A Socialists Paradise!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand — "A Socialists Paradise!" (August 4, 2026)

Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Episode: A Socialists Paradise!
Date: August 4, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the reunion of Jack Armstrong, Joe Getty, and Katie Green (back from maternity leave), restoring the show to "full strength." The central theme is the widespread U.S. elections featuring openly socialist and even Islamist candidates, exploring their most outlandish proposals—including ending Thanksgiving as a holiday. Interwoven with political commentary, the hosts touch on the latest headlines (from escalating Middle Eastern tensions to pop culture and health anecdotes), with their characteristic blend of sarcasm, skepticism, and humor.

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Main Topics and Key Discussion Points

1. Katie Green’s Return and “Full Strength”

• Katie Green returns after three months of maternity leave.
  • Katie: "He’ll be three months next week." [01:51]
  • Reflects on parenthood and time perception: “It flew by and it crawled by at the exact same time.” [02:04]
  • Hosts joke about the relativity of time when caring for kids.

2. Election Day: The Rise of “Communist” and Islamist Candidates

• Framing the Elections: “A Socialist Paradise”
  • The hosts lampoon “communist election day,” warning about candidates who are "avowed Islamists" intending to replace the Constitution with Sharia law.
    • Jack: “If they were only communists that'd be fine. But at least a handful of them are avowed Islamists too.” [03:45]
• Notable Candidates
  • Francesca Hong, running for governor of Wisconsin, targeted for her proposal to end Thanksgiving.
    • Joe: “Which one of our whack job communists is running on ending Thanksgiving? Because it's so painful.” [11:05]
    • Francesca Hong’s quote: “Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly painful for many people in our communities... views can evolve.” [10:54]
  • Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, called out as a "dangerous" and "ruthless" Islamist candidate.
    • Jack: “He is dangerous. He's smart. He's ruthless. He's an avowed Islamist.” [04:42]
  • Hosts debate viability of these candidates and broader implications.
    • Joe: “Craziest major party candidates we may have ever had in our entire nation's history are going to be elected today.” [04:22]

3. Border Security and the Strait of Hormuz

• Highlights President Trump's conflicting announcements about the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Joe: “The President announced the straight is open today. Here’s my breaking news. The state will not be open. It’s not in any ways whatsoever and will not be.” [03:20]
  • Both hosts express skepticism and bemusement at the administration’s handling of the issue.
    • “People shouldn’t just say, yeah, whatever to the President announcing something that major.” [12:29]
• Discussion of U.S.-Iran tensions, media skepticism, and speculative analysis of international waters and political posturing. [12:43–13:02, 21:08–22:55]

4. Election Oddities and Culture Wars

• Thanksgiving Under Attack
  • Francesca Hong’s campaign against Thanksgiving is mocked as irrelevant and “dullsville.”
    • Jack: “A painful time for many people. Ashamed of yourself, hate your country. I do. I hate you.” [11:31]
• Transgender Issues in Sports
  • WNBA coach controversy: supporting trans kids but objecting to men coaching in women’s leagues.
    • “Diversity, meaning more people like me.” [17:00]
  • Callbacks to Dave Chappelle’s LeBron-in-the-WNBA routine.

5. Middle East News: Iran, Oman & Cyber Attacks

• Diplomatic Headlines
  • Diplomatic efforts to end war; Trump threatening Iran; Oman and Iran proposing to open the Strait with tolls.
    • Katie: “Trump threatens Iran with quote decapitation as Houthis claim strike on Saudi airport.” [14:46]
  • Skepticism about the reported “peace breakthroughs.”
• Cyber Attacks
  • Iranian (purportedly) cyber attacks on U.S. water infrastructure in 12 states.
    • “Certainly sounds like a warning shot to me.” [20:11]
    • Jack: “They’re only international waters if some big dog can force them to be.” [21:26]

6. Russia-Ukraine War Update

• Desperation in Russian Recruitment
  • Reports of Russian military recruiters detaining and beating men to force enlistment.
    • Jack: “They bring him down to the...military recruitment office, where the men are threatened and beaten until they sign up for the war.” [24:51]
    • “Impressment indeed. I was just reading about that from the Revolutionary War era.” [25:22]
  • Estimated Russian casualties now reportedly 30,000–40,000 killed and wounded monthly. [27:43]
• Impact on Russian Civilians
  • Gasoline shortages and increased drone attacks bring the war home to the average Russian.
    • “Hardly a day goes by without fresh announcements from Moscow authorities about drones intercepted on their way to the capital.” [29:06]

7. American Society & Education

• Ignorance and Historical Illiteracy
  • Frustration with ignorance among college students and society at large.
    • Jack reads a quote from Alexander Hamilton: “The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written as with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature...” [33:21]
• Drug Awareness
  • Study finds most 8th graders underestimate the danger of fentanyl.
    • "Most eighth graders don't think that trying fentanyl once is a big deal." [17:42]
    • Joe: “You do not want your kids thinking that.” [17:54]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the 2026 Elections:
  Jack: “Craziest major party candidates we may have ever had in our entire nation's history are going to be elected today, which is a pretty big deal.” [04:22]

• On Francesca Hong’s Thanksgiving Position:
  Joe: “Which one of our whack job communists is running on ending Thanksgiving? Because it's so painful.” [11:05]
  Francesca Hong (clip): “Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly painful for many people in our communities. And so I think... views can evolve.” [10:54]
  Jack: “A painful time for many people. Ashamed of yourself, Hate your country. I do. I hate you.” [11:31]

• On Political Sloganeering:
  Jack: “The border is closed.”
  Joe: “The border is secure. There you go. Fantastic.” [01:35]

• On Hypnotists and Skepticism:
  Katie: “Yeah, like the weak minded, you know,” [10:08]
  Jack: “If you can say it, you're new with child. Go ahead and say it.” [10:13]

• On Election Oddities:
  Babylon Bee headline: “Terrorists are feeling dumb for ramming twin towers when all they had to do was run for mayor.” [18:10]

• On U.S. Infrastructure Hacks:
  Jack: “They’re only international waters if some big dog can force them to be. And maybe we’re not willing to do that.” [21:26]

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Segment Timestamps (MM:SS)

• 01:17 – Episode theme setup: "No Prisons, Free Health Care, A Socialist Paradise on the ballot."
• 02:04 – Katie Green on being back from maternity leave.
• 03:11–04:42 – Political analysis of "communist election day" and key races.
• 10:50–11:24 – Francesca Hong's position on ending Thanksgiving.
• 14:32–17:34 – Katie Green's "The Lead Story": headlines about Iran, Oman, climate arson, WNBA & more.
• 19:02–22:55 – Cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, further Iran/Strait analysis.
• 23:36–28:54 – Russia-Ukraine recruitment tactics; hardships in Russia.
• 33:21 – Alexander Hamilton quote on rights and historical literacy.

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Tone & Style

The hosts’ trademark style is on full display: sardonic, irreverent, skeptical of authority, and especially of political extremism or leftist rhetoric. Jokes, playful mockery, and friendly banter add levity to serious topics, while occasional moments of exasperation (about societal ignorance or the state of politics) heighten the sense of urgency and, ironically, amusement.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a satirical, critical take on the rise of socialists and radicals in U.S. politics, the performative nature of modern campaigns, ongoing international tensions, and the enduring problem of ignorance in American society. Loaded with both sharp barbs and substantive discussion, it’s essential Armstrong & Getty for listeners who relish sardonic takes on news and culture.

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For more, listen to the full episode or search "Armstrong & Getty On Demand."

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human

[Joe Getty]

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[Katie Green]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Katie Green]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio

[Joe Getty]

studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center,

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and get it.

[Joe Getty]

I just got off my rocket ship motorcycle, so my adrenaline is very high. Live, live from Studio C Senior, a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound that now has a romper room attached to it. And today we are under the title

[Jack Armstrong]

of the show, no Prisons, Free Health Care, A Socialist paradise on the ballot. Or if you prefer, Europe's Biden says La Frontera es segura, which is Spanish for the border is secure.

[Joe Getty]

Very good.

[Jack Armstrong]

The border is closed.

[Joe Getty]

The border is secure. There you go. Fantastic. So we have to acknowledge right off the bat, Katie, Katie. The news lady rejoins the Armstrong and getting show.

[Katie Green]

Officially, who am I and what am I doing here?

[Joe Getty]

Who is an owl mom and has a baby? How old's your baby now?

[Katie Green]

He'll be three months next week.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was telling Katie before the show when, you know, the maternity leave. I'll be back, you know, end of July. And I was like, oh, my God, that's a long time from now. I remember thinking that. And here we are. Time flies. Crazy.

[Katie Green]

It was weird. It flew by and it crawled by at the exact same time.

[Joe Getty]

That is the entire kid experience.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, the hours drag in, the years jerk, as they say, or the years fly.

[Joe Getty]

Have they ever nailed that down? Because we always talk about the whole time speeds up as you get older. But what's the. What's the. Every day seems like it's four days.

[Katie Green]

I think it's the exhaustion, but.

[Joe Getty]

But five years seems like two months. What is that whole thing with kids? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. That reminds me of that hilarious video of the toilet paper in the grocery store aisle. 32 equals 24, which equals 12, which equals. Yeah, that's just. Nobody knows. Nobody knows.

[Joe Getty]

There's got to be A reason we're built that way, I would assume. Anyway. Cool. Well, good to have you back, Katie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Very excited to be back indeed. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

This is the first time we've been full strength in quite some time with a variety of illnesses and vacations and all kinds of things like that. So groovy.

[Katie Green]

Everybody watch out.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no kidding. Everybody watch out. The good news of course is as Joe I think hinted to. Did you hint to in your titles or not? Donald. Donald Trump announced the straight is open today. So that is very exciting.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, weirdly that was the one I left out. I was going to go with that but when with the borders are secure instead. But yeah, I was going to say good news, the straits are open.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, the. The President announced the straight is open today. Here's my breaking news. The state will not be open. It's not in any ways whatsoever and will not be.

[Jack Armstrong]

But if he says S all the

[Joe Getty]

time, I don't even know what's going on there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Relationship to the truth.

[Joe Getty]

We'll talk about that later. And of course it's communist election day all across the country, so that's exciting. Get a few communists in office, see how they're doing. Listen to some of their crazy plans.

[Jack Armstrong]

If they were only communists that'd be fine. But at least a handful of them are avowed Islamists too. They absolutely want to get rid of the Constitution in favor of Sharia law. Not a fan. Speaking for myself.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And what was the other thing? There was another one on there. Maybe the wind of riding my motorcycle to work at a high rate of speed blew it out of my head. Maybe that's what happened. I was trying to think of. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

My son's going to the new Spider man tonight. I know he's very excited. That's his headline in his life. He's going to New Spider man with one of his friends which set some sort of box offer box office records over the weekend, so.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So we'll keep you up to speed on the Spider man movie. Which do you think is the most exciting of the communist races going on today? Almost having a communist governor. Well, they're not going to win but major party candidate. As I said yesterday, the craziest major party candidates we may have ever had in our entire nation's history are going to be elected today, which is a pretty big deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Wisconsin race is mostly amusing because it's a governor's race. Wisconsin is like so many states. It is a couple of deep blue blotches and then in an immense, you know, acreage of red. But the wackadoodle girl running for governor there, I don't think she's gonna do much to harm America. She'll be a miserable failure, et cetera. El Sayed in Michigan. Now, that is one worth watching. He is dangerous. He's smart. He's ruthless. He's an avowed Islamist. He's dangerous.

[Joe Getty]

You don't think he could win, do you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, I don't think he will, but I think he could.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mike Rogers is polling ahead of him, but not nearly enough for comfort. Granted, a single state poll tends to be iffy. They don't poll a lot.

[Joe Getty]

Plus the classic events, my dear. Events. Who knows what's going to happen between now and November.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Exactly. And I just. I'm going to channel a little sung to here. I would rather overestimate my opponent's capabilities than underestimate them and be smarting from a costly historic defeat. In the morning, I.

[Joe Getty]

I got on my scale. I did. I. I did say it's some sort of record over the weekend. I would. I should have. I should have entered a contest.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. I went. I'm on prednisone for an odd reason. Katie and prednisone. Joseph, do you remember what your dose was you were taking when it didn't have an effect on you? Because I've had different doses. Not this. The higher dose. Man, it's like. It makes you. Like a bear.

[Katie Green]

I have to tell you, I just don't even. There's so much more of me to love right now after having a kid. I don't want to hear it out of either one of you.

[Joe Getty]

You don't look like it.

[Katie Green]

It's.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, you're fine. It's God's plan. You get God.

[Katie Green]

After losing 80 pounds prior to getting pregnant and now having, like 30 to lose, it's like, good God almighty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I'll get.

[Katie Green]

I'll get it off, but I don't want to hear it out of either one of you right now. You both look great.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow. Yeah. Let me lift up my shirt. Yeah. Prednisone gave me all sorts of energy, but it. It didn't make me ravenous like you. You know, I. I gotta admit, it was unkind when you were at the state fair and they put a blue ribbon around your neck right next to them.

[Joe Getty]

I'm walking to the animal barn. They put the blue ribbon on my second. I said, I'm not even in the hog competition. Wait a second. That's not a hog.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is embarrassing, sir.

[Joe Getty]

That is a gentleman who was just walking by.

[Katie Green]

Right, so you're calling me a pig?

[Jack Armstrong]

A mistake has.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, we need to crack this error at once.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is mortifying.

[Joe Getty]

Well, so. But see, the difference is, Katie, you've got every like the best reason in the world to gain weight. Being a mom. And it's all part of the process of keeping the baby healthy and all these different sorts of things. I was just a guy at the state fair with no self control. Those are different things.

[Katie Green]

And he ended up in the hog

[Joe Getty]

contest and ended up walking by the

[Jack Armstrong]

hog contest with a blue ribbon. If you're gonna get in it, win it. Shame, right? Shame.

[Joe Getty]

It was. It was late Saturday when we were sitting there watching the state fair hypnotist with my big tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I thought, is this what my life is? Is this where I saw myself when I was a young man with that. Watching a state fair hypnopist eating a big bowl of ice cream after all the other crap I've eaten?

[Katie Green]

I want a big corn dog. That's been on my craving list for.

[Joe Getty]

I had one. It was good. It was as good as you were imagining.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's a compliment for you, Jack. In the demographic of people who are sitting there shoveling ice cream down their throats, you're the only one with all your teeth. So well done.

[Joe Getty]

It was. It was quite the crowd because it was. This was the. The 9 o' clock show, like the dark time one. The fact that you have to be 16 to watch it because it gets sexy. I guess we didn't stay for the whole thing. I just watched enough of it for my kids get. Because they thought that only happened on television. They didn't know that that sort of thing happened in real life. You know, it happens in real life, son. People gather in crowds like this to watch this sort of entertainment.

[Jack Armstrong]

Since I was a kid till this moment. That's a head scratcher for me, the whole hypnotist thing.

[Joe Getty]

People.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yes. They do exactly what he says. It seems nutty to me. Did you go up on stage, Jack, let him hypnotize you?

[Joe Getty]

No, man. I was ducking my head so hard because my. I always get picked for things. Always, always, always, always. Anytime there's a somebody in the crowd, you, sir, it's always me. And. And my family laughs so hard when I get back because it's always me. I don't know what the look is on My face. But I kept my head down. I was really making sure I didn't make any eye contact. But the kid next to me, Fellas got hypnotized.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sitting next to me in the row.

[Joe Getty]

He just like she was talking the talk and his, his head went down.

[Katie Green]

My buddy got picked, my buddy got picked for that. And he, he, he said, I don't even know what happened to me up there.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Katie Green]

Yeah, I, I, which I didn't buy

[Jack Armstrong]

it, but he, I don't buy it

[Joe Getty]

either, but it happens. And I've talked to people who've said it happened to them. Yeah, it's got to be.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's a genetic tendency, neurological something or other. It's like being left handed or good at music or something or what. I've always thought it was an IQ

[Joe Getty]

thing to a certain level. I don't know.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, like the weak minded, you know,

[Jack Armstrong]

Like I was gonna go there. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

If you can say it, you're new with child. Go ahead and say it.

[Katie Green]

Yeah, you're weak. My, my brain won't let me do that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, right. Or, or I suppose if you're gonna twist it around, you're, you're not trusting enough or you're too cynical. I guess if you're gonna flip it on its head. Maybe because I am, you know, sure. I'm most things. Let's start the show officially. I do need to tell that story. Maybe in the podcast later. I'm Jack Armstrong, he's Joe Getty on this. It is Tuesday. It is election day for communists around the country. August the fourth year 2026, where Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here we go then. Let's start the show officially according to FCC rules and regs. Here we go at.

[Joe Getty]

Mark, you said Americans should cancel Thanksgiving.

[Katie Green]

Should have done this in 1621.

[Joe Getty]

Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly

[Jack Armstrong]

painful for many people in our communities. And so I think there, I wanted to make sure that people understood that there are multiple views, but views can evolve.

[Joe Getty]

Which one of our whack job communists is running on ending Thanksgiving? Because it's so painful.

[Jack Armstrong]

The word that leaps to my mind is charisma.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. She could be hypnotized.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is Francesca Hong, who is running for governor of Wisconsin. She is a communist.

[Joe Getty]

Good, Good issue.

[Jack Armstrong]

And dullsville. Gee. Many.

[Joe Getty]

God dang it. What is it with these people in their wacky issues?

[Jack Armstrong]

A painful time for many people. Ashamed of yourself, Hate your country. I do. I hate you.

[Katie Green]

It was very mayorkas of her.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no kidding. And when you look at your issues, of course, the painfulness of Thanksgiving always ranks very high right up there with inflation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, exactly. Job security and food prices.

[Katie Green]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yes. All those things fit together. Anyway, Katie is back and we're gonna get to headlines coming up in a bit and get into some of the news of the day. The president did say. I don't know how he's gonna rhetorically handle this today, but he did say yesterday the straight will be open to tomorrow, which is now. And I mean, he stated it definitively yesterday that. That they want a deal. They've got some sort of deal and the street will be open.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I. I don't do the prediction market thing, but I'd be curious to gaze at it and figure out what's. What's. Sure, it'll be open. What's that trading for?

[Joe Getty]

No kidding.

[Jack Armstrong]

How cheap can I buy that?

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's funny, I think, like, everybody on his side and not on his side just kind of the reaction to that was kind of, yeah, whatever. So people shouldn't just say, yeah, whatever to the President announcing something that major.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just came across on a similar topic, some very learned analysis of why the recently announced giant breakthrough with Hamas and the peace has begun. It was just, it's not going to happen. It can't happen. And I thought, what's the point in reading this? I did read it. I thought, I'm not even going to bring it at the show because it's so ridiculous. Okay.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I haven't heard that end of the story. I just assumed that was the result. But there's lots.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of course it is.

[Joe Getty]

There's lots to get to today. I hope you can stick around.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Evening. Buyer's remorse. Buy a new car. I'll be moving in. Let's get started.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sorry, I think there's been a mistake.

[Joe Getty]

I bought it from Carvana.

[Katie Green]

You what?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no. No, no buyer's remorse. More like buyers rejoice.

[Joe Getty]

I guess I'll let myself out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Congratulations.

[Joe Getty]

I mean it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Buyers rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana.

[Joe Getty]

Limitations and exclusions may apply.

[Katie Green]

See our seven day return [e-mail].

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

Thanks for joining us. Doing some back to school shopping with the kids which is a reminder that it's that time of year already. As speaking of time going by.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh boy. Howdy. Yeah. Absolutely. Right. All right, so much to talk about. Let's get started. Who's reporting what? It's the lead story with Katie Green.

[Joe Getty]

Katie?

[Katie Green]

Alrighty. Let's start with the Alphabet Network's abc. Diplomatic efforts to end war ongoing. Qatari officials says Fox News Trump says he is giving Iran, quote every last chance to reach a deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

Clearly, I'd say.

[Katie Green]

And CBS Trump threatens Iran with quote decapitation as Houthis claim strike on Saudi airport.

[Joe Getty]

So what's this whole Oman Iran deal that they announced combat between Oman Iran that they're going to open the straight with tolls. The two of them like we're not involved. I don't know what's going on with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which has been called a non starter by the president from NBC.

[Katie Green]

Man accused of arson in the three biggest fires in Washington.

[Joe Getty]

One guy.

[Katie Green]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

What's his nut job situation?

[Katie Green]

They're not releasing a whole lot of details about him other than that he's been accused of climate change hateful.

[Joe Getty]

His parents trans. What's his deal?

[Katie Green]

I will tell you, I spent some time in Idaho and the air quality is. You can't go outside all throughout that part of the country.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah. In answer to your question, Jack, probably all of the above because you get the, you order the variety pack. Yeah. I'm trans and I hate capitalism. Also development. I'm pro environmental and hate Israel because I have to. It's the permanent omnicause from the Washington

[Katie Green]

Post how Trump's claims of vandalism at the renovated reflecting pool have crumbled.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that was a rough situation. So it kind of reminded me of the legal challenges to the 2020 election when some of the people that were saying strong things about the vandalism. Janine Pirro ended up in a courtroom and would have been in legal trouble to say something that's not true.

[Jack Armstrong]

Their story was different. Yeah. They had no case. What was different about this one is she said in various filings we were misled by Interior. There's no evidence here. We're not prosecuting this case. And Trump has been making the. He's still saying there's a vicious, vicious vandalism yeah. Okay, great.

[Joe Getty]

It's not the issue of the day, though. I mean, for crying out loud, mainstream media. Good Lord.

[Katie Green]

From the W. Or from the wnba, From Breitbart. WNBA coach who wore, quote, trans kids belong shirt, fears that men are taking coaching jobs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, Right. Yeah. We're for inclusivity. If it's people exactly like us, diversity, meaning more people like me.

[Joe Getty]

Somebody tweeted at us last night. We shot out yesterday because we talked about it several times. The idea of some dude's got to come play in WNBA to end this. Dave Chappelle's bit about LeBron playing in the WNBA, we need to play that again later.

[Katie Green]

This one's for you, Jack. New York Post. Entire theater evacuated during Spider man screening due to moviegoers uncontrollable bout of rotten flatulence.

[Joe Getty]

Did they have that listeria or whatever the heck that's called?

[Jack Armstrong]

Cyclospora.

[Katie Green]

Bad lettuce.

[Joe Getty]

Bad lettuce. And then after the Spiderman win, that's gone, too.

[Katie Green]

An aggressive scent study finds. This one's not good. I shouldn't be laughing. Most eighth graders don't think that trying fentanyl once is a big deal.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, boy. You do not want your kids thinking that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good Lord, how did they come to that conclusion?

[Joe Getty]

Man, I've talked to my kids about that over and over again. About how just anything could have a little bit of fentanyl in. That's all it takes to kill you.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. Game over. Finally, the Babylon Bee terrorists are feeling dumb for ramming twin towers when all they had to do was run for mayor. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's some dark humor, but good. Oh, that reminds me. We haven't gotten to the story. Thousands of 911 families are saying, mumdani, don't come to the memorial. You're rooting for the wrong team.

[Joe Getty]

So we'll go deeper on a whole bunch of those news stories. The New York Times piece about the Iran peace deal is pretty interesting, but specifically, they're quotes from the administration. They're anonymous, as usual. But if they're true, I find them highly troubling. Among other things, we'll get to if you miss a segment gets podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Those cyber attacks against critical infrastructure in

[Jack Armstrong]

this country are spreading. Federal officials are now concerned on water

[Joe Getty]

and wastewater utilities in at least a dozen states may have been compromised.

[Jack Armstrong]

So far, there have been no widespread disruptions.

[Joe Getty]

One of the affected states, Michigan, saying there are no known impacts that posed

[Jack Armstrong]

a public health concern. But the Fear is Iran is showing

[Joe Getty]

its capacity to retaliate as President Trump threatens a possible escalation of the war. Now, I forget where did the original idea that it was Iran come from? That was our intelligence agencies came up with that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Which Trump said then the other day. He doesn't. He's not sure it's Iran. I was just reading where last year now Americans lost almost a billion dollars from AI related crimes on how easy it is to hack India with AI because you're sending numb nuts can say, hey, Claude, how do I, you know, do this or that? You don't have to be a super genius anymore. And just brought that up because, you know, maybe it's not Iran. Could be so many options out there now in the modern world. But if our intelligence people say it's Iran, a country we're at war with, so it makes sense, that's something. It's now 12 states, so we'll keep our eye on that story.

[Jack Armstrong]

Certainly sounds like a warning shot to me.

[Joe Getty]

So I wanted to just bring you this little piece and then we'll move on from the Iran war. From the New York Times, because I find this troubling. To me, it's all about the. Whether they get a nuclear weapon or not, I want to make sure they don't. I really, I don't want them to change or the Trump administration to change on that. According to the New York Times in private comments, some officials doubt there will be a nuclear accord and that Mr. Trump may simply declare, as he has suggested in the past, that Iran stockpiles should remain buried under the rubble created after an air attack on three nuclear facilities in June of 2025. That was midnight Hammer, which then why did we need to go through epic fury and tolls and gas prices and everything else that we've done since then? I don't know. But inside the Pentagon, the New York Times says some senior officials are skeptical of the emerging Oman Iran arrangement for opening the strait. I'm sure they are and worry that it amounts to a capitulation to the Iranians.

[Katie Green]

What?

[Joe Getty]

The fact that the strait was open to free transit prior to the war and then would be a toll booth run by one of the worst regimes on earth. Yeah, I'd say that's a capitulation. If that ends up happening in.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's always worth repeating international waters.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they're only international waters if some big dog can force them to be. And maybe we're not willing to do that. Europe's certainly not willing to anyway. So if Those comments are true. That Trump might decide, you know what, we've done enough damage to the nuclear program they can't get a bomb anytime soon, which is probably true, but it's a long way short of various things. He was talking about going in there and taking out the radiation dust or whatever the heck that term is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. So that's where we are. Yeah. It could look very, very different in three months. I found myself thinking about the various efforts to de criticalize the Straits of Hormuz, meaning developing alternate routes, pipelines, other places to take the oil, other ways to sell the oil, just diminish its importance. And that could be in three months, six months, five years, that could be the result. And nobody decides it's worth the trouble to whack Iran hard enough to let them release the Straits. So instead we just price it in those who are desperate to use the Straits of Hormuz. And then anybody who's got an alternative exploits that alternative. I don't know. I have no idea.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, a lot of it is going to be the world is going to figure out a way to work around the Strait of Hormuz, so they're leveraging all the money to make it off. It is dissipating as it goes, building pipelines and coming up with other ways to do it. But as a political issue, I'm not

[Jack Armstrong]

sure the average person gives a crap, as usual.

[Joe Getty]

And if the war ended and gas prices start coming back down, that'd be good enough for most people, I would have to guess, regardless of the outcome.

[Jack Armstrong]

So more importantly, perhaps as I'm getting ready to launch into this account of the Kremlin's new recruiting tactics, as I was going to switch to the Russia Ukraine war, the pop up ad in the Wall Street Journal is for what appears to be a $500 toaster.

[Joe Getty]

What's it do? Or does it just look really cool?

[Jack Armstrong]

Toasts bread, but does it applies heat to bread to make it more crispy? It appears to be a stainless steel. Oh, it just switched out to. What is this now? Some AI thing for my retail establishment?

[Joe Getty]

Well, I just. $500 is a bit much, but you know my jihad against cheap Chinese crap. How many $25 toasters my life.

[Jack Armstrong]

That the enough to buy a $500 stainless steel one?

[Joe Getty]

Practically the cheap plastic handle breaking off at some point. Because it's made of the flimsiest, crappiest plastic on earth.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. You could toast the bread on your forehead. You get so pissed off when that happens. I hear you.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

What Katie.

[Katie Green]

Gone from old men yelling at clouds to old men yelling at toasters.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, hey, hey, hey, listen, sister. I remember what my mom's Crip.

[Joe Getty]

I remember what my grandma's toaster looked and felt like as a piece of equipment, like GM made it or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I tell you what, you could toast some bread, beat a guy to death with it if he broke into your house, then toast a couple more pieces of bread that was solidly made. Detroit steel appliances. Those were better times, huh?

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, what'd you say about the Ukrainian war?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, Russia is now desperate for men, idiots, the suicidal, to man their front lines. So not only are they buying more meat puppets from North Korea to be slaughtered nearly immediately.

[Joe Getty]

That's a rough term.

[Jack Armstrong]

But in Russia's smaller towns and cities, military recruiters have resorted to detaining men on the street, essentially waylaying them outside their place. A worker, under the pretext of routine document checks, they bring him down to the nuclear. The military recruitment office, where the men are threatened and beaten until they sign up for the war. Russia's already offering life changing sums of money, but nobody wants it anymore. They're running out of guys who are signing up.

[Joe Getty]

What's the old timey term for that? Impressed?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Impressment indeed. I was just reading about that from the Revolutionary War era.

[Joe Getty]

God dang it. So you walk out of your workplace and there's a couple of Russian dudes there say, hey, we need to talk to you. And you don't have any option of running or not talking to them. You need to come down to the station. Next thing you know, and you're on the front line. And as we've learned, the life expectancy on the front line now is about 20 minutes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? So here's this bloke in some small town in Russia where his buddy essentially said to him, yeah, I gotta go down to the police station. They wanna check my papers. Oh, my God, more bureaucratic crap. Well, when he arrived, two military recruiters were waiting for him. Carried him off to the recruitment office where he's beaten on the liver and kidneys. He was able to intervene. Oh, his friend was able to intervene and force a man's release. Only as he was being transferred to a medical exam. He says, quote, if I'd come two hours later, they would have already taken him away, he'd have been gone.

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's the beating him for. Just because that's the Soviet style.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, beat him into signing up.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I see. To get you to sign, I've Never. I've never understood clearly it, it, there's a reason for it because every regime does it. I've never understood the beating confessions out of people when everybody knows the confession was beating out of you or beating somebody into signing up for the military when everybody knows you were beaten into doing it. What, what, what, what step do you accomplish by doing that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Terrorizing people. We've discussed this in the context of Putin shoving people out windows. Everybody knows he's having people whacked and tossing them out the window. Whether they're pre shot or beaten or just a nice fresh toss out a 10th story window. It's to say, look, I can do it. It's obvious everybody knows it and I get away with it. And you resist the government, I'm going to beat you to within an inch of your life. Then I'm going to execute you and I'll make you sign a confession that says, yes, I did it. That's the way we run things around here. Keep it in mind. That's the message they're sending.

[Joe Getty]

Have you ever read Darkness at Noon by Arthur Kessler? It's the classic of the genre.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sounds familiar.

[Joe Getty]

From way back in the Soviet days. Oh man, it's a short book. It's a, it's. If you ever wanted to know about this thing, beating confessions out of people. That whole, that's what that whole story is. And it's the best ever. But holy crap, that is horrifying.

[Jack Armstrong]

Russian losses on the front now reach an estimated 30 to 40000 killed and wounded every month.

[Joe Getty]

Month military.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Oh, that's incredible. And just another quick note about how things are looking on the home front in Russia. After a word from our friends at Ruff Greens where we don't have these problems, we are pampering our dogs. And I know, you know, I, I always did. I love my dog and you do too. Ruff Greens, America's number one dog supplement. It makes up for all the stuff your dog's food probably ought to have, but doesn't.

[Joe Getty]

Yep. See getting the live probiotics, enzymes, omega oils, 20 vitamins and minerals sprinkled on top of your dog's current food. All natural, made in the usa and you can try it for not nothing. Get a free jump start trial bag today. You just cover the shipping. Go to roughgreens.com and use the discount code.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong, you be the judge. Buy that, that trial bag. See how you think it treating your dog. See how your dog's energy and, and, and the health improves. Roughgreens.com use that discount code Armstrong. You just cover the shipping. That's ruffgreens.com discount code ARMSTRONG. Rough greens makes any dog food better, longer, happier. Life from the inside out. Rough greens.

[Joe Getty]

I just saw quarterback Aaron Rodgers has gone off on Anthony Fauci last week, so we'll have to play a little bit of that later. Although if I'm running a football team, how about you figure out how to pass the ball down the field and

[Jack Armstrong]

score touchdowns and stay out of politics? Well, yeah, I just saw a great headline I can't wait to read. I think it may be taibi that the media can't admit the truth about Fauci because they spent years just bludgeoning, verbally canceling, silencing anybody who disagreed with them. So they can't. To admit the truth about Fauci is to admit their own complicity and they won't do it. They're gutless, they have no principles. They're self delusional. Anyway, back to Russia. There's this journalist who's got a long Russian sounding name. Young woman. On the first night of my recent trip to Russia, driving from the airport at 2 in the morning, I passed a gas station just outside Moscow. A long line of cars and trucks snaked or around it, waiting for the ration of about 10 gallons of fuel. Wow. Around the block in the wee hours, at least the station was still operating. Several others had passed along the way, had no gasoline at all. And for a long time, she points out, the Russian authorities could keep the war kind of at a distance from the normal people. They'd remain comparatively insulated from the war's human costs. Until now. During the weeks I spent in Russia earlier this month, nearly everyone I spoke to had a drone story. Some had watched drones razoring the sky. Others had heard explosions or seen the fiery aftermath of a strike. And she goes into a bunch of details. Hardly a day goes by without fresh announcements from Moscow authorities about drones intercepted on their way to the capital. And she talks about fuel shortages all over the place. Serious fuel shortages, panic over, gasoline shortages. So that's changing as well.

[Joe Getty]

But we're four years in, four and

[Jack Armstrong]

a half years in, and the front line is essentially frozen.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, but you got one side that's willing to feed humans beings into it, another side that would like it to end, you know, yesterday, because they got school teachers and doctors still dying out there trying to protect their country.

[Jack Armstrong]

And as the old and very powerful saying, one side is fighting with a gun at their back, the other side is fighting with their homes and families at their backs.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, what an ugly story. We gotta, we gotta move on from ugliness.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know, I just, I've got amusement, amusement and common sense coming up.

[Joe Getty]

Fantastic. I'm just glad that somebody's running for governor in Wisconsin on ending Thanksgiving. That's finally, finally, finally common sense. Exactly, Michael, exactly. So we got stuff on the ways there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

A 4 ton stage piece of a SpaceX rocket is going to crash into the moon today. I guess it's part of the price of doing business.

[Jack Armstrong]

It'll be fine. There's nobody there.

[Joe Getty]

Visible by telescope would be kind of a cool thing to see.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, that could be cool. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day. But let's preface it with a contemporary temporary tape of a man on the street asking college students questions.

[Joe Getty]

What country is Venice, Italy located in? For a hundred dollars you have any clue?

[Katie Green]

Gosh, I'm gonna be a teacher so I should know this.

[Joe Getty]

You should.

[Katie Green]

Paris.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Oh good lord. I just asked a random asking. I asked the guys for a random college student answering a question because I came across this in Tim Sander Sandifer's fabulous book Proclaiming Liberty. This is 20 year old Alexander Hamilton on the topic of, you know, the reasoning behind independence and self governance and stuff. And some Tory writer quibbled that New York didn't have a charter with the king. Doesn't matter. You don't have to understand that. Here's the 20 year old Hamilton. It is true that New York has no charter. But the sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written as with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature by the hand of the divinity itself and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.

[Joe Getty]

Now did he sing that to a hip hop beat? Whoa.

[Jack Armstrong]

They had money and we wanted it. Whoa. We're a dumb society.

[Joe Getty]

Let's try to be less dumb. Teach your children not to be dumb. Stop being dumb.

[Jack Armstrong]

Be less dumb. Male base, drop us a non dumb [e-mail] Judith writes on the topic of the Washington state arsonist. Guys, he was previously jailed for 10 years because he killed his father because he didn't want to do his dishes. I cannot verify that, but it sounds like the sort of thing a psychopathic youthful offender would do when he was released from prison. Let's Katie Escape from California writes on the topic of the new all women soft baseball league. I have one Request regarding the women's baseball league. Please don't let men in. I know, I know. In today's world that may sound hopelessly old fashioned, but if it's an all women's league, maybe we could just let it stay an all women's league with women who play. And then she says, one question. I heard the national anthem performance. Do we have that handy? Michael, from the the opening day of the new women's baseball league.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, say, can you see.

[Katie Green]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, make it stop. Because if we go any further, we'll have to to play the whole thing. Maybe we can play the whole thing later.

[Joe Getty]

It was definitely, it's definitely being called the worst national anthem. That wasn't intentionally bad.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was Katie's question. Was it an accidental train wreck? Was someone trying to make a statement? Either way, it was certainly annoying.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and it's, it's Martha Reeves from Martha Reeves and the Vandellas is who that is.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Dancing in the Streets or whatever her big hit songs were.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh boy. Calling out around the world. I am not ready for a brand new beat if that's what it is. Let's see. Back to the founding papa Scott in Healdsburg. Guys, this weekend I visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Cool. I've not done that. I need to do it.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know how. I've been in that area so many times and never went.

[Jack Armstrong]

The liberal bend to the tour wasn't quite as bad as I expected, though the tour guide made sure to hammer home that a slave was a slave whenever discussing Monticello. Servants, workers. What truly bothered me was that when she briefly discussed Jefferson's views on slavery, she touched on his writings about ending slavery, but went on to explain that we don't really know what Jefferson thought about slavery. Having heard Timothy Sandifer on the show last week, I think we know exactly what Jefferson thought. Oh yeah, he wrote and wrote and wrote about it. But you can't admit that as a progressive KPL o o g. I keep pushing leftists out of government institutions. Scott. Thank you, Scott. Let's see. Ryan from Houston observes that I took you just a spitball guesstimate at the national debt yesterday. I missed by $8 trillion. I guessed. What is it, around 32 trillion. Now it's, it's, we're knocking on the door of 40 trillion. Sure, that doesn't sound like a lot. 8 trillion. But that's 80 Elon Musk's or 5ft of the California bullet train. That's funny, Ryan. We are screamed. You're correct, Ryan. And then finally this helpfully from Paolo on the difference between open source and open weight it when we're discussing AI models, because they just throw that out at news articles, including news articles to a general audience without explaining what that means. And maybe I'm the only guy in America who doesn't know the difference, but I doubt it. Open Source Think of AI models as massive physical machines with billions of adjustable knobs. Open source means giving you the complete blueprints and codes to build it, run it, and modify the machine itself from scratch. Open weights means giving you the pre built machine and the exact knob settings that resulted from months of very expensive training. But you get a fully functional pre trained machine, you can adjust those knobs if you want for your specific needs. Thank you. Appreciate the enlightenment, sir. Then he points out if the air bubble collapses, the economy's doomed. Well,

[Joe Getty]

thank you for that. There was a major update in the Savannah Guthrie's mom story over the weekend that I missed that Joe brought us to. And then it turns out Heather Myers was there like the day after this story broke with some interesting information all around that. We talked a little bit about it yesterday. I find it fascinating. I hope you will too, because we're gonna get into that a little bit. An hour too. Yeah, there's, there's a real update. If you missed the segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.