An Army of Normal Folks - Mike Rowe: Something To Stand For

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

At a time when only 38% of Americans are extremely proud of being American, Mike Rowe tells us about the patriotic tour de force that is his new film "Something To Stand For", which is in theaters everywhere. Coach Bill also surprises Mike with the impact that he's had on one of our Army members.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All right, well, I am time stamping this. This is going to go out Friday. So when I say it's so cool, the movie released yesterday, just roll with me on it. I don't normally time stamp, but because we're going Friday and you release Thursday, I will say that. And then let's have a half hour fun. We want to. You fully embrace the podcast nomenclature. Now you're a seasoned pro.

You're just time stamping things and looking forward like a producer. I freaking love it. Oh, it's disgusting. Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney. We got Shop Talk number 16 coming your way and it is gonna be a fun one because we're gonna talk about going to the movies with Mike Rowe.

And really the crux of it's gonna be patriotism with Mike Rowe. Something that I think is obviously topical with July 4th coming up, but also topical with all of the social and cultural things that seem to be picking at us these days. So shop talk number 15 with Mike Rowe coming your way, patriotism right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. How'd that sound Mike?

I mean, I, modesty aside, I couldn't have done it better. I can't. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all new podcast, There and Gone. It's a real life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck and vanished. Nobody hears anything. Nobody sees anything. Did they run away?

Was it an accident or were they murdered? A truck and two people just don't disappear. The FBI called it murder for hire. It was definitely murder for hire for Danielle, not for Richard. He's your son. And in your eyes, he's innocent. But in my eyes, he's just some guy my sister was with.

In this series, I dig into my own investigation to find answers for the families and get justice for Richard and Danielle. All that they know. and get justice for Richard and Danielle. Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do, do, do, do, do, do. We all know what that music means.

Is somebody getting coronated? No, it's time for the Olympics in Paris. The opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Games is coming on July 26th. Who are these athletes? When are the games they're playing? You may be looking for the sports experts to answer those questions, but we're not that. Well, what are we? We're two guys. I'm Matt Rogers. And I'm Bowen Yang.

And we're doing an Olympics podcast? Uh, yeah. We're hosting the Two Guys Five Rings podcast. You get the two guys, us, to start every podcast, then the five rings come after. Watch every moment of the 2024 Paris Olympics beginning July 26th on NBC and Peacock. And for the first time, you can stream the 2024 Paris games on the iHeartRadio app. And listen to Two Guys, Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast

that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten. This month, we're bringing you the stories of athletes. There's the Italian race car driver who courted danger and became the first woman to compete in Formula One. The sprinter who set a world record and protested racism and discrimination in the US and around the world in the 1960s. The diver who was barred from swimming clubs due to her race and went on to become

the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold twice. The mountaineer known in the Chinese press as the tallest woman in the world. And the ancient Greek charioteer who exploited a loophole to become the first ever woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Listen to Wamanica on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. Stacey thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. They led me into the house and I mean it was like a movie.

He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him. Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. You not just say I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill him. He to me is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Late on the evening of March 8th, 1971, a group of anti-war activists did something

insane. Holy s***, we are really here. This is really happening. They weren't professional criminals. They were ordinary citizens, but they needed to know the truth about the FBI. Burglars forged blackmail letters and threats of violence were used to try to stop anti-war marches Even if that meant risking everything I just felt like I was living in the heart of the dragon And it was just my job to stop the fire

I'm Ed Helms host of snafu season 2 Medburg the story of a daring heist that exposed J. Edgar Hoover's secret FBI. If it meant some risks that were involved, well, that's what citizens sometimes have to do. Listen to season two of Snafu starting Wednesday, July 10th on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay. Ready? Three, two, one. Mike Rowe. What's up, buddy? I am sitting here watching the wheels go round and round. That's the time of my life.

That's awesome. I still have not been in the Bay Area since we last spoke, but I absolutely promise you that I will be. I will be. I will be. I will be. I will be. I will be. I will be. That's awesome. I still have not been in the Bay Area since we last spoke, but I absolutely plan on reaching out to you when I do because I expect some singing whiskey.

It would be a crime against God and man for you and I not to reconnoiter somewhere in this place, Sodom or Gomorrah or whatever you want to call it, and just have a civilized snort of something with my grandfather's name on it. So you let me know when you're close and I'll arrange the rest. Toast your grandfather under your grandfather's name until we can no longer see straight. Sounds great to me. It's important to have goals, coach. It is important to have gold. Mike, yesterday, released at a theater near you, is a project and thank you for sending

me the early screener. I watched it. First of all, I'm a massive old school Paul Harvey, the rest of the story guy. And so getting your approach and just watching the first, which no spoilers in here, but just watching the first of the many vignettes that make up this movie, I was guessing, I was intrigued. And then on the reveal, I was, I just chuckled to myself and I said, wow, that's really awesome. So we'll get to that, but I want to read something you wrote. There are forces at play, powerful forces that believe the only way to effectively promote the release of a new movie in 2024 is to go on every podcast, every radio program and every TV show in America and talk about the film

until you're a hollowed out shell, which is pretty much what I've done for the last week. I can't help but wonder though if a super simple video shot in my hotel room and shared on this page might accomplish the goal in a more, oh boy, efficacious fashion. Efficacious. Efficacious fashion. In other words, please save me from another week of traditional press by helping me get America to visit somethingtostandfor.movie where they can watch the trailer and reserve a ticket for what my mother is calling the feel-good hit of the summer. Clearly, Mike. Mike, what are you doing with me right now? Are you willfully hollowing out your soul? No, no, the soul is long since departed. There's nothing

nothing left but an empty husk. Um, you know, I mean, my mom said something to me once a few years ago when she became a bestselling author for the first time at 80 years of age, she said, Michael, isn't it ironic that when you finally get a chance to get your book published and you finally get a chance to go out and tell the world about it. You're so sick of living with the thing that you can barely confront the image of your own face or the site of your own name without throwing up a little in your mouth. And I said, yeah, mom, welcome to showbiz.

Welcome to my life ever since dirty jobs or really doing the news in the Bay area. So yeah, I know I go back. or really doing the news in the Bay Area. So yeah, I know I go back. Mike, tell us about something to stand for. Well, my mom wasn't wrong. It is the feel good hit of the summer. If you're looking for something to feel good about, and I think to your earlier point,

that's what's going on in our country. We're not sure what to feel good about. We're not sure what to celebrate. We're not sure what to feel guilty for. We're not sure what to apologize for. We don't know what to stand for or kneel for. So we're confused about our past because we're uncertain about our future and we're a little disappointed with our present.

And so the result of all that, in my view, is just a conflation of sorts between patriotism and politics. And what that's done is pull us in separate directions. And look, there are plenty of good reasons to disagree on any number of issues with all sorts of good people. But it makes no sense for us to look at our country and acknowledge that it was founded by imperfect people and acknowledge that we're still very much

a work in progress, but not take the time to be proud of the progress we've made and be grateful for the sacrifices so many people have made and celebrate. There's still a lot to celebrate. So the movie is an attempt to do that with nine short mysteries, history lessons of a sort, where you can learn something you didn't know about somebody you do. And that was the Paul Harvey magic. That was the thing we hoped to capture, both in my podcast and in the movie. And that's why I made it. In 1998

Gallup did a patriotism poll and I think 71-70% of Americans described themselves as extremely patriotic. Last year they did the same poll and was down to 38% Mike. Yeah. How's that striking? Well, first of all, that's all Americans. If you ask the same question of Americans under 30, you'll get a percentage closer to 18 percent. That scares the hell out of me. It worries me. But again, I'm not 100% sure people quite understand the nuance of that question. I think a lot of people right now are so frustrated with our elected officials. We're so frustrated with policies that seem to apply to one group, but not another. We see the hypocrisy in Congress. We see just the profligate kind of spending. And we're so disenchanted with the current state of things that we don't feel good about our country.

That's very different than not feeling good about the current class of elected officials. We're not feeling good about the current state of society vis-a-vis any one of a dozen acronyms right now. Maybe it's CRT or DEI or ESG. You know there's plenty to look at and go, God what the hell are we what are we thinking? But you can still take great comfort in going back to the basics and finding individuals, you know, people of, well, an army of normal people. They were always there, right? It just feels sometimes right now that that normalcy is on the ropes in much the same way patriotism is on the ropes in much the same way gratitude is on the ropes.

I know as a coach you've talked about work ethic a lot, but you know, if you look at it through the lens of what is a choice, what choices can we make about the people we are? We can't choose our hair color. Well, you can alter it, I suppose, but eye color, skin color, blood type, star sign. There's a long list of stuff that we can't control, but we can control when we get up and when we go to bed and how hard we work and how kind how decent how grateful

All of those virtues curiosity. How curious do you want to be about your past, you know? those things are On us. They've always been on us and the pushback today and the thing that worries me And I bet it worries you too Is that the mere fact of bringing it up the mere fact of looking somebody in the face and saying how come you made the choices that you did? What will come back with top spin is how dare you? How dare you talk to me about my choices. I'm a product of my circumstances, not my choices. And so all of that to me is in the current uh, bullion base of conversation and this movie touches on it.

It does. Um, and again, I just, I'm not going to give any of it away. I want every single person in this country to watch it. If for any other reason, an accurate history lesson on nine pieces of stuff we've heard a little bit about, but really don't know deeply and quote the rest of the story. I mean, I was glued to it. I really was. I'm a history buff anyway, but I loved it. And your interaction throughout it was phenomenal. Thanks, Bill.

One place in particular when you knelt next to a certain gentleman, I got a lump in my throat. I wanted to be you in that moment, just look that man in the eyes and say thank you. So given that, with a little bit of what I can share without spoiling the thing, what does success look like in this project to you? Three months from now, four months from now, you know, I don't want to use the word takeaway. I think that's overused. I just want to know what Mike says. This project was a success for me. What does that look like?

Wow. Well, look, Bill, I, I think I asked you that question once when you were on my podcast, when you were no copycat and no, no, no, this is well, I'm just saying, come up with your own stuff, Mike. Well, I mean, how does a good coach define a successful season? Is it a season where they win? Is it a season where they go undefeated? Or is it a season where the team

undergoes some kind of transformation that makes all concerned that. That one. Exactly. So the hell of it is, as somebody in my industry, I get complete control over everything I do right up until the point where it hits the printed page or goes up on the big screen or the little screen, then it's out of my hands. And so my honest answer to your question is the first thing is I hope people sit there and go on the trip

with me. I hope they hop in that old Bronco with me and go to DC and see the things I see as I see it as as my shotgun, as my ride along. Because that is a part of entertaining and the first duty of care anybody has with their name and the title of a hit show, or a movie, or a book, or a sports franchise, right? It's to engage. It's to engage, and in my case, to entertain.

So that's really what I hope for most. But three months down the line, if people are still reflecting on some of these stories and looking at the headlines and trying to make some sense out of the present through the lens of the past, then I would hope a mother or a dad or a son or a daughter could look to the rest of the family and say, this is what Mike was talking about in that movie.

This is one of those moments where it's OK that we're not a perfect country. It's OK that we all want to work to make it better, but it's also OK that we look back and celebrate people like Francis Scott Key and Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson and some people maybe you've never heard of before who it's easier Bill it's easier to judge than it is to think and that's why I think at the moment we're so twisted up in knots because we've all gone full hog into the business of judging we've all gone full hog into the business of judging. We've all got our little individual gavels. We've got our deeply held opinions.

And now with our smartphones and our internet connections, we have access to an unlimited number of websites populated by an unspeakable number of self-proclaimed experts standing by to tell us why we're right. And everybody else managed to get their head up there. We'll be right back. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all new podcast There and Gone. It's a real life story of two people

who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck and vanished. Nobody hears anything. Nobody sees anything. Did they run away? Was it an accident? Or were they murdered? A truck and two people just don't disappear. The FBI called it murder for hire. It was definitely murder for hire for Danielle, not for Richard. He's your son. And in your eyes, he's innocent. But in my eyes, he's just some guy my sister was with.

In this series, I dig into my own investigation to find answers for the families and get justice for Richard and Danielle. Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We all know what that music means. Is somebody getting coronated? No, it's time for the Olympics in Paris. The opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Games is coming on July 26th.

Who are these athletes? When are the games they're playing? You may be looking for the sports experts to answer those questions, but we're not that. Well, what are we? We're two guys. I'm Matt Rogers. And I'm Bowen Yang.

And we're doing an Olympics podcast? Uh, yeah. What are we? We're Two Guys. I'm Matt Rogers. And I'm Bowen Yang. And we're doing an Olympics podcast? Uh, yeah. We're hosting the Two Guys Five Rings podcast. You get the two guys, us, to start every podcast, then the five rings come after. Watch every moment of the 2024 Paris Olympics beginning July 26th on NBC and Peacock.

And for the first time, you can stream the 2024 Paris Games on the iHeartRadio app. And listen to Two Guys, Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten.

This month, we're bringing you the stories of athletes. There's the Italian race car driver who courted danger and became the first woman to compete in Formula One. The sprinter who set a world record and protested racism and discrimination in the U.S. and around the world in the 1960s. The diver, who was barred from swimming clubs due to her race and went on to become the first Asian-American woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold twice.

The mountaineer, known in the Chinese press as the tallest woman in the world. And the ancient Greek charioteer, who exploited a loophole to become the first-ever woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Listen to Wamanica on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all-new story of betrayal. Stacy thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man. It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. It led me into the house and I mean it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table.

The cops were guarding him. Stacey learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. You not just say, I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios on how to kill him. He, to me, is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer.

Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Late on the evening of March 8th, 1971, a group of anti-war activists did something insane. Holy s***, we are really here. This is really happening. They weren't professional criminals. They were ordinary citizens. But they needed to know the truth about the FBI. Burglaries, forged blackmail letters, and threats of violence were used

to try to stop anti-war marches. Even if that meant risking everything. I just felt like I was living in the heart of the dragon and it was just my job to stop the fire. I'm Ed Helms, host of Snafu, season two Medburg, the story of a daring heist that exposed J. Edgar Hoover's secret FBI. If it meant some risks that were involved,

well, that's what citizens sometimes have to do. Listen to season two of snafu starting Wednesday, July 10th on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. So much of that thought comes from oftentimes irrational and many times inaccurate preconceived notion, which doesn't allow you to quote, think, because you're already so shaded before you have the opportunity to just listen and think. And I, I take what you said as a really wise commentary on where we are, because we've got to drop those preconceived notions and listen and think and consider and drop our ego at the door.

And then if you back that up with the history and the patriotism and, and making that distinction between what our fundamentals and our tenets are as you so beautifully lay out versus the issues we have culturally right now. There is a distinction in that and the issues we have right now should not have anything to do with the pride we have and the Republic we built. Amen. That's it. We've lost our nuance. We've lost our ability to hold two seemingly

contradicting thoughts in our head at the same time. But we have to be able to do that, you know? And we mustn't look back with all of the certainty we have that comes with living in 2024, with all of the enlightenment, with all of the awakening that we have, to look back 250 years and judge those people by today's standards. Well, what do we think is going to happen 250 years from now? When our great-great-great-great- grandkids are looking back at Bill Courtney and Mike Roe going What the hell were they thinking those crazy meat eaters? They were eating meat, right?

They were burning burning gasoline and eating meat what is wrong with these people burning gasoline and eating meat. What is wrong with these people? So we're on a track right now where our descendants are going to be armed with an even larger gavel and they'll be passing judgment so hard. They'll be pulling down all the statues. They'll be, unless we step back for a minute and say, listen, this is a wheel. History is a wheel. And it always feels like it's so brand new.

It always feels like here we are, the most evolved ever, the height of the species. And I'll tell you something, man, if you really look back and start listening to or reading the texts of people who spoke to the public 200, 250 years ago and compare it with what we're about to see on the debate stage. When you look at what passes for public discourse today with the rule of yesterday. When you look at the letters that soldiers sent home in the Revolutionary War, in the Civil War,

just the beauty of the prose, just the use of the language, you know, it was so wildly different than too long didn't read, hashtag, ampersand, some alphabet soup acronym. It's like, what are we doing? So there's, there are a thousand things to learn and a thousand ways to benefit. I mean, I'm all for looking forward,

but I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know what AI is gonna do, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to spend the rest of my week freaking out about it. I would rather look back. What can I learn from the Luddite rebellion? What can I learn from the way technology impacted our forefathers? How did they adjust? There's always a lesson in the past and there's always hope too.

So recently on an army of normal folks, I interviewed Rhonda Paulson about Isaiah 117 houses that give kids going into foster care a home to stay in while they wait for placement. care, a home to stay in while they wait for placement, you know, otherwise sleeping on a DMV style government floor. And she talked about how our state governor, Bill Lee, Tennessee state governor helped them to grow. And then this other guy named Mike Rowe, she dropped in on me. And I want to play this short clip of it for you and get your reaction because I think it's funny. I think it's impactful. And I also think it speaks to what you're doing now.

Sure. Here's the clip. And then your buddy, Mike Rowe shows up. Of course Mike showed up. And our episode of Returning the Favor, Oh, go ahead. Returning the Favor is a Facebook show that Mike Roe did, basically like our show telling stories of amazing, normal people doing incredible things and he called it Returning the Favor. So he showed up. He showed up with his cameras. With his cameras. We were told a small documentary company was coming. That is not, nothing micro does is small. It was a fake website, fake names, fake emails. They

were fake, lying to you. Yeah, I got it. Because Mike's show wanted to be a spry street. So when we show up at the Isaiah house that morning, I think a small documentary company is coming. Everybody in the house knows who's actually coming but me. I don't know. And so this is the speech I gave to my people. I was like, listen, y'all know I don't do details. Some small documentary company is coming.

I don't know. Here's what you need to know. Number one, don't say one negative word about the Department of Children's Services. And number two, nobody take your shirt off because it ain't that kind of video. That was not my problem. That was my problem. That's all I knew. Oh, that's funny. And then Micro walked in. So our episode aired on March 9th of 2020. Well, this is crazy. I love sharing God moments with you. We were supposed to air March 16th.

We had a whole social media plan, watch parties, watch, we have this whole plan. Sarah, his producer calls me on Sunday the seventh and said, or Sunday the eighth and says we're moving you to tomorrow night. Like, oh, okay. Okay. So I call our social media person. She's like, I'm on it. So we watch it on March 9th, March 13th,

the world shuts down. COVID. 2 million people watched it on March 9th. Do you know how many people watched it? March 16th, 10,000. Wow. It was like we just got picked up and dropped on March 9th. 2 million people watched it. Our phone blew up. Like we finally on day three got a map of the United States and just started coloring in 41 states and four countries

have reached out wanting an Isaiah 117 house. Thanks to your buddy Mike as Jesus and Mike are the reason. Bill Lee. Oh, Jesus, Mike and Bill Lee. Yeah. Oh, Trinity. You know what I'm saying? The Trinity of bloody do-gooders. Billy, micro and Jesus. Yes. So we in 2018,

we had one employee, me and one home. As of today, we have 140 employees, over 6,000 trained volunteers, 54 total locations in 12 states, 22 open homes, and we'll have 30 by the end of the year. Mike, that's a pretty steep company there with the governor of Tennessee and Jesus Christ himself, my friend. Yeah, that's pretty tall cotton, as my granddad used to say. Wow. So thank you for playing that. I can't tell you what it means to me. I remember that day well. I had given the last major public speech at a major event on March 9th in Las Vegas before the whole world came closing down on us. I remember watching that episode and hoping that everything Rhonda just said

happened might. It's like you said before, I don't know what I want people to take from the movie because I have no control over it. I did it. I put it out there and you hope for the best. But look, you and I have been singing pretty loud out of the same hymn book for a long time. The most interesting people in the world are people you haven't met, probably in towns you can't find on a map, doing things in their zip code that matter and if you can take some sort of accelerant and

Put it on that and make it bigger Then that's it. That's a great Undertaking that's a that's a Well, it's a purpose anyway, and that's my purpose Rhonda. She actually walks the real walk She's in there every day taking kids, literally plucking kids from some kind of vestibule between purgatory and hell and pulling them into a better world. And so our thought was, look, if I can shine a light on that and tell her story, and that's

of course exactly what you're doing, then maybe normal folks can start to connect the dots. Zip codes get a little better, states get a little better, the country gets a little better, a little less divided, and so forth. So yeah, thanks. We'll be right back. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all-new podcast, There and Gone. It's a real-life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck, and vanished. Nobody hears anything. Nobody sees anything.

Did they run away? Was it an accident or were they murdered? A truck and two people just don't disappear. The FBI called it murder for hire. It was definitely murder for hire for Danielle, not for Richard. He's your son, and in your eyes he's innocent, but in my eyes he's just some guy my sister was with. In this series, I dig into my own investigation And in your eyes, he's innocent. But in my eyes, he's just some guy my sister was with.

In this series, I dig into my own investigation to find answers for the families and get justice for Richard and Danielle. Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you podcast your podcasts. Do we all music means is somebody g No, it's time for the Oli

The opening ceremony for is coming on July 26th. Who are these athletes? When are the games they're playing? We may be looking for the sports experts to answer those questions, but we're not that. Well, what are we? We're Two Guys. I'm Matt Rogers. And I'm Bowen Yang. And we're doing an Olympics podcast? Yeah.

We're hosting the Two Guys, Five Rings podcast. You get the two guys, us, to start every podcast, then the five rings come after. Watch every moment of the 2024 Paris Olympics beginning July 26th on NBC and Peacock. And for the first time, you can stream the 2024 Paris Games on the iHeartRadio app. And listen to Two Guys, Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, from Wonder Media Network,

I'm Jenny Kaplan, host of Womanica, a daily podcast that introduces you to the fascinating lives of women history has forgotten. This month, we're bringing you the stories of athletes. There's the Italian race car driver who courted danger and became the first woman to compete in Formula One. The sprinter who set a world record and protested racism and discrimination in the U.S. and around the world in the 1960s.

The diver who was barred from swimming clubs due to her race and went on to become the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold twice. The mountaineer known in the Chinese press as the tallest woman in the world. And the ancient Greek charioteer who exploited a loophole to become the first ever woman to compete at the Olympic Games.

Listen to Wamanica on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last season, millions tuned into the Betrayal podcast to hear a shocking story of deception. I'm Andrea Gunning, and now we're sharing an all new story of Betrayal. Stacey thought she had the perfect husband. Doctor, father, family man.

It was the perfect cover for Justin Rutherford to hide behind. They led me into the house and I mean it was like a movie. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were guarding him. Stacy learned how far her husband would go to save himself. I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed. He did not just say I wish he was dead. He actually gave details and explained different scenarios

on how to kill him. He to me is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. Listen to Betrayal on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Late on the evening of March 8th, 1971, a group of anti-war activists did something insane. Holy s***, we are really here. This is really happening.

They weren't professional criminals. They were ordinary citizens, but they needed to know the truth about the FBI. Burglaries, forged blackmail letters, and threats of violence were used to try to stop anti-war marches. Even if that meant risking everything. I just felt like I was living in the heart of the dragon,

and it was just my job to stop the fire. I'm Ed Helms, host of Snafu, season two, Medburg, the story of a daring heist that exposed J. Edgar Hoover's secret FBI. If it meant some risks that were involved, well, that's what citizens sometimes have to do. Listen to season two of Snafu starting Wednesday, July 10 on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get

your podcasts. When you listen to Rhonda, and all of these other people, and you look at the body of work that is micro, to me, something to stand for is just an extension of dirty jobs. It's just an extension of normal people doing extraordinary things and trying to get everybody to remember we have a fundamental and a basis in the United States, in our country, of really good common folks doing uncommon, extraordinary things.

And something to stand for, I think, is a historical historical from the early days all the way through today montage from a patriotic viewpoint of Rhonda Paulson's that ended up being names you do know. And it just seems to be an extension of your brand. And dude, you know, I don't know what's next, but my goodness. Well, next, did you make me blush?

You got to stop this. Legacy Mike. I mean, really honestly, and I'm not, I'm not here just to kiss your butt and all that. I mean, you know, but what a legacy Mike. I mean, honestly, I mean, I'm at the risk of condescension. I'm so proud for you. Hmm. I thank you.

There's nothing to say to all that except thanks. It means the world coming from a guy like you who put his money where his mouth was. And what you did, what you did in that documentary and for your team is is very similar. Look, cameras, cameras are like guns. They're just tools. They're dumb things. They don't know where you point them. They don't know what your intent is.

And both are available to virtually everyone in the country. So I I had a pretty good run up until I was 42. I freelanced a lot in this industry I worked on some fun projects met some great people. I saw the world no complaints, but it wasn't until my mom Told me that my grandfather who was 90 at the time wouldn't be around forever and Suggested that I you, do something on TV that looked like work so he could see something he recognized before he died

that he could go, yeah, that's my grandson, you know, that's a hell of a thing to hear. And I took it to heart. And so for me, you know, Rhonda's in my life because of that phone call. Dirty Jobs went into production because of that call. Somebody's got to do it, followed suit. Returning the favor, followed suit. The way I heard it, followed suit. And all of it, to your point, I've been doing the same damn thing for 25 years. I just changed the title every so often. But all I'm doing in this movie is what I did in episode one of Dirty Jobs. I'm tapping the country on the shoulder and saying, hey, not for nothing, but what about him?

What about her? Get a load of that. Somewhere in Tennessee, a woman named Rhonda is on a mission and it's working. And if you don't feel better about seeing that and meeting a woman who stands for something tangible, something she can articulate and point to with pride, you know, you have to be able to see that in order to find it in yourself and then you have to be willing to look back and find it in our country. And if you do that, you will take a moment on Independence Day to feel damn good about how far we've come and what we can still be.

Something to stand for, released yesterday everybody. I also love the fact that Mike believes movies were intended to be seen in a movie theater with popcorn and damn it, that's where this movie is gonna be seen. So in the same vein of a little bit of historical impact in your life, take the time, get a bucket of popcorn, and go enjoy what Mike has prepared for all of us as a historical lesson but also maybe even more an important reminder of who we are, where we came from, and why there's absolutely every reason to have patriotism despite not because of who we are, but despite our differences. And if we can base all of ourselves

on that, maybe we can start having more civil, meaningful, non-threatening conversations about the stuff that matters. And instead of dividing us, maybe we can celebrate some of that stuff. Something to stand for. Mike, one last thought before we sign off. I can't help the irony that the movie is about historical stuff and our patriotism. And as you said, tapping the

public on the shoulder and saying, hey, don't forget with this in the same, the name something to stand for when so many people are taking a knee. And metaphorically, I just love to know if there was something there when you were thinking about the title of this movie. Not metaphorically, literally. I wrote the final story in the film the week after the Colin Kaepernick controversy really grabbed hold.

And I. Wow. I did not know that. I was just I was it was struck by that irony and wondered. Well, I mean, look, sometimes life just puts it right in front of you. I wasn't trying to create something new. I was trying to make sense. I wasn't trying to make sense of Colin's decision. I understood where he was coming from. As do I. Get that. I get that.

I get that. I get that. I get that. I wasn't trying to make sense of Colin's decision. I understood where he was coming from. As do I. As do I. I get it. Completely. Totally get it. What I didn't get was the confusion

and the outrage that surrounded the conversation and how the sides were so quickly drawn up. And what I wanted to do was grab a bullhorn and say, hey, hey, look, before we talk about your rights and before we talk about how kneeling in front of that flag might make people feel who had lost loved ones defending that flag, who are right there with you, who want to root for you, who are there to see you play. Before we get to any of that, can we just maybe remind the country that the national anthem is an original protest song? It is the protest song. It is us giving the finger to Great Britain. And before that, it was a drinking song. It was a drinking song called...

You've popped the hell out of us, but look, our flag's still up there, so kiss our ass. That's it. That's it. And that, I mean, if you think about the people who were present in 1812 at the bombardment of Fort McHenry, when that thing was written, if you think about the fact that the man who wrote it did so right where the Francis Scott Key Bridge is halfway standing today, the rest of it's at the bottom of the river. That's a metaphor, my friend. That's a metaphor for a country that's always under construction and that is right now disconnected. When you think about the runaway slave who died, fighting the British, who by the way would have given him his freedom, but he didn't want a king any more than he wanted a master. When you think about that guy and the teenagers who killed the general, General Ross who wound up marinating in a bottle of rum. When you think about all the insane things that had to happen as the

bombs were bursting in air, right? As Key looked at those ramparts and wrote those words, if you had a cursory understanding of what it was like to endure a 24-hour shelling, you wouldn't be on your knees. You'd be on your feet, you'd be applauding, and you'd be high-fiving people on the other side of the aisle because you'd be united in that common understanding. To answer your earlier question, yeah, three months from now I hope people are talking about that. From Mike's mouth to your ears, that was a preface of just a piece of what you will see when you watch something to

stand for. It will grip you, it will make you think and hopefully it will be something that you're willing to talk around the water cooler about to the person who maybe doesn't necessarily look like you, vote like you, love like you or worship like you. Just like an army of normal folks. It's a proper foundation and a basis for us to jump around the campfire together on. Mike, thank you as always for joining. I'm not kidding about the singing whiskey. And when I get up that era, I'm going to find you and we can we can solve the world's problems together. Well throw a few back we'll sing the national anthem on the Golden Gate

Bridge and just see what happens next. I love it I'll try to stay completely robed. And by the way just so you know I'm gonna call Rhonda this afternoon and invite her back on the podcast. I had no idea the Isaiah house had blown up to that degree. That makes my day. It's unbelievable. And she counts being on your show and the timing of it and what you did for her as important as what the governor

of the state of Tennessee did to support her and the divine intervention in her life through her faith as the three most important things that's happened for her, Mike. So you had an impact, my friend. As do you. Really appreciate it, Bill. Everybody that's Shop Talk Number 15, Mike Rowe with unbelievable amounts of wisdom and me not beating the drum on this thing so Mike gets to make money on his movie but because I really want you all to listen and watch it came out yesterday the movie something to stand for it's micro at his best. Y'all rate us review us hang out with us listen to to us. Shop Talk Number 15, Micro and Patriotism. Thanks to

our producer, Ironlight Labs. I'm Bill Courtney. We'll see you next week. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the all new podcast, There and Gone. It's a real life story of two people who left a crowded Philadelphia bar, walked to their truck and vanished. A truck and two people just don't disappear. The FBI called it murder for hire. But which victim was the intended target and why? Listen to There and Gone South Street on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever

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