488: Connor Boyack—Spontaneous Order

Spontaneous Order might sound like a contradiction, but according to author, entrepreneur, and educator Connor Boyack, some of society's most important innovations emerge without a master plan. Mike sits down with Connor, the bestselling co-creator and co-author of The Tuttle Twins book series that inspired the hit animated show, founder and president of the Libertas Network and a leading advocate for teaching the principles of liberty, entrepreneurship, personal responsibility, and free markets to the next generation. Connor shares the mission that drives his work: helping families understand how free people, voluntary cooperation, and decentralized problem-solving can create remarkable outcomes. Along the way, he and Mike explore the power of ideas, the importance of questioning assumptions, why history still matters, and how a children's book series grew into a cultural phenomenon reaching millions of families. This conversation offers a fascinating look at the relationship between freedom, education, and the unexpected order that can arise when people are left free to innovate. Big thanks to our terrific sponsors PureTalk.com/Rowe Get UNLIMITED hi-speed data for just $34.99 per month! ZipRecruiter.com/Rowe to post a job for FREE. K12.com/Rowe See what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep AuraFrames.com/Mike Use code MIKE to get $35 off their best-selling Carver Mat

Mike Rowe sits down with Blake Scholl, the former Amazon software engineer turned aerospace entrepreneur who walked away from Silicon Valley to revive supersonic passenger travel. As the founder of Boom Supersonic, Blake explains the century-long pursuit of faster flight. From the Cold War race to break the sound barrier to the rise—and fall—of the Concorde, Blake explains why supersonic travel disappeared just as it seemed destined to change aviation forever. He also shares how Boom Supersonic is working to make high-speed passenger flight practical again, and what it will take to shrink a 12-hour flight into just a few hours. Along the way, Mike and Blake discuss innovation, risk, engineering breakthroughs, and why some people refuse to accept that getting somewhere faster is a problem already solved. Shout out to our great sponsors GoodRanchers.com Purchase any Father's Day Gift Box and get FREE Wagyu Burgers. American-Giant.com/MIKE Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order. Digs.com Less rework. Less confusion. And a much smoother build experience for homeowners.

Mike sits down with master card mechanic and sleight-of-hand expert Jason Ladanye, whose impossible demonstrations of gambling moves and psychological deception have earned him a reputation as one of the best card handlers working today. Jason explains how a childhood obsession with cards—and an influential mentorship with legendary magician Darwin Ortiz—shaped his career performing around the world. Along the way, Jason shows Mike how magicians secretly track cards through a shuffled deck, demonstrates the art of bottom dealing, and reveals why the real secret behind great magic isn't fast hands—it's storytelling, conviction, and understanding exactly how people think. And of course, there are several mind-blowing demonstrations of his ability. Follow Jason on Instagram and see him LIVE at an upcoming show. Big thanks to our awesome sponsors PureTalk.com/Rowe Choose any plan for $15 per month for the first three months.   NetSuite.com/Mike Download their FREE business guide, Demystifying AI SkillsUSA.org/mike Join the skilled trade movement!

Founder and president of Montana Knife Company Josh Smith sits down with Mike to discuss his unlikely path from working as a lineman to becoming one of America's premier master bladesmiths. The conversation dives into the grit, craftsmanship, and obsession with quality that helped turn a small operation into one of the fastest-growing knife manufacturers in the country. The two also talk about the grand opening of MKC's brand-new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Missoula, where Josh explains why controlling his supply chain matters now more than ever—and what "Made in America" actually requires behind the scenes. Along the way, Josh gives Mike an exclusive look at a brand-new blade that hasn't been released to the public yet. It's a conversation about work ethic, American manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and the sharp edge between tradition and innovation. Tip o' the hat to our excellent sponsors ZipRecruiter.com/Rowe to post a job for FREE. GoodRanchers.com Use code MIKE to get $40 off your first order and free meat for life. SkillsUSA.org/mike Join the skilled trade movement!

In this episode Mike explores the growing race for critical minerals hidden deep beneath the Pacific Ocean with mining executive Tom Albanese, Chairman of American Ocean Minerals and former CEO of Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources. Tom has spent more than four decades in the global mining and metals business, overseeing some of the largest resource projects on earth. Now he's focused on something even more ambitious: harvesting polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor—potato-sized rocks packed with nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, and rare earth elements that are critical to batteries, AI infrastructure, defense systems, smartphones, and modern energy technology. Mike and Tom discuss why these nodules have become one of the most hotly contested resources in the world and how the race for critical minerals has evolved into both an economic and geopolitical battle. They also explain why many companies see the deep ocean as an alternative to opening hundreds of new land mines. Hint: These nodules sit unattached on the ocean floor just waiting to be vacuumed up without need for blasting or tunneling. It's a conversation that feels part science fiction, part industrial history, and part treasure hunt. Because sometimes the next gold rush isn't in the mountains. It's sitting three miles beneath the top of the ocean. Today's episode is sponsored by PureTalk.com/Rowe Get UNLIMITED hi-speed data for just $34.99 per month! NetSuite.com/Mike Download their FREE business guide, Demystifying AI K12.com/Rowe See what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep American-Giant.com/MIKE Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order.

In this special LIVE edition of Coffee with Mome, Mike heads home for Mother's Day and sits down with the woman who taught him everything worth knowing — his mom, Peggy Rowe. Recorded in front of a live audience at the place Peggy refers to as The Home, this episode is filled with the warmth, wit, and wonderfully sharp observations fans have come to expect from America's Grandmother. From family stories and hard-earned wisdom to laughter that only comes from decades of shared history, Mike and Peggy talk about motherhood, growing older disgracefully, and the strange adventure of becoming a beloved public figure later in life. It's funny, heartfelt, occasionally mischievous, and exactly the kind of conversation you'd hope to overhear around the kitchen table on Mother's Day. Many thanks to our excellent sponsors American-Giant.com/MIKE Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order. PureTalk.com/Rowe Get UNLIMITED hi-speed data for just $34.99 per month! KnobelSpirits.com Spend $100, use code CARL and get bitters-infused sugar cubes FREE.

Mike sits down with author and Cultural Revolution survivor Xi Van Fleet for a conversation that's equal parts personal history and cautionary tale. Xi recounts her childhood under Mao Zedong's China, where conformity wasn't encouraged—it was enforced. As a schoolgirl, she watched teachers publicly humiliated, neighbors turn on each other, and young people mobilized as ideological foot soldiers. Education gave way to indoctrination, and individuality was crushed in favor of collective obedience—the kind that produces "shiny little screws." Drawing from her first book, Mao's America, Xi lays out how mass movements rooted in ideology often rely on dividing people into opposing groups—"good" versus "bad"—to consolidate power. She also comments on how youth are frequently weaponized to accelerate cultural upheaval and dismantle traditional institutions, often by encouraging them to reject established norms and embrace radical ideologies. These patterns, she argues, aren't relics of history—they're recurring tactics. And they are showing up in America today! The conversation then turns to her latest work, Made in America, where the focus shifts from warning signs to origin stories. The central theme: the rise of Communist China wasn't inevitable—it was, in part, enabled by decisions made in the United States. Xi explores how decades of policy, economic cooperation, and ideological blind spots helped transform China into a global superpower, creating what she sees as one of America's greatest modern challenges. It's a conversation less about politics and more about people, choices, and consequences where Xi ends with a warning to America and why resisting the urge to become a "shiny little screw" might be more important than ever. Big thanks to our awesome sponsors ZipRecruiter.com/Rowe to post a job for FREE. GoodRanchers.com Use code MIKE to get $40 off your first order and free meat for life. Pestie.com/Mike to get an extra 10% off your order. AuraFrames.com/Mike Use code MIKE to get $25 off their best-selling Carver Mat frame.

Former congressman Jason Altmire has spent years in Washington—and even more time outside it—making the case that America's biggest opportunity isn't behind a desk, but behind a welding mask, a set of tools, or the wheel of a big machine. Now leading Career Education Colleges and Universities, he's on a mission to close the skills gap and reconnect hard work with real opportunity. In this episode, Mike and Jason dig into why millions of good jobs go unfilled, why the stigma around skilled labor refuses to die, and what it'll take to convince a new generation that "college for all" might not be the answer. Along the way, they unpack the ideas behind Jason's book, Trade Up: Why the Future Belongs to Skilled Trades and How Career Education is Transforming the Workforce—and make a compelling case that the fastest way to achieve the American Dream might be to pursue a skilled trade. Tip o' the hat to our excellent sponsors PureTalk.com/Rowe Get UNLIMITED hi-speed data for just $34.99 per month! SkillsUSA.org/mike Join the skilled trade movement! GoodRanchers.com Use code MIKE to get $25 off your first order & FREE meat for life. mikeroweWORKS.org/scholarship to apply for a work ethic scholarship.

Matt Ebert didn't set out to build a billion-dollar business—he just wanted to fix cars the right way. Today, he's the CEO of Crash Champions, one of the fastest-growing collision repair companies in the country, valued in the billions and trusted to bring wrecked vehicles back to life. Mike sits down with Matt to unpack what really happens after a crash, why the skilled trades behind collision repair matter more than ever, and how a kid with no grand plan or college degree wound up leading a national powerhouse. Along the way, Matt tells how he got his start in the business, proving that sometimes the road to success begins with a single accident (or two) … and a desire to fix it. Many thanks to our excellent sponsors ZipRecruiter.com/Rowe to post a job for FREE. GoodRanchers.com Use code MIKE to get $25 off your first order and FREE meat for life. K12.com/Rowe See what's possible for your child with K12's Career and College Prep AuraFrames.com/Mike Use code Mike to get $25 off their best-selling Carver Mat frame.

Neon lights aren't supposed to be profound. They're supposed to buzz, flicker, and sell you a cold beer or a bad decision. But Evan Voyles—founder of The Neon Jungle—has made a career out of bending that expectation into something stranger… and maybe a little wiser. Evan is a self-taught craftsman who works with fire, gas, and fragile tubes of glass to make signs that don't just glow—they say something. His work has been commissioned by brands, collected as art, and—on more than one occasion—made people stop and wonder if the joke is on them. In this episode, Mike sits down with a guy who makes a living lighting things up—literally—and wrestles with why any of it matters. They talk about the strange line between art and advertising and why irony is harder to come by than you'd think. It's a conversation about craft, culture, and the quiet satisfaction of making something with your hands… even if what you make is a glowing reminder not to take any of it too seriously. Big thanks to our awesome sponsors PureTalk.com/Rowe Choose a wireless company who shares YOUR values. NetSuite.com/Mike Download their FREE business guide, Demystifying AI American-Giant.com/MIKE Use code MIKE to get 20% off your order. SkillsUSA.org/mike Join the skilled trade movement!