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Did America Ban Innovation? | Blake Scholl From #487 | The Way I Heard It

2026-06-05 Entertainment
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Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe
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Description

I sat down with Blake Scholl, the founder of Boom Supersonic. On paper, Blake has absolutely no business building the world's next supersonic airliner. Before this, he was running email marketing at Groupon. Before that, he was running a startup that failed. He wasn't an aerospace engineer or a physicist. He wasn't even particularly qualified. Then he toured a retired Concorde, became obsessed with a simple question, taught himself enough calculus and physics to understand the problem, and decided the world shouldn't have to settle for flying slower than it did 50 years ago. In this clip, Blake explains why he believes America didn't just stop pursuing faster air travel—we effectively banned it. He argues that one government decision in the early 1970s helped freeze innovation, left us polishing the same basic airplane for decades, and changed the trajectory of an entire industry. Whether you think he's visionary, delusional, or some combination of the two, it's hard not to be fascinated by the guy's conviction. And if he's right, your kids might someday think nothing of having breakfast in New York and dinner in London. That's a future I hadn't seriously considered until this conversation. Watch my full conversation with Blake: https://bit.ly/TWIHI487BlakeScholl #podcast #aviation #travel My foundation is awarding millions of dollars in work ethic scholarships to men and women willing to learn a skilled trade. Apply now at: https://bit.ly/mrwscholarships If you like me, and even if you don't, subscribe to my channels and follow me. Much obliged. https://www.youtube.com/@therealmikerowe https://www.youtube.com/@therealmikeroweshorts https://www.youtube.com/@PYSKshow http://instagram.com/mikerowe http://facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe https://twitter.com/mikeroweworks 00:00 The Overture airliner ️ 02:28 Funding Boom Supersonic 05:16 Blake's career pivot 08:06 AI for learning 09:26 Boom's impact on life 11:10 The supersonic race 14:20 Concorde's flaw 16:56 How can airports improve? ️ 19:14 Pride in work ‍‍‍

Top Comments (10)

@kynndarrnwilliamson7073 2026-06-05

How do you know someone is pilot.... they will tell you lol

25 9 replies
@NOSdWOH1 2026-06-06

1956: Pay for a ticket, board a DC2, fly for three hours -- get there in three hours. 2026: Pay for a ticket, spend 2.5 hours in TSA lines, board the supersonic, fly for 0.5 hours -- STILL get there in three hours.

21 9 replies
@loumontcalm3500 2026-06-06

Race Bannon would look good flying this jet

9
@pontiac411 2026-06-07

Foinded in 2014, no planes in the sky and now shifting to power Data Centers...

7
@barrygrant2907 2026-06-09

"It's hard to hate somebody you spent time with." This guy obviously never spent time with my mother-in-law. She made it sooo easy. A really sharp guy with a goal.

6
@michaelmeehan9083 2026-06-05

Mike, love your shirt!!

6
@bradborgelt60 2026-06-07

Wonder how the behavior of your typical passenger will these speeds make the crash outs better?

5
@OldSkoolRocker5150 2026-06-10

I have flown to Japan several times from the west coast of the US. To think of flying there in 5 hours instead of 11 is very appealing.

0
@edgewood99 2026-06-09

LOL...the subscribe song...BEST PART.

0
@PatSabins 2026-06-09

Exciting ideas! I may not live long enough to see this actually be available to ordinary travelers, but what a great future in air travel.

0

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