I'm from Baltimore.

We don't need American Idols. We need American icons. Icons of work.

I've got one of those over-stuffed leather chairs from the Pottery Barn. It faces north. I live in San Francisco, so there's the Golden Gate Bridge off to the left, and there's Alcatraz off to the right, and I've got a pile of pulp fiction next to me, and there's usually a decent bottle of red wine next to the fireplace.

There's a belief... in the country that we can cure unemployment by creating opportunity. The skills gap proves that opportunity along is not enough to get people employed.

We need to promote an ethic of work. And there's no way one guy or one company is going to be able to do it. It has to be a big hot mess - public, private, government, NGOs and smart alecks on the TV talking about it.

It's funny; it's a real balancing act. In TV, everybody's talking about authenticity. In order to make 'Dirty Jobs' authentic, I really can't be overly informed. The minute I am, I become a host... It's a very tricky business paying a tribute to work, because TV is very bad at it.

The skills gap is a reflection of what we value.

I'm not disinterested in the rest of the world, but studies show the rest of the world is really freaking far away.

If you're trying to raise a son, it gives you a chance to say things like, 'Chop your own wood; it will warm you twice.'

Meaningful work is very different than drudgery.