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Jack Armstrong
This is an iHeart podcast.
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Joe Getty
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Joe Getty
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.
Jack Armstrong
Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and.
Joe Getty
And Getty.
Jack Armstrong
And now here's Armstrong and Yeti.
Joe Getty
Happy Thanksgiving. It's the Armstrong and Getty replay. I hope you eat as much as you can. I hope you're in pain by the end of the day. I know I will be.
Jack Armstrong
Now here are some delicious Armstrong and Yeti leftovers.
Joe Getty
Get filled up with more of Armstrong and Getty with our podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.
Jack Armstrong
Your loved one, or maybe yourself wants an Armstrong and get a hoodie, T shirt, hat or more. They're@armstrongandgetti.com here's the funniest thing.
Joe Getty
I thought that happened on the Saturday Night Live open with the guy who does Trump. He was talking about anyway in Abu Dhabi. Abidabi. Abidabi. Do like the late, great French Flintstone. I thought that was so funny.
Jack Armstrong
Oh boy.
Joe Getty
Ah, the late, great Fred Flintstone. So I saw the news yesterday that they were going to have a a voting session on the big beautiful bill at 10 o' clock Sunday night. And because it's the weekend and I'm a normal human being, I didn't like take a second to look into that because I thought what the hell kind of a procedural deal is a Sunday night at ten o' clock thingy? But I just did see that the four holdouts went along with whatever and it passed. So there you go.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, the four holdouts went along with whatever is a pretty good description of it. I will be a bit more detailed and this is the reason I'm disgusted and embittered. This is the most sausagey of sausage making. If you're familiar with with the old reference to politics. Here's your headline from the WA poll. I'm going to read you just a little bit because it's kind of revealing of at least a couple of things. Trump's Tax and immigration bill clears hurdle after late night vote the House Budget Committee passed a massive tax and immigration package central President Trump's agenda late Sunday Overcoming opposition from hardline conservatives, overspending four fiscal conservatives, all deficit hawks aligned with the ultra conservative House Freedom Caucus changed their vote to present allowing the legislative monstrosity. I injected that package to be recommended favorably to the House by a vote of 17 to 16. But their hesitance to vote for the one big beautiful bill act out of committee is a reminder that the far right flank of the Republican conference remains skeptical.
Joe Getty
I think I see where you're going here.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Now it could just be your typical WaPo journalistic bias, although the WaPo has improved somewhat lately. A little bit anyway. I think it's unfortunately closer to true than I'm comfortable with that there are only a handful of like lunatic hardliners who are against the following headlines. This is from the Richard Rubin writing in the Wall Street Journal. The stark math on the GOP tax plan. It doesn't cut the deficit, it grows the deficit. The Republican Party with both houses of Congress and the White House are going to grow the deficit. It's undeniable. Next headline National Review. Republicans should stay the course on reducing Medicaid spending. They're not going to. They're running in the other direction, partly because the incredibly smart calculating. What is he up to? Josh Hawley of Missouri is all of a sudden this is the guy now who led the charge to repeal Obamacare. He's now out Schumering Schumer saying that the Wall the party's Wall street wing, a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans want to slash health insurance for the working poor.
Joe Getty
Yeah, he's. We mentioned that on Friday. He wrote that op ed piece that the Republicans need to back off cutting Medicare any.
Jack Armstrong
Well, it's a reform of Medicaid. Any reforms are a hidden tax on working poor people because. And he's referring to a $35 copay for able bodied adults covered by Obamacare Medicaid for a Visit to the doctor. $35 copay is some sort of hidden tax on working poor people.
Joe Getty
And that's just the calculation that Republicans are now the party of the working class and they feel like they got enough working class that are on Medicaid that they Josh Howley at least doesn't want to mess with it.
Jack Armstrong
And a. Yeah. Now the party of pandering to and writing checks to people to win their votes.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I was going to say that it's interesting they call these people ultra conservative or right wing when not very many years ago you would have been the center of the Republican Party. I mean that would have. I mean that's like what the Republican Party was. It was, it was, it was a term you would have used to define the party.
Jack Armstrong
In fact, it was so intrinsic to the Republican Party you'd feel silly even repeating what you just repeated. There's no need.
Joe Getty
Fiscally conservative, but I suppose in reality, given where most of the party is, they are ultra right wing or ultra conservative because the bulk of the party doesn't care apparently. And apparently not voters.
Jack Armstrong
So spending your children grandchildren into tax and spend oblivion. Well, all right.
Joe Getty
Well, this story got repeated a lot over the weekend that we got downgraded on one of our it scores by one of the major organizations that does that sort of thing.
Jack Armstrong
Organization, yeah. And.
Joe Getty
Over the weekend it kind of got put out there that it was like a Trump thing because of tariffs or whatever. It was basically around the fact that our debt is just so high. It's just like what happened to you if you go to the bank and, and, and they take a look at your, well, you've got, with your car payments now you bought like eight cars and two houses and you're just, you're just over maxed.
Jack Armstrong
So we have $80,000 in credit card bills and you only make 90 a year.
Joe Getty
Right, right. So they just downgraded because you just spend more than you make. That's what happened. That didn't happen just in the last hundred days under Trump. We've been building this for a long time.
Jack Armstrong
And the final reason I am completely embittered about the Republican Party and politics and America and democracy and life on earth is the fact that and it's a two part horror show. Part number one is that there are a bunch of swing district Republicans from big blue states, California and New York most notably, who are not only trying to defend the idea of the salt deduction, the state and local tax deduction, they wanna raise it from $10,000 to at least $30,000 and maybe $50,000. Meaning if you live in a tax and spend lunatic state like say California, all of those incredibly high taxes you're paying you can deduct from your federal tax return. So the other states will subsidize the tax and spend lunacy of New York and California.
Joe Getty
So my brothers in Kansas pay some of my taxes because I live in California. That makes sense.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. You get a giant subsidy from the other states, you pay a lower federal tax rate, significantly lower depending on, you know, how much money you make than folks in fiscally responsible states as indefensible. Morally, it's indefensible as a For Republican reasons, not the party. But the idea of we have a federal system, then states. And the states can do what they want, and they should do what they want. It's fine. If Massachusetts wants to have a 65% income tax, go ahead. I'm not living there, but go ahead. But then to transfer that profligacy to the other states is. It's a horror. And. And as a conservative slash Republican, he says, trying not to vomit because of my embitteredness, the idea that that is a plank of the Republican Party, I'm done.
Joe Getty
It's. It's hard to swallow. I mean, it. You know, it would help Joe and I if this happens financially, but it's awful. Absolutely awful. Awful. You. I believe you can't defend it.
Jack Armstrong
No, it's. It's.
Joe Getty
It's.
Jack Armstrong
It's. I am horrified. I don't care how much it would benefit me. God bless me, I have principles. It's really held me back in life. Jack, too. I just. I. I'm done. I'm done.
Joe Getty
Yeah, it's. Well, like I said last week, Sarah Isger of the Dispatch, I heard her on a podcast. They were having this discussion about parties. She said there are no political parties. What are we talking about here?
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I need to seek that out, because I think she nailed it.
Joe Getty
Absolutely 100%. There are no political parties. There's just whoever emerges as the candidate, cycle by cycle, and then whatever they believe the party goes along with. And it's true on both sides. So the idea that there are parties that stand for something, we need to all move past that.
Jack Armstrong
From my hero, H.L. mencken. Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods. That's always been true. There was a time when a certain party had certain principles that I admired. Time has passed. You know what my high school sweetheart, college sweetheart, my wife of 40 years is. When she's not turning tricks, she's killing people for the mob. Okay? She's not the woman I felt. This is, by the way, a fictional illustrator. Frustration has nothing to do with my beloved bride, Judith.
Joe Getty
She's not the person she was. It's.
Jack Armstrong
Forget it. It's over.
Joe Getty
So move on.
Jack Armstrong
Get up. Get an AI girlfriend like a normal person and a love bot or something.
Joe Getty
A high girlfriend like a normal person.
Jack Armstrong
The Armstrong and Getty Show.
Aisha Hosny
Get more Jack, more Joe podcasts and our hot links@armstrong.com.
Jack Armstrong
Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.
Joe Getty
The Armstrong and Getty Show.
Jack Armstrong
Yet another one of these. Do they run this quarterly? Is it some sort of requirement Warning issued to anyone using this smiley face emoji. To older people, not Gen Z, a smile face means you're conveying that you're happy. Yeah. But Gen Z takes this grinning face to convey sarcasm or irony. And then it has the inevitable 23 year old employee who says, at first I thought my co workers were being like cold and sarcastic to me. And then I realized when they send a thumbs up, they really mean thumbs up because we use it sarcastically and the tone of the article is always, therefore, you older people really ought to be careful and figure it out.
Joe Getty
They should switch to the way we do it as opposed to the other way around.
Jack Armstrong
Yes, I would say to Javi Zat Bishi, 21 year old Internet. Excuse me. I run this place. I own this place. People like me run the world. So you figure it out.
Joe Getty
My son sends me the emoji with the tears streaming down the face.
Jack Armstrong
Yes.
Joe Getty
At what seemed to me inappropriate times, it seems to mean something different to freshmen in high school than all the other adults who ever send me the emoji with tears streaming down the face. Yes.
Jack Armstrong
Katie, Katie, you're not old and bitter.
Joe Getty
Well, don't go that far.
Katie
But several, several of my younger friends send me that, which usually would mean like, you're crying, like legitimately crying, like.
Joe Getty
You were really touched by something, or, you know, my dog just died or I heard about your mom or whatever.
Katie
Yeah, it means something's hilarious now, like you're crying. You're laughing so hard.
Joe Getty
Okay, that's what I kind of picked up on. I thought this is highly inappropriate. Does this mean you're laughing?
Katie
Yeah, I cracked.
Jack Armstrong
They have a laughing till you're crying, right?
Katie
They do, Yeah. I cracked a joke to one of my girlfriends and I sent her that and sent me one of those back. And I was like, did something just happen? What's wrong?
Jack Armstrong
Right.
Joe Getty
That's exactly what I have. And I thought, oh, geez, I hurt somebody's feelings.
Katie
Yeah, that exact same thing came over me. I was like, what did I do? No, that's just their laughing face.
Jack Armstrong
Now, are we talking about the tears streaming down? Yeah, see, we use that in my family a lot. Like, I didn't get the wordle. And so.
Joe Getty
Yeah, but you're, you're, you're, you're being sarcastic about how upset you are.
Jack Armstrong
Yes. Exaggerating.
Joe Getty
Yeah, but it's kind of the opposite meaning for my son. Okay, now I get it. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying even though they've got one of those already.
Jack Armstrong
My Favorite texting story of all time, and it will be for the rest of my life was the woman who said, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you. My mom just passed away. And her friend replied lol, thinking it meant lots of love.
Joe Getty
They no longer speak and I'm lolling.
Jack Armstrong
Now is the ironic conclusion of the story. Anyway, so I feel like I. I.
Joe Getty
Feel like LOL is like charity laugh or, you know, what is that term where you laugh? You know, somebody says sympathy laugh at this point and I. And then I don't know how to respond with a. That actually is freaking funny.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I don't know.
Joe Getty
I usually write out because I don't use emojis because I'm a grown up. I usually write out. I actually laughed out loud at that. That was very funny. Like that much.
Jack Armstrong
If it's something really good, tedious. You're such a boomer.
Katie
Or you just send the word funny with zero punctuation so you can't tell if you're being serious or not.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I have done that.
Jack Armstrong
I will frequently respond hahahaha. Because I was laughing lots of oz. Yeah, so. But there's more. Linguists studying emojis. Emoji. I think I'm supposed to say I'm not Japanese. All right. Have also pointed out that the symbol's new meanings can often emerge from slang that older users might not be aware of. For example, older social media users might see the skull emoji as a literal symbol of death or a sign that someone is figuratively dead, as in dead tired or dead to me, whatever. But for the younger users, the skull is used to say I'm dead. Which means that they found something hilarious and have died laughing.
Joe Getty
Oh, okay. The skull is. That was really funny. I'm gonna hit somebody. I can, I can think of people I'd hit with that today would be very confused.
Jack Armstrong
While the sparkle emoji is frequently someone being sarcastic about how something. How good something is. Too much sarcasm. But here's the part I found really interesting.
Joe Getty
So I like, I send to, like, if somebody says, hey, I got that promotion at work, I respond with an eggplant and then sprays of water. Is that the appropriate thing?
Katie
Good Lord, yes.
Jack Armstrong
Yes, do that. That's perfect. Oh my God. Or if you give a thumbs up and a sparkle, they'll think you're mocking them. Which is again, we run the world. We old people run the world. You adapt us. But is your youngster texting about cannabis, for instance, sometimes known as pot or marijuana the shamrock, the leaf, the maple leaf, the lemon, the grape, the watermelon, the strawberry, the cherry, the pineapple, the dog face, the candy, the cake, the ice cream cone, and the cookie can all be references to cannabis because as.
Joe Getty
I understand it, the eggplant is the traditional vegetable of success. And so if somebody has some good.
Jack Armstrong
News, keep believing that, Jack.
Katie
And use it frequently.
Jack Armstrong
Jack. These emoji can be references to cocaine, a rocket ship, a fish, a gas pump, a snowman, or a snowflake. There are all sorts of drugs. Sexting the peach, which looks like, God forgive me, a woman's hind end, or the eggplant, the water you mentioned, or cherries.
Katie
I was embarrassingly baffled the other day when I got a text message from a friend that said, kiss my. And then there was a peach emoji and I'm going, kiss my peach. What do you mean?
Joe Getty
I saw somebody with a cherry's tattoo on them. What does that mean? You're Katie. Is that a girl? What's that mean? A woman's got cherries.
Katie
Cherries were trendy late 90s, early 2000s, but I don't know if that has meaning when.
Joe Getty
What was the message? Delicious fruit.
Katie
It was just a cute powder.
Joe Getty
Okay, so, okay, it didn't mean anything. All right, that's fine. Doesn't need to.
Jack Armstrong
Oh, we're looking it up.
Katie
Oh. Often associated with sensuality, feminine power, innocence and youth.
Joe Getty
Okay.
Katie
According to an Instagram post.
Jack Armstrong
That's a stupid tattoo. Don't get that. If you have it, get it removed. Armstrong and Gettysburg.
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Jack Armstrong
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Joe Getty
This is what they call the hard sell. Sunday Yard Care Black Friday Sale Limited time Act now.
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Joe Getty
But wait, there's more.
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Jack Armstrong
The Armstrong and Getty show so speaking of technology, a different sort. An AI story. I am completely convinced that mankind has invented its doom. I'm just. I'm there's nothing I can do about it, so I try not to worry about it. I hope my kids are smart and savvy enough to, you know, to have happy lives in spite of the coming AI apocalypse.
Joe Getty
If nothing else, the biggest change in the shortest amount of time. That's probably ever happened, which would be whipsawing, even if it turns out okay. Yes.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Alicia Finley, who writes for the journal Opinion Page, who I think is just terrific, one of my favorite writers, has a piece today, I think it is, or recently, analyzing what people are saying so far, including the CEO of Amazon, about AI with that employee memo that he sent out, the key line of which was, we will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today and more people doing other types of jobs, and that the people who will keep their jobs are people who learn how to use AI effectively. And he explained that AI advances mean employees will do less rote work and more thinking strategically, which sounds really super great. And all this will require a higher level of cognition than does the rote work many white collar employees now do. But as AI is getting smarter, I'll start quoting Alicia now. Younger college grads may be getting dumber. Like early versions of ChatGPT, they can regurgitate information and ideas, but struggle to come up with novel insights or analyze issues from different directions. And then she goes in an interesting direction. And this is the fruit of the tree of knowledge stuff. We don't know what we're doing to ourselves. She mentions the brain continues to develop and mature into one's mid-20s, some of us longer than that. But like a muscle, it needs to be exercised, stimulated and challenged to grow stronger. Technology, and especially AI, can stunt this development by doing the mental work that builds the brain's version of a computer cloud, a phenomenon called cognitive offloading.
Sunday Yard Care Advertiser
Cool.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Yeah, cool. But growing research shows, and I remember we talked about this a while ago, we had a debate about cursive, cursive writing, which seems silly and unnecessary in handwriting in general. But then these studies have come out that show that handwriting engages parts of your brain that play a crucial role in learning and help children with word and letter recognition. But more than that, taking notes by hand also promotes memory development by forcing you to synthesize and prioritize information when you plunk away on a keyboard, on the other hand, information can go as it were, in one ear and out the other. And then they studied the electrical activity of university students during the activities of handwriting and typing. And the way their brains worked were very, very different. Now that's just kind of a side point to the greater point, which is the dopey grunt work that now the computers do can do, or the AI can do is the very dopey grunt work that give builds the neural muscles it takes to do the more Advanced stuff. You can't skip to bench pressing £250 having not bench pressed £100 ever, neurologically speaking.
Joe Getty
That's really interesting. I was just thinking, in my own life, I do some. I hate the term journaling. I don't know, it sounds so wussy. My son would say gay and so would all his high school friends, including gay ones.
Jack Armstrong
But it's funny, isn't it?
Joe Getty
But anyway, writing about things that are, you know, difficult to try to get them out or figure them out. But I do it a lot. Typing into my notes in my phone. And you're, you're saying that doesn't count.
Jack Armstrong
That that doesn't work Right. In the same way, I might be.
Joe Getty
Completely wasting my time.
Jack Armstrong
I hate handwriting.
Joe Getty
I did too.
Jack Armstrong
I'm left handed. I have short fingers. I just. The physical act of handwriting I hate. It's just physically that's funny.
Joe Getty
My, my uncomfortable. My son who's left handed is that way. He just, he just, he. He almost says it hurts. It's just like he hate. It's physically awful for him to do.
Jack Armstrong
It does get kind of crampy because you're taught that your letters ought to have a certain slant. Slant. And if you're left handed, you have to like form a hook with your hand and write sideways.
Joe Getty
You're some sort of degenerates. We've all, we all know it.
Jack Armstrong
Well, you know, if you don't know this, you should. The, the word sinister is Latin for left handed.
Joe Getty
For good reason.
Jack Armstrong
Right. And what's the, the, the equivalent? Right handed? It's like noble or something. Yeah. Anyway, that's why I'm a Satanist. Anyway, moving along, then you get. Well, I kind of made the point already. But if you don't do the stuff to work up to the advanced stuff, you'll never be able to do the advanced stuff. And college and high school students are increasingly using large language models like Chat GPT to write papers, perform mathematical proofs and create computer code. That means they don't learn to think through, express or defend ideas. And aha. Moments occur spontaneously within your brain with a sudden burst of high frequency electrical activity. When the brain connects seemingly unrelated concepts, it finds the connections and sees patterns. And then it says, oh, wow. And we're denying ourselves all of the grunt work to get there.
Joe Getty
Wow, that's interesting. I've had that happen with music before, with after years of doing well, it's like learning scales and then something else and then somehow it all comes together at one point and makes sense so that it can happen with this other stuff. But we're skipping the first part. We're skipping the scales as a quick aside.
Jack Armstrong
And I realize this sounds kind of silly and makes it clear that I'm an old bastard at this point, but Judy and I are really into doing crossword puzzles. We do, like the hard New York Times, like, Friday through Sunday crossword puzzles. And I will. And we do them as a team, which is fun and brings us together. But I will be utterly stumped. Saturday's the hardest one. Sunday is kind of a mind blank because often there's a trick within the puzzle. But Saturday is really hard. And often I will be completely stumped and I will go away for an hour, two hours, I will come back and I will crush it.
Joe Getty
I am.
Jack Armstrong
What happened there, that's worth thinking about.
Joe Getty
I've been utilizing that my whole life, like writing papers for school. I always knew that if I thought about it, thought about it, thought about it, couldn't come up with it. That if I slept, I'd wake up and I'd have it.
Jack Armstrong
I would have it. Yeah, well. And I, I.
Joe Getty
What does happen? I'm reading this book right now. It's a Graham Green. He's a fantastic author who've never written his stuff, but he's. He's in this novel I'm reading right now. It's about an author. So he's talking about himself, basically. But how writing is something that happens while you're not thinking about it. He says you're gathering all this information, coming up with plot ideas, and then the writing happens when you're not thinking about it, and then it comes out on the page. So it's just exactly what you're describing. It's. Your brain is doing something while you're asleep or occupied. Doing something else synthesizes it and then it comes out.
Sunday Yard Care Advertiser
Or.
Jack Armstrong
And this is a bit of a quibble, and this is what I was about to say. I'm not going to lecture you, but I now discipline myself harshly, using a lash to be bored a certain amount of the day, to be doing nothing, reading nothing, looking at nothing but the trees in the sky and my dog peeing over there. I. I am committed to being not occupied a certain chunk of the day.
Joe Getty
So you're like Putty, Elaine's boyfriend, sitting on the plane, just staring at the seat back?
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I'm fine.
Joe Getty
Do you want something to read?
Jack Armstrong
No, I'm all right.
Joe Getty
No, anything. Crossword puzzle.
Jack Armstrong
I'm fine. Yeah, I sat next to a lady like That a few months ago, I think I talked about it on the air and it was freaking me out. It was weird me out. I was like, is she gonna take over the plane or kill me or explode into a rage or. This is natural.
Joe Getty
Shoes are going to catch on fire.
Jack Armstrong
But take time to daydream seriously.
Joe Getty
Earlier we were talking about a the new Tesla Robo taxis. One of them paused in an intersection in Austin or something like that and made some news. But I would say the, the automated driving on the Tesla, which kind of fits in with the AI stuff is so much better than it was three years ago when I first started riding Tesla. I mean it's night and day and it's so good now. And I never thought I would have any interest in using automated driving similar to the first time I ever saw somebody texting and learned about it. I thought, why would anybody do that? And then obviously we all text constantly. Now I use automated driving all the time. When I drive my vehicle that doesn't have it, it seems like, oh, this is kind of a pain in the ass.
Jack Armstrong
So you're a convert.
Joe Getty
Don't. Well, don't pretend you know what things you like and you don't. I know in my own life I've been proven wrong multiple times.
Jack Armstrong
So the NFL is about to change thanks to AI and they in the athletic, they're talking about how coaches are already using AI to analyze tendencies of opponents and that sort of thing. They use the example of there's a wide gulf between the math used to optimize fourth down decisions and a voiced AI agent telling you to look out for the weak side linebacker. While you're sitting alone in your office on a Tuesday night, this assistant coach who's the offensive coordinator for the Falcon says, I'm getting a little scared.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I could see where this would go very quickly, can't you? I mean how. And there are, I mean without even thinking it, reading with this or thinking about, I just. AI could crunch the last five years of all the plays. Say, look, look, 87% of the time the other team is going to do this in this situation and you react to it and then that will be cool. Up until the point that it's just A.I. against A.I. you know, a season from now when.
Jack Armstrong
All the human computer telling you what play to run and their computer telling them how to counter it, having a pretty good idea what's coming. And they're talking about coaches being replaced entirely, but teams already have. This guy was hired by the Raiders as the head coach. Research Specialist, but the job may be better understood as AI coordinator. He uses AI every single day.
Joe Getty
This is clearly gonna happen. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before. This is clearly going to happen. You got super smart people who study like, like maniacs for this stuff to make decisions in the like 45 seconds you have before between plays or whatever it is. And now AI is going to be able to do it.
Jack Armstrong
Let me read you some of this. I feel pretty confident saying that some team is going to win a Super bowl in the next few years utilizing AI at a very high rate, significantly higher than it's ever been used before, said this coach. It's really an opportunity to differentiate your, differentiate yourself from a team that might have a more talented roster, better coaches or whatnot. There's going to be more and more separation with teams that are, have bought in.
Joe Getty
Yeah, they might have to outlaw that. I mean, because it's similar to when computers got better at chess than humans and people thought that'd be the end of chess or whatever. No, people still like watching the best humans play each other, even though they're a computer out there could beat either one of them. Who cares? You still want to know who the best human is? I, I think knowing who the best humans are at guessing the plays is more fun than two computers battling it out.
Jack Armstrong
Right. You, you're right. It. It'll be so interesting to see how the league and the rules adapt to this and how people will then cheat because they're talking about there are systems that can watch game film.
Joe Getty
Sure.
Jack Armstrong
Of multiple teams, multiple games, analyze it, come up with the probabilities. The next layer, they say, is understanding personnel as well. Because as they put it, 4th and 1 with Mike Vick and Algie Crumpler looks a lot different than fourth and one with Kirk Cousins and Kyle Bits.
Joe Getty
Hey, I figure that AI will figure that out because they can take it in. So much information.
Jack Armstrong
Give it a week. Armstrong and Getty Christmas shopping.
Sometimes it's so tough, it can feel.
Joe Getty
Like you're just buying a bunch of random stuff. Get focused and spend your money right.
Jack Armstrong
We've got the perfect gift for that special person in your life. The Art Armstrong and Getty superstore shop. Now armstrongandgetty.com.
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Jack Armstrong
Give the gift. Everyone will gather around a Vizio Smart TV now available at Walmart. From a super sized 100 inch TV to QLED TVs of all sizes, Vizio delivers breathtaking color and crystal clear picture quality that takes entertainment to the next level. Plus, with Watch Free plus built in, they can enjoy free live and on demand TV right out of the box. Have a music lover on your list. They can stream their favorite music on the iHeartRadio app. Ready to go on every Vizio TV. The perfect gift is waiting. Head to Walmart.com and discover Vizio TVs today.
Joe Getty
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Joe Getty
But wait, there's more.
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Jack Armstrong
The Armstrong and Getty Show.
Aisha Hosny
Eight months after the election, Democrats are still trying to dig themselves out of a hole. But a new poll from the Wall Street Journal paints a bleak picture. It reveals only 33 of registered voters today view Democrats favorably, while a staggering 63% see them negatively. That's the worst rating from the same poll since 1990.
Jack Armstrong
That's Saisha Hosny on Special Report last night with Brett Bear, FOX News reap slash. So, yes, analysis in a moment. I found this next segment pretty interesting, though. Go ahead, Aisha. Yeah, we're in the doghouse yet again.
Joe Getty
We certainly do have a problem, and it's a messaging problem.
Aisha Hosny
If messaging is the problem, the new poll signals Democrats attacking President Trump isn't working at least yet. That's because even when more voters disapprove of Trump on issues like inflation, they still trust congressional Republicans more than Democrats to handle that issue by a whopping 10 points. On immigration, the same thing. More voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the matter, but Republicans once again are trusted more than Democrats to manage it.
Jack Armstrong
You know, I don't know, I've, I.
Joe Getty
Don'T know if I believe this analysis that people have been going with. I think it's the crazy factor. It's the, I don't know, you got a friend who, who does a few things that are just so crazy you don't trust his judgment on anything else. I think that's what's driving it. It's not that. Yeah, the Democrats view of the economy is specifically blah, blah, blah. It said, you're the people that want boys playing girls, sports. You're the people that want me to say Latinx. You're the people that think we shouldn't have police. I don't trust you on anything. I think it's the crazy factor.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, you put a grown man in my little girl's locker room. Yeah, exactly. But, but to her point, though, and, and it, it's not in contrast to your point. It, it's agreeing with it. So like on inflation and rising prices, Trump is 11 points underwater. Okay. But the Republicans in general are 10 points to the positive. So what Trump's doing right now on immigration, he sees just three points underwater. But generally speaking, Republicans are Democrats. 17 point advantage for Republicans. So there are Momentarily momentary quibbles with the way Trump is approaching this, that or the other. But in terms of general philosophy, that I don't care. I want the Republicans, which I again, I don't think disagrees with your point. I think it agrees with it. Why do they have that perception? Or why did they lean so strongly that way? Because they think the Democrats have lost their effing minds. Let's see. So The Democrats are 33% favorable, 63% unfavorable. Far weaker assessment than voters give to either President Trump or the Republican Party. Yeah, they're underwater. But of course, political parties ought to be underwater. Number one, you got their opponents, and number two, you got neutrals or independents and their own party members who'd like them to change what they're doing a little bit. But Anyway, Trump is 7% underwater and Republicans are 11% underwater. But again, keep in mind, the Democrats are 30 points underwater.
Joe Getty
Yeah, as always, that. That number of people that are unhappy with the Democrats, it's a certain chunk who think they're crazy like I was just talking about, and a certain chunk smaller chunk, but a certain chunk that thinks they haven't gone far enough. They haven't stuck to their guns on trans issues and defunding the police and climate change and all the other important.
Jack Armstrong
Things, which is even worse news, really. But a mere 8% of voters view the Democrats very favorably. Two and a half times as many have the same level for. Of enthusiasm for the gop. I.
Joe Getty
We got a long way to go on what direction. You know, what the Democratic Party is going to look like next presidential election. But I keep hearing people like smart people throughout. AOC is the current front runner, slash face of the Democratic Party, and she probably is.
Jack Armstrong
Who.
Joe Getty
Who else would it be?
Jack Armstrong
They're doomed. They are doomed.
Joe Getty
Doomed. If that. Unless you. You hit that.
Jack Armstrong
That.
Joe Getty
Go ahead, try it.
Jack Armstrong
I don't know if. Who else would it be? As a rhetorical question, but the answer is a blue state governor who's moderate.
Joe Getty
Yeah, but it's got to be a human being. So that. Yeah, you're right, but it's got to be an actual name at some point.
Jack Armstrong
I mean, I could throw out a list, but nobody. Nobody was talking about Bill Clinton. Nobody was talking about Bill Clinton even after he entered. Sure. Armstrong and Gettysburg.
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Jack Armstrong
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Joe Getty
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But wait. There's more.
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Jack Armstrong
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.
In this special Thanksgiving edition, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty reflect on the latest political upheavals in Washington, dissect shifting party ideologies, and dive into the ways generational dynamics are changing digital communication. The duo’s lively, irreverent banter covers everything from arcane tax policy to what emojis really mean, the effects of AI on society, and the evolving landscape of American politics, all delivered in their trademark tone: skeptical, biting, and always a bit exasperated.
“I hope you eat as much as you can. I hope you’re in pain by the end of the day. I know I will be.”
— Joe Getty [03:34]
“This is the most sausagey of sausage making… The Republican Party with both houses of Congress and the White House are going to grow the deficit. It’s undeniable.”
— Jack Armstrong [04:47–06:01]
“Now the party of pandering to and writing checks to people to win their votes.”
— Jack Armstrong [07:56]
“Spending your children and grandchildren into tax-and-spend oblivion. Well, all right.”
— Jack Armstrong [08:43]
“There are no political parties. There’s just whoever emerges as the candidate, cycle by cycle, and then whatever they believe, the party goes along with.”
— Sarah Isgur (quoted by Joe Getty) [12:03–12:17]
“We use [the tears emoji] in my family a lot… you’re being sarcastic about how upset you are.”
— Jack Armstrong [15:45]
“Linguists… have also pointed out that the symbol’s new meanings can often emerge from slang that older users might not be aware of.”
— Jack Armstrong [17:15]
“I send [the eggplant emoji] if somebody has some good news… the traditional vegetable of success!”
— Joe Getty (tongue firmly in cheek) [19:06]
“You can’t skip to bench pressing 250 pounds having not bench pressed 100… neurologically speaking.”
— Jack Armstrong [26:10]
“I now discipline myself… to be bored a certain amount of the day, to be doing nothing, reading nothing… I am committed to being not occupied a certain chunk of the day.”
— Jack Armstrong [31:31]
“I feel pretty confident saying some team is going to win a Super Bowl in the next few years utilizing AI at a very high rate… There’s going to be more and more separation with teams that have bought in.”
— Jack Armstrong (quoting an NFL coach) [35:15]
“That’ll be cool up until the point it’s just AI against AI… a season from now.”
— Joe Getty [34:28]
“I think it’s the crazy factor… You’re the people that want boys playing girls’ sports. You’re the people that want me to say Latinx. You’re the people that think we shouldn’t have police. I don’t trust you on anything.”
— Joe Getty [41:41]
“Trump is seven percent underwater, and Republicans are eleven percent underwater. But again, keep in mind—the Democrats are thirty points underwater.”
— Jack Armstrong [43:26]
On Political Disillusionment:
“There are no political parties. There’s just whoever emerges as the candidate, cycle by cycle, and then whatever they believe, the party goes along with.”
— Sarah Isgur as cited by Joe Getty [12:03]
On AI’s Societal Risks:
“I am completely convinced that mankind has invented its doom. I’m just—there’s nothing I can do about it, so I try not to worry about it.”
— Jack Armstrong [23:48]
On the SALT Deduction’s Absurdity:
“My brothers in Kansas pay some of my taxes because I live in California. That makes sense.”
— Joe Getty [10:32]
On Boredom and Creativity:
“I now discipline myself harshly…to be bored a certain amount of the day…not occupied a certain chunk of the day.”
— Jack Armstrong [31:31]
On Social Media Generational Gaps:
“We old people run the world. You adapt to us.”
— Jack Armstrong [14:28]
On Democrats’ Brand Problem:
“Dems are 33% favorable, 63% unfavorable. Far weaker assessment than voters give to President Trump or the Republican Party.”
— Jack Armstrong [42:19]
| Segment | Timestamps | |---------------------------------------------------------|---------------| | Thanksgiving and Leftovers Humor | 03:34–04:00 | | GOP Tax Bill, Republican Party Transformation, SALT | 04:17–13:29 | | Emoji Generational Divide, Digital Miscommunication | 13:41–20:34 | | AI Worries, Cognitive Offloading, Handwriting Debate | 23:48–32:24 | | AI in the NFL, Future of Sports Strategy | 32:26–36:38 | | WSJ Poll: Democratic Brand Meltdown, Future Leadership | 40:25–45:05 |
Armstrong & Getty marry frustration, gallows humor, and skepticism in a meandering yet insightful look at contemporary American politics, culture, and technology. Their discussion is deeply grounded in traditional principles (especially fiscal conservatism), but they’re not above poking fun at themselves, their audience, or the ever-shifting sand dunes of digital and political discourse. Whether you’re here for the policy talk, the rants about AI, or simply to enjoy two radio pros riffing on the contradictions of modern life, this episode delivers a hearty portion of “leftovers” worth digesting.
For more Armstrong & Getty content and merchandise:
Visit armstrongandgetty.com