I'll Have Another: Back-to-Trade-School w/ Mike Rowe

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Kennedy Saves the World

Episode: I'll Have Another: Back-to-Trade-School w/ Mike Rowe

Date: August 19, 2025
Host: Kennedy
Guest: Mike Rowe

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Overview

In this lively and thoughtful episode, Kennedy welcomes Mike Rowe—celebrated TV host, bestselling author, and founder of the Microworks Foundation—for a happy hour conversation that blends whiskey, wisdom, and work ethic. Together, they dive into the importance of skilled trades, the origin of Rowe’s charitable work, shifting cultural perceptions around labor, and how empowering the next generation with real-life skills is truly a “noble cause.” The conversation mixes humor, personal stories, and candid advice, with both host and guest’s trademark wit and frankness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Toast to Legacy & Inspiration

• The episode opens with Kennedy preparing a cocktail using Mike Rowe's Tennessee whiskey, named “Noble” after his grandfather, Carl Noble (00:50-03:00).
  • Mike shares the origin story: the whiskey was inspired by his grandfather, who was also the dedication for “Dirty Jobs” and the Microworks Foundation.

    “My pop was called Karl Nobel with a K, K-N-O-B-E-L. And he was the guy that Dirty Jobs was dedicated to.” — Mike Rowe [01:35]

  • The whiskey is described as a collaborative creation born from “two really thirsty people and some nearby bourbon” during the pandemic.

2. The Value of Traditions & Trade Skills

• Both reminisce about “This Old House” and the ritual of craftsmanship showcased by its hosts, connecting it to the work Microworks does today (03:41-04:43).
  • Rowe appreciates the deliberate, careful production style of the show, likening it to “a bowl of warm milk.”
  • The show’s Generation Next initiative was patterned after Microworks, funneling sponsorships into workforce scholarships.

    “They did the most extraordinary thing...what if you just give [the money] all to you?...help train the next generation of skilled workers?” — Mike Rowe [05:10]

3. Microworks Foundation and Work Ethic Scholarships

• Rowe explains the mission: reinvigorating the trades and helping people gain meaningful employment.
  • Scholarships are given to those with “skin in the game,” motivating applicants to actively pursue additional opportunities and not relying solely on handouts.
  • Currently, they're giving away $3 million in work ethic scholarships (05:10).
  • Notably, applications are up tenfold from last year, “because this Blue Forge line stuff is happening.” [12:29]

4. Breaking Stereotypes about Trades

• The conversation pivots to the cultural stigma around trades, including jokes about “plumber butt cracks,” and Rowe highlights the injustice of those stereotypes.

  “These stigmas and stereotypes...are keeping millions of kids from exploring these careers...rooted in the very kinds of trope to which you refer...” — Mike Rowe [10:53]

  • Rowe stresses the economic opportunity: 7.6 million open jobs (many not requiring a four-year degree), and the disconnect with $1.7 trillion in student loan debt.

5. Anecdotes & Memorable Moments

• Kennedy shares a humorous and wild story about “Mom’s Weekend” at her daughter’s college, leading to jokes and banter about generational differences and college antics (07:08-08:42).
• Rowe recounts the story of Chloe Hudson, a scholarship recipient who turned down $300,000 of student debt to become a high-earning super welder (08:50-09:48).
  • Chloe’s drive and precision are celebrated, and Rowe remembers her insisting:

    “Don’t give me all the, you know, best women welder...she’s very feminine...She looks like Jessica Rabbit. She was just drawn that way.” — Mike Rowe [10:00-10:28]

• Kennedy jokes about advising her daughter to become a plumber (“That sounds disgusting...like, I’d rather be a stripper!”), which leads to more laughs and observations on unmet job demand in the trades (10:32-10:53).

6. The Big Picture: Employment and Education Disconnects

• Rowe criticizes the status quo:

  “We’re lending money we don’t have to kids who are never gonna be able to pay it back to train them for a bunch of jobs that really don’t exist anymore.” [11:33]

  • He highlights the discrepancy between the high number of open jobs and individuals not seeking work, as well as the misallocation of educational funding.

7. Resources and Call to Action

• Rowe directs listeners to his YouTube show “People You Should Know” and encourages applications to Microworks’ scholarship program.

  “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, then you’ll laugh again...then you’ll go to Microworks and fill out a work ethic scholarship.” [13:15]

• Final words: The conversation ends with more wit and gratitude, reinforcing the value of practical skills, humor, and—the best for last—a well-mixed cocktail.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Personal Legacy:
  "My pop was called Karl Nobel with a K...He was the guy that Dirty Jobs was dedicated to. And then he was the guy that the Microworks foundation was dedicated to. And then he died. And then, as people do..." — Mike Rowe [01:35]
• On Trade Stereotypes:
  “These stigmas and stereotypes...are keeping millions of kids from exploring these careers...rooted in the very kinds of trope to which you refer...the large plumber crack.” — Mike Rowe [10:53]
• On the Value of Skilled Work:
  “Don’t give me all the, you know, best women welder...I don’t want to be a weld-her. She’s very feminine...She looks like Jessica Rabbit. She was just drawn that way.” — Mike Rowe [10:00-10:28]
• On Higher Education & Employment:
  “We’re lending money we don’t have to kids who are never gonna be able to pay it back to train them for a bunch of jobs that really don’t exist anymore.” — Mike Rowe [11:33]
• On Saving the World (and Yourself):
  “This is how we save the world.” — Kennedy [08:46]
  “Micro saves the world. Thank you for being here.” — Kennedy [13:10]
  “One drink at a time. Oh, and people you should know. For God’s sakes, people you should know.” — Mike Rowe [13:10]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:50 – The story behind “Noble” whiskey
• 03:41 – Reflections on “This Old House” and craftsmanship
• 05:10 – Microworks and Generation Next scholarships
• 07:08 – Humorous interlude: Mom’s Weekend at college
• 08:50 – The story of Chloe Hudson, super welder
• 10:53 – Breaking stereotypes about trade jobs
• 11:33 – Critique of higher education and job market realities
• 13:10 – Where to find resources & Rowe’s call to action

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Final Thoughts

This episode artfully mixes personal stories, statistical insights, and genuine laughter to challenge prevailing ideas about education, success, and the trades. Mike Rowe’s advocacy for skilled work—embodied by his foundation, scholarship programs, and storytelling—is both an urgent social message and a heartfelt tribute to the value of getting your hands dirty. Listeners walk away uplifted, entertained, and maybe a little thirsty for more than just knowledge.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Hello and welcome to this episode of Kennedy Saves the World. Let's be honest, it's Mike Rowe who really saves the world. He has done just phenomenal work as a New York Times best selling author, an Emmy award winning TV host. He also is the founder and CEO of Microworks. And he has gotten more people into trade school than I had prom dates. Getting me into broom closets. And that's really saying something. Mike Rowe, welcome to Kennedy Saves the World.

[A]

That is a job. And thank you for all that. So much of it was true and I'm so honored to be here. And I'm actually. My salivary glands have involuntarily activated.

[B]

Well, it is happy hour.

[A]

I know.

[B]

And happy hour. I make everyone a cocktail. This is made with your Tennessee whiskey.

[A]

Oh, my goodness. Noble.

[B]

If I'm saying it correctly.

[A]

You are.

[B]

Okay. It is a fantastic spirit.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

I've had it at Freedom Fest and I was delighted because your team member that you work with gave me a recipe which was a challenge, but I thought I was up to the task.

[A]

That's Mary Sullivan.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And this is her. This was. Well, like all good things, this was a collaboration. But it really just started with two really thirsty people and some nearby bourbon.

[B]

Yeah. So it is whiskey because it's Tennessee.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

And you had the recipe, you had the gumption, you had, I believe, the inspiration from your grandfather.

[A]

I had the name. My pop was called Karl Nobel with a K, K, N O, B, E, L. And he was the guy that Dirty Jobs was dedicated to.

[B]

Oh, stop it.

[A]

And then he was the guy that the Microworks foundation was dedicated to.

[B]

Him.

[A]

And then he died. And then, as people do, and then we were locked down. It was all very sad. And the world was like, Mike Rowe, why aren't you doing Dirty Jobs anymore? Here at a time when essential work is headline news. And I thought to myself, well, maybe I should do it. So we rebooted the show and coincidentally, Mary knew a friend in the whiskey business that had some five year old bourbon in a barrel that the buyer didn't come through on.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So I tasted it and I liked it. And I bought it and I put my pop's name on it. Cuz that's the kind of guy I am. And now I'm sitting here with you sipping it.

[B]

Well, let's toast to your pop, Carl Noble. To Carl Noble.

[A]

Mm, yummy. We call it a noble cause.

[B]

Yeah. This is lovely. So it's fresh lemon juice, ginger syrup, which I made with simple syrup, which was half cane Sugar, half water. I dissolved the cane sugar, added the ginger, let it simmer for 20 minutes, and then it's. Noble Tennessee Whiskey with a K. Yeah. And honey syrup.

[A]

Yeah. Problem with this drink is, like, most bars don't have that. That. That ginger syrup.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

They don't have it. And if you ask a guy to make it, it's going to go very badly very quickly.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Bartenders are busy people, and they can't.

[B]

You can't whip up ginger syrup.

[A]

Yeah, you can. You can ask for a. Like a bespoke drink as long as the attendant ingredients are there and can be mixed, you know, appropriately. But you can't ask a guy to come up with a. With a whole new ingredient. They hate that.

[B]

How did you come up with this concoction?

[A]

Well, it was the name. I thought Noble cause. A noble cause was everything my. My granddad epitomized. He only went to the seventh grade, my grand pop, but by the time he was 30, he was a licensed electrician. Steam fitter, pipe fitter, Welder. Guy could build a house without a blueprint.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, he just had that. That chip. And tragically, that chip, the handy gene, is recessive.

[B]

But you've been on this Old House. And I know this because my legal domestic partner watches this old house, like, religiously. And I was like, I'm interviewing Mike Rowe. And he was like, holy. Do you know how many times he's been on this Old House?

[A]

I'm like, I've been on it a few times. Those got like. I grew up watching that, too.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it's been on forever. I think it was like 38 seasons when I finally went on it. And the reason I still gravitate toward it is because that kind of old, stodgy. And I say that as a compliment. Deliberate TV production. It's. It's so, like, old and careful and, you know, like, they. They only shoot on one camera. They walk into the shot, and then they smile and they walk out of the shot, and then there's a cut. You know, there's just. It's like a bowl of warm milk watching that show. And of course, you know, Norm and Bob and all. All the guys. Tommy, Tommy.

[B]

Useful as tits on a bull.

[A]

You know what they did? They wanted very much to try and reinvigorate the trades for the same. My foundation does the same thing. And Generation Next, they wanted very much to try and reinvigorate the trades for the same. My foundation does the same thing.

[B]

Generation Next.

[A]

Yeah. That was their push.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And they called after going to our website, which is Microworks, which, by the way, we're giving away $3 million this week in work ethic scholarships. Your people should go get some shameless plug. But no, they went there to pattern Generation Next. And the more they looked at it, the more they liked it. And then they did the most extraordinary thing. They just called and said, look, we'll go to our sponsors and we'll raise a bunch of money for this effort. And what if you just give it all to you? Wow. And what if you give it away through your scholarship program to help train the next generation of skilled workers? And I thought for maybe. Maybe half a second and said, well, hell, yeah. So they raised. I don't know, it was like, five, six, hundred thousand dollars quick.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's what's going on.

[B]

Don't go anywhere more. Kennedy Saves the World right after this.

[A]

This is Jason Chaffetz from the Jason in the House podcast. Join me every Monday to dive deeper into the latest political headlines and chat with remarkable guests. Listen and follow [e-mail] or wherever you download podcasts. You know what this drink reminds me of? It's kind of like what we were just saying. Maybe you want to buzz. Maybe you like the feeling of a couple of shots of better than average bourbon, but maybe you want to take the time to muddle the ingredients yourself and create a delivery system that's a bit longer and something you can savor a bit more, not just rushing right toward the main event.

[B]

I went to mom's weekend at my daughter's college, and we had green tea shots, and that was the opposite of this. Yeah, it was really fun, but it was. It was not a long, slow, dignified sip.

[A]

Right.

[B]

As you would have.

[A]

You're just slamming it with a noble cause.

[B]

Yeah, it's not. There's no green tea. And a green tea shot.

[A]

Well, that's ironic then, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah, it sure is.

[A]

And is it actually a shot or is it, like. It's just a tumbler?

[B]

No, it's. It's a shot. But they. They add up overnight, it turns out.

[A]

Yeah. The exponential effect of bad choices. I'm familiar.

[B]

Yeah. Something mothers have to pass along to their daughters. I was very, very proud to do that.

[A]

So what was this event?

[B]

A mother's mom's weekend.

[A]

Mom's weekend. So all the moms are together?

[B]

Yeah, with the children's.

[A]

Oh, well, that's different, isn't it? Yeah, it's not a true mom's Weekend.

[B]

Well, it is.

[A]

It's a mother daughter weekend, but they're okay.

[B]

So I've told this story, story on the podcast to Jimmy Fayla. So my daughter's boyfriend, his fraternity brother comes into the bar, white as a ghost, and he's like, oh, my God. This woman who's a mom and had a wedding ring on came up to me and goes, do you like Wendy's? And I said, yes. And she goes, wendy's titties in your face. And I was like, crying, good mom. The mom did that strong and tried to motorboat the guy and. And, like, semi assaulted him. But it made me laugh so hard. Yeah, because, like, there's someone's mom out there, like, going for it on mom's weekend.

[A]

Well, that's amazing. But there's also some dude out there walking around with the story for the ages, and the rest of his life is just going to be a pale shadow. Everything's going to compare to that day that the crazy Wendy lady came up and just battered him.

[B]

Yeah, I. I went home and told her sister who was in high school, I'm like, some of these moms sent it. And I told her the Wendy's story, and she was like, oh, my God.

[A]

What's the setup again? What's the question? Have you been to Wendy's?

[B]

Do you like Wendy's?

[A]

Do you like Wendy's? Yeah, I like Wendy's.

[B]

Yeah, I like Wendy's. Wendy's. Titties in your face.

[A]

Good God.

[B]

Yeah. No, humanity is just fine, Mike. Don't you worry about it.

[A]

This is how we save the world.

[B]

I interviewed the super welder, the lady.

[A]

Oh, Chloe.

[B]

Yes, Chloe was.

[A]

You talked to Chloe Hudson?

[B]

Yes, I did. On this very podcast.

[A]

She's one of our rock stars.

[B]

She was a delight, and it was so nice talking to her because she was like, this is not easy. She's like, this is really, really competitive, difficult work. And it is so precise.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, her story starts with almost signing on the dotted line and borrowing 300 grand to be a plastic surgeon.

[B]

Yeah, that's what she said.

[A]

Very close to doing it. And she thought at the last minute, I just can't. I just can't assume that kind of debt for something that's just not guaranteed. We gave her. I don't mean like four or five grand, maybe. I don't even know we gave her that much. Our scholarship program is designed to motivate the applicant to have enough skin in the game to apply for other scholarships like we typically don't do. Full rides. But we gave her enough to get a welding certificate and just a few years later, she was making 150 grand.

[B]

I mean, it's unbelievable what she's entrusted with.

[A]

I know.

[B]

And the material she was describing, the materials that she works with, and it is, it is so difficult and truly so precise.

[A]

It's like chemistry and science and high stakes. And don't bitch it up because there are consequences, you know, And I mean, last I talked about metallurgy. Yes, anything that ends with Urgy, you know, but she's a. What did she say to me? I don't want to be a welder. I don't want to be a weld her. She's like, don't give me all the, you know, best women welder or, or all that. And the thing is, she's very feminine, you know, I mean, she's. Yeah, she looks like.

[B]

She's like Jessica Rabbit.

[A]

Yes, she looks like Jessica Rabbit. She was just drawn that way.

[B]

I told my daughter, like, if you want to make money right out of college, be a plumber. And she was like, that sounds disgusting.

[A]

I thought you were going to say be a stripper. Get those.

[B]

Like, I'd rather be a stripper.

[A]

Yeah, well, you know what I mean. There's a plumber butt crack joke in there somewhere. I'm not gonna make it. I'm just gonna put it out there.

[B]

It's implied.

[A]

That's part of the problem. That's part of the problem with the whole plumbing industry right now. I mean, to be moderately earnest for a moment, these stigmas and stereotypes, Kennedy, these myths and misperceptions that are keeping millions of kids from exploring these careers are rooted in the very kinds of trope to which you refer to, I. E. The large plumber crack. I mean, your listeners right now. If I say plumber, it's impossible. You close your eyes and use a 300 pound dude and his belly's tumbling out and he's got the giant crack and he's halfway under your cabinet or behind your refrigerator doing God knows what, Lord only knows. And you're just looking down and washing your eyes out with bleach. There's 7.6 million open jobs right now, most of which don't require 4 year degree. There's 6.9 million able bodied men, prime working age, who aren't working and who aren't even looking, and $1.7 trillion in student loans on the books. And I've said this to you before, but we're still doing it. We're lending Money we don't have, the kids who are never gonna be able to pay it back to train them for a bunch of jobs really don't exist anymore. Right. So the crazy thing is something has changed. I've been doing this for 16 years. And this morning I called my office to say we're in the midst of an enrollment period right now. And I said, how many applications do we have in as of this morning? And the answer was ten times more than we did a year ago today. Wow, that's bananas. Yeah, and that's because this Blue Forge line stuff is happening. It's because the Automotive industry has 70,000 openings. It's, I mean, you can just go down the list. Oil and natural gas is hiring like crazy. Data centers and AI. They're 300,000 openings. It's bananas. And no one's really talking about it. At least not like that. People are still talking about unemployment and how many are unemployed. Well, the truth is that's an artifact of the Great Depression. That's an economic statistic that really doesn't mean what it used to mean.

[B]

No, because when you have people who are simply not participating in the labor force, you, you know, to your point, a lot of people don't know where the participation is. That is very satisfying. Work Micro. Micro works. Micro saves the world. Thank you for being here.

[A]

One drink at a time. Oh, and people you should know. For God's sakes, people you should know.

[B]

Where can people find it?

[A]

Right on my YouTube channel. You'll laugh, you'll cry, then you'll laugh again. Then you'll cry a little more. Then you'll make yourself a noble cause. Well, you have to to rehydrate and hydration's important. And then you'll go to Microworks and fill out a work ethic scholarship. And then you'll listen to my podcast and then you'll go back and watch people you should know. And then after that, I don't really know.

[B]

Read books, watch old clips from home.

[A]

Shopping network, get yourself a nice pop up book and cuddle in for a long winter's nap.

[B]

Amen. With two or three of these delicious. This has been Kennedy saves the world along with a great micro. I'm Kenneth. Great, great, very great greatness.

[A]

About B+.

[B]

Listen ad free with a Fox News podcast. Plus subscription on Apple podcast and Amazon Prime. Members can listen to this show ad free on the Amazon music app. Oh, go ahead and leave me a review while you're there. I'd love to hear what you have to say. You've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the Fox News Podcast. Now network.

[A]

Listen to the all new Brett Baer Podcast featuring common ground in depth talks with lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle, along with all your Brett Baer favorites like his All Star panel and much more. Available now at foxnewspodcasts. Com or wherever you get your podcasts.