Jesse Ventura has been making a spectacle of himself his entire life. A Navy vet who fought in Vietnam, Ventura returned from the war and plunged into a world of professional physicality, working as bodyguard for the Rolling Stones before ascending to pro-wrestling superstardom as the loud-mouthed, trash-talking bully character “The Body.” Then things got really interesting. In 1990, Ventura swapped the physical for the political and got himself elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Eight years later he found himself the duly elected governor of Minnesota.

Since serving one term as governor (and declining to run for a second), Ventura’s enjoyed a career as a tell-it-like-it-is pundit and conspiracy theorist—imagine a male Ann Coulter with libertarian leanings and a non-reptile heart. His empire includes bestselling books (American Conspiraciesand 63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read), cable television programs (Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura and Jesse Ventura: Off the Grid), and...