The Eric Metaxas Show - Mike Rowe

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

Mike Rowe shares his new movie :Something to Stand For" Get tickets at: https://somethingtostandfor.movie/

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mattaxas show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's legacy p.m. Investments.com. Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to listen to a man of grace, sophistication, integrity, and whimsy? Well, so are we. But until such a man shows up, please welcome Eric Mattaxas.

Hey there, folks. How are you doing? Today is June 26th. Chris, did you know that today's June 26th? I did. Did you know that tomorrow is my birthday? I did know that. I'm getting Carvel cookie pus ordered for you.

Today is... It's not a birthday without cookie pus. Carvel's ice cream. Who doesn't want a cookie pus? Everybody. Cookie pus? That was Tom Carvel. Tom Carvel was Greek.

His real name was Tom Carvelos. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. Carvelos, he was a Greek, and he created the empire. We call Carvelas. That explains the feta cheese all over the cake I got last time. Yeah, yeah. That was strange.

But cookie puss, people, most people listening, don't remember that. If you remember cookie puss. And then there was Fudgy the Whale. Fudgy the whale, yes. I probably would have slain my own sibling to get one of those cakes when I was young. Well, let me just tell people, don't send me any ice cream because I'm not going to be around. Honestly, tomorrow's my birthday, but more importantly, tomorrow night is the debate, with Trump and what's the other guy?

His name is Manequin. Oh, right, the mannequin. The waxworks dummy. No offense to the Democrats. But honestly, last night, ladies and gentlemen, at Socrates in the city, I interviewed R.FK. Jr. last night. Chris, you were there. I was there.

I saw you. Your wife was there. I was there. My wife looked. All the ladies and my wife included looked fantastic. I feel like they got extra dress. step for RFK Jr. He's a heartthrob.

He's the new teen. They're hoping that they could be his fourth wife. I think so. And, you know, they had the photo op with him. And I wasn't the only one there as a husband. I wasn't the only husband there that wasn't sure if we were going to get to be included in the photo. It was like one of those dynamics.

He does have really dreamy blue eyes and a very strong tan. And I was almost gay for him for a couple seconds, looking into those eyes. You know, you just get that feeling like I'm being drawn in. And then you realize, wait a second. I'm a married man. I'm straight. What am I thinking? You know, I was right. It's really, really made me uncomfortable, and I will never talk about that publicly. That's probably for the best. But I was right there with you. For me, it was about 30 seconds. It was such a cool, the whole thing was such a cool event. I wonder how many people, I don't have metrics.

I hate the word metrics. It's one of those cliche words. I don't have the numbers on who, how many people watched it live yesterday, the live stream. My monologue was kind of edgy. Oh, I thought it was fun. Some people thought it was too edgy. Well, it's funny. People at home will probably go, here comes Eric, Mr. Trump booster, and what's he going to say. And then surprisingly, you came out for Biden last night. I came out publicly, very strongly for Joe Biden. And, hey, listen, I make no apologies. I'm a Biden guy. It was very funny. It was very funny. I've always been. But the monologue, I spoke to my daughter, who's in Europe right now, and she was telling me that we are going to release. photos, I think today. Oh, great. Now, listen, folks, if you don't follow me on Instagram, uh, or if you're not following us on Facebook, you, you can't see these photos. Actually, even better if you are signed up for my newsletter this Friday.

Yeah. If you go to Eric Mataxis.com and sign up for the newsletter, we will send out tons of photos. Trust me, there was some cool stuff. There were some amazing people there. Dick Morris was there. Holy cow. There was all kinds of people. I was looking in the and it's getting freaked out because I couldn't focus. You know, I wanted to focus on the conversation. Yeah. But I kept noticing, oh, there's a friend.

There's another friend. There's a tons of people there. Obviously, RFK, he's kind of a middle of the road, Canada, where I don't know how anyone to describe him in third party. It brought out people I hadn't seen in a long time who kind of used to come a little more. Yeah. So, and then people I'd never seen before. And some ghosts in the back.

But there were a lot of people there. It was sold out. It was really kind of amazing. Well, it was amazing. The whole thing was amazing. It felt electric in a good way. And I have to say that we will be putting out some clips in the next couple of days. And the video should be out in a week.

And I promise you, ladies and gentlemen, you're going to want to check it out, some crazy stuff. And we'll probably run some excerpts at some point on the radio as well. But go to Socrates. But I want to say that at the end, I was really trying to convince him. I was basically saying, listen, you know, correct me from wrong, but you're probably not going to get into the White House. And if Trump gets in, would you be willing to use your talents to work in a Trump administration? We talked about that a little bit. He would be a tremendous asset to Trump.

Yeah. And so I hope that President Trump will be able to reach out to him and be successful. Yeah, he said that he would consider a proposal. So I thought that was positive. Yeah, it was basically positive. He said, you know, make his best pitch. Maybe I'll swing on it. Maybe I won't. It was positive.

But anyway, the whole thing was amazing. But if you're not following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or, as I say, the newsletter is the best of all. We're going to be posting all kinds of it. But there are going to be some interesting clips. I'm afraid what people think will think of my monologue. I could get canceled. No, it wasn't that edgy. I thought it was really funny.

It's interesting. You hear him tell stories of being there when his dad was shot. Oh, my gosh. And then at the, you know, in the White House. He was there, I mean, he was there, you know, for his uncle's funeral, right? The day of these, I mean, imagine being there with Jackie Kennedy and LBJ. Yeah. And you're 10 years old and you're standing there and you remember it.

I mean, to me, it reminded the only thing I could honestly think of to compare to you as it may sound weird was the movie and story of Forrest Gump. you know, this sort of unwitting person who's in all these incredible moments and has no idea until, or he never has really the idea of it, but like obviously him looking back. I mean, can you imagine his grandfather's Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Like, that's freaky. That's his grandfather. He remembers his grandfather. Okay, so before we forget today in hour one, we're talking to Mike Rowe. If you don't know who Mike Rowe is, Dirty Jobs, he's kind of a big deal. He has a show on TBN. He's a big deal.

Talking to him in hour one, talking in hour two to a man who, I have followed for 30 plus years, and he's a lot like John Zmirak, except like 20 years older. But Bill Donahue, he's a force to be reckoned with. He's a firebrand as well. But he sounds like a cross between John Zemirik and Archie Bunker. He's amazing. He's the head of the Catholic League. We got him an hour, too.

I want to say that. I also want to say, folks, if you want to do, if you want to give me a birthday present, sign up for Socrates Plus because it's great. There's so much cool stuff that we're putting on there. Socrates plus go to Socratesandcity.com. Also, there are tons of people that don't get the newsletter. And I feel like I'm doing you a favor when I tell you. If you sign up for the newsletter, you know, go to Ericmetaxis.com. You are going to get just tons of stuff.

It's going to help you. Can I mention one thing about the Socrates Plus. There's a great new video up there that I watched just a couple days ago that our friend, Seth Ward, shot of you, followed you around. and it's a day in the life of Eric Matasas. A day in the life of Verkan Taxis. It's really great. It's about 15 minutes, so if you ever wanted to know what it's like to follow you around, you know, you basically spend five minutes opening your mail. So that was a little weird.

But the rest of it's fantastic. Yeah, it's in the study. You had a bill from Verizon Wireless. I don't remember that. No, actually, I'm making that put up. We cut that out. The rest of it's good. No, we, yes, Seth Ward, who is a very close friend and a genius, he shot that.

And he really did manage to capture me in a way that's probably not so easy to do. He has that knack. He's the director of the Odysseus documentary. It's coming out in PBS with Morgan Freeman's production company that I've been involved in. We'll be talking about that when it comes out. But he's a very good friend. So So Socrates Plus. It gets a little awkward, though, too, when he caught you settling up with your bookie at the end of the day as well.

I know. That was embarrassing. I was like, get out of here. Before we go to our guests, I want to remind everybody to get ready. for a cinematic revolution. The Relentless Patriot is a film that is in theaters nationwide, brought to you by Global Ascension Studios. It's Hollywood's first ever conservative movie studio.

And the gripping documentary called The Relentless Patriot follows the remarkable journey of Scott Labato as he champions American values. We had him on this program. Scott Labedo. You can go watch it on Rumble. This is a stinking hero. And you've got to check out the Relentless Patriot. I also want to mention the Herzog Foundation.

Folks, I keep saying, people say, what can I do? Well, I keep telling you what you can do. You can do homeschooling. You can encourage other people to do homeschooling. If you want to know about homeschooling, you must visit herzogfoundation.com. HerzogFoundation.com. They also are interested in developing quality, Christ-centered K-312 education. We have to do this.

We have a lot of work to do. We have to not just get Donald Trump elected. He can't solve the problem. He's not the Messiah like Obama was the Messiah. He's just a man, but he might make it possible for us to survive. But homeschooling, Herzog Foundation.com. That's something we need to do. We'll be back with Mike Rowe.

For 10 years, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. And when I say only, trust me, they're the only one. Glenn and the team have been great supporters of this show, which is why I am proud to partner with them. Patriot Mobile offers dependable nationwide coverage, giving you the ability. ability to access all three major networks, which means you get the same coverage you've been accustomed to without funding the left. When you switch to Patriot Mobile, you're sending the message that you support free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of life, Second Amendment, and our military, veterans, and first responder heroes. Their 100% U.S.-based customer service team

makes switching easy. Keep your number, keep your phone, or upgrade. Their team will help you find the best plan for your needs. Just go to patriotmobile.com slash mettaxus. Patriotmobile.com or call 972 Patriot. 972 Patriot. Get free activation when you use the offer code metaxus. Join me, make the switch today. That's patriotmobile.com slash metaxis. For 10 years, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. And when I say only, trust me, they're the only one.

Glenn and the team have been great supporters of this show, which is why I am proud to partner with them. Patriot Mobile offers dependable nationwide coverage, giving you the ability to access all three major networks, which means you get the same coverage you've been accustomed to without funding the left. When you switch to Patriot Mobile, you're sending the message that you support free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of life, Second Amendment, and our military, veterans, and first responder heroes. Their 100% U.S.-based customer service team makes switching easy. Keep your number, keep your phone, or upgrade.

Their team will help you find the best plan for your needs. Just go to Patriotmobile.com slash metaxis. This patriotmobile.com slash metaxus or call 972 Patriot. 972 Patriot. Get free activation when you use the offer code metaxus. Join me, make the switch today. That's patriotmobile.com slash metaxus. Mike Rowe.

Have you heard of him? Me neither. That's not true. Most people have heard of him so I can joke around. He's a writer, narrator, producer, recording artist, what? Emmy Award-winning TV host, New York Times bestselling author. Many of you know him from the iconic TV series, Dirty Job. But here's the good news.

He's my guest. Here he is. I didn't write that, by the way. You know what? Neither did I. So we're going to blame somebody. I mean, it's true. For making you look so good.

Every word of it is true. Yes. But I just want to go on the record as saying, I would never speak about myself in terms so glowing. See, that's where we differ. But I got to tell you, because I would certainly speak about myself and about you in glowing terms. We're here to talk about a movie. Yeah.

It's coming out on my birthday. I just wanted to say, happy birthday, Eric. Coincidence? I don't know. June 27th, it's a film called Something to Stand for, America's favorite storyteller. That's you, shares untold stories of American heroes. Now, I always ask the most basic question first. How did you, Mike Rowe, given who you are, come to want to make this movie? What is the idea behind them?

And maybe describe the movie before you answer that question. Well, I'll do all of that. And I'll start by saying that once again, the Forest Gumpian trip through my resume is precisely that I never. There's no box to check, right? Got to make a movie. Got to write a movie. Got to get that done. I never cared about it at all.

I started writing short stories for a podcast called The Way I heard it about seven years ago. And those stories took the form of Paul Harvey's old radio show called The Rest of the Story. called the rest of the story. And in those short seven-minute biographical segments, you were essentially treated to a mystery where you would learn something you didn't know about somebody you'd do. And over the course of the narrative,

you had to try and figure out who Harvey was talking about. I thought that was brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, that I had no choice but to steal it. And so I started, I changed the time. Well, the only thing is that you have to be real clear, Paul Harvey, the legend, He stole it.

I mean, this is not, you know, it's basically right. And, you know, I reached out to his son, Paul Harvey Jr., after we started this, just to say, look, I'm doing this homage to your old man. I just want to make sure we're cool. I didn't hear anything back. And then, like, two months later, after the podcast is up and it's been downloaded a couple hundred million times, I get this registered letter from Paul Harvey Jr. And I'm like, oh, no, here it is. Injunction, cease and desist. It was the nicest note saying, my dad is watching you from heaven.

And both thumbs are up. And he wrote a check to my foundation to thank me for doing this. So I felt like I got a new level of permission to lean into this format. So I did. Those stories turned into 250 tales. Many of them wound up in a book. Your boss, or one of them anyway, Matt. Crouch, listened to some of these and said, this could be a TV show. And we started bringing these

things to life for TBN in a show called The Story Behind the Story. So now we're in season six of that thing. And the people over at Fathom, they do these Fathom events in theaters. They did one with Boccelli last Christmas. Andrea Bocchelli. Yes. Yes. Heck of a singer. Not one of the three tenors, but pretty good singer. He was one of the three tenors. Are you sure? Positive. I don't think so. He was the blind one, Eric. No, he was not. You're thinking of, okay, go ahead.

So what happens is... He's so great we can make fun of him. That's how great Andreabuchelli is. Thanks. Nice. Nice try. So you were... So, all right, so you had this idea. But go ahead. How does it become a film in theaters? Because these guys at the Fathom group reach out and say, oh my gosh, we love these recreations you've done for TBN. Yeah. If you were to pick a bunch of them, say, for like a Christmas special, would you want to do a movie?

And I said, no, I don't think so. But then I thought about it some more, and I thought, well, wait a minute. The recreations are pretty great. I mean, they're very cinematic. And I thought, what about Independence Day? What if we take the nine most patriotic stories in this collection and stitch them together with a field trip to do? to D.C., where I go back, the site of my first field trip as a kid, and go to the National Mall and visit the statuary and the monuments and the memorials that were built to honor the people

that this movie celebrates. What if we did that? And everybody very quickly said, yes, and so we did it. And what came out the other end, modesty aside, is quite good. And really, really, it's not a documentary, but neither is it a documentary. But neither is it a true. traditional narrative. 300 actors, all from Oklahoma. What? What? All the actors are from Oklahoma?

And how did that happen? Well, it happened because it's really expensive to shoot in L.A. and New York. And I didn't want to do a Hollywood production. You know, I... That's another reason I like Mike Rowe. Please continue. Well, look, it's a very personal...

It's a personal message. These are personal stories about personal heroes of mine. And so, you want to tell a message from the heart, you go to the heartland. And that's what I did, where it was not only cheaper to film, but the actors were so grateful and so enthused to be a part of this non-traditional thing. Everything about it fell into place in a great way, except for the parts in the film where I go to D.C. to stitch these things together. That's the only thing that didn't happen in Oklahoma. But in the end, it's a love letter to our country. It's

It's not a political film, but it is aggressively patriotic, and it's also a nod to a kind of storytelling that you're old enough to remember, but probably don't see a lot of today, whether it's Paul Harvey or Charles Carral or George Plimpton or Studs Terkel. George Plimpton, I didn't expect to hear that name today. I met George Plimpton many times. I used his name as a punchline in something I wrote for the New York Times magazine, but we'll talk about that another time.

Well, even though he's... George Plimpton. I know he's a man. of letters, right? Paris Review. Yeah. But the thing about George that I loved as a kid, you remember paper line. Yeah, right? He wouldn't

write about anything, really, until he had immersed himself in it. And I love that. Like, before we heard about... It's a little crazy. It's bananas. That's the genius is that it's nuts. It's bananas. But he understood the value of being a fish out of

water, and he understood the value of making the expert a person you've never heard of before. And that is what I stole for dirty jobs. The entirety of dirty jobs was based on me being a dilettant, an apprentice. You know, first day on the job. What job did you say an apprentice? An apprentice. So you get in there, you know nothing, and you say, show me, teach me.

Yeah. That's exactly what it is. And, you know, because it was on the Discovery Channel, and because that channel is dedicated to satisfying curiosity in whatever format suits the premise, it really worked. And so the viewer got a chance to learn without getting a lesson or a lecture or a sermon. And when you're talking about entertainment, really nobody wants any of those things. They want to be engaged in a story, first and foremost. If you can do that, then maybe you can make some love. larger points. And believe me, this film has some larger points. I would just prefer not to bludgeon you

with them right out of the gate. Oh, bludgeon me. Come on. All right. I can take it. All right. How about this? In 1998, according to every Gallup survey, 71% of Americans describe themselves as intensely or extremely patriotic. Today, that number is 39%. And for Americans under 30, it's more like 18%. So, so, so, Something has happened in our country with regard to the erosion and the degradation of patriotism. And it's not good. And the unintended consequences of that worry me. So the point of the movie was to make a non-political, but what do they call it, a full-throated defense of that which is patriotic. And that's why we did it on for Independence Day.

And that's why I'm here. So even though it comes out on June 27th, which may or may not be my birthday, it is obviously. aimed at Independence Day. And so before we go too far, how can people see this? This is a fathom event. It's going to be in theaters. It's a fathom event, which is just fancy talk for it'll be in about 1,000 theaters. The easiest way is to go to the site, which is something to stand for.

Dot movie. Type in your zip code, and you'll be alerted immediately as to the closest theaters to you. not to put the arm on your listeners, but I'd do it quickly because I know it's a limited run. It's all going to be out one week. Why not put the arm on my listeners? Because that's your job, Eric. Your listeners, your arm. I'm just here as an avatar.

I'm doing that. I'm doing that right now. Put in my arm. Do it. No, look, people ask me this all the time because we're in a meltdown in the culture, in the nation, and people say, what can I do? What can I do? And first of all, I'm not, I'm genuinely hopeful.

It's like we need to get in the game. and fight and speak the truth. And so when people say, what can I do? One of the things you could do, folks, you can see this film. How about that? Like, no kidding. It's pretty basic. You can take your kids.

This is basic stuff. But the point is, if we don't learn the truth about the nation, it's hard for us really to understand why we should care. By the way, I'm talking to Mike Rowe. We'll be right back. Do I have a great movie suggestion for you, full of bravery, patriotism and hope. It's the new Kevin Costner film, Horizon and American Saga, the epic tale of how the West was won. Horizon dives right into the heart of our nation when thousands of courageous

men and women sacrificed everything, crossing the country and covered wagons in pursuit of the American dream. It's a timeless film about freedom, family, and our quintessential pioneer spirit, starring Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, and an outstanding cast. It's the story of how America became the country we love. Don't miss Horizon and American Sondland. See Chapter 1 in theaters June 28th and Chapter 2 in theaters August 16th. Perfect for the 4th of July. Make it part of your celebration of our great nation. Horizon and American saga coming to theaters June 28th.

Join the Frontier Pass at Fandango.com to get your tickets again. Horizon and American Saga coming to theaters June 28th. Join the Frontier Pass at fandango.com to get your tickets. Hey, it's Mike Rowe with a new film in theaters starting June 27th. The film is called Something to Stand for, and it's a great way to celebrate the extraordinary Americans who made our nation the land of the free and the home of the brave. From our founding fathers to the soldiers and Marines who made their ideas a reality, these are the stories you didn't know about the Americans who risked everything on our behalf. It's only in theaters for limited time, so visit Something to Stand for. Dot Movie to get your tickets now. Welcome back. I'm talking to Mike Rowe. Mike, you've done a lot of stuff.

But not until now. Have you made a movie, movie, movie? It's called Something to Stand for. It's coming out, I believe, on my birthday. And you say that there are nine stories in this. That's because there are. I want to go. All right, good.

So I want to go. You got me on that one. I want to go through some of the names and some of the stories. Don't wreck it, though. To wet people's up. Well, that's up to you. That's up to you. Look, this is a nightmare for you.

In what sense? Because how do you promote a movie that has nine surprises throughout? Oh. Each one is a surprise. You mean even telling the identity of who we're talking about? Yeah, because look. This is like Paul Harvey. That's exactly what it is.

My favorite Paul Harvey punchline was when he came back and he says, and Geraldine was a chimpanzee. This is Paul Harvey, and that's the rest of the story. And I thought, what? Because he was describing this long story about how wonderful Geraldine is doing this, and she's braiding, you know, so-and-so's hair, and she's doing it, blah, blah, blah. And you're hearing this, one of the thing about this wonderful, wonderful, you thought it was a person, but the punchline was no.

She was. But it's in hard, the word chimpanzee becomes ominous. A chimpanzee. Only because. Paul Harvey. Good day? There you go. Yeah.

Chimpanzee. Okay, so there's no chimpanzees in something to stand for. No. I just want to be real clear. No. I'm not like giving anything away by saying that. Let me give you an example of how we might be able to tease a story without wrecking it. Okay.

Okay. One of the people featured in this film, everybody listening right now knows who this man is. 100%. It must be Pele, the soccer star. How did you guess? I don't know. In his youth, this man was challenged. to a duel. He had offended a very powerful person, and this powerful person demanded pistols at dawn.

Satisfaction. Well, this powerful person did not fully understand the rules of dueling back in the day afforded the challenger, the right to challenge, but the challengee, the right to set the terms. And so the challengee, who's the star of this story, of course, accepts the challenge, but not the terms, and says, never mind pistols at dawn, we shall settle this matter like men with broadsords in a pit. And so a pit is dug. About 12 feet deep, a line is drawn through the middle of it. A crowd assembles, and these two combatants come face to face in a pit,

armed with nothing but broadsords for the express purpose of hacking each other to bits, over a matter of honor. What happens next saves the country and brings you and I together today. Something tells me this happened in the mid-19th century. Something tells me that the initials of one of the combatants

is very similar to the abbreviation for, I don't know, Alabama. Could be. Or Mississippi. I'm not going to say. I wouldn't say. But my knowledge of history is so great that I know exactly who Mike Rowe is talking about. Well, that's because you're one of those Americans

who is connected to his past, who cares about the country, and who believes deep down, and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I will. In your heart of hearts, you know that our best hope for a better present and a sane future

is a keener understanding of our past and the people who built it. That's why we did the movie. Amen. Well, listen, honestly, in case anybody I mean I have written I wrote a whole book

about America touching on some of these stories called If You Can Keep It and it struck me in writing that book how vital it is absolutely vital that we communicate

these stories to every generation you cease to have America as she has existed unless you communicate these stories and these truths and I don't think I think that can be really said of any other country in the world.

There's something about, you know, we're an idea. We're based on some ideas. And if you communicate those ideas, most people will say, those are great ideas. That's right. But if you don't communicate them, I mean, what you just said, that was a chilling thing when we talked about the trend line from, was it, 1978 till? 98. Oh, you're kidding. In 26 years, in 26 years, patriotism has fallen from 71% to 39%.

that's not even a generation. It's like that. So your point, I think, is spot on, but the inverse is also true. When these ideas are attacked and challenged, it's incumbent on us to make a reasonable case for the proposition, right? And so, again, it's not a political film, but when I see people kneeling for this, when I see statues pulled down for that. When I see part of what happens in the film is I go to the National Mall and I talk to Park Rangers who start every day by getting up and scrubbing the filth off of Jefferson's Memorial or the Washington Monument,

the graffiti, the vandalism. And so, look, I'm all for debate. I'm all for disagreement. And to be honest, look, I didn't write this thing for. Republicans, conservatives, or Democrats or liberals. I wrote it for people who see themselves as Americans, first and foremost. But that's not to say that the anti-American sentiment doesn't exist. It's real.

It's not good. And this movie's not for them, but it does exist because of them. Okay, folks, something to stand for... What's the website? Something to stand for dot movie. Yes. Something to stand for dot movie. put in your zip code, something to stand for.

Dot movie. Put in your zip code. See the film and we'll be right back. Okay, I have never seen a discount this huge from Balance of Nature, and this discount is for a very limited time, so today is the day to order it. Look, if you've listened to me for any length of time, you've heard me rave about Balance of Nature's amazing fruits and veggie supplements.

You've heard their customers rave about how much they love Balance of Nature and how good it makes them feel if you've been on the fence about ordering, today is the day you jump the fence. because right now for a very limited time, Balance of Nature is taking 50% off your first set as a preferred customer during their summer savings promotion. But you've got to use my special code when ordering. Take their risk-free money-back challenge today.

Use discount code Eric to get 50% off your first order. Call 800-2468-751 or order online at balance of nature.com. That's discount code Eric to get 50% off. The summer savings promotion is an extraordinary offer. Get 50% off your first. said today using the code. Eric, you can go to balance of nature.com or call 800-2468-7-51. Check it out.

Hey, folks, you probably know Mike Rowe from the show Dirty Jobs, but I just want to say that my job today is particularly dirty because I got to talk about your film without getting to talk about who exactly is in the film. This is a conundrum. It's difficult. It's very difficult. But we can hint around. And, you know, we can bank on the fact that people aren't listening.

You know, a lot of people sort of tuned out. They're looking at their phone. So we can, we can say important stuff and they'll miss it. Sure. That's fine. That's fine. But look, I mean, you wouldn't promote the usual suspects by saying, and then you get to the end, it's Kaiser-Sosci. Or what the Bruce Willis thing. Six degrees. Six degrees of, six degrees. No, no, it's called something else. Sixth to six cents. Yes. Yeah, you don't want to, you don't want to, you don't want to, right, right, right. Yeah, the sixth sense, right. He's been dead the whole movie. Spoiler alert, sorry.

Yeah, I get you. Oh, I get it. Now, we can say this. The film will be in theaters for a week from June 27th to July 4th. It's a fathom event. Yep. So if people want to see it, something to stand for. Dot movie, that's the way to see it.

Warning. Warning. Yes. The trailer is over there on something to stand for. Dot movie. And if you watch the trailer, I just want to be up front with your listeners, it's going to make you want to. want to see it. You know,

that can be a problem. It's that good. That can be a problem. If you see the trailer, you might want to see the film. You're going to be powerless not to, Eric. I don't want to sugarcoat it. You watch the trailer, and you and your family will really have no choice. You will be compelled to go. Well, listen, I really do say this all the time.

When films like this come out or anything, I say you have an obligation to see it. Because we always complain that Hollywood's producing garbage. Well, when Hollywood, when somebody produces something that's not garbage. You have an obligation to see it. Make yourself uncomfortable. Actually go to the website and get tickets or whatever it is. And look, let me be blunt. I'm not paid to say this. I say this

because I believe this is right and good and true. And that a big part of our problem, we were just talking about this, it's inertia. We have gotten lazy. We have gotten complacent. we haven't exercised our muscles of freedom. That's kind of the way I put it. In other words, like, we have to be activist citizens. And the reason America was able to be great for a long time was because people understood, you know, in Franklin's phrase, if you can keep it, that we have an obligation, every one of us has an obligation to keep the Republic, to celebrate the stories of the Republic, like to tell our kids about these stories and these things,

that we have to do that. And if we don't do that, those muscles atrophy, and we kind of forget we need to do anything to live in a free and a beautiful place like America. And then we forget that it's a free and a beautiful place. And so this is something, folks, that I hope you will actually do, actually see the film. Now, there are nine stories in here.

So what can we at least cover like the periods that, I mean, is this? Yeah, yeah. We go basically from 17. 76, then we kind of move into 1803, and then we sort of pivot a bit. What happens in 1803? Oh, quite a few things happen in 1803. I think millions of things happened, but what are you covering? Well, in this basic area, we talk about the, hmm, how to say.

Let's see, Jefferson was president. He was president. Madison was the Secretary of State. Uh-huh. Does this have something to do with a purchase that was made? It's an interesting thought to think that the, no, it's not the Louisiana purchase. This has something more to do with the formation of an elite organization that would ultimately go on to set the standard for the defense of freedom as we understand it today and ultimately wage a war on terrorism that continues to play out. talking about the Navy? I'm not going to tell you what we're talking about. Neither am I.

But it's not the Navy. We're not going to tell you anything. We're not even going to tell you anything. We're not even going to tell you that. I've told them some things. I've told you if you see the trailer, you're going to be powerless not to go. Right. I can tell you that. But we've got to tell them enough so that they want to see the trailer. See, that's the trick here. So the film is called something to stand for. How about that? Where did that title come from? That title came from the final story in the film, which is a deeper dive into the story you think you know about the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. There are a couple of players that were involved in that. I grew up in Baltimore. In fact, my very first field trip. Was to Fort McHenry. You're kidding.

Really? Wow. But you'll learn the story of Wells and Macomis, a couple of kids who. who simply wouldn't stand for their town being invaded by British soldiers and committed a murder in the course of defending that town that put this whole thing in motion. You'll learn about General Ross, who while the anthem was being written was basically being stored his cadaver in a giant barrel of rum aboard the ship where beans and key were being held. You'll learn about a private William Williams, a runaway slave who lost his life at Fort McKenry, staring up at the flag after losing his leg. He dies a slave but agrees to fight for this country because he didn't want a master or a king,

but he wanted to protect the possibility of being a free man. You'll learn a lot of stuff you probably didn't know about a lot of topics. that you're familiar with. And if that doesn't make for a more interesting conversation that night at dinner, I will personally have Eric refund the price of your tickets. Thank you. Thank you. I'm so glad you don't have my phone number.

Now, here's the thing, folks. I can get it. Here's the thing. We are talking, and again, I talk about this stuff all the time. You wouldn't know that, Mike. But honestly, we're talking about recadicizing, I guess that's the term I've been using. but America has to relearn all the stuff we have forgotten. And in the course of relearning it through films like this,

I think my first instinct is to be embarrassed that I didn't know this before. And to be embarrassed. I wrote a book called Seven Men about Seven Heroes. The first one is George Washington. And when I really understood who Washington was, I felt shame that I had not appreciated the, greatness of this great man. I mean, it's almost

there are no words, really. When you discover some of these stories, it changes how you feel about everything. We are so much more interested today in looking back at Washington and seeing the vice and not the virtue. Always. It's so

much easier to judge than it is to think. And if you can't, if we lose the nuance, if we lose the ability to consider people in their own time, then we are going to run out of ours.

I want to talk more about that when we come back. We're talking to Mike Rowe. Don't go away. The film is called Something to Stand For. We'll be back. Hey there folks, I'm talking to Mike Rowe. You may know him from dirty jobs. You may know him from any number of other things. But now you're going to know him as the

man behind something to stand for the film we're talking about that celebrates America. You just said, Mike, something that, again, I talk about this all the time, to denigrate this country or to denigrate anyone, one of the things that I say is that we have an obligation to love our country. And that's not something that in the last few decades people talk about. Why do we need to love our country? And I say it's kind of like if you have a kid and your kid has done some really bad stuff, but you still love your kid. You don't curse them and say, you're never

going to change. You're just like your mother. You're just like your father. You're just like your You don't curse them. You try to say, like, you can do better. You try to help them to overcome their problems, just as our nation overcame the besetting sin of slavery. And you try to encourage movement in their right direction. That's what love is. And we often haven't done that with the country.

And you have people, whether it's the 1619 project, they want to tag America as evil, as irred, as irred, as stained forever. And you realize that's the opposite of love. And you wouldn't do that with your kids. You wouldn't say you cannot change. You cannot improve. And so we need to celebrate where we've gotten things right. There's no harm in celebrating where we've got.

That's the normal, healthy thing to do. I'd say it the other way. There's great harm in not celebrating. Yeah. Great harm. We have to reward the things we wish to encourage and discourage the things we don't. And so, you know, that kid, that metaphorical kid you're talking about, one day he or she's going to be 65, 70 years old. And they're going to think about their dad.

They're going to think about their mom. And, you know, you get a chance now as the dad or the mom to answer the question, how do I want them to remember me? And so good parents, I think, always have that in the front of their mind. and we ought to be asking ourselves now, how are our great, great, great, great grandkids? How are they going to judge us 250 years from now? What statues will be pulled down? What current hero in pop culture will be ridiculed? Hence, I mean, what are we going to do with the meat eaters, right?

Dozens of years after meat is no longer on the menu? What are we going to do? How are we going to think about abortion? How are we going to think about capital punishment? Will we be more or less enlightened, you know, centuries down the road? I don't know. But I do know if our tendency now is to look back and only back through the lens of what we know to be true, right, and good now, we are doomed. We are doomed because we will have abdicated anything resembling nuance.

And that ain't good. You know, I agree with what you're saying so much that I want to ask you. Have you ever thought about making a film? You should listen to me. You should think about it. You know what I mean? Because a lot of people, they think about stuff, but then they don't do it. You should think about it and you should do it.

You should call it something to stand for in theaters June 27th through July 4th. I mean, listen, let me just get a little schmaltzy. I want to thank you for doing this because, honestly, we need more. more of this, the nation needs more of this. This is vital. We're at a crossroads. And when you just said about the lack of patriotism, think about it in terms of gratitude. It's a choice. I'm not talking about your hair color, your skin color, your blood type, or your star sign. Yeah. Gratitude is like, it's like work ethic, right? It's like patience. You can choose, right? It takes a little bit of work, but to affirmatively deny the incredible progress that this country has made, since it's

founding is not to suggest that we're done. Of course there's room to improve. Of course we have to get better and better. And of course the men who founded our union were imperfect. But show me another country that's come so far so fast. And I'll show you something else to stand for. Wow. Mike Rowe, God bless you.

Thank you. The film is something to stand for. You can go to something to stand for. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, Eric.