The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

Jim McKelvey is an entrepreneur, innovator, computer engineer, and master glassblower who helped build a billion-dollar company. That's not the usual career path, but then, Jim McKelvey isn't your usual entrepreneur. The co-founder of Square, along with Jack Dorsey, McKelvey turned a frustrating experience in his glass studio into a business that changed the way small businesses get paid. Mike talks with Jim about the art of blowing glass, his involvement with TechShop, and why a guy who helped invent the future of payments is downright terrified of AI. They also discuss The Innovation Stack, McKelvey's book about the unconventional thinking that built Square—and why sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to stop doing what everybody else is doing. BuildFreedom.us—The best place to find a six-figure, AI-proof job. Build your future. Rebuild America. PureTalk.com/ROWE—Switch your phone service today and get UNLIMITED talk, text, data, and 30G hot spot for just $29.95 a month for LIFE! Not your phone's life—your life! NetSuite.com/Mike—The #1 Cloud ER. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, get NetSuite's FREE business guide, Aligning for the Agentic Era: How AI is Changing Everyday Work. Chapter.com/MikeRowe—Chapter compares every Medicare plan nationwide to recommend the right coverage for you. Call them at 804-CHAPTER or visit chapter.com/mikerowe to get free, unbiased Medicare help. Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and standalone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan's contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don't directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.

This is a two-parter in one episode! Part One was recorded in May, when Mike sat down with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to talk about her vision for American agriculture, the challenges facing farmers and ranchers, and the future of food production in America. Four months later, Mike needed to follow up after President Trump's proclamation calling for 300,000 metric tons of additional beef imports—a decision that was met with concern by many American ranchers. So, Part Two was recorded in September. Mike asks the Secretary to explain the decision, what it means for American ranchers, and what it means for consumers. Two conversations, recorded months apart, with a lot more in common than you might expect. Big thanks to our awesome sponsors GoodRanchers.com/ROWE—100% of their meat comes from American farms and ranches and delivered straight to your door. Start your plan and get a FREE Ground Beef Bundle with your firs order. PureTalk.com/ROWE—Switch your phone service today and get UNLIMITED high-speed data for just $34.99 a month and save an additional 50% off your first month. Digs.com/MIKE—The digital operating system for your house. Less rework. Less confusion. And a much smoother build experience for homeowners. Get 40% off your first 3 months

What if some of the food we've been told is convenient, affordable, and perfectly safe is actually making us sick? Alex Clark, host of the popular Culture Apothecary podcast and a passionate advocate for healthier food, joins Mike to discuss Breaking Big Food, a documentary in which she appears that takes a hard look at what's really behind America's processed-food problem. The conversation explores how Big Food adopted tactics pioneered by Big Tobacco, the science and marketing behind ultra-processed foods, what happens when corporate interests collide with public health, and why it's so difficult to know what's actually good for us anymore. But this isn't just a crusade for Alex—it's personal. She tells Mike about her father's battle with chronic illness and death, and how it inspired her mission to figure out why so much of what we eat seems determined to kill us. Alex gets fired up. Mike gets curious. And together, they ask a simple question: What exactly are we eating? Today's episode is sponsored by PureTalk.com/ROWE—Switch your phone service today and get UNLIMITED high-speed data for just $34.99 a month and save an additional 50% off your first month. CamelCityMill.com—The last work sock you'll ever need. 100% American made with a 10year warranty. Use code ROWE for 10% off Mike's favorite work sock. NetSuite.com/Mike—The #1 Cloud ER. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, get NetSuite'sFREE business guide, Aligning for the Agentic Era: How AI Is Changing Everyday Work.

Andy Stumpf knows what it takes to operate when everything goes wrong. A former Navy SEAL who served with SEAL Team Six, Stumpf spent 17 years in the military, including a tour as a BUD/S instructor responsible for training hundreds of aspiring SEALs. He was also shot at close range by an Iraqi insurgent with an AK-47—and somehow came back to serve again. In this episode, Andy pulls back the curtain on the world of special operations and the psychology of becoming a SEAL. He reveals what he learned about the candidates who ring the bell, the methods he used as an instructor to get them to keep going—or make them quit—and what it really feels like when an AK-47 fragment shatters your sciatic nerve. It's a conversation about fear, pain, endurance, and the strange things that happen in your head when the stakes couldn't be higher. Andy is the host of Cleared Hot, one of the most popular podcasts devoted to military life, special operations, and the people who have lived it. Big thanks to our terrific sponsors American-Giant.com/Mike—American Giant makes clothes that last, and they make them 100% in America.Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order. American Giant—American Made. K12.com/Rowe—Find a K12-powered school near you and see what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep. Digs.com/MIKE—Less rework. Less confusion. And a much smoother build experience for homeowners. Get 40% offyour first 3 months

What do a Home Depot employee and a satellite have in common? More than you might think. In this episode, Mike Rowe talks with two CEOs about the people and technology quietly building the future around us. First, Mike sits down with Ted Decker, CEO of The Home Depot, to talk about workforce development, the company's "inverted pyramid" philosophy—where frontline associates and customers sit at the top and management exists to support them—and why developing people from the ground up is central to the company's success. Decker also explains the story behind Home Depot's Kids Workshop program, which has introduced generations of young people to tools, building, and the satisfaction of making something with their own hands. Then Mike talks with Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree Ian Cinnamon, CEO and co-founder of Apex, a company tackling one of the space industry's biggest challenges: making satellites faster and at much greater scale. Cinnamon explains just how many aspects of everyday life depend on satellites—from communications and navigation to weather and national security—and why getting more capable spacecraft into orbit is becoming increasingly important. From the aisles of Home Depot to the edge of space, this is a conversation about building things, building people, and building what comes next. Shout out to our great sponsors K12.com/Rowe—Find a K12-powered school near you and see what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep. ZipRecruiter.com/Rowe—The recruiting site that really is the smartest way to hire. Post a job for FREE and find a qualified candidate in 24 hours. GoodRanchers.com/ROWE—Sourcing 100% of their meat from American farms and ranches and delivering straight to your door. Get $50 off anything on their site and get DOUBLE the FREE meat with every order when you start a plan. CamelCityMill.com—The last work sock you'll ever need. 100% American made with a 10-year warranty. Use code ROWE for 10% off Mike's favorite work sock.

Ethan Thornton doesn't shy away from problems—he goes looking for them. At just 22, the founder of Mach Industries is tackling some of the biggest challenges in American defense manufacturing, rethinking how weapons are designed, built, and produced. In this episode, Ethan takes Mike deep into the problem he believes America can no longer afford to ignore: How did we get to a place where China has such an enormous advantage in manufacturing, production capacity, and the ability to produce things at scale? And, more importantly, what are we going to do about it? Ethan explains why the future of American defense may depend less on building increasingly sophisticated—and increasingly expensive—weapons, and more on figuring out how to build more capable weapons that cost dramatically less. He breaks down the theory behind that approach, why affordability and scale can be weapons in their own right, and why innovation in defense manufacturing isn't simply about creating better technology—it's about changing the economics of warfare. And that may be the biggest problem Ethan is trying to solve: not simply how to build the next generation of weapons, but how to build them faster, cheaper, and at a scale that can restore America's manufacturing advantage. Because when it comes to solving big problems, Ethan doesn't just like a challenge—he likes a lotta problems. Big thanks to our awesome sponsors ZipRecruiter.com/Rowe—The recruiting site that really is the smartest way to hire. Post a job for FREE and find a qualified candidate in 24 hours. American-Giant.com/Mike—American Giant makes clothes that last, and they make them 100% in America.Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order. American Giant—American Made. GoodRanchers.com/ROWE—Sourcing 100% of their meat from American farms and ranches and delivering straight to your door. Get $50 off anything on their site and get DOUBLE the FREE meat with every order when you start a plan. K12.com/Rowe—Find a K12-powered school near you and see what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep.

Founder and president of Montana Knife Company Josh Smith sits down with Mike to discuss his unlikely path from working as a lineman to becoming one of America's premier master bladesmiths. The conversation dives into the grit, craftsmanship, and obsession with quality that helped turn a small operation into one of the fastest-growing knife manufacturers in the country. The two also talk about the grand opening of MKC's brand-new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Missoula, where Josh explains why controlling his supply chain matters now more than ever—and what "Made in America" actually requires behind the scenes. Along the way, Josh gives Mike an exclusive look at a brand-new blade that hasn't been released to the public yet. It's a conversation about work ethic, American manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and the sharp edge between tradition and innovation.

In this special LIVE edition of Coffee with Mome, Mike heads home for Mother's Day and sits down with the woman who taught him everything worth knowing — his mom, Peggy Rowe. Recorded in front of a live audience at the place Peggy refers to as The Home, this episode is filled with the warmth, wit, and wonderfully sharp observations fans have come to expect from America's Grandmother. From family stories and hard-earned wisdom to laughter that only comes from decades of shared history, Mike and Peggy talk about motherhood, growing older disgracefully, and the strange adventure of becoming a beloved public figure later in life. It's funny, heartfelt, occasionally mischievous, and exactly the kind of conversation you'd hope to overhear around the kitchen table on Mother's Day.