to him, I not only got a look at 153 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: the entertainment industry in a way that I think I 154 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,599 Speaker 1: never ever would have been afforded, but I got a 155 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: chance to join the Course of the Chesapeake, which is 156 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty men, many of whom were veterans 157 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: of the Second World War Korea in Vietnam, who every 158 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: Tuesday got together and sang the old songs. And when 159 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,439 Speaker 1: I say the old songs, I mean turn of the 160 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: century tin pan alley typtoons, four part harmony straight out 161 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: of Norman Rock. Well, right, these quartets come together, they 162 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: formed this giant chorus, and I'm suddenly inserted into their midst. 163 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: And for me, at seventeen eighteen years of age, I'm 164 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: suddenly exposed to a whole different kind of music that 165 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 1: none of my friends in school are listening to. But 166 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: more importantly, I'm sitting in Johnny Jones tavern, you know, 167 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: in southeast Baltimore, drinking a draft beer while four older 168 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: men sing unapologetically sentimental songs and weep as they sing 169 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: and laugh. And then there were war stories, you know. 170 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:23,559 Speaker 1: So I just got pulled into, luckily, this very strange 171 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: part of our culture where a certain kind of music 172 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: and a certain kind of patriotism were elevated. And I 173 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: got a weekly dose of that at a very young age, 174 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: and it too, ultimately informed a lot of what I 175 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: would do over the coming decades. Now, you moved from 176 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,719 Speaker 1: that kind of barbershop quartet and all male chorus, and 177 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: I find this almost as amazing. So you moved to 178 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: the Baltimore Opera company, I did, this is quite a 179 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: journey you're on. Yeah, well, look, I reference far As 180 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: Gump a little earlier, because sometimes I really did feel 181 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: that once you accept the idea that you're on a 182 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: very crooked path, then the twists and turns and the 183 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: zigs and zags are no longer alarming. They just become 184 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: kind of amusing. And that's where I was. When I 185 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: was twenty three or so, I was in a barbershop 186 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: quartet that was singing for money on the weekends all 187 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: over the country. I was still in school during the 188 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: week and working part time at a computer company and 189 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 1: looking for anything that just felt incongruous and different. And 190 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,199 Speaker 1: one of my friends in the barbershop society said, listen, 191 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: you could actually get your Union card if you were 192 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: singing in the opera. And I'd been frustrated at that 193 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: point because I knew I wanted to get into entertainment. 194 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: I thought commercial work would be fun. But you can't 195 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: get your Screen Actors Guild card unless you get a 196 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: screen Actor's Guild job. You can addition for those jobs 197 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,320 Speaker 1: unless you have your card. So I was frozen out 198 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,199 Speaker 1: of the Union in a weird way. Back in nineteen 199 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: eighty four. But the loophole was, if you've become a 200 00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the union 201 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: that has jurisdiction over the opera, then you can buy 202 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: your Screen Actors Guild card. So the analysis was really simple. 203 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: The odds of me auditioning my way onto a sitcom 204 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: or into a movie were horrible. The odds of me 205 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: faking my way into the Baltimore Opera were not good, 206 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: but they were slightly better. So I learned the shortest 207 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,079 Speaker 1: aria I could find. It was the code Aria from 208 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: Labo M. It was an Italian It was sung by 209 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: a guy named Samuel Ramy. I had a sony Walkman, 210 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: and for a week or so I walked around Baltimore 211 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: listening to this guy, seeing these words. I had no 212 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: idea what the words meant. Thank Yazima sankeys right. I'm 213 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: just listening to him sing these sounds, and I eventually 214 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: get them in my brain and I go to an 215 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: open call for the Baltimore Opera and I sang for 216 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,679 Speaker 1: the chorus master and a genius named Billion Nutzie, who 217 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: spoke six languages, and realized instantly that I had no 218 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: idea what I was singing about and when I finished, 219 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: he said, mister Row, you have no idea of what 220 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: you're singing about, do you? And I said, no, I don't, 221 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: and they laughed. And as it turns out, they needed 222 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: young men with low voices, and at the time I 223 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: checked both boxes, so against some very long odds, they 224 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: let me in any way, and that opened the door 225 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: to the American Guild of Radio Artists and the Screen 226 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: Actors Guild. And my plan, honestly, Knute, was to sing, 227 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: you know, in one or two performances and then leave, 228 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: because I had no real interest in opera. But as 229 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: it turns out, the music was terrific. There was a 230 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: world class orchestra, the people were fun. I stayed for 231 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: seven years. When we come back, Mike goes from the 232 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: Baltimore Opera to QVC host to Dirty Jobs. You've been 233 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: listening to my conversations with Leo Grillo, founder of Delta Rescue. 234 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: Delta Rescue is celebrating forty years of saving animals and 235 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: providing love to abandon dogs and cats. Delta Rescue was 236 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: the first no kill shelter in the United States and 237 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: now the largest care for life sanctuary of its kind 238 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: in the world. The stories that Leo has shared on 239 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: My show, like Delta, a black Doberman that started this organization, 240 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: all the way to the thirty five dogs Leo found 241 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: while hiking in the Angeles National Park just warmed my heart. 242 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: Delta Rescue continues to grow the on site hospital, his 243 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: staff seven days a week, with veterinarians and state of 244 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: the art equipment. Delta Rescue treats all diseases and conditions 245 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: and up to fifteen hundred dogs, cats and horses. Delta 246 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: Rescue is an incredible cause, and we know we can't 247 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: take our money with us when we leave, nor do 248 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: we want to leave it to the I r S. 249 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: Let's help our furry friends today and support this amazing cause. 250 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: Go to Delta Rescue dot org slash newt for information 251 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: on donations and getting involved. And right now there's some 252 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: new entertaining content streaming on the site. Nuts World listeners 253 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: can go to the site for two free family movies today, 254 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: Magic starring Christopher Lloyd and directed by Robert Davy and 255 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: The Rescuer starring Leo Grillo. Enjoy these two heartwarming movies 256 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: for us animal lovers. Go to Delta Rescue dot org 257 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: slash NEWT. That's Delta Rescue dot Org slash n e WT. 258 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: So towards the end of that time, something comes up 259 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: and you end up applying for QVC, which has certainly 260 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: going to be a very big jump from the opera. 261 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: How did that transition occur? Again? Utterly unscriptable, totally random. 262 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: It was a Sunday afternoon, it was nineteen ninety. The 263 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: opera was in the middle of a production, but we 264 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 1: weren't on stage much. During the intermission and the subsequent 265 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: forty minutes of time where I didn't need to be 266 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: on stage. There was a football game being played in Baltimore, 267 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: and I wanted to watch it from the bar across 268 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: the street. It's called the Mount Royal Tavern. So I 269 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: walked over to the Mount Royal Tavern dressed as a 270 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: Viking and drank a draft beer while I planned all 271 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: watching the football game. But the football game wasn't on. 272 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: The bartender was another actor in town and he was 273 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,400 Speaker 1: watching QVC. I didn't know it was QVC at the time. 274 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,120 Speaker 1: It was just a big guy in a shiny suit 275 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: selling pots and pans. But they were in town doing 276 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: a national talent search. And the more I looked at it, 277 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: the more I thought, well, I think I'm watching a 278 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: harbinger to the end of Western civilization, but I'm also 279 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: looking at potentially an actual job in the entertainment industry. 280 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: So I went down the next morning, auditioned and got hired, 281 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: And three days later I was sitting in Westchester, Pennsylvania, 282 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night at three am, trying 283 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: to make sense of an endless panoply of indescribable products, 284 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: the kinds of things you might expect to find on 285 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: the midway of a carnival, and those machines with the claw. 286 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: I mean this, it's a crazy collection of products. We got, Noah, 287 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: we got the ark, dogs and cats living together, and 288 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: every other form of beast on here as well. For 289 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 1: twenty seven dollars and seventy nine cents, it's the sailing 290 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: ship Noah carry bag. You simply grab the handle at 291 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: the top, pick up the carry bag, and go on 292 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: your merryway. And I spent the next three years there 293 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night figuring out how Life 294 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,880 Speaker 1: TV worked and trying to make sense of the products 295 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 1: they would bring me to sell, and did you actually 296 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: sell products? Millions and millions of dollars. You know what, 297 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 1: I can't actually say I sold them. People bought them. 298 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: I was a non traditional salesman because I had no 299 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: idea I would actually get hired for that job and 300 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: no real understanding of what it was. Had really nothing 301 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: to lose. I was very honest with the viewer. They 302 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: had no training program in nineteen ninety. There was no 303 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: way to know who was going to work and who wasn't. 304 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: So I was hired because I was able to talk 305 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: about a pencil for eight minutes, and then I was 306 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: put on a three month probationary period. And the way 307 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: it works is if you don't go up in flames 308 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,439 Speaker 1: during the next three months, and if you show up 309 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,199 Speaker 1: every night for work on the graveyard shift, then you 310 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: actually get a contract. But they didn't actually train us. 311 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: They didn't actually tell us what the products were. That 312 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: was up to us to figure out. I didn't know that, 313 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,199 Speaker 1: and so the first night I was presented with something 314 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: called a Health Team Infrared Pain reliever, and it was 315 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 1: purportedly would relieve arthritic pain in your joints with infrared light. 316 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,919 Speaker 1: Now I have no idea if this is true or 317 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: even possible. It seemed crazy. I remember sitting there with 318 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: this strange item. It looked like a flashlight with a 319 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: red bulb screwed into the end. And I looked into 320 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: the camera and I said, Hi, everybody, my name's Micro. 321 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: It's my first night. This is the Health Team infrared 322 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,200 Speaker 1: pain reliever. I don't know what it does, but if 323 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 1: you own one, or if you've seen one before, it 324 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: would be terrific. If you could call the number on 325 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: the screen, ask for the producer. His name is Marty. 326 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: He'll put you on the air and maybe you can 327 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: tell me how it works. And the phones lit up, 328 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: and so for the next three hours I sat there 329 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: as these insomniacts around the country called in to tell 330 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 1: the new guy how the products he was supposed to 331 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: be selling actually worked. And it was one of the 332 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: great lessons for me in my own life, and certainly 333 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: a lesson in humility and in honesty. Once I realized 334 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: the audience would help me, that I didn't have to 335 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: pretend to know more than I did. Well, then TV 336 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: got really interesting and QBC turned out to be probably 337 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: the greatest training ground for me that I could have 338 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: possibly had. The lessons I learned there, they continued to 339 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: inform just about everything I do. Do. You stay there 340 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: for three years, but then you go on and you 341 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: stay in television. Right when I left QBC, they fired 342 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 1: me three times, justifiably, but always hired me back inexplicably. 343 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: But when I finally left in nineteen ninety three, I 344 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: left with a toolbox that I never thought I would 345 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: have before. It's interesting, you know, my grandfather told me 346 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: years before, when it became obvious that I would not 347 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: follow in his footsteps, that I was not going to 348 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: be at additional tradesman. He said, look, Mike, you can 349 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: be a tradesman. Being a tradesman is a state of mind. 350 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: You just need a different toolbox. It took me a while, 351 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: but the toolbox I assembled when I left QVC really 352 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:18,679 Speaker 1: allowed me to audition for just about anything in Hollywood 353 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 1: or in New York and get booked a lot. I 354 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,119 Speaker 1: wasn't looking for a full time job. I love the 355 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:29,360 Speaker 1: idea of working like a jobber, like a tradesman. When 356 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: I was thirty, I moved to Hollywood and I booked 357 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: a lot of work on a lot of projects that 358 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: I'm not really proud of him. I wasn't looking for 359 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 1: the work to provide me with any real sense of accomplishment. 360 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: I was just looking to do a good job on 361 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: any project, whether I was writing, producing, narrating, or impersonating 362 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: a host, and then enjoying three or four months a 363 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,120 Speaker 1: year to travel and take my retirement in early installments, 364 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: and did that from thirty probably until forty two when 365 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: Dirty Jobs came back around. It was really a miscalculation. 366 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: Like I said, my mom called suggest that I pitched 367 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: something that looked like work, and I had no idea 368 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: Discovery would order three hundred of them. We made a 369 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: deal for three episodes, but again just goes to show 370 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: the minute you think you haven't figured out, something else 371 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,199 Speaker 1: will come along and make you think twice. Why do 372 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: you think Dirty Jobs took off timing A couple of 373 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: things happened. My pitch to Discovery, on the one hand, 374 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: was kind of different. You know that at the time 375 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:45,440 Speaker 1: that brand was defined by experts and authority, So whether 376 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,640 Speaker 1: it was Jacques Cousteau or David Attenborough or Jane goodall 377 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:54,160 Speaker 1: big expert voices that could satisfy curiosity in a way 378 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,200 Speaker 1: that you know, we all grew up with and remember fondly. 379 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: But it seemed to me that something was shifting in TV. 380 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,880 Speaker 1: Reality TV was becoming a thing. But more than that, 381 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:11,880 Speaker 1: it seemed like authenticity was slowly replacing authority, and the 382 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: idea of being curious didn't necessarily have to come hand 383 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: in glove with being terribly informed. The Discovery brand is 384 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,399 Speaker 1: a curiosity brand, and satisfying that curiosity has to come 385 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: from some sort of expert. But my question was, what 386 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 1: if the titular figure in a show isn't the expert. 387 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: So if I can find anonymous people who really know 388 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: what they're talking about in a variety of vocations, then 389 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: maybe we can satisfy curiosity in a way that doesn't 390 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: require me to be a host, but something more like 391 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: a guest or a cipher or an avatar. So it 392 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: was a clunky pitch, but the network said, okay, let's 393 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,439 Speaker 1: try that, and they hired me to go on a 394 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:05,159 Speaker 1: series of expeditions in this sort of avatar format, and 395 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: along the way they said, maybe we could do a 396 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: few hours of something that looks a little more structured 397 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: that allows us to introduce you to our viewer. Well, 398 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: at that point I had done Somebody's got to do 399 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,199 Speaker 1: it for CBS. I had this idea for Dirty Jobs. 400 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,200 Speaker 1: They didn't really see it as on brand, but they 401 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: said give it a try, and so we tried it. 402 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: In two thousand and three, the Discovery Channel was testing 403 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: all kinds of different programs and they had this one 404 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,199 Speaker 1: which was terrific, and that one which was amazing, and 405 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: then they had this thing called Dirty Jobs, which is 406 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: like that. It's a smart alec and a sewer doing 407 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: these weird things. They put it on the air, and 408 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: it was the viewers who really told them what the 409 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: situation was. You can't argue with the people, and the 410 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: people wanted to see a version of themselves doing a 411 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: version of work. They recognized how rapidly did the word 412 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: of mouth read, Yeah, I indicate that you head a 413 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: winning show. At that point, it was overnight. And this 414 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: is interesting too, because there was no Facebook then. At 415 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: least it was just beginning. There was no real social media. 416 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: It was still two thousand and four, two thousand and five, 417 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: that was just kind of becoming a thing. But Discovery 418 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: built me a chat room, the Dirty Jobs chat room. 419 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: We called it the Mudroom, and fans of those early 420 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: episodes all went there, and I made it really clear. 421 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: I took all the lessons from QBC a decade and 422 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: a half earlier, and I put them onto this new 423 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: thing and I said, look, Dirty Jobs needs to be 424 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 1: programmed by the fans. I want all the ideas we 425 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: do for the show to be suggestions in the Dirty 426 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,640 Speaker 1: Jobs chat room, this mudroom, they called it. And I 427 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: don't want to do second takes on the show. I 428 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: don't want to ask people to perform. And that is 429 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: a fairly revolutionary thing. You know. We hired a documentary 430 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: camera to film the making of the show, and that 431 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 1: footage wound up becoming dominant, and so as a viewer, 432 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,679 Speaker 1: you got a really honest, unvarnished look at what I 433 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: saw on a dairy farm, or in a sewer, or 434 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,119 Speaker 1: building a bridge or in an opal mine. You saw 435 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: what I saw, And as a fly on the wall, 436 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: you got a fairly authentic look at a job you 437 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: might not have known existed, that took place in a 438 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: town you've never been to, performed by a man or 439 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: woman who's utterly anonymous. It was that level of reality 440 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: that people responded to, and we knew it immediately because 441 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,679 Speaker 1: we were looking at thousands of suggestions that we got 442 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: from people who were saying, Mike Way do you meet 443 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: my grandfather, uncle, brother, cousin's sister, mom, whatever way, do 444 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,159 Speaker 1: you see what they do? So there really was a 445 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: hunger in the country in two thousand and five for 446 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,959 Speaker 1: a lot of people who I think felt both anonymous 447 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: and forgotten to show the country what they did and 448 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 1: how they added value to the larger mosaic. So you're 449 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: developing this remarkably successful show, you have a great brand, 450 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 1: and along comes Deadly as Catch and you're offered to 451 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,719 Speaker 1: do either show, and you choose to host Dirty Jobs 452 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 1: but narrate Deadly as Catch rather than the reverse. Well 453 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: what was your thinking? What really happened was the first 454 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: couple episodes of Dirty Jobs went on the air, and 455 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: they really did cause some serious cognitive dissonance with the network. 456 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: What do you do when your audience loves something that 457 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: you don't want them to love. It's very confusing time, 458 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: and so they kind of took a deep breath and said, look, 459 00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: Dirty Jobs we don't really want to run with as 460 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: a series. We have these other expeditions we want you 461 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: to take, but we also have this thing that we're 462 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: not quite sure what it is, but it's up in 463 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: Alaska and it's crab fisherman, Why don't you go up 464 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: there and work as a greenhorn, work as a host, 465 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: go out on the ships, and let's see if there's 466 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: actually a show up there. And again, this is two 467 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: thousand and four, we don't know what deadliest catches, dirty 468 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: jobs hasn't really found an audience yet. And I went 469 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: up there and wound up staying for six weeks. I 470 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: worked on a couple of different boats and basically did 471 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: my best Stone Phillips impersonation, doing a kind of a documentary, 472 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: kind of a magazine tight series look at what Derby 473 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: style crab fishing was in the Bearing Sea, and knw 474 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: what it was was unlike anything I'd ever seen. You 475 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: can't script the Bearing Sea right. It's an utterly authentic 476 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: work environment, terribly dangerous, with men doing a hard job 477 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: under difficult circumstances, some prospering and some dying. I went 478 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: to six funerals in six weeks at the end of 479 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: two thousand and four, early in two thousand and five. 480 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: So when we came back from that trip and we 481 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: looked at the footage, it was obvious that there was 482 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: something enormously important going on up there in the way 483 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 1: of a potential show. But it also became obvious that, 484 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: for whatever reason, immersing me into work was a good formula. 485 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: So they circled back and looked at Dirty Jobs and said, Okay, 486 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: if we order this and order Deadliest Catch at the 487 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: same time, you can't host both. So to answer your question, 488 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: I chose Dirty Jobs A because it was deeply personal 489 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,959 Speaker 1: and B because my name was in the title, and 490 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: went in doubt picked a show with your name in 491 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: the title. So I opted to run with Dirty Jobs, 492 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: and they invited me to narrow Deadliest Catch. And incredibly, 493 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: I'm driving into San Francisco to narrate the final episode 494 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: of season fifteen of Deadliest Catch, which is still on 495 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: the air. It's really a phenomenon. Next, Mike talks about 496 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: the foundation he created eleven years ago to awards scholarships 497 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: to people in the skilled trades. I was delighted when 498 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: the first sponsor of Newts World was Oxford Gold Group. 499 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: I love entrepreneurial startups of people who are eager, willing 500 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: to go out and do new and different things. And 501 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,959 Speaker 1: as a historian, I know that having a balanced portfolio 502 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: is a very important thing. And they offer financial information 503 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: and background information that I think is very helpful. So 504 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: whatever you decided to do in the end, I think 505 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: you'll find the information they have is really worthwhile. And 506 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: that's why I'm delighted to introduce you to the Oxford 507 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: Gold Group. Most of us still remember what happened to 508 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: our four oh one ks and IRA's back in two 509 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: thousand and eight during the financial crash. In a flash, 510 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: millions of hard working Americans lost more than half of 511 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: their retirement in savings. Many of us still haven't recovered 512 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: those losses, even as the stock market reached record highs. 513 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 1: Did you know that while the stock market crashed, the 514 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: price of gold and silver skyrocketed. In fact, investors who 515 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: had the foresight to diversify a portion of their retirement 516 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: in savings before the two thousand and eight meltdown watched 517 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: as the price of gold and silver went up over 518 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: three hundred percent. While millions of Americans lost their nest 519 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: eggs in the stock market, many others were able to 520 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 1: make gains most people had never seen before. Call the 521 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: Oxford Gold Group today at one eight, three, three, three, 522 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:54,480 Speaker 1: two seven nine four seven two, or visit Oxford Goldgroup 523 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:58,720 Speaker 1: dot com. Slashed newts World and request your free Investor's Guide. 524 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: Investing in precious metal with the Oxford Gold Group is 525 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: safe and secure. We tailor investment packages to suit any portfolio. 526 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: Don't risk the future of your IRA four oh one 527 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: K or savings on paper investments. Protect your retirement in 528 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: savings with physical assets like gold and silver. Nobody knows 529 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: when the next financial crisis will happen. Get prepared by 530 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: talking to the Oxford Gold Group by calling one eight 531 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: three three three two seven nine four seven two, or 532 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: by visiting Oxford Goldgroup dot com slash news World. Financial 533 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: security is just a phone call away. You then reach 534 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: out in a philanthropical way and you create a foundation 535 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: which really is designed to help us. Remember the work matters. 536 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:58,040 Speaker 1: Talk some about the micro Works Foundation what you hope 537 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,959 Speaker 1: to achieve with it. By the middle of two thousand 538 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: and eight, Dirty Jobs was on in two hundred countries. 539 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: It was the number one show on Discovery and it 540 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: had launched directly or indirectly a couple of dozen other 541 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: hit shows. I had done well as a result, and 542 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:23,279 Speaker 1: in the summer of that year July two thousand and eight, 543 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:27,640 Speaker 1: the economy was starting to teeter, and on the show, 544 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,719 Speaker 1: you know I always took the crew out for beer afterwards. 545 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 1: I always invited our hosts to join us, and I 546 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 1: always wound up having long conversations with small business owners 547 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: who had prospered in this dirty jobs world, and I 548 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,840 Speaker 1: always asked them, you know, the same questions typically, what 549 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 1: was their biggest challenge? And what I heard from two 550 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: thousand and five until two thousand and eight and to 551 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,880 Speaker 1: this day consistently was the biggest challenge was finding people 552 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: who were enthused and willing to learn a skill that 553 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: was actually in demand and then show up and apply 554 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: a work ethic to that skill ratio. Alger kind of 555 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 1: light motif, but I heard it over and over again. 556 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: And when the economy tanked in earnest and the unemployment 557 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:20,960 Speaker 1: rates were headline news every day, seven eight, nine, ten, 558 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,680 Speaker 1: every day, I was still hearing from people that their 559 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: biggest challenge was finding qualified workers, and it just seemed 560 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 1: like such an odd competitive narrative. Some other narrative was 561 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 1: going on in the country. Nobody was talking about the 562 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 1: skills gap. Everybody was talking about the number of unemployed people. 563 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: And wherever I went on Dirty Jobs, I'm still seeing 564 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:49,799 Speaker 1: help wanted signs. So it just seemed like in some way, 565 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 1: we were talking past each other on the national level, 566 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: and at the time, according to the Bureau of Labor 567 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,719 Speaker 1: and Statistics, we had two point three million open positions, 568 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: many of which didn't require a four year degree, they 569 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 1: required training. So on Labor Day of two thousand and eight, 570 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,320 Speaker 1: I launched micro Works, which began really as a pr 571 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 1: campaign for those two point three million unwanted jobs that 572 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:21,280 Speaker 1: to me represented the existence of opportunity at a time 573 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,319 Speaker 1: when we were being told almost across the board that 574 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: opportunity was dead. And at that time I remember shaking 575 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 1: my head and thinking, we can't really believe the reason 576 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,600 Speaker 1: we have ten million unemployed people is because we don't 577 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:41,440 Speaker 1: have ten million jobs available. We can't really believe that, 578 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: but of course we do. We think unemployment can be 579 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 1: cured by creating more jobs, even as today we have 580 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:53,319 Speaker 1: seven point three million jobs open. So I was just 581 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: fascinated by the dynamics of the skills gap and by 582 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: the existence non existence of opportunity, depending on how you 583 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,759 Speaker 1: see it, and I wanted to shine a light as 584 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:09,400 Speaker 1: best I could on the jobs that really and truly existed. 585 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,279 Speaker 1: That's how it started. What it turned into was a 586 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: scholarship program for the skilled trades. Today, we've awarded somewhere 587 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:24,200 Speaker 1: between five and six million dollars for training for steam fitters, 588 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:31,440 Speaker 1: pipe fitters, welders, mechanics, heating, air conditioning, electricians, plumbers. It 589 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:35,799 Speaker 1: is kind of remarkable because the foundation truly is the 590 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: legacy of the show, and the show is really a 591 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:44,960 Speaker 1: tribute to my grandfather, and the scholarships are proof positive 592 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: that his jobs, the jobs I grew up watching him perform, 593 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: are not only still very much in demand, but still 594 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,879 Speaker 1: offer terrific opportunities for people who really want to learn 595 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,720 Speaker 1: that skill and apply themselves. When you show the world 596 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,680 Speaker 1: a welder who's making one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 597 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,160 Speaker 1: and happy, you create in much of the country the 598 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,239 Speaker 1: same kind of cognitive dissonance that we did on the 599 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:15,799 Speaker 1: show when we portrayed people in a sewer covered with 600 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 1: the worst muck there is who are prospering and understanding 601 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: their role in the scheme of things is in no 602 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,799 Speaker 1: way minor. That's the goal of the foundation. That was 603 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,919 Speaker 1: the happy unintended consequence of the show. What you're doing 604 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,640 Speaker 1: really has a moral purpose, and I think that's a 605 00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:37,840 Speaker 1: very important part of the regeneration and revival of Americas 606 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: to recognize that work is a moral good, and that 607 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:44,480 Speaker 1: people should expect to work, and that all work has 608 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:50,759 Speaker 1: an inherent dignity. Correct. All narratives need a protagonist and 609 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:55,839 Speaker 1: an antagonist. All stories need a villain, an enemy, and 610 00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:01,879 Speaker 1: a very popular narrative today as has to work as 611 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:06,560 Speaker 1: the enemy. The proximate cause of your unhappiness is the 612 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:10,279 Speaker 1: fact that you need to work, as opposed to the 613 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,720 Speaker 1: proximate cause of your prosperity is your opportunity to work. 614 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:20,960 Speaker 1: That has been a seismic shift over the last two generations. 615 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: And it's understandable. It's not rational, but it's not really 616 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,680 Speaker 1: a mystery. We've made work the enemy, and once you 617 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: do that, then your arguments are going to be informed 618 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:38,320 Speaker 1: by that belief. Whether you're arguing over the minimum wage 619 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:44,279 Speaker 1: or rent control, or social security or welfare or any 620 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:48,960 Speaker 1: political program. You know, you can almost always figure out 621 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: where somebody's coming from by their belief around work, and 622 00:39:56,719 --> 00:39:59,719 Speaker 1: so you know, to answer one of your earlier questions. 623 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:04,680 Speaker 1: That's why dirty jobs worked too. At its core was 624 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:10,479 Speaker 1: one of the few unifying realities of life. Labor, which 625 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: of course is different than work right. But these two things, 626 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:17,760 Speaker 1: the business of earning a living, can either be seen 627 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:23,240 Speaker 1: through the lens of incredible opportunity or through the lens 628 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 1: of drudgery and despair. So much of what we're teaching 629 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:32,759 Speaker 1: our kids to expect these v work lines up on 630 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:36,799 Speaker 1: the drudgery and despair side. And so when you see 631 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,440 Speaker 1: a show like Dirty Jobs, you see people laboring hard 632 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 1: and sweating and struggling, but then you also see them 633 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 1: laughing and prospering. That was a really important juxtaposition to 634 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:52,680 Speaker 1: present to the country, and it still is because the 635 00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:55,280 Speaker 1: only way you're going to challenge the idea that work 636 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,840 Speaker 1: isn't the enemy is to offer examples. I stay in 637 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,399 Speaker 1: touch with the thousand or so people who have gone 638 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:06,280 Speaker 1: through our scholarship program, because now I can go back 639 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:09,200 Speaker 1: and I can find a kid who five or six 640 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:13,439 Speaker 1: years ago learned to weld and who today is up 641 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,279 Speaker 1: on the high plains in North Dakota or maybe down 642 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:19,160 Speaker 1: in the Gulf, making one hundred and eighty thousand dollars 643 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,759 Speaker 1: a year with no debt, raising a family right. And 644 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,239 Speaker 1: that story needs to be told because the path to 645 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 1: prosperity still exists visa a skilled trade it's not about 646 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,640 Speaker 1: a four year degree. It's not the best path for 647 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:41,720 Speaker 1: the most people. One point five trillion dollars in student 648 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:45,240 Speaker 1: loans is currently on the books. We have seven point 649 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:49,239 Speaker 1: three million jobs currently open, the vast majority of which 650 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:53,560 Speaker 1: don't require a four year degree. But we're still telling 651 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: our kids that if you don't get the four year degree, 652 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,160 Speaker 1: if you don't sign on the line and assume whatever 653 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,359 Speaker 1: the debt is, then you are going to wind up 654 00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:08,000 Speaker 1: with some kind of vocational consolation prize, and you're going 655 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,160 Speaker 1: to spend the rest of your life pushing the boulder 656 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:15,680 Speaker 1: up the hill. It's a false, nonsensical argument, but it's real, 657 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,719 Speaker 1: and we've been selling it for a long time in 658 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,560 Speaker 1: much the same way we've been lending money we don't 659 00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:23,640 Speaker 1: have to kids who are never going to be able 660 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:25,520 Speaker 1: to pay it back to training for jobs that don't 661 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:29,120 Speaker 1: exist anymore. It's a busted system. So if you had 662 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:33,359 Speaker 1: a chance to talk personally to every twelve year old 663 00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:36,480 Speaker 1: in the country, but as individuals, one on one, what 664 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:39,560 Speaker 1: would your core message me, Put it all on the table, 665 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:45,480 Speaker 1: look at everything, and don't limit yourself to the things 666 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:51,160 Speaker 1: you think you're interested in. Your passion is important your 667 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:56,520 Speaker 1: dreams are important. But if your strategy is to follow 668 00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:01,319 Speaker 1: your passion and chase your dream, if that is your 669 00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:05,480 Speaker 1: fundamental strategy, then you're taking a horrible risk and you're 670 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:10,000 Speaker 1: limiting yourself in ways. You don't have to put things 671 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: on the table that you're not interested in, explore things 672 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:19,759 Speaker 1: that you have no affinity for, because you're twelve and 673 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,200 Speaker 1: you don't know anything, and when you're eighteen, you're not 674 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:26,359 Speaker 1: going to know much more, and when you're fifty you're 675 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:28,120 Speaker 1: not going to know nearly as much as you think 676 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:34,440 Speaker 1: you do. The idea that your success and your happiness 677 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 1: could be way over here in some place that you 678 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:41,800 Speaker 1: hadn't considered is the thing that I want you to consider, 679 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:46,360 Speaker 1: because that's how it was for me. I didn't follow 680 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:50,920 Speaker 1: my passion, I took it with me, and as a result, 681 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:55,120 Speaker 1: I'm very passionate about where I am at fifty seven 682 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:59,720 Speaker 1: years of age. And as a bit of revisionist history, 683 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: when I look at the people on Dirty Jobs, the 684 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:07,480 Speaker 1: people that we featured who resonated the most with the viewers, 685 00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:11,680 Speaker 1: they were those people, the people who didn't follow their passion, 686 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:15,640 Speaker 1: but who were nevertheless passionate about whatever it was they 687 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:20,279 Speaker 1: wound up doing somehow or another. That's the message the 688 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:24,000 Speaker 1: seventeen year old who's trying to figure out, do I 689 00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:28,120 Speaker 1: borrow forty fifty grand a year to go to a 690 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:31,280 Speaker 1: four year school, or do I take some time maybe 691 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:35,000 Speaker 1: in a community college, or maybe in an apprenticeship program, 692 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:38,080 Speaker 1: or maybe just a gap year. Not a gap year 693 00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:41,360 Speaker 1: to screw around and waste time, but to figure out 694 00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:48,560 Speaker 1: where your competency and your desire meet, because that's the trick. 695 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:52,200 Speaker 1: And the more we tell kids that the secret to 696 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:56,640 Speaker 1: their happiness is to follow their passion, I think the 697 00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,000 Speaker 1: more we're sending them on a snipe hunt. So I 698 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:03,040 Speaker 1: can't imagine a message for this Labor Day or a 699 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:07,360 Speaker 1: more relevant message for every American. I think you've already 700 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:11,520 Speaker 1: had a amazingly fascinating opening phase of your life, and 701 00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:13,799 Speaker 1: I have a hunch that the next phase is going 702 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,440 Speaker 1: to continue to evolve ended up being even more interesting. 703 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,239 Speaker 1: You have a book coming out, yeah a little bit 704 00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:22,879 Speaker 1: over a month, call The Way I Heard or can 705 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:24,960 Speaker 1: tell us just for a minute, what led you to 706 00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:27,560 Speaker 1: write the book and what's in it. The book is 707 00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,839 Speaker 1: named after the podcast The Way I Heard It, which 708 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:33,440 Speaker 1: I started writing a couple of years ago as an 709 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:37,720 Speaker 1: homage really to Paul Harvey. He famously had a radio 710 00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:40,720 Speaker 1: program called The Rest of the Story where he told 711 00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:45,799 Speaker 1: five minute biographical mysteries. All of them had a twist 712 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,840 Speaker 1: at the end, so you wound up learning something you 713 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:51,960 Speaker 1: didn't know about somebody you thought you did. And I 714 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:54,160 Speaker 1: just thought they were terrific, you know, the kinds of 715 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,200 Speaker 1: stories that you can't get out of your car until 716 00:45:57,239 --> 00:45:59,520 Speaker 1: you hear the end of. So you get the guests 717 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:03,120 Speaker 1: along the way, who's talking about that? Project started as 718 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:05,600 Speaker 1: a podcast for me a couple of years ago. It 719 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:09,280 Speaker 1: was a hobby that became completely out of hand, and 720 00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: now it's a book. And it's an odd book because 721 00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:18,600 Speaker 1: it takes thirty five of those aforementioned biographies and juxtaposes 722 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:24,560 Speaker 1: them with thirty five autobiographical remembrances of me. So it's 723 00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:29,080 Speaker 1: really half memoir, half mystery, and kind of, I hope, 724 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:32,520 Speaker 1: an interesting look at how we remember history with a 725 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,799 Speaker 1: capital H, and of course our own histories, the way 726 00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:38,520 Speaker 1: we recall these things, the way we talk about ourselves, 727 00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:41,759 Speaker 1: and the people we admire and maybe not admire, and 728 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,560 Speaker 1: all smashed together into a hot mess of good natured recollections, 729 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:48,680 Speaker 1: I think the publishers call it. So it'll be out 730 00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:51,759 Speaker 1: in October, but people can pre order now, right, that'd 731 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:55,879 Speaker 1: be terrific micro dot com slash book, and yeah, we're 732 00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:57,920 Speaker 1: really excited about it because it's a great way to 733 00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:02,440 Speaker 1: talk about the podcast, which is been gangbusters for me 734 00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,160 Speaker 1: and my foundation, and really just a fun way hopefully 735 00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:10,799 Speaker 1: to make history interesting and a little more accessible. As 736 00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:16,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure you know, making history attainable and hitillating even 737 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:19,400 Speaker 1: for the masses as a tough trick. So that's what 738 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:21,640 Speaker 1: the book attempts to do in some way, just as 739 00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:25,080 Speaker 1: the podcast does. Mike, thank you for a great conversation, 740 00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:29,000 Speaker 1: you know, celebrating Labor Day, we ought to all remember 741 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:32,920 Speaker 1: the importance of work and the American value of making 742 00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:36,520 Speaker 1: an honest living. By the Way. Micro's new book, The 743 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:39,399 Speaker 1: Way I Heard It is available for pre order now 744 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:50,360 Speaker 1: and will be available everywhere on October fifteenth. Thank you 745 00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:54,120 Speaker 1: to my guest Micro. You can preorder Mike's new book, 746 00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,240 Speaker 1: The Way I Heard It and read more about Mike's 747 00:47:57,239 --> 00:48:01,920 Speaker 1: foundation micro works dot org on our show page at 748 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:06,719 Speaker 1: newtsworld dot com. Newtsworld is produced by Westwood One. Our 749 00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:12,040 Speaker 1: executive producer is Debbie Myers, and our producer is Garnsey Sloan. 750 00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:18,120 Speaker 1: Our editor is Robert Barowski, and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 751 00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:22,360 Speaker 1: Our guest booker is Grace Davis. The our work for 752 00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:26,560 Speaker 1: the show was created by Steve Penley. The music was 753 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:30,080 Speaker 1: composed by Joey salviv Special thanks to the team at 754 00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:34,960 Speaker 1: Gingwis through sixty in Westwood Ones, John Wardock and Robert Mathers. 755 00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:39,520 Speaker 1: Please email me with your comments at newt at newtsworld 756 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:43,319 Speaker 1: dot com. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll 757 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:46,520 Speaker 1: go to Apple Podcasts and both rate us with five 758 00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:50,359 Speaker 1: stars and give us a review so others can learn 759 00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:58,040 Speaker 1: what it's all about. On the next episode of Newtsworld, 760 00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:02,759 Speaker 1: we're exploring the topic of a electromagnetic pulse e MP 761 00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:07,920 Speaker 1: with my guest, the author of One Second After William Footcher. 762 00:49:08,239 --> 00:49:11,920 Speaker 1: The gamma rays bursting off the weapon start pack like 763 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:16,920 Speaker 1: pin pong balls, and they set up a gamma ray 764 00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,439 Speaker 1: burst that keeps getting broader. It moves at the speed 765 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:24,320 Speaker 1: of light. It hits the earth surface, it overloads almost 766 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:29,040 Speaker 1: all electrical carrying capability, and a split second later it's 767 00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:40,520 Speaker 1: off I'm new Gingrich. This is new t World, the 768 00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:42,800 Speaker 1: Westwood one podcast network,