Well, already, and welcome back yet again to the Katowski files.

You know, if you grew up in the 70s and 80s like I did, you remember there was a very special episode of this or that show.

Like it was a very special episode of Full House where they took on some very serious topic.

This is kind of like that.

We're not going to be talking about news articles today or Supreme Court decisions or the SIGP320.

Today we're going to be talking about Mr. Gatowski himself and his illustrious career.

I think people would like to know where this guy came from, where he cut his teeth reporting, and what it was like to be a CNN contributor.

There's a lot to talk about.

So, Stephen, first of all, how are you, my friend?

I'm doing all right.

It's been such a long time since we've recorded in one of the... It has not been an hour, but it's been a full week since I've seen you. We're not... We're just happy you were in the same shorts we were last week, oddly enough. Anyway, yeah, that was funny when you brought that up last week,

then then you laughed.

So listen, I think a lot of folks would like to have a little back. week. Oddly enough. Anyway, yeah, that was funny when you brought that up last week. They made me laugh.

So listen, I think a lot of folks would like to have a little background. They know about me, not much to tell, you know, 30-year law enforcement veteran, former federal agent, blah, blah, blah, a friend of John Korea. People ask me like, how do I get a big social media presence? I'm like, well, befriend a guy 20 years before he strikes it big on YouTube.

That's step one.

That's actually all the steps. big social media presence. I'm like, well, befriend a guy 20 years before he strikes it big on

YouTube. That's step one. That's actually all the steps. That's all you got to do. And he'll hire you

when you retire from the feds. But you've been doing this for a while, but it hasn't always been

the reload. Before the reload, I assume you went to college somewhere. Did you get,

do you have a journalism degree? Is that a thing? I have a politics degree. Journalism degrees are a thing. Yes, they have a J-school, they call it. But I did not go to college for journalism. I don't think you need to go to college for journalism, although I also don't think there's anything wrong with doing that. However, the industry, not doing so hot right now. So I don't, you know, might, you might struggle to find good, consistent work if you do that. But, uh, I tell young people who want to go on the person, I'm like, just get a degree, don't get a degree in criminal justice, because they don't, most agencies don't care what your degree is in.

They just want to know that you have one, that you can start something, get through and get good grades and all that sort of stuff. And look, I mean, journalism, uh, you don't need a degree necessarily. You need some training. You have to have an understanding of proper ethics and practices that are common and standard in the industry, you know, around transparency and protecting sources and correct and factual errors, things of that nature. You've got to have knowledge about that. But it's something that you can be trained to do you

do not need even a college degree to be a successful reporter although it certainly helps

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