497: Ethan Thornton—I Like a Lotta Problems

The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe · Aug 4, 2026 · 2h 2m

Ethan Thornton doesn't shy away from problems—he goes looking for them. At just 22, the founder of Mach Industries is tackling some of the biggest challenges in American defense manufacturing, rethinking how weapons are designed, built, and produced.

In this episode, Ethan takes Mike deep into the problem he believes America can no longer afford to ignore: How did we get to a place where China has such an enormous advantage in manufacturing, production capacity, and the ability to produce things at scale? And, more importantly, what are we going to do about it?

Ethan explains why the future…