A Jackassavist!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand — "A Jackassavist!"

Date: February 5, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers around major headlines of the day—most notably the disappearance and apparent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie (mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie). Jack and Joe dissect the media circus around the case, the rise of AI-fueled misinformation, and the culture of “trolls” and speculation in today’s news. Additionally, they riff on the decline of legacy media, cable news theatrics, international affairs, and a handful of lighter topics for comic relief.

---

Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Case

• Media Sensationalism & Speculation

  • The hosts criticize cable news’ readiness to speculate on suspect identities with little evidence. They single out Ashley Banfield for floating the idea that the victim’s son or son-in-law could be involved, calling it reckless and “evil.”
  • “The cops don’t go around naming suspects and releasing it like that. That’s not usually the way it works. […] That’s just out of line.” (Joe Getty, 05:43)

• Trolls and Misinformation

  • Listeners are cautioned to be skeptical of purported ransom notes and leads—many are set up by “trolls” seeking attention or money.
  • “There is no human so discredited as a liar and a cheat and a bum that they can’t land an analyst job on CNN.” (Jack Armstrong, 02:06)
  • “People who are too stupid and sad and lazy to build things break things for their satisfaction. And this is a form of breaking something.” (Jack Armstrong, 03:34)

• AI's Role in the Case

  • The discussion highlights concerns regarding digitally doctored “proof of life” videos and how AI is making evidence harder to verify.
  • “They’re asking for proof of life. Anybody can make anything now.” (Katie, 05:02)

• Sound Bite: Savannah Guthrie's Plea (20:29)

  • The hosts play a portion of the family’s video statement directed at the kidnapper, raising concerns about her fragile health and the need for credible contact:

  “Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84... She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive and she needs it not to suffer. …We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her.” (Savannah Guthrie, 20:29)

• Broader Reflections

  • The episode draws connections to the history of sensational media, comparing current trends to the tabloid “Penny Dreadfuls” of Victorian England (24:59). The hosts lament how modern news is quick to indulge in lurid speculation, while real local and international news coverage shrinks.

2. The Media’s Decline & Cable News Theatrics

• Critique of TV Analysts

  • Armstrong & Getty mock the notion of cable networks trotting out “amateur hour” ex-cops and “body language experts” to pad out coverage.
  • “I think I could do the, what do you want me to be, a body language expert or a retired homicide detective?” (Joe Getty, 09:02)

• Fox News Commentary

  • They jab at figures like Nancy Grace and Fox’s tendency to dig for sensational angles:
    “Hey, Fox, the bottom of the barrel’s got to be down here somewhere. We’re getting close, huh?” (Jack Armstrong, 09:34)

• The Washington Post Layoffs

  • In-depth discussion about The Washington Post cutting a third of its newsroom, eliminating sports, books, and foreign bureaus—signaling the declining health of serious journalism.
  • “No more sports section. …The book section, sports section, The Post Reports podcast… And then they’ve severely scaled back all their metro local coverage. International coverage, foreign bureaus closed, foreign correspondence. No more.” (Joe Getty, 27:50)

3. International Affairs & Security

• China & The US–China ‘Divorce’

  • They touch on mounting tensions and the implications for international order as the US and China become increasingly adversarial.
  • “The way we’ve been forever coupled, the uncoupling of China and the United States and then all the countries that have to pick a side…” (Joe Getty, 14:52)

• NATO Wargames

  • Noting pessimistic outcomes for NATO in European war simulations if Russia invaded the Baltics.
  • “Didn’t go well for NATO. Not well at all.” (Jack Armstrong, 11:05)

4. Miscellaneous & Lighter Topics

• Pizza Hut Closures

  • A brief nostalgic riff about the decline of traditional Pizza Hut quality (11:31-12:01): “There’s a pizza that over the years has gone from pretty darn good to I don’t… I don’t want to get sued.” (Joe Getty, 11:36)

• Super Bowl and Olympic Betting

  • Teasing wacky betting props and fun facts about the length of the national anthem (30:26–30:37).

5. Notable Quotes and Banter

• “There are people who are malevolent. They are, they have checked out of any deserved, deserving human company or compassion. They’re evil.” (Jack Armstrong, 06:32)
• “We’re used to believing the news until whenever, 15, 20 years ago. Now there’s crap all over the place. But lots of people still go on the Internet, turn on their TV, they see it on a screen. …It’s a video, it’s a guy on a video talking. It’s gotta be true, right?” (Joe Getty, 23:50)
• “What immediately took off, what people, the masses of people, wanted to read was lurid crap.” (Jack Armstrong, 25:24)

---

Section Timestamps

• [00:52] — Episode theme: News overload, Super Bowl, the Guthrie kidnapping
• [01:00–06:32] — The Guthrie kidnapping, media speculation, and “troll” behavior
• [05:02] — Noted concern: AI-enabled fake videos and misinformation
• [09:21–12:01] — Criticism of news analysis, TV experts; Pizza Hut discussion
• [13:27–15:16] — Headlines: Guthrie disappearance, ICE in Minneapolis, US-Russia nuclear pact, US-China relations, Iranian protests, TikTok, Washington Post layoffs
• [17:30–22:43] — More on the Guthrie family’s video, skepticism over ransom letter, grim prognosis for case resolution
• [23:15–25:33] — Parallels between past and present media sensationalism; resurgence of “lurid crime” coverage
• [27:37–29:33] — Washington Post severe cutbacks; repercussions for local/international coverage
• [30:43–32:03] — Freedom-loving quote, mailbag roundup, fan/“hater” emails
• [34:01–34:16] — AI’s future (joking about self-driving cars)
• [34:48–34:55] — Suggestion to popularize “journavist” (journalist-activist)
• [35:13–35:39] — Episode wrap-up and reminder to subscribe

---

Tone & Style

The episode maintains Armstrong & Getty’s characteristic blend of biting sarcasm, skepticism, and gallows humor—even on serious topics. The hosts alternate between outrage at media behavior, dark humor about human nature, and nostalgia for a more trustworthy press.

---

For Listeners

• Expect both sharp media criticism and a willingness to laugh at the absurdity of modern news.
• The episode offers context and caution about how news is consumed and shaped today—especially in crisis situations.
• Listeners get a mix of up-to-date headlines, irreverent commentary, and lighter diversions to soften the intensity.

---

Memorable Moment

“There are two kinds of people in this world. Avoid them both.”
— Freedom-loving quote of the day (Jack Armstrong quoting Arthur Schopenhauer, 31:05)

---

For a deep dive into media skepticism, true crime spectacle, and classic Armstrong & Getty banter, this episode delivers both substance and snark.

Transcript

[Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting. Live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Live.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live live from studio CCC senor dimly.

[Joe Getty]

Lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Yeti communications compound. And hey y', all, today we're operating under the title of the show it's.

[Jack Armstrong]

A Super Bowl Olympic party or please stop kidnapping old ladies.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, y. So if you follow the news, y' all probably saw at least a portion of that video that Savannah Guthrie and her brother and sister put out. It's four minutes long. It's pretty long. We'll play a little portion of that later in the show. But all indications from that are like you speculated, the family hasn't received the hostage or the. The. The. The ransom note. Just TMZ and news outlets. So that's got fake written all over it.

[Jack Armstrong]

One of the news outlets was quite specific in saying there was a dollar figure, there was a bitcoin address etc, but then one analyst I heard talking said everything the family said indicated that there were no specific negotiations underway yet.

[Joe Getty]

Well directly with the. Somebody holding the mom. You know, I'm sure there were specifics in the fake letter some freaking troll nut job sent to tmz, but that doesn't mean the family's in any actual negotiations. Former FBI director and crook Andrew McCabe. I think that's worth throwing in.

[Jack Armstrong]

Probably worth pausing to mention. There is no human so discredited as a liar and a cheat and a bum that they can't land an analyst job on CNN.

[Joe Getty]

No kidding. That's where Andrew McCabe does his thing. Anybody. Anyway, he was talking about that very thing he said when you hear what you're here is the family saying, you know, reach out to us means they're not in negotiations with a. With a kidnapper. But I thought this was interesting to the trolls and everything. He said it is not uncommon in these situations to get lots of false leads, scammers, people taking advantage of a horrible situation. And that's something. Yeah, that one. That there are people whose impulses when something like this happens, I'm going to call the police and make something up. What is that?

[Jack Armstrong]

I can get them to send me some money.

[Joe Getty]

I don't even think it's that. I think it's just that it's all.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sorts of different scumbaggery. That's why I don't like humans.

[Joe Getty]

I just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not a fan at all.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I've never understood trolls. We've. We've known a couple. It's such a weird, sad, strange, deranged impulse.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think you do understand it, but.

[Joe Getty]

Where does it come from? What makes you that way?

[Jack Armstrong]

Poor upbringing.

[Joe Getty]

Where you could. You're gonna call the cops and give them a false lead and then he get off the phone and now your day is better somehow. Nobody.

[Jack Armstrong]

People who are too stupid and sad and lazy to build things break things for their satisfaction. And this is a form of breaking something. Whether you put somebody in a bad mood or you force them to react to you, or you affect the police investigation even in a little. You feel like you have an effect on the world.

[Joe Getty]

Man, that is twisted. I wonder what percentage of people are that. But I, I was surprised to hear that that's.

[Jack Armstrong]

Keep them away from me. Whatever percentage it is.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, no kidding. That's always been the case. According to former FBI director. You get a big story like this and all kinds of creepos come out of the woodwork with their fake this and that. And so we played a little clip of Ashley Banfield if you're old enough. You remember she was a cable news star for a cup of coffee back in the early 2000s 90s. I don't remember when it was, but she's the only person I've heard say anything about this, that the brother is a suspect. And I don't believe that for a second. I don't either. But what a horrible thing to put out into the bloodstream of the story. I shouldn't say bloodstream. The, the, the news stream of this story and then have other people reporting on it. How about that poor brother or son your mom's missing and now you got some cable news host claiming you're a suspect. You gotta be free. And then other people discussing it. Oh my God. Yes, Katie, you rolled your eyes.

[News Reader / Reporter]

Oh no, the, the thing I've been thinking about is the day and age we're in with AI and you know they're asking for proof of life. Anybody can make anything now.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. If you got a video, you'd have to run it through some sort of expert AI software to see if it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah. Way I could produce a realistic looking video of the poor old gal right now.

[Joe Getty]

Well, she's.

[Jack Armstrong]

So could everybody else.

[Joe Getty]

She's been on TV a ton. So there's lots of video and audio out there of her. Yeah, but the whole speculating that her own son may have abducted and killed her just kind of for sport for. On your TV on your show just seems really outlined to me. Evil.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's evil.

[Joe Getty]

And you know, we've covered enough of these. The cops don't go around naming suspects and releasing it like that. That's not usually the way it works. Usually. Not usually find out somebody's a suspect once they're arrested. But yeah, so that's just. That's out of line.

[Jack Armstrong]

There is zero chance anybody in the police department or the FBI is reaching out to Ashley Banfield and say, hey, we're really at the brother.

[Joe Getty]

And not other news organizations, by the way. So not. Not NBC, not the Wall Street Journal, not any of the other people that are covering the story. Because everybody is Ashley Banfield.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, she's evil. An evil God.

[Joe Getty]

That takes. That's a certain sort of person.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, an evil one.

[Joe Getty]

Imagine a bean. And that's the, the son that was sitting on the couch next to Savannah Guthrie in that four minute video they released yesterday. Ashley Banfield's going around saying, yeah, I've got a little information that he did it, killed his own mom.

[Jack Armstrong]

So most. I was, I was partly just, you know, kidding around with you as always. But the under use of the term evil in the modern world I think is significant. That used to be a concept that was generally understood. There are people who are malevolent. They are, they have checked out of any deserved, deserving human company or compassion. They're. They're evil. And she sounds like one of those people to me. Desperate.

[Joe Getty]

Not as evil as the person who abducted an old woman and perhaps killed her. There's levels of evil for who knows what freaking reason. I wonder how this is going to end. I have a guess, but I hate to say it out loud, you know, I think we all know. We all know the end. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I suspect that the delusional involved who's now responsible for the death of an old gal, probably he will wash up like all would be criminal geniuses do because they're stupid.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's. It's definitely become one of those rare shared experiences we got going on in America right now. Because every news outlet is like leading with this story now like everybody, which is kind of interesting. It's, you know, also Savannah Guthrie is just such an incredibly likable presence and has been on the scene for so long. And you know that, that, that is a hook, you know. Wow. Also I heard another one of this morning. I don't remember what channel I was watching. Let's go to James Winston, 20 year homicide detective, retired from Chicago. James. Yeah, it's Amateur hour down there. I've never seen such a bungled investigation. First of all, that, you know, that sort of thing, which I just avoid annoyed by. It's so easy to do that I could do it without ever having been a cop.

[Jack Armstrong]

We know cable news personalities who go to the studio and they're told which side of the issue they should be on, and they bring it like. Only an idiot would disagree with this opinion that I was just told 5 minutes ago I should adopt. And I can absolutely believe that. And old retired cops, you know, or. Or they go around looking for somebody who wants to blast the police investigation. I just.

[Joe Getty]

Don't you feel like you could do that without ever. I think I could do the. What do you want me to be a body language expert or want me to be a retired homicide detective? Do you want me.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's wrong with this restaurant forensics person?

[Joe Getty]

What would you like me to be? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pro leaf blower, anti leaf blower, whatever.

[Joe Getty]

Nancy Mace was back on Fox and Friends this morning looking exactly like she looked when we did shows with her back during Scott Peterson, which was 25 years ago.

[Jack Armstrong]

She hasn't changed a bit. One of the advantages of being a vampire. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Saying the same things, looking exactly the same. Right. You know, very critical of everyone involved. They've really screwed up. All right. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, Fox, the bottom of the barrel's got to be down here somewhere. We're getting close, huh?

[Joe Getty]

Was she laying on top of Heraldo or what order do you go in there? I. Let's start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Thursday. Oh, Friday, February 5, year 2026, where Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, enough of the preliminaries. Let's begin the show officially now, according to FCC rules and regulations. On a lighter note, at mark, a.

[Joe Getty]

Dancing robot is stealing the show in Milan. It welcomed visitors to China's Hospitality house, which opened to the public on Wednesday. The robot showed off its hip hop dance moves and its tai chi skills. It was also seen interacting with visitors and even shaking their hands.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then we've seen ripping the throats out of Filipino Navy sailors. Oh, boy.

[Joe Getty]

Chinese robots. They're playing the pregame run for your lives. Yeah, no kidding. So the negotiations, do they start today or tomorrow? And oh, man, with the whole Iranian thing, hard to say where that exactly is going. And then you've also got the negotiations in day three about Russia in Ukraine, and they agreed to some sort of prisoner swap, which is Some people are seeing as a good sign. I still would be shocked if anything comes out of this.

[Jack Armstrong]

They held a computer aided, top notch war game in Europe the other day about what would happen if Vlad Putin invaded some of the Baltic states, for instance. Didn't go well for NATO. Not well at all.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, really? I want to hear about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, Lord.

[Joe Getty]

I'm looking up at the TV headline. Hundreds of Pizza Huts to close.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's the end of an era. Era in which there were lots of Pizza Huts.

[Joe Getty]

There's a pizza that over the years has gone from pretty darn good to I don't. I don't want to. I don't want to get sued.

[Jack Armstrong]

But now they got lawyers. Zahut. Back in the day, man, I love pizza.

[Joe Getty]

It was great.

[Jack Armstrong]

I loved it. The sauce, terrific.

[Joe Getty]

But I don't know if you've had it lately. Michael, you're shaking your head. It's not.

[Jack Armstrong]

I. I may be agreeing with you.

[Joe Getty]

It's not the same pizza.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, fair enough.

[Joe Getty]

That's. That's the true pizza. Wide with all your big chains. For whatever reason, they all decided, I guess, to keep prices low, just lower the ingredients to be able to keep the prices the same. Yeah, and we've gone from like the best of sausage to.

[Jack Armstrong]

And the cheese. God knows what it really is.

[Joe Getty]

Cheese. Yeah, you gotta use your finger quotes on all this stuff. I'd like cheese on that and some pineapple and also, I guess, a little pepperoni. Using my finger quotes for everything.

[Jack Armstrong]

Grape.

[Joe Getty]

I assume the sauce is made with tomato, Right? Something red. We've got Katie's headlines on the way and we'll get into some of the news. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

So Kamala Harris put out a teaser tweet yesterday, and everybody was wondering what it's about and hasn't landed yet. Have you heard about this?

[Jack Armstrong]

If she was coming to my house, I'd only be mildly interested in what she was doing.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. She did release it a few minutes ago because yesterday she put out on her campaign Twitter feed, which hadn't had a tweet since the day after the election of thanks for your support. It said tomorrow, and now she just put out something. So I'll check it out during the commercials.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead story with Katie Green. Katie, take it away.

[Joe Getty]

Oh.

[News Reader / Reporter]

The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie is at the top of the headlines. ABC search for missing mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie enters its fifth day. Cnn. Savannah Guthrie pleads for proof that her mother is alive. And NBC investigators return to Guthrie's home in renewed search after news of pacemaker disconnecting.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Oh, ugly story. And almost certainly to have an ugly ending. Yeah.

[News Reader / Reporter]

From the Washington Post, Borders are. Tom Holman says 700 ICE and CBP officers are leaving Minneapolis.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is a decent little chunk of the huge number that was there. It's still many, many, many multiples of what were there before the big surge. So there's still a lot of federal cops on the scene.

[Joe Getty]

We'll have to talk about this more later, though. What, what, what happened there? Did they go too big going into Minneapolis and lost control or that was. Was that in the beginning? Probably not. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I have to ask Stephen Miller from Axios.

[News Reader / Reporter]

US and Russia agree to observe new start nuclear pact after expiration. All right, this one from the Wall Street Journal. The harsh reality is setting in. America and China are heading for a divorce and it's going to be messy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

As an interesting article. We'll talk more about that later. The. What do they call it? The way we've been forever coupled, the uncoupling of China and the United States and then all the countries that have to pick a side, pick an orbit.

[News Reader / Reporter]

From the New York Times, quote, it's collective punishment. Iran exacts heavy price on protest supporters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[News Reader / Reporter]

From cnbc, Washington Post begins widespread layoffs, sharply shrinking the newspaper's reach.

[Joe Getty]

One third in all departments got laid off yesterday at the Washington Post, Ian Bremmer among people. I was checking out their Twitter feed yesterday, just horrified at Bezos abandoning strong independent journalism like it's his job to spend his own money, money to make a, you know, somehow make that newspaper profitable when it might not come, when it might be impossible all the way around. You know what saved the New York Times often gets left out of this. The reason it's profitable, Wordle. Without Wordle, it'd be in the same situation as a lot of other newspapers.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oof.

[News Reader / Reporter]

From the New York Post. China maxing is TikTok's latest senseless trend as young people romanticize living in a communist city society.

[Joe Getty]

I never know how true these things are. I saw some of the pictures of people dressed like Chairman Mao or something. Whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Send them there.

[Joe Getty]

Send them, put them in the gulags eating nails. The latest tick tock craze.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, shout out.

[News Reader / Reporter]

Study finds. Could space tourism make you infertile? Scientists say it's time to start asking questions.

[Joe Getty]

That something to be concerned about when people have stopped wanting to have Babies?

[News Reader / Reporter]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I got all sorts of questions about space travel. That's not the first one that leaps to mind.

[News Reader / Reporter]

And finally, the Babylon Bee quote. The engines are coming. Cries Billie Eilish, loading a musket to defend her home from a tribe of redskins.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh boy. The backlash against that idiocy has been truly enjoyable. That has lifted my spirits.

[Joe Getty]

I like that the tribe came out and said when any white person makes a land acknowledgment, they need to mention the tribe or they're racist or something like that. So you know, I love the woke. Eating the woke. That's one of my favorite things that ever happens. We've got details on a whole bunch of the stories coming up.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Statistically, when people Nancy Guthrie's age are kidnapped, it is for financial gain. Somebody is the perpetrator is doing it for that reason.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, what's the data set there of kidnappings of the elderly? That was a former FBI agent there, Candace DeLong.

[Joe Getty]

I gotta believe it's pretty tiny. And then that's what. Then what's the data set of people getting money and getting away with it? That's the number that should be published. Look, nobody gets away with this ever. So don't do it. You're gonna spend the rest of your life in prison.

[Jack Armstrong]

And it's evil, Right? Right. Kidnapping is an unspeakably evil crime. Oh my God, it's horrible. That's why the penalties are so severe. And they should be.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. We did get a text. You said that the suspect was Nancy Guthrie's son. I haven't said they have a suspect. Only Ashley Banfield was as far as I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, he said Ashley Banfield was floating that awful.

[Joe Getty]

But this person says it's actually her son in law. Well, maybe Ashley Banfield said it's the son in law. Either way, I don't believe that they're a suspect because I don't think the cops would tell Ashley Banfield and nobody else. Yeah, it's disgusting thing to start speculating about and throwing around if you have no idea. Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although I credit our listener for having the fact straight on the fact. Free story.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Another. I had something pop into my head and it just disappeared.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, son of a.

[Joe Getty]

What is that? I got that thing Joe Biden had. Senility. That's what it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Oh, so if you can't think of the word senility. Well, yeah, that's bad.

[Joe Getty]

So I don't mind playing a portion of this long message that the Guthrie family put out to. They're directing it at whoever took their mom. Savannah Guthrie was leading the way as a, you know, professional reader of things on screen. Savannah Guthrie of NBC News. Her and her brother and sister put out a video sitting on a couch. It's four minutes long. We'll play a part of it. I don't have any problem playing it because they. They put that out there because they. They're hoping it'll help find their mom, even though it's like really, really heavy. But I hate the 911 call that came out the other day. I know, I understand why those things are available, but, God, listening to that sort of stuff for your entertainment or the news, putting it out there. Here's somebody when they realize their mom may be dead. Let's listen in. Oh, my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I want to talk about that. I don't want to distract though, from. From the topic at hand, but that's. Don't let me forget. Okay, so this is Savannah Guthrie and perhaps other family members. I'm not sure, but certainly.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, she's sitting on the couch. She's got her sister on one side and brother on the other side.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, just speaking. I meant. But yeah, go ahead. Michael, 30.

[Announcer]

Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive and she needs it not to suffer. We too have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her.

[Joe Getty]

And so they say at some point or. Well, just the way they word that suggests to most people that they haven't seen any letter. So this creepo who sent a letter to TMZ and other news outlets to get attention is not real? Almost certainly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because on the other hand, if there has not been any sort of specific ransom demand made to the family or police, what the hell is going on here?

[Joe Getty]

It's hard to say. It's. It's going to be.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I can. I can make a guess. But again, it's grim and it's terrible. It's going to want to utter the words.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. In real life, these stories always. They always have such sad, disappointing, what a waste endings. Some half crazy loser with no good plan, you know, abducts this girl or boy or old lady or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's just right. Exactly. The half wit loser decides to Go for the big score, dot, dot, dot. You can, you know, fill in those blanks for yourself.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I wonder how long this stays in the public eye with. Really, this was the only new development yesterday they put out this video. But they're developments are going to come very, very slowly, like starting today. Unless they come across the guy somehow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or all of a sudden then it's over and sad. So I remember, excuse me, you read that book about the Gutenberg Press. As I recall, I bought it. I haven't read it, but I get partial credit for owning it. But one of the most interesting things you pointed out was that when the printing press became, well, the written word became available in a widespread way, you could reproduce it quickly and cheap. Right. What, what was the hot thing? What, what immediately took off.

[Joe Getty]

They think it's really what propelled the witch hunts of that lasted like a hundred years. Hunting witches all across Europe, which ended up happening in the United States because for the first time ever information could come out in printed form. And people had only seen printed form being an official book from usually from the church or the king. And so you believed it. Well, now they are seeing printed things. Well, this has got to be true. Somebody, I forget the guy, the name. There's an actual person that wrote a specific pamphlet about witches and but in everybody believed it because they were used to believing what they read and that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Was what was consumed.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and it started the whole craze and then the parallel being we were used to believing the news until whenever 15, 20 years ago. Now there's crap all over the place. But lots of people still go on the Internet, turn on their tv, they see it on a screen. It's a video, it's a guy on a video talking. It's got to be true. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So in an interesting parallel, I've been listening to a podcast. There are no other podcasts. Forget I'm making this story up completely. We have the only one. But about it has to do with 1880s London. And they make the point that England passed. I think it was the 1860 and 1870 literacy rules which were miraculously effective. And they achieved in England for the first time in history, virtually 100% literacy rate in the country.

[Joe Getty]

It was a wonderful success.

[Jack Armstrong]

What was the immediate effect of that? Intense competition for selling newspapers, broadsides, pad tabloids, that sort of thing. And the biggest hit was what they called and this is such a great name, Penny dreadfuls. It was.

[Joe Getty]

That is a great name.

[Jack Armstrong]

Single pay. It's a great band name.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

We have, oh, the penny dreadfuls.

[Joe Getty]

We have top hats. We got handlebar mustaches. You got long black coats.

[Jack Armstrong]

The top hat, I think they'd be. It keep falling off. When I, you know, when I jammed, when I rocked my head, we. What do you call it? We bang your head.

[Joe Getty]

We put Dickens paragraphs to a hot beat. That's what we do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wait a minute if this is brilliant.

[Joe Getty]

The penny dreadfuls.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, so it was. What immediately took off, what people, the masses of people wanted to read was lurid crap.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tales of. Of gruesome crime and sex and adventure and mysteries. And then some of it sounds pretty compelling. But what the masses of people wanted was crap. The Internet age has, I think, reminded.

[Joe Getty]

Us.

[Jack Armstrong]

That a lot of human beings we don't want to be around. Not everybody's nice and smart and enlightened and kind and understands the social compact or, you know, embraces Judeo Christian values or whatever. There's a hell of a lot of human beings on earth who are just either rotten or dumb or mean or whatever. You just have to accept.

[Joe Getty]

Accept it. Rotten, dumb and mean is no way to go through life, so.

[Jack Armstrong]

And protect yourself.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Like the sort of person that would write a fake ransom note and send it to tmz.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So not enough people care about. Well, I got this wrong. Let me switch it around. If you put out enough crap as a news organization, eventually you'll lose a.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lot of your readers.

[Joe Getty]

That's what happened to the Washington Post. They cut a third of their newsroom yesterday. This is a pretty big deal, because for a long time, if you wanted to be an educated person in America, you'd read the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. That's been that way for a very, very, very long time. You know, they. They earned this by having crap coverage on a whole bunch of different stories. But now the Washington Post, they cut out of a third of their workforce yesterday. Here are sections that are just going away from one of the most important newspapers in our nation's history. No more sports section. Completely eliminating it now. Kind of surprising. I mean, I would read, you know, Washington Post. I think I probably read their full coverage of the NCAA championship game the other night afterwards, you know, good reporter, blah, blah, blah. But there's so much sports out there, and you can get it everywhere. You don't need a sports section. So.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, they completely eliminated that. They completely eliminated the book section. I liked it. Always read the reviews. You're not going to get your book reviewed by the Washington Post anymore. They've eliminated the book section completely. And, and that's, you know, the Washington.

[Jack Armstrong]

Metro area, which is their core business. I realize that's not their entire business, but that is a book reading part of the world. I mean that's a pretty educated.

[Joe Getty]

Well or was. People don't read anymore very much. So that's just gone. Book section, sports section. The Post reports podcast, which I had never listened to, but they've eliminated that completely. And then they've severely scaled back all their metro local coverage. International coverage, foreign bureaus closed, foreign correspondence. No more. There'll be barely any international coverage at all in the Washington Post. That's unbelievable.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's, that's shocking.

[Joe Getty]

It really is. And nothing's gonna fill the gap on that. You eliminate sports. God, there's so many places to get sports takes or scores or whatever you need to know. Injury. It's everywhere. A reporter who's been on the ground in some country in Africa where they just had a, you know, a horrifying slaying of Christians or something like that. Tick tock. Influencers aren't sending a correspondent to report on that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

There's just not going to be anybody doing that anymore. Oh. Anyway, so it'll be interesting to see.

[Jack Armstrong]

How this all shakes out.

[Joe Getty]

There's just going to be a lot of stuff that does not get covered isn't getting covered now by real news. Plenty of hot takes, including us. Plenty of hot takes on all subjects. But the hottest. But people go into the city council meeting, the boring, boring, long three hour city council meeting.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then writing really probably affects your life more than actually the latest griping about whatever, you know, online school board.

[Joe Getty]

Meeting or whatever location around the world to report on this or that. And that all that stuff's going away.

[Jack Armstrong]

Has gone on a cheerier note because this is depressing. On a cheerier note, I have thanks to alert listener Mike. Become aware of a website that is so enjoyable unless you think about it for a minute. It's the list of nicknames used by Donald Trump for various people. A complete list of the insulting nicknames. And when are you getting utilized by the president? When we do that next hour.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. That's something to look forward to.

[Jack Armstrong]

An hour to join us, won't you?

[Joe Getty]

That's a good one. See, that's the sort of thing we need. We need more of that. That will fill in international reporting funny lists.

[Jack Armstrong]

What do you want out of me? Go to Africa and report on the slaughter. Why are you yelling at me?

[Joe Getty]

Olympic sports. Start Tomorrow night. Got some interesting information on that Super Bowl Sunday. Those wacky bets that usually occur can get into that all on the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty, the wacky crop bets.

[Joe Getty]

Including length of the national anthem. We can get to that in an hour too. We can give you the lines if you want to get in on the wagering.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, do it.

[Joe Getty]

Who's had the longest national anthem all the time? Who had the shortest? Actually kind of interesting. We'll get to that.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's your freedom loving quote of the day. Departing from our list of quotes from communists for the moment. Just because I appreciate this being sent along by one of our fabulous listeners quoting Arthur Schopenhauer. This relates to our discussion earlier in the show. There are two kinds of people in this world. Avoid them both.

[Joe Getty]

I like that one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh that's so good. Mailbag. Would you like to communicate with us? Drop us a Note an email mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com Rich yes, that was fun. Rich from San Francisco writes, I was chatting with Google Gemini last night, which by the way is the clear leader among consumer adopted AI systems.

[Joe Getty]

It is.

[Jack Armstrong]

And realized that. More on that.

[Joe Getty]

Oh wow. I hear ChatGPT referenced so much more. I didn't know that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting chatting with Gemini. Asked about your show. Apparently you are quote a powerhouse in the American talk radio to podcast pipeline. You have, quote, nearly a telepathic chemistry. Jack is the quote, everyman prone to outrage over government absurdity.

[Joe Getty]

That's true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Joe is quote professorial who brings a more philosophical and historical lens to the discussion. And we are both in the quote, sensible middle on the political scale. Rich says I'm a 20 year listener. Sounds about right to me. Keep up the good work. Thanks Rich. That's interesting.

[Joe Getty]

Does it mention that I have not have a movement now in four days?

[Jack Armstrong]

Good God, that's every man. All right. That's unsophisticated.

[Joe Getty]

Four days. I think this is my all time record.

[Jack Armstrong]

What you got up your prunes?

[Joe Getty]

Clearly I'm eating the prunes. But not enough. Four days.

[Jack Armstrong]

Four days.

[Joe Getty]

It was last weekend.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's saving it like money, folks. I mean, what's going on? Moving along as quickly as possible. Tim, our most frequent email hater, has a differing opinion of the show. Shiny object alert. You clowns are no better than the MSM ambulance chasers. And about as effective as Steve Witless. I mean Witkoff is that Tim sends us a hate email semi regularly.

[Joe Getty]

That's probably for covering the Savannah Guthrie's mom story, I'm guessing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, I'm sorry. The title of the email is Good Guthrie. Okay, yeah, let's see. Moving along on that topic. More or less. More or less. Dave in Baltimore writes related to the kidnapped old stir where the media found blood evidence. I used to be a deputy coroner in the San Francisco Bay area. I fled for a better life in spite of way more snow and ice. It's amazing how many times I would find evidence in plain sight when I finally got to the scene after the local police had been working for many hours. Sometimes stuff is just invisible until a fresh set of eyes hits it. I also had to debunk some crackpot theories on a few occasions, too, but that's a different topic. I'd love to hear more about that, David, actually.

[Joe Getty]

Fabulous. So Trump called Savannah Guthrie, and he's promised all kinds of help from the federal government and everything like that. I don't know how I feel about that. I don't know if because you're a celebrity and you know the president, you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get extra police helping cases, always get FBI assistance, but I don't. I don't know. Alvin writes, guys, people keep talking about AI becoming sentiment. If that happens, will Waymo EVs have road rage events against Tesla EVs? It'll all be filmed from both cars, too. Can't wait.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, we got to get into the. CBS News did a report on this last night on the race for automated driving between Tesla and And I hated the story, so I want to play some of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, really? Okay. All right. Rage baiting. Clearly Ryan from Houston, dear Cold Warrior and old Fancy Jack. I say unless. Oh, this is the super bowl halftime show. I say unless substandard rabbit whips it out and urinates on the American flag or burns. It's the best thing conservatives can do with rabbit or Green Day stunts. Just ignore them. Also, that's nearly impossible. Kind of like riding the California bullet train. Wow. Gets in an extra shot at the.

[Joe Getty]

You can bet on whether or not Bad Bunny is going to do something wacky. Although I don't know what qualifies as wacky. That's the problem.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I got to read the fine print there. And then Christo and Reno says, guys, I've been trying to popularize the use of the word journavist instead of journalist for the last few years.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, how's that going for you? It's like me trying to get yo, yo, yo catching on as a greeting.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like it. It's somebody. It's an activist masquerading as a journalist. A journalist. I appreciate that. I wish you well. We've done our part.

[Joe Getty]

Christo. Like Don Lemon, that sort of thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, that great example. Although that would be a jack gas of this Don Lemon.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

We terrible human.

[Joe Getty]

We teased a whole bunch of different things that we will get to. And if you miss a segment or an hour, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.