I’m Mike Rowe, Host of Somebody’s Gotta Do It, and This Is How I Work
Over the years, Mike Roe has traveled the country to meet people whose painstaking, often thankless work drives the world forward. And in different shows and in different TV channels, Mike’s sincere curiosity and his desire to learn remained unchanged.
Mike currently hosts CNN ‘s Somebody’s Gotta Do It , which focuses less on dirty things and more on unexpected and unexpected jobs – from populating oysters in the Chesapeake Bay to holding monster truck rallies – that require unique, passionate people. We spoke to Mike to find out how he is doing his own research work, in his own words, “real people who do real things.”
“Somebody’s Gotta Do It” returns to CNN this weekend for its third season, September 27 at 10:00 pm ET / Pacific Time.
When you’re not traveling, you’re living from San Francisco, right?
Yes, this is where mail has come in over the past 15 years. I started in Baltimore and, you know, many other places. You go where there is work.
If you had to choose one word to describe how you work, which one would you choose? Or a phrase.
I would say “with great respect for curiosity.”
Are you an iPhone or Android or what? What phone are you using?
Most of the time I make decisions late, but at the moment I still enjoy my iPhone 5. But I was told that I was waiting for the 6s – with improved resolution, better camera and so on.
Yes, for some reason I need this pink phone, there is something attractive about it. Do you also use an Apple computer?
Yes, I have – as they call it – I think it’s Pro. It’s not about the capabilities of the computer, not about the size of the hard drive, not about the screen resolution, not about the RAM, or anything else. The trick is that it fits on a table that folds up on an airplane.
I hope that these days you can pay to get a little more space on the plane. Or I hope CNN pays for it.
You know what, you think so, but it doesn’t really matter where you sit on the plane. The table size is always the same .
Apple should think about this next time.
This is exactly what I hope you put it somehow, if Apple is listening, they really need to coordinate with United, American, Delta, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, and just say, “Look, let’s go to the same page at regarding our technology and our technology. ” Your tray table. I really think there is an opportunity here to dramatically improve both travel and technology experiences for everyone concerned.
And speaking of all these technologies, what are the tools, software, or applications that you use every day that you really can’t live without?
You know, if I can’t control it from my phone, then someone else has to control it for me. This is indeed the case – again, being a late follower, I am relatively new to this whole Bluetooth thing. Actually, I still don’t technically do it, but I have these great Bose headphones that plug into the phone and have a really great microphone built into them. So now that people are shouting and yelling at me, I can hear them in clear stereo sound and never miss a single syllable of their frustration.
And when you are not traveling, what is your workplace? Do you have an office or do you work from home? Or sit in airports, I suppose.
That’s all. This is United lounge, this is Amtrak, this is the flight itself, this is a coffee table in my apartment at home. Sometimes it’s a bed. I do not have a traditional office, and indeed for a long time.
I also steal a lot of desks. When I’m on CNN now, you know booths are everywhere. I used to work in Brooke Baldwin’s office, then in Ashley Banfield’s office, and now I don’t know whose office it is. There isn’t much here, so it has to be someone who got fired recently, but I just squat where I can. I grab the phones – now I have no idea whose phone it is. I constantly call from other people’s phones.
And I haven’t bought any clothes for over twenty years; I steal everything from commercials or, if I have a wardrobe at hand, I’ll just take it. I kind of feel like I have a right to it, because if you wear it on TV, someone has to give it to you, so – often people forget to give me what I feel I should have, so I feel that I should just go ahead and take it and no one seems to mind.
This is the kind of Native American philosophy that I have adopted for this kind of work. I understand the practical work, but the technologies you are talking about and the typical protocols that exist in most places, I don’t think one can own such things. I think it is for rental or perpetual loan. Here’s what I do: standing loan.
It’s a good idea, it’s difficult only when you need a tuxedo or something.
Actually, the tuxedo is a great example of this. This is one of the most traditional rental options. You can still rent a tuxedo. I don’t know why anyone would buy a tuxedo.
Oh yes, of course.
I have three tuxedos at home – none of them fit. They all need cleaning and I don’t feel like cleaning them. In hindsight, I would have been better off renting a tuxedo every time I need one.
In truth, I would say the same about the car. I’d rather rent a car. Honestly, I’d better rent food. And I think in a way, yes, right? I mean, nobody actually owns the food. You borrow it for a while and then get rid of it. This is the world.
This is how it works.
Yes, you chew, swallow, and everything goes. Now that I think about it, we really don’t have anything, Andy. Nothing.
It’s true. I think you just answered my next question – I was going to ask what is your best way to save time or what are you doing to automate things. But I love this philosophy of renting.
But I can’t recommend enough to just forget about time-saving abbreviations. Forgetting the task. Blows away the meeting. As I did earlier with our phone call – I really needed to find a way to save 20 minutes because I was booked twice and had a room full of people waiting and went back and forth.
But then I thought I’d just call him and tell him I’m not calling him. And so I could still adhere to an ethic of some responsibility, but at the same time shirk my responsibility. And this really is the world we live in, Andy. You are just constantly trying to please everyone, which means that you will always disappoint someone a little. And that is what you are doing in this hectic life in which we find ourselves technically bound or otherwise betrayed.
Yes, exactly. By the way, do you use something like a to-do list manager or a paper notebook to keep track of what you are doing?
I have adopted what I consider to be a bold new technology in regards to this, and this is called a Post-it note. I still use stickers; when i’m at home, they are on my fridge. On my computer, I still don’t know much about folders, the whole organization, and all that stuff. It’s on my desktop, and when my desktop is completely cluttered with photos, icons, apps, and everything else, I just go for a new computer.
Certainly!
This is the simplest thing in the world. If you have more things on your computer than you can control from your desktop, and if you are loaded with more than the notes on the sticker will allow you to fill the front of the refrigerator, then you’ve probably bitten off more than you can chew.
By the way, did you know they sell super sticky stickers? Which I prefer.
Tell me more about this. Where can I get them and why are they so sticky? We know?
These are just regular stickers of the same brand, but the adhesive on the back is much stronger, and I found that with regular notes, they always fall off and are blown away by the wind.
I tell you I love this idea because I sometimes stick a sticker on my forehead, which is bigger than the middle forehead, by the way, and write something funny on it and then take a picture of my face. and post it on Facebook . And this is what I remind myself to do something. Sometimes I actually go to my Facebook page and post a picture of my face with a note on my head – I have three million Facebook friends and they can remind me. But this is only for really very important things.
Well this is my advice: find the super sticky version.
I made a note. I’m actually writing this on a sticker right now with the usual sticky stuff on the back.
Do you have any other gadgets or tools besides your phone and computer? Maybe a pocket knife or something.
I used to have a penknife. Obviously, I no longer travel with him because they continued to confiscate them. The Leatherman is far superior to the Swiss army knife, which has also come in handy for years. But if you have one tool, I would go with Leatherman. You have pliers, you have two different sized knives, you have all sorts of fun stuff. And I just think it’s cooler than a Swiss army knife. Although the Swiss army knife has a magnifying glass, which I need more and more lately.
Read notes on stickers?
No, these are not stickers, these are restaurants. This is the menu in restaurants. I just can’t read anything more about them. I think they reduced the font on purpose, and indeed, if you are in a nice restaurant, pull out a Swiss army knife and break the magnifying glass, people will look at you in a funny way. So this is not a perfect solution, but it is something.
As for your work, when you’re not in the field, are you always working on something and thinking about the next, or do you pause between projects and allow yourself to wander?
A little bit of both. I never stop working, but sometimes I completely let my mind wander while I work and try to figure out what should happen next. My business is kind of stupid because you have to stay ahead of the reality of your schedule, because if you just start saying no to everything, by the time a couple of months hit you, you really won’t. I have nothing to do, and this time is difficult to fill right away. So, you have to keep moving forward even when you want to stop. It’s just the old freelance mentality, but it will never go away.
I’ve spent a lot of time in business, starting every month with 30 or 31 blank squares looking back at me and it makes me nervous. In hindsight, I’ve managed to fill out most of them, but it’s still exhausting to start every month.
Definitely yes. Being a freelancer is very difficult for everyone.
Do you know where this word comes from? In fact, this is the Middle Ages. Previously, a freelancer was a mercenary. A knight without a lord. Mercenary.
Oh, that’s interesting. I have to check it out, but it’s pretty interesting.
You will check it out and you will see. Freelancers: they eat what they kill.
In what daily activities are you better than others? Are there any secrets you are really good at?
To be honest, I have no special skills. I have not mastered anything in the traditional sense. I’m average or slightly above average in almost everything, but I’m not good at anything. So from a professional point of view, this means that I am not very intimidated in the frame, which came in handy for me because most of the work I do with real people who do real things. And the sooner I can make someone feel comfortable with me, the easier it will become for me. And people tend to settle for me quickly because they realize that I’m not here to show them, and even if I were, I probably wouldn’t be able to. Unlike most traditional TV presenters, I’m more of a guest. So this is my special talent, I am a good guest. And I think that I am a worthy guest in real life, but I am a better guest on television, because I am not trying to control everything that happens around us. This usually helps people feel comfortable.
And in a way, you act as a substitute viewer to experience the work of other people.
A surrogate is, I think, the correct word or even an avatar. This is an important thing when you think of Discovery – the Discovery Channel was completely expert in the old days, and most news channels today are based on expert, authoritative voices telling you serious things seriously, and the truth matters most. the people I know, myself included, I’m more interested in hearing from a real person than from an expert. So I think in many ways we have seen a shift from authority figures to authentic ones, which is quite interesting.
It reminds me of something that I was thinking about. People like me who sit in the office all day, we would watch you do all this dirty work on TV – it has to do with the old show – and it makes me want to grab a shovel or something and go to walk. farm. This is a kind of privileged delusion. So why do you think it is so attractive for office workers to think about doing more manual labor?
I think for the same reason that a worker would sometimes find that he or she fantasizes about the idea of sitting in a climate controlled office and talking on the phone. In fact, in terms of work, in my opinion, we created a whole gap between blue collars and white collars, and in fact I do not think that it should exist. I think that most people should and could be much happier if they had a combination of blue and white collars in their lives. Ayn Rand spoke about it: an architect with dirty shoes. A man who knew how to use not only his hands, but also his brain. And I met a lot of these people at Dirty Jobs and a lot of them at Somebody’s Gotta Do It too, and in general they are just more level-headed than most people.
And it’s a real pleasure to be an engineer; I think this is one of the greatest works. To go to South America and build a bridge, you know? It’s kind of an epic experience. But most people fail, so most people end up in either traditional white collar jobs or traditional blue collar jobs, and the reality is that there is as much hard work on both sides of this gap as there is on the other. I’m guessing you were just staring at the greener grass on the other side of the fence, just like everyone else.
Do you listen to something while you work? When you have to sit down and write something, do you prefer the music of silence?
I prefer silence. Although, if I’m going to listen, now I found myself more interested in listening to music that I accidentally find on Youtube. Is this Spotify thing I just got? I haven’t figured out how to work with it yet. But the very idea that you are doing these strange deep dives on Google and Youtube, and suddenly you are listening to or watching something that you did not even suspect that would interest you. I found more music via Youtube than sitting on purpose looking for something or trying my best to listen to something. When you find it by accident, it’s more fun.
What have you found recently?
It’s really weird, but two nights ago I bumped into a guy named Mike Flowers, and if you google “Mike Flowers Pop”you see this Austin Powers-likeguy singing Paul Anka-style Oasis songs.
Then, it’s OK.
But the orchestration is really good and I love the mix of new and old. So I like the old style of singing and the old style of singing, mixed in such a strange, unexpected way. Look, you’ll like it. Actually I don’t know if you will like it at all, but you probably haven’t heard this before.
I’m sure it’s interesting no matter what. Are you currently reading anything – any novels or magazines that you always visit?
Right now I’m reviewing the Jack Reacher episode that Lee Child wrote. He just released a new one ; he has about a dozen. I’m a huge fan of the ongoing character. I also love really good crime literature, so every couple of years I re-read all the Travis McGee riddles by John D. MacDonald. I also recommend the Flashman Papers series by George MacDonald Fraser , which is simply great historical literature. Let’s see Richard Russo – I have a book on my bedside table now called Straight Man , and he wrote everything from The Risk Pool to Mohawk to Bridge of Sighs , many great books. I really like Russo, and there is just a huge pile of things. I used to read every day, but now I read once a week if I’m lucky.
How do you charge when you are not working? What do you do to distract yourself from work?
I do not know. Be that as it may, I have not done this successfully for a long time.
But you read once a week.
Yes, but you know what, I read on the plane. I am reading now that I know I need to do something else. But in reality, to really shut down, you have to grab one of these cushioned leather Pottery Barn chairs and sit down, and you look at the fog that blows over the Golden Gate, you light a fire, you pour some wine, and you grab some- some pulp fiction and you just sit there. And this is good.
You know, I no longer dream of seeing the world or traveling around it. I am fortunate to have done a fair amount of these things. I’m more about sitting still.
What is your sleep routine? Are you a night owl or get up early?
I used to be a real owl, and I kind of remain one to this day. I like to stay up late, but as I get older I wake up earlier and earlier. And in fact, I am now discovering – if I didn’t crush the wine too hard the night before – I really am at my best in the first three hours of consciousness a day. The first cup of coffee, this first sip is almost as good as the first gin and tonic. Because you only take one first sip a day, and then nothing else . But for me it’s the best part of the day: a third of my first cup of coffee is when I sit down, wake up, that’s when I feel like I’m almost as present as ever.
If you chose someone to answer all of these questions about their work, who would you choose?
George Plympton . Or Plympton, or Studs Terkel , or Charles Couralt , or maybe Paul Harvey . These guys are all dead and they all left a big gap. Not many people talk about work the way they used to, so I think they were relevant and I think they are still relevant.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Well, this is difficult. When it comes to tips, you have two main categories. The first category is practical advice, and I would say that my father gave the best practical advice when he told me to duck.
We were playing horseshoes in someone’s yard, and someone threw a horseshoe and it flew away from them, and my father was on a small balcony, looking down. I recognized his voice and didn’t even know who he was talking to, but it didn’t matter, because he was loud and I knew it was him, so I lowered my head and felt like the whistle of a horseshoe was correct, I didn’t understand anything. And unfortunately, it hit a guy named Chaddy Baker in the face. He was two feet on the other side of me. He knocked out my teeth, but could just as easily have chopped off my head. Anyway, it was great advice, and when I think back to it, it had everything one needs for all good advice: it was short, loud, familiar, and persuasive. And I took it, and I’m glad I did.
The other advice is just life advice, and it came from John D. MacDonald and Travis McGee, whom I mentioned earlier. And this advice says: “Beware of all seriousness.”
I think these are both main points. What else would you like to say to our readers, your fans and viewers?
Authenticity still matters. If you’re looking for this, whether it’s politics, technology, or even reality TV, you need to take a close look. It’s a balancing act that even writers like yourself – you don’t want to imitate anyone, but at the same time, you can’t turn it into something that your editor will look at and say “what the hell , you say?” It’s hard to be authentic. We try to do this on the show without doing a second take. Different people have different ways of getting there, but that’s the trick: everyone is trying to figure it out for themselves, including me.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.