The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy on Thursday publicly invited television host Mike Rowe to Nashville for an education forum after Rowe called for a national conversation on addressing the growing shortage of skilled workers in the U.S.
On Wednesday, Rowe posted a video to social media reacting to an interview conducted at the World Economic Forum in Davos between Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, and Jensen Wong of Nvidia, which discussed the rapidly expanding need for trade and technical workers.
Noting the surge in demand, Rowe said his foundation received “ten times” as many trade school scholarship applications this year than last.
“People are getting the memo, they’re just not quite sure what to do about it,” Rowe said in the video. “We are going to need hundreds of thousands of skilled workers that we currently don’t have.”
“I think we ought to convene, maybe not in Switzerland, maybe somewhere stateside, and talk about rethinking the way we train the next generation for these jobs,” he added.
Leahy, speaking during Thursday’s edition of his talk radio show, responded to Rowe’s call to action by publicly inviting him to headline a forum he intends to organize in Nashville focused on workforce development and education reform.
“Mike, I am inviting you to come here to Nashville, Tennessee, and we are going to hold a conference. Obviously, your presence will make the conference significant…and we’re going to talk about redefining what education looks like in the United States of America today, and how we get there quickly,” Leahy said on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“We don’t need all those globalist world leaders in Davos, Switzerland,” he added. “Let’s set this conference up. Let’s get it done in the all-American classic way, in the tradition of Thomas Alva Edison, where American can-do-ism gets the job done and we’re not whiny victims.”
Leahy argued that Nashville is uniquely positioned to host a national education forum, as cultural and economic influence in the U.S. shifts away from traditional coastal centers.
“Where else in the world does it make more sense to have this real education forum than right here in Nashville, Tennessee?” he said. “[Nashville] is not a perspective of the world that is based on New York City…or San Francisco or LA, or any of those places. We’re based on reality.”
Leahy emphasized the importance of preparing students for practical, economy-essential careers, stressing that vocational skills are a critical component of education reform.
“[A key element to change education dramatically in America] is for [students] to learn a trade. People don’t need basket weaving. People don’t need gender ideology. People need their toilet fixed when it doesn’t work. You have to have the skill to do that. It’s a trade skill,” he said.
In addition to emphasizing the need for skilled trade workers, Leahy also shared his broader view on how to reform the nation’s education system during Thursday’s show, reiterating his long-standing warning that America is experiencing a national education crisis.
He stressed that the foundation of any meaningful reform must begin in the early grades, saying students in K–5 need to “read, write, spell, and do basic math” to develop the ability to think independently.
Leahy also highlighted the importance of civic education, noting that many students lack a basic understanding of the U.S. Constitution and government, a shortfall he has sought to address through his National Constitution Bee academic scholarship competition.
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on Roku
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/aXEYoW96Gw— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) January 22, 2026
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
