From professional wrestler to Governor of Minnesota and beyond, Jesse Ventura, a.k.a. Jesse “The Body” Ventura, has been in the limelight for several years. Nowadays, Jesse Ventura has taken to living “off the grid.” In other words, he says he is somewhere where the U.S. government can’t touch him. And he loves it. If you don’t believe me, then read it for yourself. I recently spoke with the former Governor, and here’s what he had to say.

Jesse Ventura: Off The Grid

Eat Play Rock: Let’s talk about your new program. What’s it called and what’s it all about?

Jesse Ventura: It’s called “Jesse Ventura: Off The Grid” and it airs Tuesday through Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern time at ora.tv/offthegrid. It’s really the only way I can get my message out because I’ve kinda been blackballed in the U.S. media. Fox News won’t have me on, MSNBC won’t have me on, the last time I wrote a book CNN wouldn’t interview me, so this way I can get the message across about what I’ve been warning people about for years. We are broadcasting from a thousand miles south of the U.S. border, so the FCC can’t touch me.

EPR: What do you talk about on the show?

Ventura: Anything I want to. Obviously politics creeps in there, but I can talk about whatever I want to. I call this my dream job because, since it is streaming on the internet, the show is only about 10-12 minutes long. I say it’s like a Jesse “The Body” Ventura wrestling interview, only instead of talking for 3-4 minutes, I get to talk for 10-12 minutes about whatever I want to.

EPR: Who are some of the guests you have had on your show?

Ventura: I’ve had Ron Paul on the show, Judge (Andrew) Napolitano, and one of the most interesting guests I recently had on the show was Thomas Drake. Thomas Drake was a CIA whistle blower before Edward Snowden. It’s interesting to see now just how hard the government is going after Snowden, and they tried the same things with Thomas Drake. I asked him why he did what he did, and he said that it was because he took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the government, stating that since it’s a time of war, is just throwing them both out the window.

EPR: Oh, wow! I have obviously heard of Edward Snowden on the news, but not Drake.

Ventura: The news today is just entertainment, and that’s unfortunate. I think the downfall of media was the program “60 Minutes.” You see, it used to be that networks wrote off the news as a loss, and they said “We’ll make the profits up in entertainment.” But, then “60 Minutes” went to number one, and the networks realized that they could make a profit from the news, and thus began the downfall, with more opinions and guests than real news.

Jesse Ventura On Being A NAVY Seal, Wrestler and Governor

EPR: Let’s talk about your career. You were a Navy SEAL, professional wrestler/commentator, and Governor of Minnesota. Which of these did you find the most rewarding?

Ventura: All of them. I know that’s a straight political answer, but it’s the truth. I feel like that all of these jobs were the most important things in my life at the time, and I don’t have any regrets about any of them. That’s how I live my life. I don’t want to go through life saying “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” I live my life with the belief that everything I do is important and I don’t want to have any regrets about it.

EPR: Did you aspire to become a professional wrestler?

Ventura: No. I loved watching wrestling growing up, but it was never anything that I wanted to be. I went straight into the Navy out of high school. When I came out, I went to junior college for a year, and I was playing football at the time and taking theater. I found that pro wrestling combined the best of both football and theater. It had the roughness and toughness of football, but with the choreography and emotion of theater. I thought it was a great combination. I answered an ad in a newspaper, and went to the 7th Street Gym in Minneapolis, there I met Eddie Sharkey, who was the rival to Verne Gagne. At that time, if you were a professional wrestler, you were either trained by Verne Gagne down south or Eddie Sharkey. Eddie trained some legends like Bob Backlund and The Road Warriors.

Jess Ventura On Entertainment

EPR: Who were some of your idols growing up?

Ventura: One that I can think of right off was Cassius Clay, who became Muhammad Ali. I loved him because he stood up for what he believed in. He never actually lost the World Heavyweight Title. It was taken from him. But, he never backed down. He stood up for what he believed in and I admire him for that.

EPR: Who are some of your idols today?

Ventura: I don’t really have any. I live within the life of what you can see. I don’t watch television. I do listen to music a lot, and that’s more company for me down here than television. I am a huge rock music fan, always have been.

EPR: Really? Me, too! I especially love classic rock.

Ventura: I have seen Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix live. I am one of a very few people who can actually say that. I have also seen Led Zeppelin. It’s interesting because I believe it was David Crosby who said that the downfall of music was MTV, because music became visual not auditory. I love to go to concerts, but if you are at a concert and you don’t want to see the artist, you can always close your eyes.

EPR: Thanks, Jesse, for taking the time to talk to me today.

Ventura: You’re welcome, and be sure to check out the show. I am as excited about it as I have been about anything, as you can tell by my enthusiasm.

Check Out Jesse Ventura: Off The Grid

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*The opinions expressed in this interview with Jesse Ventura are those of Jesse Ventura and not necessarily those of Eat Play Rock.