Category: Written By Mike

migrated from pd

We Need More Dam Workers

Shari

One of the fun but annoying things about being me is the inability to read a simple headline without becoming immediately transported to a specific moment on Dirty Jobs. Here for instance, is an article about the men who maintain the Hoover Dam – one of the greatest engineering and architectural wonders of the modern era. Apparently, a big chunk of these men are about to retire. And guess what? There’s no one to replace them! This is potentially unfortunate news for the many millions of Americans currently addicted to the electricity provided by The Hoover Dam. For that reason, I Read More

Want to Know what Led to Dirty Jobs & the Destruction of my Prior Career?

Shari

Dirty Jobs has been out of production for two years now, but not a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me, “How did such a disgusting show ever get on the air?” Until now, that’s a question I’ve traditionally deflected. Partly because the answer involves a sewer, a rat, countless condoms, several million roaches, many hundreds of tampons, vomit, urine, and a slow moving river of crap that very nearly swallowed me up. It’s also mildly redemptive, as such stories go. And completely true. If you’re interested in the truth about the precise circumstances that led to Dirty Jobs, Read More

OFF THE WALL: Regarding For Profit Technical Schools

Shari

Today’s comment off the wall comes from David Brugh. “Mike – what’s your take on the Feds calling technical schools “for-profit” and claiming these schools are predatory? I think – and my teenagers, for whom your mikeroweworks campaign has really resonated – think this is bullcrap.” Hi David – I think your kids have summed it up nicely! Many technical schools are in fact, “for profit.” But comparing a for-profit trade school to a for-profit, on-line university is a bit like confusing Robinson Caruso with Gilligan. True, they were both castaways, living on an island. But beyond that… At issue, Read More

OFF THE WALL: Ottawa Shop Class Crisis

Shari

  Today’s Off the Wall comes from Shelby, and a few hundred others who posted similar comments about a situation in Illinois. Shelby says: “Quite a story brewing in small town Ottawa, Illinois after the high school board voted for raises for the administration then cut the building trades class. Students, parents and tradesman protest. 2 days in a row now. Local business owners send food etc…” Here is the full article from the local Times’ website Quite a story indeed, Shelby. Thanks for posting. Couple thoughts. In general, I don’t support many protests. I don’t object to them – protests Read More

PEOPLE MAGAZINE AND THE PASSING OF MRS. P

Shari

Back in Community College, I had a journalism teacher named Paula Pumphrey. We called her Mrs. P, and she was fantastic. Once, I turned in a feature story that I felt was maybe the best thing I’d ever written. In particular, I thought my first sentence really sang… “On a misty morning in Southern Maryland, Mitchell Mycroft made a massive miscalculation – a mathematical mistake that be remembered as a marvelous misstep in modern manufacturing.” Mrs. P circled the entire sentence with a red marker and wrote in the margin, “ALLITERATION ALMOST ALWAYS ANNOYS!!!” She was right of course, and Read More

There’s No Such Thing as Free Press

Shari

I’m back. Three days of press, five hours of sleep, four bottles of wine, a speech, a job offer, 5,000 form letters, and a couple of good-natured death threats. All because of a commercial that I narrated about American manufacturing paid for by Walmart. Press tours are fun! Oscar Wilde said, “the only thing worse than people talking about you is people not talking about you.” I don’t know that I agree with Oscar, but one thing’s for sure – there’s no such thing as “free press.” I just Googled myself and the results are too rich to ignore. Let’s Read More

Take Heart!

Shari

After a lot of careful reflection regarding the 7 million page views and 20,000 comments over the last few days, I’ve decided to provide a link to something that has nothing to do with Walmart, capitalism, socialism, unions, right-to-work, income distribution, liberals, low prices, low wages, skilled labor, welfare, conservatives, rich people, poor people, public relations, off-shoring, on-shoring, minimum wage, living-wage, commercial television, China, or my personal views on the changing face of the modern-day proletariat. Here it is – Dance Like Nobody’s Watching: Airport With nearly 6 million views, the odds are very good that many of you have Read More

Mike Rowe’s Response to Facebook Comments on Walmart Commercial Voiceover

Shari

Here is post #1 of 3 on Facebook regarding the Facebook response to Mike’s Walmart voiceover commercial, February 9, 2014 Last night during the Olympics, a commercial started running called “I Am a Factory.” It’s part of a larger campaign sponsored by Walmart, called “Work is a Beautiful Thing.” The commercial features real people doing real work in real factories all across America. It’s not very glamorous, but it’s honest and authentic, and I was honored to narrate it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQcoDQq3-o Today, I see that some people are calling for my head. Other’s want me to run for office. And some have Read More

Clean-Up In Aisle Four!

Shari

This whole Walmart thing. Wow. Just…wow. If you’re just tuning in, here’s a brief timeline. – Last week, I did the voiceover for a commercial that announced Walmart’s commitment to purchase 250 billion dollars of American made goods and put them onto their shelves. – This Saturday, the commercial ran during The Olympics, and people started talking. Some of the talk wasn’t very pretty. – Sunday evening, I opened a bottle of Whistle Pig, and responded to a few of my detractors. I attempted to clarify a few things. By midnight, the Whistle Pig was badly depleted and I was Read More

I Like Cops

Shari

I like cops. Always have. And as far as I know, they like me. Couple years ago, I was invited to host the annual Medal of Valor ceremony in Los Angeles. There, 21 of LA’s finest were awarded the highest accommodation a police officer can receive. My job that day was to read the details of 21 meritorious acts into the public record, and recognize those that fell in the line of duty. Very humbling, and quite an honor. Of course, my encounters with law enforcement have varied over the years. Most recently, I found myself in a dumpster, attempting Read More

DUCK!!!

Shari

So I was walking around the streets of San Francisco this morning, enjoying a cup of organically roasted, free-trade coffee from an independent, minority-owned establishment run by some immigrants whose legal status is completely irrelevant, when an elderly woman asked me out of the blue how Phil Robertson was holding up with all the drama around Duck Dynasty. “Pretty good,” I said. “Looks like he’s got his job back.” “Oh, that’s nice,” she said. “Please tell him I said hello.” Like my grandmother, this woman was under the impression that everyone on her television lived together on a private island. Read More

Mike Rowe Responds to TedWeekends Comments on Huffington Post

Shari

Last weekend Huffington Post posted Mike Rowe’s Ted Talk in their Ted Weekends series online and hundreds of comments poured in on the site. Mike Rowe responded to some of the comments and a few appeared underneath the Ted Talk on the Huffington Post site. There were a few more comments and responses from Mike’s fans that we thought should be posted here on the Profoundly Disconnected site. Let us know what you think. Johnjlws • 5 388 Fans Have a friend who teaches industrial technology in a middle school (7-8 graders). His equipment is something out of the 70’s Read More

Deadliest Catch’s Johnathan Hillstrand offers his kids’s books & Mike gives the coat off his back for C.R.A.P.

Shari

Another big day in the wide, wide world of C.R.A.P. (Collectibles Rare And Precious). My good friend Johnathan Hillstrand of Deadliest Catch — captain of the F/V Time Bandit and lover of motorcycles, broncos and women (he’s been thrown from all three) — has written a book: “Crab boat captain turned children’s book author” Three books, in fact: The Adventures of Little Bird: Pirate Dreams, The Adventures of Joey and Andy Crab: Crab Day Afternoon and The Adventures of Joey, Andy and Little Bird: A Pirate’s Treasure. And not only did Johnathan write them, he illustrated them as well. Through Read More

The Diploma Dilemma

Shari

“So I’m in DC, preparing to discuss a litany of critical issues far beyond my pay grade with a bunch of experts much smarter and better-dressed than me. What could possibly go wrong?” How can we make the future brighter and improve well-being for everyone? On November 20th at 7:00pm est, the Charles Koch Institute hosting a conversation on the challenges students. Tweet your questions and thoughts on #HigherEd to the evening’s panelists using #HigherEd and we’ll start the Q&A off with some of your questions. Panelists · Mike Rowe, Creator and Executive Producer of “Dirty Jobs” and CEO of Read More

Bill Lamb of WDRB in Kentucky likes Mike’s promotion of Work without Politics

Shari

Bill Lamb of WDRB in Kentucky likes Mike’s promotion of work without politics. I always used to think that a photo of me, positioned over the left shoulder of a newscaster wearing a suit and tie, would be a harbinger of certain doom. Happily, I was mistaken. Say hello to my new pal, Bill Lamb, and check out the finest commentary ever recorded in the long history of local journalism. Thanks, Bill – I owe you one. WDRB 41 Louisville News