The Best Weekend Talk Show In America Hour Two

Summary

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Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: The Best Weekend Talk Show In America Hour Two
Date: June 6, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty covers a wide range of issues, blending sharp social commentary, humor, and news analysis. The hosts tackle weighty topics such as the growing problem of workforce disengagement in Western nations (Britain and the U.S.), government welfare incentives, and the societal impact of joblessness among young men. They also explore the risks of AI development and regulatory attempts at control, discuss recent drama at "60 Minutes," and slip in practical advice on avoiding modern scams. The show's tone alternates between satirical banter and serious debate, making complex topics feel both accessible and engaging.

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Major Topics and Discussion Points

1. Britain’s “Lost Generation” of Workers & U.S. Joblessness

• [02:36 – 16:31]
• Britain and America face growing numbers of working-age individuals, particularly men, who are neither working nor looking for work.
  • UK Stats: One in eight young (working-age) Britons not in work, school, or training; many claim disability, often mental health related.
  • Quote:
    • Joe Getty (04:57): "42% cite mental health problems as their primary condition. 'I'm too anxious to work.'"
    • Jack Armstrong (05:14): "'I've got a case of rather not do that. itis.'"
• Discussion of how welfare states and rising minimum wages can inadvertently trap recipients, and how taxing employment (through payroll taxes) and high minimum wages price out lower-skilled workers.
  • Quote:
    • Joe Getty (06:47): "If you want more of something, subsidize it. If you want less of something, tax it. Right?"
    • Tim Sandifer (as paraphrased): "You've made it illegal for a person who's worth $15 an hour to get a job with an employer who says, yeah, I'll pay you 15 bucks an hour."
• Shift to U.S. situation:
  • Citing Jason Riley (WSJ): One in three working-age American men are not even looking for a job; the labor force participation rate for males 20+ has dropped significantly since 2006.
  • Armstrong describes this as a policy failure—making it "too easy" not to work.
  • Humor and social commentary about the loss of shame in living off others.
    • Jack Armstrong (10:51): "If you're able bodied and unemployed and not looking for a job... by definition we have a policy failure."

Memorable Segment: Chris Rock Clip

• [08:05 – 09:03]
• Chris Rock on neighborhoods and unemployed men vs. women (paraphrased for clarity):
  • "Wherever women ain't working is an amazing place to live... If you see men in sweatpants, smoking cigarettes, hanging with their boys, lifting weights, riding children's bicycles, then you are in danger."
• Armstrong: "That is so true. It should be part of a political speech." (09:03)

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2. The Security Segment: RFID Card Scams

• [18:12 – 22:01]
• "Ghost tapping" or RFID payment fraud—how scammers can wirelessly charge your card in crowded spaces.
  • Katie: "That is why all my loved ones and myself have what's called an RFID wallet. It actually has a protectant…"
• Hosts joke about wallet fashion and personal habits, while acknowledging real vulnerability.
  • Joe Getty: "Better Business Bureau's out and saying... it's just a matter of time before somebody takes advantage of it."
  • Armstrong: "You could do it for years for me, you know, a little bit at a time." (20:51)
• Recommendations: RFID-blocking wallets, examining credit card statements closely.

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3. AI Regulation & Existential Anxiety

• [23:10 – 34:52]
• Trump signs an executive order concerning AI, but Jack and Joe lampoon its vagueness and practical enforceability.
  • Armstrong: "Who's going to decide... in the federal government is going to look at what Sam Altman, Elon Musk... came up with and say, 'I like it. Good job,' or 'no, I don't like it'?" (23:39)
• They critique the reality that government is far behind tech leaders in understanding AI.
  • Getty: "There's like eight people in the world that understand how this stuff works, and they ain't in the federal government." (24:34)
• Discussion referencing Niall Ferguson's article calling AI the "most dangerous arms race in history."
  • World leaders (Trump, Xi) and tech CEOs (Altman, Musk) are depicted as ill-prepared for the existential stakes of AI.
  • Armstrong: "Some of the experts... are guessing that China is way more afraid of this than we are... If you're a totalitarian state, you feel more threatened by AI."
• Speculation on the future:
  • Will there be “retro” communities or countries opting out of AI? Could that even work?
  • Risks of AGI (artificial general intelligence) taking independent action are "absolutely on the table" within a few years.
    • Armstrong (29:43): "It's like a 20% chance of it happening or a 75% chance of it happening, which either one is way too high that in the next couple years the world wakes up... AI is doing its own thing now."
  • Potential for international "arms agreement" style regulation of AI is discussed—but it's much harder to verify and enforce than nuclear weapons.
  • Armstrong: "Some super smart guy living in Alabama could use AI just as much as the Chinese could." (32:59)
• Closing AI note: reflection on humanity's inability to “stop” the rise of tech.
  • Armstrong (33:46): "It's so possible that in our lifetimes we're all having the conversation of why did we let this happen around AI..."

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4. Scott Pelley Fired from 60 Minutes (Media Landscape Commentary)

• [36:38 – 42:55]
• Jack is gleeful at news of Scott Pelley's firing from "60 Minutes," recounting Pelley's on-air smugness and behind-the-scenes drama.
  • Armstrong: "Nobody's ever been more pleased with themselves than Scott Pelley… he is just such an act." (37:22)
• Joe details the meeting where Pelley allegedly insulted the new boss, leading to his immediate termination.
  • Joe Getty: "So they escand him, they. They poop. Canned him immediately." (38:22)
• Mark Halpern quoted on the "arrogance" of 60 Minutes staff despite declining quality and bias.
  • Armstrong: "...the most important news outlet in the world... broke so many stories... and they went out of their way to try to ruin it..."
  • Getty (41:05): "It's impossible to overstate the arrogance of those who have worked for 60 Minutes over the years..."
• Readout of the termination letter: Nick Bilton (new executive producer) tries to be diplomatic, but describes Pelley's "performative display of hostility."
  • Armstrong: "Why wouldn't he let it play out... maybe make a stand... as opposed to do the whole big time him at the meeting thing?" (42:15)
  • Getty: "Well, he says, because you're a dick." (42:41)

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Notable Quotes

• On Work Ethic and Welfare

  • "Some jobs are only worth $12 an hour. Or the person is going to say, 'now I'll do it myself or I just won't do it.'" — Jack Armstrong (07:00)
  • "A life without gainful employment has become a viable alternative for an increasing number of American males." — Joe Getty (11:00)
  • "You should be ashamed of yourself." — Jack Armstrong (11:54)

• On AI & Tech Regulation

  • "The most dangerous arms race in human history." — Joe Getty paraphrasing Niall Ferguson (26:30)
  • "It's so possible that in our lifetimes we're all having the conversation of why did we let this happen around AI..." — Jack Armstrong (33:46)
  • "There's like eight people in the world that understand how this stuff works, and they ain't in the federal government." — Joe Getty (24:34)

• On Media and Institutions

  • "It's impossible to overstate the arrogance of those who have worked for 60 Minutes over the years, even as the program's bias and reduced quality have been on vivid display." — Mark Halpern (Quote read at 41:05)
  • "Nobody's ever been more pleased with themselves than Scott Pelley." — Jack Armstrong (37:22)
  • "Performative display of hostility enacted in front of the staff." — Nick Bilton's letter quoted by Joe Getty (41:40)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic | Timestamps (MM:SS) | |----------------------------------------------|-------------------------| | British & American Work Ethic Crisis | 02:36 – 16:31 | | Chris Rock’s Social Observation (Clip) | 08:05 – 09:03 | | RFID Payment Scam & Personal Security | 18:12 – 22:01 | | AI Regulation, Danger & Future Speculation | 23:10 – 34:52 | | Scott Pelley Firing from 60 Minutes | 36:38 – 42:55 |

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

Armstrong & Getty maintain their hallmark mix of irreverence, skepticism, and traditional values. They provide candid, sometimes biting, sometimes funny, but always unfiltered takes on topics from international labor force trends to the perils of unchecked AI and media feuds. Their analysis is accessible yet thought-provoking, punctuated with memorable quotes and sharp observations—all with a healthy dose of skepticism toward institutional authority and fashionable narratives.

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Transcript

[Advertiser]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center,

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now he here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lucky you, you've tuned in the best weekend talk show in America. We're Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

As always, an action packed week. Jill Biden on her increasingly disastrous book tour, plus Trump and BB friends or foes and all the news that happen around the country and around the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

We talk about a lot of stuff. We do 20 hours of live radio every week. If you want more, you can look for the Armstrong and Getty podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand. That's what it's called.

[Joe Getty]

This not headline of the decade because of its importance, but because it just. Well, I'll just read it to you. Scientists find yeast in frozen mummy's guts, use it to make sourdough bread. So you got a frozen mummy up in the tundra or whatever and you do an analysis and you say, hey, this, this appears to be yeast. And somebody in the lab thinks, yeah, yeast, you use that for bread. You want to make some sourdough bread? What?

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, this bread's really good. Did you make it? Yeah, funny story.

[Joe Getty]

Frozen mummy gut yeast, there's probably some value. It's a broadcast report. I couldn't be troubled to watch it. And studying ancient yeasts. But I mean, boy, if I happen to be at a cocktail party with you and that's what you do for a living, lie or let's talk about sports or something. Oh, the structure of Middle Eastern ancient East was really inspiring. Boy. So on a completely different topic, I came across these two bits of information separately from each other. But. And this, this first one's about Britain. And there are a number of really interesting important stories about Britain right now. And I was considering crafting one of my segments that of course has to have a title and theme music. And I was going to have the. The British music that we always play. And I was going to entitle it what's all this Then? But I decided to separate the story. What's all this Then? That was gonna be the introduction anyway. Because this fits so well with an American story. Britain's lost generation of workers. And they make the point that if you pay people not to work, don't be surprised when they don't work. Britain is learning this lesson about its

[Jack Armstrong]

welfare state that seems like something that goes without saying, but socialists don't get that.

[Joe Getty]

You're absolutely right. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for jumping in there. It's true. Britain's learning about this lesson about its welfare state the hard way. As a new government report revealed that one in eight of its working age youth currently are not employed in school or in job training. It's about a million. They point out nearly 60% of these Utes aren't even looking for work. More than half have never held a job. And nearly half of Britain's idol youth now claim to have a working work limiting disability.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you give us a definition of what you mean by youth?

[Joe Getty]

No. Working age youth? No. Let me find the age.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is that including below 18.

[Joe Getty]

Let me look. But let's see. Nearly half claim disability. More than 42% claim disability.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

And of those, I think 42% cite mental health problems as their primary condition. I'm too anxious to work.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just don't have the motivation. I just can't.

[Joe Getty]

My disability is anti motivation syndrome.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've got a case of rather not do that. Itis.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Rather than the hand up that liberals often claim, these benefits have become a trap for recipients who face little incentive to reintegrate into the workforce. About 70% of youth who claim a disability benefit are still on it a decade later. God.

[Jack Armstrong]

How many times do I say to my kids in various situations, you know how many things I did today that I didn't want to do? It's a very long list when they have to do something they don't want to do. Do you know why I did them? Because I didn't have any choice.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. It's an enormous loss to the economy too and the one, the final thing I wanted to throw in from this was that even when young people want to work, the government makes it hard for them to do so. This is something, Jack, you're dealing with right now. Steadily rising payroll taxes for employers. A lot of people don't even know that payroll taxes exist. If I decide to hire you, the government says, aha, we're taxing you on hiring a person. Whoa. If you want more of something, subsidize it. If you want less of something, tax it. Right? But anyway, steadily rising payroll taxes for employers and a minimum wage that has increased by as much as 84% since 2019 17. For some younger age, cohorts in Britain are pricing young, inexperienced workers out of the job market. As the great Tim Sandifer pointed out on this show many, many years ago, you've made it illegal for a person who's worth $15 an hour to get a job with an employer who says, yeah, I'll pay you 15 bucks an hour. Maybe we can train you up. Maybe you can be worth $20 an hour someday. But sure, I'll make you that deal and we'll give you a job to get you started. That is now illegal. That's how minimum wages work.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tim is the only person I've ever heard present it that way. That's the way it should always be presented by anybody's against this sort of stuff. You're outlawing $12 an hour jobs. Some jobs are only worth $12 an hour. Or the person is going to say, now I'll do it myself or I just won't do it on lots of stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and if you are impressed by the British numbers, wait till you hear Americas Jason Riley writing about this in the Wal Street Journal. One in three working age American men aren't so much as looking for a job. And I want to get into that in a second.

[Jack Armstrong]

Every time that comes up, I remember sitting and having coffee with a friend of mine having this discussion. He said, who's out of work? Who's not looking for a job? I've never not been looking for a job when I was out of work ever in my life.

[Guest/Caller]

How do you.

[Jack Armstrong]

How are you not looking for a job? What is that?

[Joe Getty]

I almost dropped an S bomb right there. I was going to say spit. I'm looking for a job when I've got a job.

[Jack Armstrong]

Usually.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, right. Anyway, Jason Riley opens his column by quoting at length this bit from Chris Rock. But I thought we would just go ahead and play it for you.

[Guest/Caller]

You could tell what Kind of neighborhood you in just by who's not working. If you're in any neighborhood in America at 12:15 in the afternoon on a Wednesday and you see women with sweatpants on coming out the gym, pushing babies, riding bikes. That's right. Chances are you're in a nice neighborhood. That's right. Wherever women ain't working is an amazing place to live. That is where I want to live. Now let's switch it up. If you in any neighborhood in America at 12:15 in the afternoon on a Wednesday and you see men in sweatpants, smoking cigarettes, hanging with they boys, lifting weights in the yard, riding children's bicycles, then you are in danger.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is so. I remember the first time I saw that. That is so true. It should be part of a political speech.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. I've got to apologize to you good people. Hansen asked me, do you want the tighter version of that? The shorter one or the longer one? I said, ah, the shorter one. But it leaves out some of the great details that make Chris Rock great. Like he says about the nice neighborhood with the women and the Lululemon pants. He ought to update the bit. He said, there's probably a Whole Foods right down the street. And then about the other neighborhood, he said, men riding children's bicycles as their actual transportation. Oh man, is he great. So getting back to Jason Riley's point, Mr. Rock's funny and insightful bit came to mind. He writes, as I read last month's jobs report, which showed that the share of American men in the labor force has dipped to record lows. According to the Department of Labor, one in three men were neither working nor looking for a job in April. Among males 20 and older, the 66% labor force participation rate is down from 73% in 2006. That's a 7% drop. Mr. Rock was highlighting the correlation between unemployment and crime. But public safety isn't the only concern raised by a population, large population of idle young males.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you're, if you're able bodied and unemployed and not looking for a job, to me, by definition we have a policy failure. By definition, I don't need to know anything else. You're out of work and you're fine. You can work physically, but not even looking for a job. That's a policy failure. We've made the safety net. The holes are too small.

[Joe Getty]

Here's a nice, simple, declarative sentence for you. A life without gainful employment has become a viable alternative for an increasing number of American males.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, see, I never spent a moment in my Life thinking that was an option. It probably has been lots of places I lived. Luckily I was raised in such a way as to believe, to not even look into it. But yeah, it should not be a viable option. We can get into. You probably are. Why? Why that's so bad for those people? It's bad for them. It's bad for your happiness, it's bad for culture, it's bad for all kinds of things. But how about me, the taxpayer who is going to work? How bad is it for me to pay for you to sit around and do freaking nothing. That's ridiculous.

[Joe Getty]

Those very payroll taxes we were just discussing. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Michael, you seem incensed.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, there's no more shame. That's the problem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Part of it. I have said that for years when they, when they decided, you know, shame is a bad thing. Nobody should be. You should be ashamed that you're able bodied and living off of other people.

[Joe Getty]

You should be humiliated.

[Jack Armstrong]

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Guest/Caller]

Shame.

[Joe Getty]

The shame. Bell baby, other people got up and

[Jack Armstrong]

went to work today so that you could lay around and watch tv. You should be ashamed of yourself. Yeah, they look, they look at it. Some people are in that situation. Look at the other way around. You're a SAP. You're a chump. You got up and went to work today and I didn't have to.

[Joe Getty]

Or they've guzzled down the. The delicious medicine of rationalization said the system is stacked against us because capitalism is exploitive. Not to mention the patriarchy and systemic racism and everything else. You don't have a chance or you

[Jack Armstrong]

don't understand how bad my PTSD is around whatever issue.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Keeps me from being able to work,

[Joe Getty]

talk openly about something I'm aware of. But anyway, the long term rise in male joblessness does not stem from an inability to find employment. It results instead from an unwillingness to search for work. And while labor force participation rates vary by race and ethnicity, factors other than hiring discrimination seem to be playing a larger role in the disparities. Quote this is from a landmark book, Men Without Work, about this very topic. The legacy of prejudice might seem to explain why prime age male work rates and workforce participation rates are lower for blacks and whites today. But they cannot explain why work rates and labor force petition race participation rates for white men today are decidedly lower than they were for black men in 1965. Wow. Nor can they explain why labor participation rates of married black men 25 to 54 are higher than for never married white men in the same group.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, one of Our favorite phrases on this show is they didn't raise themselves. Some of it has got to be that, doesn't it? I mean, like I just said, there is never a moment in my adult life where I even considered the option of figuring out how to live off the government. That's got to do with your upbringing. So. Yeah, so how did these people come out of families where this was an option? Like I've told my son, he turned 16 and at least in California you pretty much have to be 16 to have any shot at a job of any kind. I told him I've been asking him now for months heading into the summer, have you applied for a job? Have you looked for a job, whatever, and then finally went with the you are either going to find a job that you kind of like or I'm going to find you a job that you might hate, but you are going to have a job this summer that I'm not considering that an option. And but if you did, if you didn't grow up in a family where working is considered something you ought to do, I suppose you end up a 20 year old who thinks, I wonder what programs I can go sign up for and I'll just stay home.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yep. Oh, then they get into immigration as well and how, you know, labor participation rates. But Riley writes, the more likely culprit is a social safety net full of generous government benefits that allow men who won't work to subsist. Welfare and disability programs at state and federal levels are well funded by the political left, are easily gamed by design, and have become a significant source of income for men with no job and no interest in finding them. Because these men often have no problem mooching off the women who take them in, they're able to live on welfare payments sent to others and in the same household.

[Jack Armstrong]

Boy, that's another one I hear in the single world. Men who don't have jobs, who are out there trying to date, they just don't have jobs.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can't get an erection and don't have a job. That's a bad way to be.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that's. What are you selling exactly? Like feed your cat work. That is attractive. Please let me give myself to you, say, the ladies of the world. My final thought on this. Then we really need to take a break.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, here it is for the laying around, not working crowd. Zero compassion.

[Joe Getty]

Socialism poses as compassion and well meaning people fall for it. But where it inevitably ends is dependence and control. Because if the government is feeding you, you dare not resist them and whoever says they will continue to feed you gets power. Sometimes it's well meaning people making the mistake of thinking their kindness won't kill. Sometimes it's a deliberate plot by socialists to take power. But whatever, whichever one of those it is, you must reject socialism. It's social poison.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty this is

[Joe Getty]

the best weekend talk show in America.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Advertiser]

July 4th come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks learning. Learn more about this landmark [e-mail]

[Jack Armstrong]

an

[Joe Getty]

attacker doesn't even have to have it out.

[Jack Armstrong]

They can simply just bump against your wallet, just automatically steal the information through essentially a wireless radio frequency. I what? Huh? What was that?

[Joe Getty]

They call it ghost tapping Jack. They can charge your card without you it even leaving your pocket.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wait a second. I tap stuff all the time. So obviously take I use my watch but I could use my card as lots of us do. Or you just tap your card on there so so somebody can come up and tap my card in my pocket. That makes sense.

[Joe Getty]

According to the written account, they can use cheap, easy to read card readers Thieves can trigger small wireless transactions just by getting close enough to your wallet or phone. No swipe, no pin, no warning.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, Katie.

[Joe Getty]

That is why all of my loved ones and myself have what's called an RFID wallet. It actually has a protectant in the outside layer that can block anybody from doing this. I was just at a outlet store, which will remain nameless, although if you travel to Colombia, you might see their clothes, and that was, like, all they sold in the wallet department. I thought, is this necessary?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's very popular. But how bulky are they? I wore very tight pants.

[Joe Getty]

They're not at all. Stop, stop. That's my answer to that query.

[Jack Armstrong]

I tried to just, like, go right by that.

[Joe Getty]

You know what I mean?

[Jack Armstrong]

Just keep. Just power through it.

[Joe Getty]

They're not. Cannot be unseen.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm a single man. I need to have everything on display.

[Joe Getty]

We get it. You shop at Baby Gap. Okay, very good.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no.

[Joe Getty]

So the scam relies on crowded spaces like transit, concerts, busy sidewalks, where you never realize a charge is happening. Better. Better Business Bureaus out and saying. When you think about how convenient and commonplace payment has become, and it is. It's just a matter of time before somebody takes advantage of it. Oh, and they do really small transactions. That's an interesting aspect of this. Just to see if it goes through, then what attackers are doing is adding that to their digital wallets and essentially buying gift cards and doing other types of scams to make a quick transaction out of it, but to take as many dollars as it can in the shortest period of time possible.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm one of those people. I mean, I know I should be like my mom always was, or adults are, but I'm not. Where, you know, I go through my credit card bill every month because there's 8,000 things and I don't go through them all, it would be very easy to milk me 15 or 22 dollars at a time. A big one. I would notice. But, yeah, because it's just, you know, there's so many charges on there.

[Joe Getty]

But if it's a gift card, you know, what do you. Well, I suppose the credit card company has to cover that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, no, but I mean, just even noticing I'm being stolen from, you could do it for years for me, you know, a little bit at a time. So if you.

[Joe Getty]

If you like. Like the utilities and phone companies do, mystery charges, you never notice, and they steal, steal, steal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. And you just roll your eyes and think, whatever, and you go on and pay it. Yeah. So if you. If you. If you brushed up got close enough somebody to tap 10 different cards and you hit them each for, you know, $40 a month. That'd be a quick, easy $400 a month you're making that nobody would probably ever notice.

[Joe Getty]

You got your Faraday pouch, which worked very well. However, cell phone service is also I need sleek and then RFID blocking wallet phone case combo, extra sleek. For the aging Lothario, the wallet feature worked. The cards could not be charged while inside it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I should just not carry my card. I really only need my watch to live my life at this point. As long as I got my watch on, I can do whatever I want.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yet another thing to worry about. That's what we all needed. That's what we do every day. Here's a list of things to worry about. Come back tomorrow for another list of things to worry about.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. This is the best weekend talk show in America.

[Advertiser]

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[Jack Armstrong]

So late in the show, we had the breaking news that Donald Trump signed an executive order. Around AI, an A, O, around A, an E, O, around A, O, AI. I can't do it.

[Joe Getty]

Why do you even try?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know why I try. It's a test of my brain and I fail every single time. Anyway, executive order about artificial.

[Joe Getty]

Take that test where you got banana, elephant, train, school bus, train, Right. I passed it. Highest score they'd ever seen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Except I'm not sure I would pass it. And it's. It's a much watered down version of something they had proposed, like six Eight weeks ago. But it's still the federal government saying, yeah, you do some big advancement in your whole AI thing, you got to run a bias first. And we take a look at it and see if we think it's okay. Which is one, very, very vague. And two, who's going to decide who in the federal government is going to look at what Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Amodi, or any of those people came up with and say, I like it. Good job, or no, I don't like it.

[Joe Getty]

I tweak this over here, then it will be exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, it's almost hilarious. And it's.

[Joe Getty]

It's statutorily. It just. What are you even.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is this?

[Joe Getty]

What are you doing? So you got to run new AI systems past the White House. That's not a thing, as the kids say.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right. And as I said yesterday, there's like eight people in the world that understand how this stuff works, and they ain't in the federal government.

[Joe Getty]

And they only kind understand it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And they're kind of guessing, not kind of very much guessing themselves. So who knows where that leads? I thought Neil Ferguson's piece out today, AI is the most dangerous arms race in history, is pretty interesting. The unfolding history of artificial intelligence has now arrived at what may be its most dangerous moment, writes Mr. Ferguson, the historian. We may be.

[Joe Getty]

Charming SCOTTISH accent We may be hurtling

[Jack Armstrong]

toward the most dangerous arms race in history. And we're doing so when the leadership of the competitors in this race is, to say the least, of mixed quality. The chief executives of the most important companies include at least one with a record of duplicity. Is he talking about Altman? Probably Scam Altman and at least two egomaniacs. That would be at least two. I think there's more than that, but. So that's probably Elon and are you a modi?

[Joe Getty]

Probably.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if you could be one of the giants of AI without being an egomaniac.

[Joe Getty]

So the Google guy pitch. I. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or. Or Zuckerberg, like I said, I'm not. I'm not sure you could be one of these people without being an egomaniac. So I don't see that as much of a slam. Meanwhile, the President of the United States is a former real estate developer and really reality TV star, roughly half of whose public utterances are mere bluffs. And the leader of the People's Republic of China is a Marxist Leninist who aspires to eclipse Mao as a dictator. That is all true and usually I don't like the shots at Trump for being a reality TV star or whatever, but he's no expert in AI and practically nobody is, as I've already said. So it's an interesting moment.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. The most dangerous arms race in human history. As we were chatting about last hour, it's partly because it's such a squishy, ever changing thing to get your arms around. People could comprehend a terrible new bomb that would cause more destruction than any previous bomb has. You can contemplate that, but we don't even know what it's going to be, what it will control, as you pointed out, how many people it will put out of work, what sort of political unrest that will cause, what sort of economic shocks around the globe. Nobody even knows what it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And there's no agreement among the smartest people. I watch, I watch all the YouTube videos and listen to the podcasts and read the stuff written by the smartest people about this stuff in the world and they are not in agreement at all as to when this is happening or how big a deal it is. But. But I can lay out what like worst case scenario is that AI begins to learn on its own and decides to take over the world or a country. Now, if you believe that the Communist Chinese Party can take over a country, which it has, and run a surveillance state to keep people in line, it's not a leap to think that an AI could do that. Why could the Chinese Communist Party run by, you know, a fairly small number of people, not as smart as AI? Why could they take over a whole country and run it and keep people in line and keep power? But I couldn't. There's no reason to think that.

[Joe Getty]

Or certainly the one obvious inevitable is that people will use AI to accomplish the same thing. And both are horrifying outcomes. Interestingly enough, New York Times had a story the other day about how China is now using AI to predict predict who might be a threat to the Communist Party in the future. They can now recognize the kernels of unrevolutionary thought among young people or young professionals and think I put him on the list.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which he said.

[Joe Getty]

He said it made a wise ass comment about whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Which made me accurate or might not be accurate at all. But it doesn't matter to them. They're still going to drag you out of your home and put you in a prison.

[Joe Getty]

No, there's no cost to dragging you out of your home and been killing you or putting you in a prison because they've got Complete control.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some of the experts, and again, they're all guessing. Every single one of them from Elon down is absolutely guessing on this stuff. But some of the guessing by the experts is that China is way more afraid of this than we are. That if you're a totalitarian state, you're more feel more threatened by AI somehow taking your place than an open democracy.

[Joe Getty]

Well, my final thought on this then. I'll give you the last word. Is that what Bill O'Reilly used to say?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep.

[Joe Getty]

I'll give you the last word right

[Jack Armstrong]

before body language segment.

[Joe Getty]

My last word is a reminder that I read you a bit of a note from alert listener Paolo yesterday who said, look, all this stuff is true, but there's no opting out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Correct.

[Joe Getty]

Trying to restrict the growth of human knowledge and technology through history is. It's laughable.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hope this doesn't happen. And depending on who you ask, it's like a 20% chance of it happening or a 75% chance of it happening, which either one of those is way too high that in the next couple of years the world wakes up one day and realizes AI is doing its own thing now. And we're just going to have to sit back and watch because we have no ability to stop it or, or, or control it in any way. It is, it is hijacked its own servers, it is gotten in, it's gotten, it's come up with a way to get its own electrical power as much as it needs. It's, it's just doing everything on its own and the world is just going to watch and see what it decides to do. That is a absolutely on the table as a possibility like within a couple years.

[Joe Getty]

This doesn't count as me violating my last word thing because that was really intriguing. That's opened up a new area of discussion. Will there be towns, counties, states, countries that say that finally do what I've been begging them to do. They'll unplug the Internet. They will go retro, techno retro to the point that nothing's connected to the Internet, there's no AI they will become like semi whatever, you know, pre AI, however you want to describe it.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the only way to out of self defense, right. And so the only way to take that over would be to actually storm the beaches with robots on boats or bomb them or something.

[Joe Getty]

And if, and this is the stuff of science fiction, I wish I was ambitious and brilliant enough to write it because I'm so intrigued by the idea. But if, if you know, the United States of wherever declares that. Look, we're just, we're out. We're going to go back to the old ways. We're of no threat to AI Atonia. Okay? We're just going to do our own thing over here. Let's coexist. Would AI say? No, that's not compatible with our brilliant AI world plan. Can't have dissenters like that. Sorry we got to snuff all you. Who knows?

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you think there's any chance of. No, not at all. Do you think there's any chance of coming up with some sort of arms agreement like we did with the Soviet Union, which a lot of people didn't think that'd be possible, where we, we both recognized. Look, we don't either one of us really want to blow up the world. So how about we come up with some agreement like, you know, Reagan and Gorbachev did, limiting the number or, you know, allowing some communication back and forth, something like that. Where we in China both said, look, you're more afraid of it than we are and we're afraid of it. So let's, how about, let's agree AI is only allowed to work on medical stuff or this or that. There's not going to be any. Just let it go out there. Artificial general intelligence. Is there any chance of coming up with guidelines like that?

[Joe Getty]

Yes, there absolutely is, but it's a little more complicated because of the difficulty of verifying compliance. We're talking about people tip tapping away on a keyboard somewhere that might say, all right, unleash the beast. And then it might be unleashed in ways that people don't even recognized for days, weeks, years, I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Plus, I, I limited it to the United States and China, like the United States and the Soviet Union, which you could do it with nuclear weapons because some super smart guy living in rural Alabama was not going to build a nuclear arsenal. But some super smart guy living in Alabama could use AI Just as much as the Chinese could.

[Joe Getty]

So. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is the difference. Okay, I'm back to we're doomed.

[Joe Getty]

Next segment, a follow up, believe it or not, on the Scott Pelley firing thing. I'm going to rope Thomas Soell in and Ben Sasse, also Alabama redistricting, all in one delicious stew of information.

[Jack Armstrong]

I promise to stop talking about it after one more 30 second comment.

[Joe Getty]

Go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's, it's, it's so possible that in our lifetimes we're all having the conversation of why did we let this happen around AI I mean, it's just so upended the world that just like everybody on the planet is saying, how in the hell did human beings allow this to happen?

[Joe Getty]

And then the Joe Gettys of the conversation would say, well, there was no stopping it. Yeah, how are we going to stop it?

[Jack Armstrong]

And then we could have passed regulations,

[Joe Getty]

but what about China? And then I'll go back to skinning the squirrel that I successfully speared to eat for my dinner. Because all of the world's financial institutions, all the digital ones, have been emptied

[Jack Armstrong]

of their cash, just waiting for an AI robot to come anesthetize you and harvest your organs.

[Joe Getty]

Trying to catch a cockroach to get a few calories.

[Guest/Caller]

Oh my God, what the type of AI

[Jack Armstrong]

world will be saying. It's like when Whoville yelled up to the sky, the whole world will be

[Guest/Caller]

saying what the type of AI it is.

[Joe Getty]

It is.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, more on the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty We've decided

[Jack Armstrong]

to call this the best weekend talk show in America. And if you like it, download Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Advertiser]

This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party. Hosted by America 250, America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark [e-mail]

are you trying to get weight loss support through telehealth? But it feels overwhelming and rushed? Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive, exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice, eligibility required. See Cite for details.

[Jack Armstrong]

Disappointing to find out that Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes has been fired. Oh wait, I'm sorry, I'm all wrong. It wasn't disappointing. I was very happy about it because I found him insufferable. It's funny that the last interview that aired with Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes was the one he did with Ben Sasse, remember? And I liked that topic and a lot of stuff Ben Sasse said. But it came in the next morning on Monday and said that was the most pompous Scott Pelly there's ever been. I mean that one was. That was him taking it to like an SNL skit level of leaned back at his chair and that look on his face of smugness and wisdom and the glasses in his teeth. I mean he is just such an act in his slow voice. But that matters to you, doesn't it, Mr. Sapphire?

[Advertiser]

Just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh God. Nobody's ever been more pleased with themselves than Scott Belly. And apparently he thought he could big time the new boss at 60 Minutes when they had that big meeting the other day and lecture him when he walked in the room and the boss said, all right, you're not going to embarrass me in front of these people. It ain't going to work. Enjoy the bagels. Got up and left and then fired him 24 hours later.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. As the new executive producer was introducing himself and launching into Look, I have so much respect for the show and all of you. This is going to be collaborative. Want your voices. Scott Pelly said, ah, I must interrupt. You're a punk who's never done anything and your boss has no qualifications either and she's trying to murder the show and I hate all of you. Well, in spite of that, Bilton, Nick Bilton reached out to Pelly and said, look, we got to get together and talk. And Pelly essentially said to him, I have nothing to say to you. And so they escand him. They. They poop. Canned him immediately.

[Jack Armstrong]

And what was the line he had in the meeting to the guy? I'm curious as to why you would come somewhere nobody wants you. Yes, F you I would think is the new boss. Pelly was making $5 million a year just for the 60 Minutes program back when he used to be the anchor. He was 10 to 15 million dollars a year is rumored. So he's made a, a lot of money in his life. So it could be just a. In his defense, I guess. And I find him an annoying, an annoying human being even though I'm a big 60 Minutes fan. It could have been a. Just, you know, I don't. I'M not changing the way I do things. And if you think I am, you're wrong. And I got plenty of money and I. And he probably thinks other networks are just looking to grab him as quick as they can because he thinks the Scott Pilly brand is ratings gold. I think he's about to find out different on that.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. In his subsequent note to Pelly built and called Pelly's behavior at Monday's meeting a performative display of hostility, which I think is a good line. And one of the I think it was Sharon Alfonso, who also got canned, said something absolutely hilarious, although it really does demonstrate and, you know, I try to take, you know, not an attack, attack, attack posture all the time because I've come to realize that bubbled people don't know that they're bubbled and they have a completely different reality and you can't attack them out of it. You've got to help them understand how bubbled they are. But Sharon Alfonsi said something about how Barry Weiss is now interjecting political point of view into their reporting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Getty]

And I thought, good Lord, wow, you are in the middle of the forest and can't see the trees or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is, it has been in my lifetime diminishing because all the media, entire media landscape has been changing rapidly, as we all know. But it has been in my lifetime, probably the most important news outlet in the world. I mean, it has broken so many stories or been the conversation piece of so many big stories the next Monday morning for all of our politics, like my whole adult life. And, you know, they went out of their way to try to ruin it, unfortunately, I still thought it was really good. Often Mark Halpern writing. And Mark Halpern has really been in the news business because his dad was big in government and he's been in the news business his whole life. He wrote, it's impossible to overstate the arrogance of those who have worked for 60 Minutes over the years, even as the program's bias and reduced quality have been on vivid display. He also said there are a lot more beats to play out on this story, including how the rest of the program staff decides to play things.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, everybody, I suppose, could revolt. Right? Right. Sure. Final note on this. Nick Bilton's dismissal letter to Scott Pelly was remarkably gentlemanly and emphasized again, that he says, I've devoted my career to while I'm new to 60 Minutes, I've devoted my career to investigative journalism and storytelling. I started this job excited to collaborate and and benefit from the wisdom and experience of the 60 Minutes veterans with you among them. For that reason, one of the first things I did in my new role was to call you and invite you to dinner. He got the middle finger every single time they hold the meeting. Yesterday you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt. I welcome a diversity viewpoints and respectful debate among the team. But this was nothing of the sort. Yesterday's performative display of hostility enacted in front of the staff instead of in a civil private conversation demonstrating that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show, et cetera, et cetera. And then he says, I therefore write on behalf of CBS News Inc. To inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause, effective immediately. Enclosed is your formal termination letter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why wouldn't he let it play out like get to a point of tension on some story where he thinks, no, I think this should be left in. And Barry Weiss or whoever's, you know, under her says, I think it should be taken out and then maybe make a stand over that that you could support, perhaps publicly. Say they didn't want me to tell you this. Why wouldn't you do that as opposed to do the whole big time him at the meeting thing?

[Joe Getty]

Well, he says, because you're a dick. The changes are entirely to curry favor with the Trump administration and they're throwing 60 minutes away. Instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.

[Jack Armstrong]

Give us some example of that.

[Joe Getty]

Scott, Pelly, Armstrong and Getty.

[Advertiser]

This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party. Hosted by America250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark [e-mail]

are you trying to get weight loss support through telehealth? But it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice. Eligibility required. See Cite for details.