The Wonder Years with Brian Brenberg
01:01:53 Share

It's time to take the quiz. Five questions, five minutes a day, five days a week. Take the quiz every weekday at thequiz.fox and then listen to the quiz podcast to find out how you did. Play, share, and of course, listen to the quiz at thequiz.fox.

Hello and welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. Thanks for joining us. You're going to like this. We've got some good stuff here, including when I phone a friend, Brian Brenber. You've seen him on Fox Business, Fox News, where he's a contributor. He's also an executive vice president, associate professor of business and economics at the King's College. He grew up with Pete Hegseth, little town, Minnesota.

was right there on the same street as Pete. So he's known Pete for a long time, and I was on the set of Fox & Friends, and I got to tell you, I had a lot of fun when Pete did a story about

about his friendship and growing up with Brian Brenberg of grade school through high school. And now they're both at Fox. We're going to have a good discussion about that. Look forward to chatting with him just about the world. And he's got this beautiful, wonderful family. And I think it's going to be a good discussion. So stick with us for that.

We're going to give some hot takes on the news, and we're always going to talk about the stupid because, you know what, there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere, and I've got quite a few of them today. So let's get right after the news. I've got to tell you, late last week on Friday, the President of the United States was standing before the microphones, and he was asked, why didn't you tackle this baby formula problem earlier today?

And the president said, well, how would we know? We would have had to be mind readers. But you can, in about, I don't know, 45 seconds, go on the Internet and figure out that according to data assembly,

The baby formula problem is not a new one. It's been going on and it's been lingering and it's been very problematic. And, you know, you're a young mother, single mother, family, whatever it might be, and you have an infant that needs formula and it's not there on the shelf. I'm not talking about, hey, the rapid rise of inflation and how the pricing is spiraling out of control. If you just simply do not even have access to purchasing that on the shelves, that –

I mean, what do you do, right? There are very few ways to help solve that problem. So in the first seven months, according to data, the baby formula from data assembly, the first seven months of 2021, not big a problem, 2% to 8% out of stock. And then in July of last year,

it started to go from 11% to 31%. So it just keeps ticking up and up and up. Now, there's two plus million people that work for the federal government. Are you telling me that the system is so bad and so broken that somebody doesn't start waving a flag here saying, "Sir, we got a problem over here." I mean, we have departments and agencies that are supposed to be working on this, paying attention to this.

But now we're at a point where there are some markets where you can't even get this product. You know, places in Tennessee and others where it's so bad and so out of control. So finally, the president of the United States back on May 13th, Friday the 13th, says, well, here are three things. We've got a website that will help you figure out where to go.

The FDA is going to work to deal with the issue. You know, it's just so pathetic. It's so mind boggling that there's so much frustration with the federal government because when it does come time to do their job, they don't seem to do their job on something as vital as this. So a lot of nerve from the president to suggest that now we should have just been, you know, what were you supposed to do? Be mind readers? No, you're supposed to get a bureaucracy that works, right?

you believe and worship government, then government's there to kind of provide the data and information and raise the red flag and they don't do it. And it's so, so frustrating. That brings me to the second topic. And I talk about this a lot, but Mr. President, any Democrat out there, I understand you want the green new deal.

But it's a false choice. You can pursue things that are green, that are renewable. I'm a conservative. A conservative wants to conserve things. I fall into that market. That's why I'm a conservative.

But you know what? You have to do it at the sacrifice of people's livelihood, their ability to heat their homes and fuel their cars and just live a good, decent life for them and their loved ones. So inflation is spinning out of control. We could go through a whole series of things about inflation. But one of the biggest things they could do is the president could simply go –

and sign an executive order, much like President Trump did on Operation Warp Speed, and say, we want to solve the energy crisis. We believe there are green alternatives that we should be pursuing as a nation. But until then, I'm going to get rid of all the red tape. I'm going to blow through the bureaucracy, and we need to start producing responsibly.

The petroleum-based products that this country needs in order to, A, be self-sufficient, and B, be able to fuel the rest of the world so they're not reliant on oil.

on China or Russia and fueling the crimes that are going on with Russia's attack of unprovoked attack in Ukraine. He could do that with the stroke of a pen. The markets would react wildly. There would be investment. There would be exploration. And guess what? There would be an increase in supply and the price would plummet and everybody's life would be better.

But he won't do it. So don't when the president says we're doing everything we can. No, no, he's not doing everything. All right. That gets me a little fired up. So it's obviously time to bring on the stupid because you know what? There's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere.

Well, according to Fox News' Chad Pergram, he wrote this funny tweet last week. It said, the filibuster is fine, but liquor is quicker. Fox has learned the lawmakers and aides can now order beer, wine, and hard liquor directly to their offices. This is through the new caterer on the outside of the hill, Sodexo. Hey, congratulations. You know, we just want to make it easier. You can order product directly.

alcohol directly to the office. Now, I don't know. Would private sector do that? I mean, your employees might go in and do it and bring it into the office. But are you seriously taxpayer-funded? We're going to go ahead and just...

Bring the liquor directly to you to get you all sauced up every night? That is just flat out stupid. All right, let's go to number two, Peloton. I hope that's some light beer they're ordering over there in the house because now Nancy Pelosi, what she wants is free Peloton. Yes. Yes.

Congress will pay. When you say Congress, it's your money. It's your taxpayer dollars for a Peloton membership. Are you kidding me? They already have subsidized workout facilities. You can go outside. You can do a lot of things outside.

But Peloton, if you want to use that with your discretionary money, great. If you want to use it with your taxpayer dollars, uh-uh. No. No possible way. I might make an exception, I guess, for law enforcement. But even then, there's cheaper solutions like NordicTrack and others that offer an incredibly good quality product for less price. But again, this is more stupid.

Also on the list is the United States Air Force had to reprimand the crew of WC-130. This is a Hercules cargo plane. These are what you call these hurricane hunters. These are the big, bad planes that get up there and they go hunt and provide data and information so NOAA, the weather service, essentially, can give us information about hurricanes and what's going on, the speed, the velocity. I mean, they do incredible work, hardworking people.

but decided to touch down in Martha's Vineyard. Martha's Vineyard, if you haven't been there, is one of the nicest places in this country.

They happen to have a runway, but they also had a motorcycle there that one of the personnel wanted to pick up. So they made an unscheduled stop, put that plane down, put the motorcycle on the airplane, then put it up and continued on to their destination. They have been reprimanded by the United States Air Force, but come on. You guys, somebody's got to step up and say, no, probably not a good idea to pick up a personal motorcycle on the way, courtesy of the United States taxpayers.

And then I finally got to highlight what the president of the White House, I should say, which is the president, right? Their Twitter feed put out a interesting one. It says this is on Friday, 13th. You can go look it up. When President Biden took office, millions were unemployed and there was no vaccine available. That's just not true.

You know, as Congressman Buddy Carter pointed out, the congressman from Georgia, he's the first one I saw him tweet this out. He said, really? No vaccine available? The president had had his second shot by then. Millions of people were starting to get their shots. There would have been no vaccine without Donald Trump. But again...

Joe Biden trying to rewrite history. The White House trying to rewrite history, putting a little spin on it. When the president took office, millions were unemployed and there was no vaccine available. Totally, completely false. No vaccine available. Yes, there was. Thank goodness. Operation Warp Speed. And you would think at some point, somehow, some way, the president and Kamala Harris would stand up and say, hey, thanks. That's one good thing that Donald Trump did do. And he was.

All right. As we transition now away from the stupid, it's time to introduce and bring on Brian Brenberg. Like I said, he is just a wonderful guy. He's the executive vice president, associate professor of business and economics at the King's College in New York City. He's a Fox News contributor, super smart guy in understanding the economy. You see him on Fox Business, Fox News. He's a great guy.

and big part of, I think, the network's future and just a solid, rock-solid guy. Great relationship with Pete Hegseth. So I had a chance to actually sit down in person with Brian. Normally, I'm calling people or phoning a friend. No, I got to sit down. I was in New York City. Brian was in New York City. Kind of spontaneously said, hey, come join my podcast. Here's the start of that conversation we had with Brian. ♪

Hey, Jason. Hi. So I told Brian, I said, yeah, this is the phone a friend segment. We're actually sitting in person. So we did the fake phone call. How was the acting there? Is that good? We did the fake phone call, even though we're sitting right next to each other. But thanks for rolling with it. No, a fake phone call is the best I can hope for, man. You know, I was so excited to actually to say, hey, let's sit down and chat about this because you're one of the happiest, nicest guys I've met around in this building.

Thank you. And anybody who grew up with Pete Hegseth the way you did. And, you know, I was actually, I got to guest host on a Fox and Friends segment way back when. Oh, yeah? And they did this story about how you and Pete, like, were literally like neighbors. Yeah, you were there that day. Yes. Yeah. And it was a fascinating story because you both have such a presence on Fox now. Obviously, Pete Hegseth is like, you know.

Oh, he's in the stratosphere. I mean, I'm just, you know, I'm like, I used to know that guy. And, but you guys were buddies. And tell us about this little neighborhood you grew up in. Yeah, it's crazy. So we grew up together in Forest Lake, Minnesota. And when I say grew up together, I mean, it was second grade bus stop. Now, how big is Forest Lake? We've got the photo evidence.

I don't know. It's maybe, I don't know, 10,000, 20,000 people. It's not Philadelphia. It's definitely not Philadelphia. I mean, it's a little, you know, grew up around Forest Lake. That's the deal. There's a lake there. It used to be a vacation spot, actually. But so Pete, we moved in when I was in second grade and Pete lived right across the street. And so he's,

The first guy I met, I mean, little kid on the block, I'm looking for a friend and here's this kid across the street. And the only thing I knew about him is he was crazy about basketball. And I'd never really played basketball before, but his dad was the high school basketball coach and he was nuts about it. So,

We'd go in his backyard and play basketball every single day of the summer. And that kind of forged our friendship. And we ended up growing up together. So went to high school together, played on the high school basketball team, played on the high school football team. I mean, you know, I...

I actually signed his Letterman's jacket when I was in high school with my name on it in permanent ink. And his parents got so mad that I signed that to this day. And they're still mad about that. But they're they're great. Penny and Brian are great. And so, yeah, we go way back. We were trading baseball cards back.

long before we were talking about politics and economics and all the stuff we talk about today. You know, I think one of my favorite shows that I ever went through and that I really related to was The Wonder Years. Oh, yeah. Now, I'm younger than that character on The Wonder Years, but it just invokes so many memories of how good and how great...

Childhood was. Yes. You know, and like Kevin on The Wonder Years had ups and downs and trials and things that didn't go so well and times he got in trouble with his parents. But when I watched that story with you and Pete, it just reminded me of that time in America where you weren't tied to a phone. Yeah.

Right. And you went out and you played and you had friendships and you'd hit each other and then be the best of friends. Yes, it was neighborhood life. You know, this is the power of the neighborhood, the power of open spaces where kids gather and make up games. I mean, that's what we did. We made up.

Baseball games, you play baseball, four guys, right? An entire game with four guys. And so you have to figure out the rules. And of course, somebody would break the rules right away. And then it was a fight to see how do we fix it. But, you know, and I've heard writers more eloquent than I say this, but that's where part of where civic life is forged in America is kids learning how to play together, make rules together, solve this. It's self-governance. Yeah.

You know, it's what our country's based on. And yeah, that's what we did together in this. So now we're both kind of,

coming at political issues from the same perspective. And I think that's part of it. We grew up in a very self-governing little spot and we value that a lot and want to pass that on. You know, we would play things like pickle. So you only have three people, right? Yes. Guy on each base. And you never run out of energy. You can sleep outside in a sleeping bag overnight without a fence around you. And I'd bring my dog, I'd tie my dog to like my sleeping bag and

and throw dirt clods at each other and have army men. And I'm sure like my wife or your wife probably had different experiences growing up. But, you know, like my wife, she loved to like climb fences and do crazy stuff off the roof of our house. Like I would never want my kids to do that. But I just worry that part of what, as we look at all these issues that are facing America and you're touching on it, but I want you to kind of expand on that because

Without those kind of experiences, just playing Xbox and growing up watching Iron Man and the 27th version of Star Wars is just a little different than maybe some of the generations have passed. And I think there are things we're losing from that. When you're doing those things, you're living in someone else's world. Somebody else created that world and they want you to play within those confines.

you know, just as you talk about jumping off the roof or climbing a tree, I mean, that was a life where you were trying to create your own world. You know, you had a lot of space, a lot of latitude. And so you calculated risk has always been a part of the American youth experience, right? Whether it's climbing a tree, whether it's, uh,

playing a game, whether it's jumping in a river, whether it's driving a car, whether it's even when you don't have a license trying to drive a car. These kinds of things are calculated risks and some of them don't pan out, but it's the process of taking those risks that helps you understand how to really operate in tough situations, in risky situations. And yeah, I think about young people today kind of stuck behind that screen. And I think

How would they navigate the complexity and risks and uncertainty of some of the tough issues that have defined American life? I mean, I always think back to like World War II because I'm just in awe of that generation. And I think about those farm kids who had never left the Midwest. You know, they'd never left probably 50 miles from their home and they went overseas and they solved some of the toughest problems that humankind has ever faced. Yeah. And they did it because they

They worked like heck when they were growing up. They probably jumped off the top of the barn into a hay bale. You know, they probably drove the tractor when they weren't supposed to. But that stuff matters. That's how people become adults and learn about the possibilities and risks of life. That grit that it took, you're right, to win the world wars and to be the greatest generation in terms of the ability to protect America but to love America. Yeah.

And I look at these generations and the fights that we're fighting about. All right, should a biological person be able to swim against somebody? I mean, really? I mean, these are the kind of fights and things we're going through instead of figuring out how do we learn to better read and write and go through history. And now we're arguing about what is the right history. Right. But let's go back to you and Pete for a second.

for example, because I just think it's such a, and again, I have the benefit of having seen this story and being sitting next to Pete on the couch and you can feel the emotion that he has and the friendship that he has with you. But not everything's always going great all the time, right? I mean, there's heartache that happens too. Even if you're growing up in like this picture perfect postcard world,

It's never picture perfect. No, no, no, no. I mean, the beauty of being a kid sometimes is a lot of that stuff gets hazy as time goes by and you forget the challenges. And you never understood. Like, mom and dad didn't have a lot of money. Right.

Or, you know, there were a lot of there were there were folks in the neighborhood who were really down on their luck. And maybe you didn't see him because they're inside all the time. But there was loneliness and there was heartache and there were those challenges. But, you know, it was it was good to be in community with those people, because even if I didn't apprehend it as a kid, my folks did. You know, because they were around. They went to church in the neighborhood and they and and so and they did the outreach in the neighborhood. And but there was a life together.

You know, there's a physical life together. And that, I think, is a real difference relative to where we are today. There's this interaction together through social media. You're interacting with people. But it's so carefully cultivated and curated to make sure that every family trip looks awesome. I mean, you know what family trips are like. We just did a family trip to South Dakota last year to go see the Black Hills. It was a great trip.

We had all sorts of problems on that trip. I, you know, I didn't post the stop at the pharmacy and I didn't post a stop at the hospital. I post a stop, you know, at the cabin, you know, up there in the Hills, but the backyard barbecue in the neighborhood, uh,

or just seeing friends in the street. That's where somebody saw it. Like, you got a broken arm. What happened? Yeah. I think the pressure on an Instagram or a Facebook or whatever it might be to post up the perfect picture that's going to make you one of the cool kids and look so stylish and all that, it puts a pressure on kids that is unnecessary. You know, our own son, and I try not to talk about him too much publicly, but

He got off of Facebook and he got off of this social media like years ago. And I could not be more proud of him. It wasn't because dad came down and said, hey, get off there. It was because he's like, this is an incredible waste of time.

And it can be used for humor and I can smile about it, but it's just really not a good use of my time. For him to actually come to that conclusion, I thought was about as mature as I had seen. But I worry about a lot of kids that this is their only lifeblood. And if they don't have that neighborhood or that church where they go out and just play, right?

then we lose a lot of society. Well, and if they get on that treadmill, and this is tough. I mean, you and I have to deal with this. I mean, being in the business that we're in, we're always kind of thinking about what's the news of the day? What are we talking about? Do I have a point of view that matters to people? And do they care or not? I mean, so we're on that treadmill, but it is a treadmill. You know, treadmills, you don't get anywhere ever.

You just keep, you stand still and keep moving. And that's what a lot of these social medias feel like. And so it just always, how do I measure up? What's the next thing? And so it causes, I think it causes obsessive personalities. And, you know, obsessive personalities don't thrive. Balanced personalities who kind of have a big picture view of what's important. And so that's awesome that your son had the presence of mind, the maturity to be able to say, I don't need this. There's better out there. Yeah, yeah.

Let's talk a little bit more about you and kind of your life and your trials because

I'm convinced that everybody has a trial. Everybody has challenges that they face. And I think too often we probably drive down the road and somebody looks at somebody and thinks, oh, what did I do wrong? Are you going to a convenience store or just a grocery store? And somebody doesn't give you that perfect look with the perfect smile, where that little ting comes off the teeth. And you think, oh, wait, is something wrong? It's

it seems to be, hey, it's not all about you, that everybody goes through trials. You know, when I was a kid, we went through some tough things. I grew up in an idyllic household and neighborhood. But my parents ended up going through divorce. My mom ended up passing away from breast cancer. My dad from colon cancer. And these are things that even my closest buddies never heard about, you know. But there were strains on me as a young teenager. And

There could be financial, they can be addictive, they can be, but through your life. Yeah. What's your perspective of that? Because in part, my, I guess my lesson is it may have made me a better, stronger, more loving person, but it doesn't always end up being like that. And a lot of times you've got to go through these hardships to get to where you want to get to. Yeah.

And it's hard though. It is. I love that question. I think that's, you know, you feel like you really get to know somebody when you find out what was the part of your life that was just punch in the face after punch in the face. And, you know, for me, I think it's,

I haven't felt like I've gone through these catastrophic moments, but there's been some seasons in life where it was just, it was hard growing up. Uh, my, my folks are still alive, wonderful parents. I love them. Um, we grew up kind of in a, uh, we didn't have a lot of, uh, extra money to go around growing up. I would say, you know, it was, it was relatively tight. And, um,

And I can just remember kind of, that's not a strain you feel acutely at any given moment as a kid, but you just kind of feel it persistently and it sort of shapes like, oh man, I got, instead of a kid inviting you to a birthday party and being excited about it, you're like,

I don't think I'm going to have enough money to buy him a gift or, you know, to be able to put tokens in the machine to go play with everybody. And, you know, so that was important. I'm grateful for that experience. It wasn't easy to always be feeling that tight, but yeah.

But I'm grateful for how my parents handled that. Actually, they kept pressing forward. They didn't look to somebody else to bail them out. They just kept pressing forward. And that sort of shaped how I think about economic life in America. It's not easy. You shouldn't be looking for a silver bullet. Success is about pushing through even those lean, expecting lean periods. You're listening to Jason in the House with Brian Brenberg as my guest. We'll be back with more of our conversation right after this.

From the Fox News Podcasts Network, subscribe and listen to the Trey Gowdy Podcast. Former federal prosecutor and four-term U.S. congressman from South Carolina brings you a one-of-a-kind podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to foxnewspodcasts.com.

What was your first job? I want you to talk a little bit about work and then also about sports. Because I've hired a lot of people through my career. I'm doing the Fox thing right now and I was in Congress, but I was 16 years in the local business community before that. That's awesome. But I think you learn a lot in sports. And I also, as I go in to interview all these people,

I found that some of the best workers that I ever ended up hiring had been involved and engaged in some degree of sports. But I also look back at my own career and I think those early jobs where it wasn't just mom saying, hey, go make your bed or take out the garbage or vacuuming or something like that. When I actually had a real job working for Mr. Hobie, you know, which was one of my bosses along the way. I hope I can connect with that guy if he's still around the planet Earth here. But...

What was it for you? What did you go through in terms of jobs and sports and how that kind of informed who you are today? Yeah, I'm grateful for my early jobs. They were, I don't know if I was bad at picking jobs or these were the jobs I needed and I didn't know it, but one of my first jobs was in a lumber yard in my hometown, which was awesome because I thought I want to work outside. I want to move wood because I was an athlete and I wanted to be physical physically.

And that job was so great because actually what it required is understanding something about the trades. Because guys would come in and be like, where can I find this? Where can I find this part, this piece? I want to buy this kind of soffit. What are some of the pieces I need? I don't know. I'm the college kid. I'm the kid who's educated. And what I realized really quickly is these guys –

understand physics at a practical level. They understand chemistry at a practical level. I took a class on astronomy. I couldn't tell you the first thing about what's going on up there. These guys understand the science that they practice. So there's a lot of humility actually in that job. I got to drive a forklift as well. I destroyed a lot of sheet rock that summer on that forklift. I got to tell you, because I was a little eager to like, you know, it was fun.

I cost the lumber yard a little bit of money, but I love that job because it put me in contact with guys who work hard, who get up early. I had to get up early because that's when they came in, you know. And then my another job I had is truly after was in the the tire and lube express at Walmart. So another Walmart, I had to be there at 5 a.m. to stock all the shelves. I was I think there was one other person in the entire store. I had to get there at 5 a.m. and put all the motor oil up there and the tires and

This was in high school, and I was also training for the football season. How much were you making? I can't even remember. Back then, it was probably like five-something an hour, right? It was nothing. But I was training all day for football, and then I'd have to get up at 4 a.m. to go into Walmart. And I remember, and I can admit this now because I'm not employed there anymore, but I remember the first thing I did, I'd get in. I'd always get in about 20 minutes late. Nobody was there, so it didn't matter. And I'd just sleep for another 40 minutes late.

And then about 6 a.m. You clocked in and then went to sleep? I was so tired because all day I was training. You know, I'm in the gym all day and I'm running routes all day. And then I get in there and I take a nap till 6. And then I'm like, okay, now I got to bust my butt and get the tires on the shelf really quick. So, but, you know, but there again, it was like guys come in here like I got to get, I didn't know about how cars worked. And I'm the guy working there, you know, so I had to learn really quickly. But,

All that to say there's a lot of humility in getting a job that's tough with people who are depending on you. That's the beauty of work. It's the same thing with sports. A ton of humility. I mean, getting cut from a team, missing a big shot, getting burned. What sports were you playing? You were playing basketball? So I played basketball, played football, and ran track. Oh, what were you doing in track? High hurdles and triple jump. That's tough. High hurdles are tough. I love the hurdles. Triple jump's where they put all the...

I wasn't that great in track. I could actually run distance. Okay. But I had these long, lanky legs, and so they all go do the triple jump. Just, you know, one, two, three, and then jump in the sand. That was not as impressive as throwing the javelin. Oh, you don't understand the triple jump. There's poetry in the triple jump. You've got to watch Jonathan Edwards. And I'm not talking about the preacher. I'm talking about the great British triple jumper. You've got to watch...

Five foot eight, could squat about 400 pounds, and the guy could, he was like hanging. Well, Al Joyner, I remember when he won the gold medal for the United States. That guy was a triple, but come on. The high school kid, Jason Chaffetz, trying to replicate Al Joyner. Yeah, you were hop, skipping, and jumping. I get that. I get that. No, I love track. My wife's dad was head track coach, actually. Yeah.

wasn't my wife at the time, obviously, but, um, but it was his daughter who I would date and eventually marry. And, uh, I can remember, I actually remember he's the kindest gentlest guy you've ever met, but he was the head coach. And we were at the section track meet and, uh, this is a big meet. And my wife's brother, who was a senior, I was a, I guess a freshman at the time he was a senior and he was kind of our stud long jumper. And he, uh, he was supposed to go to the state meet. And, um,

Anyway, big jump for him. And it was tense. And my wife's dad was there. He was jumping. And I'm standing over here with my buddy throwing a football around. And the only time in my life that my father-in-law has ever been mad at me is before he was my father-in-law. And he came over and he said, you guys get over here and cheer for your teammates. Quit throwing this football around. And he was right. He was absolutely right. But it's like that's the stuff in sports where somebody yells at you, like berates you. And you're like, you know what?

I deserve that because I'm a knucklehead. Yeah. You know, it's okay to get like the funny story that I now actually remember. I don't think I've ever told this story. I don't even think I've told my wife this story is, is I got real in here. I got hazed a little bit when I was, so I had moved up to winter park, Colorado. Yeah. And which is a ski town. Oh yeah. Small towns like 700 people.

And I was going to school in Granby, which was Middle Park. I was a Middle Park Panther. It's my senior year. But I had moved from Scottsdale, Arizona. Wow. Huge school. You know, this school, I think we had 49 people in our graduating class.

And played football, actually went on and got a scholarship to kick some footballs. But decided that I was also going to be on the track team. And so they invited me out there to be the track team. Well, it is freezing cold when you're on track up at I don't know how many thousands of feet and there's snow around. And so I was telling the other guys, I'm like, guys, it's really cold out here. Like, what do you do, you know?

He said, Jason, you know what we do? We actually wear pantyhose. And I'm like, wait, what? He said, yeah, no, they work really well. I want you to go home, get some pantyhose and you wear them. Nobody will know you have them on and your legs will stay a lot warmer. So I did it.

And these guys just came unglued because there I came in my track outfit wearing pantyhose. I love it. That story must be told. That story must be told. And now I'm, you know, in my 50s, so I can admit it now. Man enough to admit it. I cannot believe it. But, you know, it was just a funny time. It was just like I didn't get hurt.

It was darn fun. Those guys could not stop laughing that I was actually wearing pantyhose. It was before, you know, they had Under Armour and all this cool stuff. Right. We didn't have that stuff. Yeah.

But I still remember Coach Schmidt and others, you know, screwing up and having to run laps. And there's something really good in that, isn't there? It is. It's severe. The goodness is in how severe it feels at the time. It feels like it matters. Like you blew it and you let your team down and you're a knucklehead. And you got it. Somebody's got to tell you that because you are when you're 17. Yeah.

you're pretty stupid, right? You just are. And the sooner you learn that, the faster you grow up. But if at 17, everyone's telling you, you just got to do you because you are great, you know, and there's nothing that needs to change. Well, then nothing's going to change and you're not going to become an adult. Yeah. You know, it's like the Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, right? Thank you for making that reference. I love Uncle Rico. If you don't actually make the transition out of high school,

But you obviously did. So let's go back to, so you decide, hey, you're going to go to, you get out of college, I mean, out of school, and then you go to college. Tell us about that journey moving forward. Well, yeah, this was a big deal because neither of my folks went to college. My grandpa, nobody went to college in my family. So I was a first gen college and it was really scary for me. Did you know what you wanted to major in? Not at all. I didn't know why I was going to college, except for that was the next thing you do. And I

I had some desire to play football, basically. So I kind of was like, where do I want to play football? I don't want to go far from home for undergrad. So I went to University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. But it was a big deal. I remember this. I don't know if my dad remembers this, but I remember him dropping me off at college. You know, this is move-in day. And so we parked the car and he gets out and I get out. And I remember him looking around at the buildings and him saying, he rarely ever made admissions like this. He said,

man, you are so lucky. And I thought, wow, I've never heard him say something quite like that. But it was a big deal for us. I mean, I was the first kid who went to college and it was an awesome experience. I mean, just- How far away from home? Not far, like an hour's drive, not far at all, which was good for me at that time. I wasn't, later I'd go to grad school, plenty far away and very different context, but for undergrad, not far from home. And it was

it was really a growing up experience because I got connected with a mentor in college, somebody who kind of recruited me to play football, was a successful businessman in Minnesota. And I happened to go to my parents' church as well. And he, he kind of saw me as a, a project, somebody he'd like to invest in. And so for me,

several years in college that he was really a strong mentor to me. And he, like, he's the guy who got me my first blazer. I didn't have a jacket, you know, until he bought me one. I didn't have, you know, button down shirt that could be worn with a tie until he bought one for me. And so it was this like opening up to the world. He took, my wife and I got married in undergrad. So we got married between our sophomore and junior year in college. And

And he took us the next year on a trip to New York and Boston for the first time. Never been to New York, you know. So, and it was great. Took us to the 21 Club, had dinner at 21, saw a show, went to the top of the Trade Towers before they fell. I mean, that was, this was 2001. But so college for me was this kid from a small town in Minnesota finally seeing a little bit more of the world. And I don't think I would have had the guts to move to New York City later in life.

had he not done that for me. Is that where you went to graduate school? I went to Harvard, so I went to Boston eventually for grad school. I've heard of it, yeah. Yeah, and like, you know, that was only in my head because he took me to Boston and I saw the place and he said, here's Harvard, you've heard of it, here it is, you know? Wow, yeah. I would have never been ready for it as an undergrad. I don't know if I was ready for it as a grad student either, frankly, but...

But it was, so college was really formative for a small town kid whose horizons were pretty narrow. It was a big deal for me. Well, you know, it says a lot for somebody to step up and be that mentor. I, most of the people, there's some exceptions probably, but most of the people that I've had, I've talked to that have been successful and

and really kind of thrived in life. And again, I think anybody's success is also peppered with challenges and hurdles that you may never ever hear about.

But there's usually a mentor involved, somebody who steps up and says, you know, I'll spend a little extra time helping this person out. I'm amazed how many people, though, I feel like missed that opportunity, you know, and don't either recognize it or don't give back, you know, team on the people that don't give back a little bit. But, you know, you can't help everybody, but there's you run across people that think, you know what, they just need a little bit of coaching. And sometimes that has to happen outside of

Of being the parent and not to replace the parent, but to, as you kind of make that transition away from the nest, be that mentor to help. And it sounds like somehow, some way you were blessed to find that person or they found you. Yeah. And I don't think I'm somebody who was naturally disposed to being great at relationship, but

people kind of inserted themselves into my life and said, I want to get to know you and I'm going to give you some advice and some encouragement. And you got to be open to that. You know, going back to the earlier part of our conversation, if you think whatever you feel is right, you're never going to have a profitable mentoring relationship because you won't be open to somebody saying, I mean, I remember this mentor, this was after I got married in college. I had just been elected captain of the football team for the next year. Yeah.

I had just gotten married and I was way off kilter because marriage was way harder than I thought. And I was a young guy, you know? So I was like, my head was all over the place. And I remember him saying, I want to have lunch with you. I'll bring a sandwich. I'll meet you in the football field. Let's go to the football field and meet you. I'll have a sandwich. Sat down on the bench. And he, and he said to me, this is what he said. It was tough conversation, but he said, you're, you're not doing the right things right now. Your head's not in the right spot.

you know, essentially you need to get your stuff together. You've taken a big step in life. You now need to get your stuff together. And I just remember that being a hard conversation, but also realizing he's right. Mentor. Yeah. And you, you, you learn that the hard way or you learn that just by digesting it. I think one of the most important things I learned in reflection back is that I don't know what I don't know. So I would, you know, I'd always, I'd

Later on in life, I would say to people as they came out to a new job or a new relationship, say, okay, I don't know what I don't know, so tell me what I need to know. But that took getting to a degree of maturity that I did not have. That's a great, to ask that question is actually amazing, to get that you need to ask that question. Well, and it comes through trials. You know, when I was a place kicker, the first collegiate kick I took in a Division I game, I missed.

And I had all kinds of excuses. And I remember my coach, LaValle Edwards, pushed this little button on the chair and it was very intimidating. He had this chair and you'd sit in it and he had a chair that had a little button and it would close the door without him getting up. And that guy laid into me like I had never gotten laid into before. And he basically told me that until I recognized that I had to take my own personal responsibility...

that it was nobody else's fault. And yeah, the snaps are not always going to be great. The hold isn't always going to be great. You're not always going to get the best blocking. You still have to put that ball through those goalposts. It's so awesome. And you know, so I figured it out. Yeah. Thank goodness, because we went on and I had a good kicking career there at Brigham Young University. But

It's that kind of experience in sport that then I could parlay into other things. Not to say that I got it all figured out. I think, but I think that's the lesson, right? You don't always have it all figured out. On the football field, you have one thing figured out. The thing you got to do, because there's chaos all around you. I have to block that guy. Right. I've got one job. And if I don't do my job, it doesn't matter if these guys do. He's heading straight for the quarterback, you know? That's right. So it's like learning it. That's what life is. Life is this fog and chaos. Yeah.

And you got three feet in front of you. You can see, so do the thing you can do in those three feet. And I don't know what teaches that more than sports or war, right? Yeah.

You didn't think about kids when they 18, 19 years old, get thrown into wards because in part they don't know any better and they'll go do it. And they're so physically fit. True. You know, so. All right. So let's move forward. So you go to Harvard. Yeah. You passed. I did. I passed, believe it or not. I don't know how. But walk us through the journey that eventually brought. I mean, you're everywhere on Fox Business. I see on Fox News. It's like.

But you've got a way of looking at things. And what I appreciate when I listen to you is synthesizing down a very complicated situation into 30 seconds, two minutes. You know what I mean? That's a harder thing to do. But how in the world did you end up at Fox? Yeah.

Well, you know, the real answer is I ask myself that question every day and I don't know the answer to it. You know, it's part of it is you take these little incremental steps in life and you don't know where they're going to go. I mean, life is so much this kind of

winding road. So coming to New York, I teach at the King's College. I came here to teach. I didn't even know I wanted to be a professor. That's not what I was trained to do. But- What do you like about that? Well, I- What drew you to that? It's actually the thing that you just mentioned. It's the idea of, okay, there's something in the world that's important and I've got people who are completely new to it. How can I help them get 50% of the way there? 60%, 70% of the way there? I love the challenge of taking something-

that seems messy and making it relatable to somebody who is new to it but wants to learn. I mean, that's so much fun to me. It's the communication piece of that. And that's what drew me to teaching is just the chance to do that or hone that or try it out. So it was a bet. I mean, my wife and I...

we're not adapted to life in the Northeast. We are thoroughly Midwestern, Minnesota nice, you know, don't, don't, don't confront me with anything. And so the thought of moving to New York city was scary, but we did, we actually felt like we were being called. There were people of faith and we felt like we're being called to New York to do something. So, okay, let's try it out. And so teaching was, was step one on the path to Fox. And,

And then step two is kind of paying attention to what's happening in the world, writing a few articles, you know, and somebody sees one and says, oh, this guy's talking about this issue. Do you want to come on air and talk about that with us? And

somebody gives you a chance at, at, uh, Fox here. Actually, the person who really gave me the biggest chance first was Kennedy on Fox business show. I still do all the time, but, um, I think she was kind of just starting out here. And, uh, I had connected with one of her producers through something else. I can't remember how, but Kennedy had me on and that, that was kind of my first thing. And from there, it sort of snowballed a little bit, but

And Kennedy's one of those people, by the way, who's sort of like a mentor. I mean, she is amazing in terms of encouragement, thoughts, empathy.

friendship. And so even here in this building, there have been so many people who have been helpful in that regard. But it's an adventure. I mean, this is totally an adventure. When I sit across from Pete and we're talking about the latest GDP report or unemployment or something like this, and I'm thinking, why is this happening right now? I should be eating a bratwurst and talking twins baseball with Hegseth, not this on air. But

But that's what life has become.

But I think that's part of the formula that what makes Fox work so well. There is a variety of people and thought. I love Ken. I did a podcast interview with Kennedy. She's fascinating. I mean, she is wicked smart. Oh, my gosh. So quick. And just a genuine person. And she really has that libertarian bent that I think is pervasive in America. They just don't recognize it until you really think it through. Totally agree. I think that's out there. Yeah.

But there is an ability and a talent. And I think people are attracted to doing what they're good at. And if you're good at sharing a message that's teaching and being out there on Fox and more power to you because you're touching a lot of lives and doing it way with also having a smile on your face. Because I remember Mike Pence. So Mike Pence, back when I was in Congress, I was a couple of years behind him.

And he was a little bit of a mentor. And he would be in these closed-door, small-setting meetings. And he said he would always – I mean, I don't want to say always, but he'd regularly say, he said, listen, I know we're all conservatives and I know we're Republicans, but let's just not be angry about it, okay? Let's just – you know, everybody else thinks we're wrong and all that. But if you stick to principle, just put a smile on your face. You know, he was a great –

communicator because he had radio for 10 plus years. And it's okay to be a happy person. I think people are attracted to wanting to be around happy other people. I think over time, that's, you know, there's maybe that one-off moment of righteous indignation that works, but if that's your deal, time in, time out, people start to say, wait a second, I don't know if I can hang with you. You know, I want to be, I want you to be somebody I'd actually like to be with. And there are some people who do that, except I agree with you. I've seen, um,

Former vice president in different live settings and I've always been amazed by that command of his emotions and and I yeah, I plus I just

why would I not smile about this? I mean, the chance to get, this is all the cream in life right now. This is a good thing to get to do. If you're not grateful to get to do this, then you gotta change your mindset. - One other thing about Mike Pence and Kennedy, I was amazed when I did this interview with Kennedy that she told me when she was in high school, she had a poster

of Dan Quayle up on our wall. And I thought...

Kennedy had a poster of all the people. I mean, she's like a rocker. She started out her life as an MTV VJ. I know, I know. And she had Dan Quayle up on her wall. It's amazing. Nobody had a Dan Quayle. Nobody did that, but that's her, you know? I mean, it's that quirkiness. Did you ever have posters up on your wall? Heck yeah, man. But it was like basketball and football. I had David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird.

Anthony Carter, a Minnesota Viking back in the 80s, wide receiver. I remember him. He was awfully good. I think that was my first poster. I was a sports guy. I love sports. I still love sports. I mean, I love, I'm a memorabilia guy. I love sports memorabilia, baseball cards and stuff.

And that's kind of my, you know, when life gets a little too stressful and I want to stop smiling, you know, go buy a few baseball cards. No, I remember going to the 7-Eleven, getting baseball cards and football cards. I probably more gravitated to the football cards. Yeah. That awful piece of gum that would come with it. Like, I miss having that. Oh, so great.

I mean, I'd get the Hubba Bubba and I'd get the, you know, Bubbalicious or whatever, but there was nothing better than that hard. You would take that little piece of gum and you bite it and it just crunch. Yeah. Like a total crunch. But it was the seal of authenticity, you know? It was the wax on the envelope that said, you just bought a pack of baby. You take it out, there'd be a little dust on the car. You'd wipe it off and, oh my gosh, I got a, I got a McGuire rookie, you know, or I got a Jose Canseco and it would just make your day. Yeah.

And then I look forward and our kids were doing Pokemon cards. And I'm like, Pokemon? What happened to the NFL? I had NFL sheets on my bed. Yeah. I had an NFL. Who was your team? You grew up in Arizona? Well, I was a California, Arizona. I was probably more of either a 49ers or a Raiders guy because I was born up in Northern California. That's kind of who my dad liked. Yeah. And I had a pension, I think, for a year.

You know, just the Raiders, I guess, if I had to really pinpoint it. And then the San Francisco Giants.

A little bit the A's, but more the Giants. I just, you know, you look at little Jason Chaffetz. That's what I have in my room. I love it. I love it, man. All those classic West Coast teams. But my dad, we actually went to Southern California because my dad became the general manager of the Los Angeles Aztecs. This is the old NASL, North American Soccer League. No way. And so I would do, you know.

Aztecs, Cosmos, Rowdies, you know, all that kind of stuff. So, yeah. Anyway, that's for another day. That's for another day. You're listening to Jason in the house. We'll be back with more right after this. Oh, we got to ask you some rapid questions. Oh boy. Okay. And I know you've taught a lot of classes and you've been a lot of Fox and you know your numbers. So, but you've never been through the rapid questions. Okay. All right. So let's, it was just to get to know you a little bit better. Yeah. First concert you ever attended.

First concert would have been the Smashing Pumpkins. That's pretty good. Yeah, it's not bad. It's not bad. Did you go with Pete? No, I went with my wife, actually. We went. No. Yeah. Now I'm embarrassed. Did I go with my wife or my buddy? I can't remember. But it was awesome. It was awesome. This Billy Corgan Smashing Pumpkins. It was awesome. That sparked a story I'm going to tell you that was actually pretty funny because he likes sports. Yeah.

So the Utah Jazz were playing the Chicago Bulls. And my wife and I were fortunate to get tickets to this one game. And he was there smashing pumpkins. He was there and he was watching the game. And they would go around the stadium. This is in Utah. And they would put up somebody's picture.

And then the crowd would yell. It's going, oh, you know, this famous person is at a Utah Jazz game in Salt Lake City. That just didn't happen to us back, you know, Karl Malone and John Stockton were our heroes. Right. And they go and they put it on him and huge, huge applause. Loved it. And then David Hasselhoff was there. And he's wearing a Utah Jazz jacket. No way. And the crowd goes crazy. Yeah, you know, they're all cheering. Yeah, yeah. And then...

They put up this other actor and everybody, Jonathan Lithgow, right? Oh, yeah. Jonathan Lithgow. Everybody saw it. And I have never heard an audience switch faster. Instantly, he comes on and instantly the crowd is cheering. And then he shows that he's actually got a Chicago Bulls jacket. And the crowd just goes boo.

And he started laughing so hard. I mean, the whole crowd was laughing because it went from the loudest of yays to the loudest of boos within just a split second. Oh, I love it. It just totally reminds me. So when I think Smashing Pumpkins, I think of Utah Jazz. Utah Jazz.

So I didn't hear their concert, but I saw them at a Utah Jazz game. That's awesome. I love it. I love it. Okay. Sorry. Let's get back on track. That's a rapid fire. So much for the rapid fire. So what was your high school mascot? The Rangers. Rangers? The Forest Lake Rangers. Yeah. Like-

Like a guy with a hat on a horse. Don't ask me why we were the Rangers, but we were the maroon and gold. We were the Rangers. You know, that's, I loved it. Did you have pets growing up? Didn't have any pets. No. No pets. No pets. Did Pete have pets? I don't.

He got a dog eventually named Hooper, I think. Basketball. Hooper. No pets for us. My kids are still begging for them. Having a pet in the city is kind of tough, though. It is tough. I think. It is tough. Best advice you ever got? Okay, I'm going to flip that one. I can't think of the best advice I've gotten, but...

I think one of the most formative things for me is the best model I've ever gotten. So there's a guy in the city who I go to church with and I serve with. And as a result of that and the church leadership board, I get a chance to be with him pretty regularly and watch how he operates. I'm a guy who learns through imitation. Watching this guy, he's a very successful businessman, but watching him operate the church

the diplomacy, the brilliance, the genuine concern for where others are. It's amazing. And so I watch him and I just try to do that. Yeah. Yeah. That's a. Imitation for me. It's imitation. No, that makes a lot of sense.

Unique talent that you have. What can you do? What can Brian do that nobody else can really do? Man, do I have it. Do you like juggle? Do you like eat Fritos with your toes? I mean, what is it? That's a good idea. I should try that sometime. Oh, unique talent. I think that...

I learned names well. So my students are always amazed. When I taught freshman at Kings, I knew every single student's name in the school. I walked down the hallway. In the school? I would say, hey there, Joe. Hey there, Susie. Hey there, Dad. You're like a savant with names? No, but I wasn't. You know how I did? I saw...

It's actually just, I'm not embarrassed. I would shake the hands of every student in my class every single day. The whole 50 people, I'd walk around the room and shake everyone's hand and say their name. So for whatever reason, names is my thing. I love to know people's names. So Ronald, it's been great to be with you today. Thank you so much. Thanks, Jimmy, for joining us here. Okay, that's talent.

Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no? Anything on pizza. Yeah. Judges don't like that answer. No. Okay. Okay. Would I choose it? No, I would not choose. You know what I like? I like a cheese pizza. Just plain old cheese. Plain cheese. I like light cheese, maybe some pepperoni, throw a little black olives on it. I don't need any complication. I don't need a wet food on my... Okay. It's just a consistent thing that is obviously a pet peeve for me. So I...

I asked Tyrus this question and he said, yeah, I love it. And I said, well, judges don't like that answer. And he said, well, somebody come over here and try to take it off. You can say that when you're tired. Yeah, you say anything. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Life's most embarrassing moment. Life's most embarrassing moment.

That I'm willing to admit on a podcast. You can tell us anything. Publicly. Nobody listens to my podcast, so go ahead and tell us. It's just the most embarrassing I know. But in eighth grade, I'm sitting at the lunch table, just minding my own business. And a guy chucks a banana across the cafeteria and it hits me straight.

right in the head it's literally melted to half my head and then sticking up like this in the middle of the eighth grade it was like a cartoon and everybody stopped and busted out laughing and i was like what just happened you could not wash it out of my hair i had like crusty i had like fox news hair the rest of the day because this guy chucked a banana in my head and so i

Most embarrassing? I don't know. Definitely pretty embarrassing for an eighth grader. Yeah, no young teenager wants to be in that position. Mr. Banana Hat, right? Yeah, you don't want to be that guy. You don't want to be that guy. All right, that's a good moment. Last question, just general thoughts on UFOs. General thoughts? I'll tell you this much. I'm not a conspiracy theory guy, but my son and I were driving down a road in rural Minnesota near where we have a cabin last summer, and

And, you know, it might have been a drone. I don't know. But something came flying across the road. And this thing was bobbing and weaving and moving. And then it was gone. And my eight-year-old, and I'm sitting here, and I'm like, do you just see that, Timmy? He's like, yeah. What was that? I said, I don't know, but I don't even think drones can move like that. So,

Not a conspiracy theory guy, but I, my brother then in Indiana earlier this year had a similar experience where he got this picture of this thing in the air. And he's like, just look at this picture. I'm going to show you a series of pictures. Like I saw that thing. And I mean, it looked like it was straight out of an 80s, you know, alien movie or something. So is the door open just like a little crack? Yeah.

I think so, actually. I've seen a few things now. Yeah, I just, I have some, I don't know. I guess the bottom line for me is I don't know. That's why they're called UFOs. That's right. Unidentified. But to suggest that there's nothing else out there and there's no other, I don't believe that either. It's so big. Yeah. It's so big out there.

That's an interesting thought. Well, thanks for kind of opening up, sharing a little bit about your background and your success and love seeing you on Fox. Well, thank you. And better for me to get to know you and just be friends and see a happy smiley face. You know, you...

again, happy warriors, I think are just so important. And it's been fun. You know, this whole Fox relationship has been fun because I get to meet and interact with people I would have never otherwise. So appreciate your friendship that way. And thanks for joining us on the Jason and the House podcast. My pleasure. Thank you. And when I talk about imitation and learning guys, I get to watch, you're one of those guys that you exhibit that happy warrior mentality. And I appreciate that as well. Thank you for the invitation. All right. Thank you. You bet. Well,

I really did enjoy sitting down with Brian. And as I reflect back on my time where I sat and kind of got a chance to chat with him,

Just all around good guy. I hope you see and highlight him. Learned a little bit more about him and his perspective on life. And just a wonderful family, great guy. And glad he joined us. Thanks for joining us on the Jason and Iles podcast. I hope you rate it, subscribe to it, enjoy it. And go on over to foxnewspodcast.com. You'll see and hear other podcasts from some of my colleagues at Fox News.

I hope you enjoy it and I hope you join us next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House. The Fox News Rundown, a contrast of perspectives you won't hear anywhere else. Your daily dose of news twice a day. Featuring insight from top newsmakers, reporters, and Fox News contributors. Listen and subscribe now by going to foxnewspodcast.com.