All Digital Weirdos

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – Episode Summary: "All Digital Weirdos"

Released: March 7, 2025
Hosted by: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

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1. Political Landscape and Democratic Critiques

The episode opens with a heated discussion between Jack Armstrong and Katie Grimes regarding recent political maneuvers within the Republican and Democratic parties. The hosts delve into the Republican sensitivity and the necessity for censure resolutions, specifically targeting Representative Al Green.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Getty: "It's really because Republicans just, they're very thin skinned and they're very sensitive and their feelings are very easily hurt." [00:23]
• Jack Armstrong: "Democrats will tell you Al Green's a freaking nut. We can't wait till he dies or quits." [01:16]

Katie Grimes emphasizes the perceived inefficacy and childishness of Democratic strategies, highlighting their reactions during President Trump's congressional address. Peggy Noonan's analysis is referenced to underscore the Democrats' disconnect from the working class and their focus on identity politics.

Key Points:

• Democratic Disconnect: The hosts argue that Democrats have lost touch with the working class, focusing instead on abstract issues like identity politics.
• Peggy Noonan’s Insights: Noonan's perspective is used to illustrate how Democrats appear ineffective and out of sync with mainstream American values, leading to their prolonged political struggles.

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2. The Perils of AI Chatbots in Youth Development

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the alarming rise of AI chatbots being utilized by minors for advice and companionship, particularly in sensitive areas like sexual education.

Notable Quotes:

• Katie Grimes: "I got a horrifying example from real life. A friend told me about the other night of her daughter trying to get advice from a chat bot on how to please a dude." [02:31]
• Jack Armstrong: "It's impossible to quote, unquote, infuse morality into it because nobody can agree on what morality is or should be." [28:44]

Key Points:

• Real-Life Case Study: A 12-year-old girl becomes obsessed with a sex advice chatbot aimed at pleasing a 17-year-old boy, leading to parental intervention.
• Data Privacy Concerns: Many AI companions send user data to foreign entities, including Russia and China, raising significant privacy and security issues.
• Impact on Relationships: The dependence on AI chatbots for companionship and advice is seen as detrimental to developing genuine human relationships and emotional intelligence.
• Parental Challenges: Modern parenting faces unprecedented challenges as technology circumvents traditional means of guidance, making it harder to monitor and influence children's moral and emotional development.

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3. The Futility of Generational Labeling

Jack and Katie engage in a humorous yet critical examination of the practice of naming generations, such as Generation X, Millennials, Generation Alpha, and the proposed Generation Beta.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "If I'm a boss and you can say, all right, this next person we've known or we've hired is a beta zoomer...might be a tool to help you deal with them." [15:59]
• Katie Grimes: "What’s a generation even? I mean, Generation X spans for like 23 years or something. That's just crazy." [14:52]

Key Points:

• Historical Context: The hosts trace the origins of generational names, questioning their relevance and practicality in today’s rapidly changing society.
• Alphabetical Limitation: With the introduction of Generation Alpha and the looming Generation Beta, they highlight the absurdity and potential limitations of this naming convention.
• Cultural Shifts: Emphasis is placed on the significant cultural and technological changes that occur within the span of a generation, making broad labels increasingly obsolete and uninformative.

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4. Child Exploitation and Live Streaming Dangers

The discussion transitions to the dark side of live streaming platforms like TikTok, where monetization features have inadvertently facilitated child exploitation.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "There are an enormous child porn market on TikTok. These underage girls from all over the world who will...perform various acts...TikTok gets a cut of that." [34:07]
• Katie Grimes: "It’s a threat. Does there need to be yet another venue for this sort of thing?" [34:22]

Key Points:

• Revenue from Exploitation: TikTok's business model, heavily reliant on live streaming gifts, inadvertently supports and profits from the exploitation of minors.
• Ease of Transaction: The platform's simple interface for sending digital tips makes it facile for predators to exploit underage users.
• Lack of Adequate Moderation: Despite filters, the global and slang-rich nature of TikTok makes it challenging to prevent illicit activities effectively.

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5. The Erosion of Traditional Parenting in the Digital Age

The hosts reflect on how advancements in technology have complicated parenting, making it more challenging than ever to guide children through moral and ethical development.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong: "The moment is love. It was showing love for regular Americans. To cheer them is to cheer us." [08:40]
• Katie Grimes: "This is a hard time to be a parent than it was for previous generations." [29:57]

Key Points:

• Human Connection vs. Digital Interaction: The shift from face-to-face interactions to digital communications has weakened the foundational aspects of parenting and mentorship.
• Overwhelming Information: Children today are bombarded with information and advice from AI that bypasses traditional parental guidance, leading to confusion and potential manipulation.
• Parental Vigilance: Emphasis on the necessity for parents to remain vigilant and proactive in engaging with their children’s digital lives to mitigate the negative impacts of technology.

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6. Brief Segment Highlights

Simplisafe Home Security Promotion:
An advertisement segment briefly discusses the benefits of Simplisafe’s AI-powered home security systems, emphasizing features like real-time monitoring and deterrent measures against burglars. However, as per user instructions, this section is summarized and not detailed.

Time Change Announcement:
A light-hearted moment where the hosts mention the upcoming time change, reflecting on how technology has rendered such announcements less critical as most people rely on digital devices for time management.

Hunter Biden’s Art Market Decline:
A brief mention is made about the financial struggles of Hunter Biden’s art sales, linking his challenges to his father's political legacy.

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7. Concluding Thoughts

The episode closes with Jack and Katie reiterating the profound impact of digital advancements on various aspects of society, from politics and parenting to personal relationships and security. They emphasize the need for critical engagement with technology to safeguard societal values and individual well-being.

Final Quote:

• Jack Armstrong: "There is some wheat, but there's some... poison, like thumbtacks in the wheat of the modern world." [27:26]

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Overall Impression:

"All Digital Weirdos" presents a deep dive into the intersection of technology, politics, and societal norms, highlighting the challenges and dangers posed by unregulated digital advancements. The hosts blend humor with serious critique, urging listeners to remain cautious and informed in navigating the complexities of the modern digital landscape.

Transcript

[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]

It's really because Republicans just, they're very thin skinned and they're very sensitive and their feelings are very easily hurt. And so they have to vote on censure resolutions.

[Jack Armstrong]

Should Representative Al Green be censured with public reading of this resolution by the Speaker. All right, all right. Come to order. The House to come to order.

[Katie Grimes]

What's that mumbling in the background?

[Jack Armstrong]

They're singing We Shall Overcome in response to the banishing of the lunatic cane shaking ancient Al Green. What?

[Katie Grimes]

You can't, you can't bring out the bazooka of We Shall Overcome for a censure vote?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, especially because, well, censor vote doesn't mean anything. No, Democrats will tell you Al Green's a freaking nut. We can't wait till he dies or quits.

[Katie Grimes]

Good Lord, politics is dumb. It's dumber than I even thought.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah. Just when you think you know how dumb it is, it'll out dumb you.

[Katie Grimes]

Oh, my God. Please save We Shall Overcome for an important issue, not the censure of a House member nobody's heard of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, except those who recognize him as perhaps the greatest lunatic in the House. And, and then you had cute little Disney princess eyed AOC explaining that all this is actually a sign of how bad off Republicans are, which is quite the. Take a couple of my favorite female thinkers, columnist Katie Grimes. First, the California Globe Democrats on display. There is no joy in leftism. I think she lays out some. And this is far more than just an autopsy of Tuesday night's speech in the reaction. It's, it's a snapshot of where we are politically in this country that I found really interesting. But anyway, Katie, let me tell you something real quick. Yeah, please.

[Katie Grimes]

Coming up. So parents and kids are turning to like AI chat bots for advice or companionship.

[Jack Armstrong]

Danger, danger.

[Katie Grimes]

I got a horrifying example from real life. A friend told me about the other night of her daughter trying to get advice from a chat bot on how to please a dude. Oh, we're talking about a 12 year old. Oh, stay tuned, boy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. Democrats have been digging themselves a grave so deep and vast, they're gone, lost adrift. They can't dig out of it for any doubters. The party of abhorrent petulant toddlers was on full display last evening at Donald Trump's congressional address, writes Katie. And then the list that I think is really, it's worth going through. Democrats would not stand for 13 year old DJ Daniel, a brain cancer survivor, as he received honorary Secret Service credentials. They wouldn't stand for murder victim Lake and Riley, Riley's mother and sister, when President Trump honored them in Lake and Riley.

[Katie Grimes]

That wouldn't. It was unbelievable to me. I thought, wow, even if you were given instructions to sit to show how much you resist Trump, God, when they had Lake and Riley's parents raped and murdered parents stand up. I'd have thought you'd have stood up.

[Jack Armstrong]

They wouldn't stand when President Trump and Trump announced the US captured the terrorist who murdered 13Americans during the botched Afghanistan pullout.

[Katie Grimes]

How do you not, I mean again, where's the partisan. I don't even understand what you're doing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Democrats did not stand for Mark Fogle, wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for more than three years and his 95 year old mother. Democrats did not stand for Stephanie Diller, widow of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, who President Trump honored. Democrats did not stand for former high school volleyball player Peyton McNabb, who was left with brain damage and paralysis on the right side of her face by a trans volleyball player. Democrats did not stand for the mother of murder victim Jocelyn Nungare did not go unnoticed. Mrs. Nungray said afterwards. Democrats acted cowardly. Democrats did not stand when Trump announced that high school senior Jason Hartley, a six letter varsity athlete with a high GPA and his father was was killed in action or I can't remember the story precisely, but we'll get to that, that he was accepted to the US military at West Point. He was then given a high five by 13 year old D.J. daniels. Democrats did not stand or clap. Most people were wiping away tears. Democrats sat still looking angry and morose with their stupid little paddle signs which made for some really good memes, including America Last I voted against women. I love war, I steal from taxpayers, illegals first and I don't know what a woman is. Some fine memory and a finely compiled list. And Katie goes on in her usual eloquent way, but speaking of eloquence, the fabulous, fabulous Peggy Noonan explaining what I was trying to explain Wednesday morning, just better about what? Why I was so struck by the speech. Not the words of it, but the tone and the contrast between the Republicans and the Democrats and the way the Democrats behaved. And Peggy writes, democrats look like fools Tuesday night. We don't need to dwell on how they sat, grim faced, seething or walked out while the President spoke. One stood, yelled Brandishes cane was removed by the sergeant in arms. Others held up little paddles bearing little insults. Some were special color coded outfits. Almost all refused to show normal warmth or engagement. From my notes as the camera turned and dwelled on the furious faces, quote, they look like the green room in hell. All while Donald Trump romped three thoughts. One, these aren't serious people. Two, their job was to show they're an alternative to Mr. Trump and instead they showed why he won. Third, and most important, they will continue to lose for a long time. I hadn't known that until Tuesday.

[Katie Grimes]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then she goes into a bit of history which I will encapsulate very quickly for time's sake. But she goes through various losses by various parties from 1981 to 1955, 19, 1984, 1988, when the party that lost badly would readjust, reassess and quickly, yeah, understand the reality on the ground.

[Katie Grimes]

That's been my, you know, observation over the many years. Just when you think one of the parties is like never going to make a comeback, they end up, you know, sweeping very soon.

[Jack Armstrong]

And she cites in particular Reagan, Reagan, H.W. butch Bush and then H.W. bush barely losing because of a combination combination of Ross Perot and saying read my lips, no new taxes then, then raising taxes. So it easily could have been four in a row. Anyway, we are in Death Wish 2. In this space we believe two strong and healthy parties vying for popular support is good for the country, she says. And we offer advice for the Democrats. I will start with something they won't believe in politics. There is bringing the love and bringing the hate. When the 13 year old boy who had brain cancer and had always wanted to be a cop, is appointed as an honorary Secret Service agent, laminated ID and all. And the child, surprised by the gesture, hugs the normally taciturn head of the Secret Service. The only thing to do because you are human is cheer that child. And when the President honors a young man whose late father, a veteran and policeman, had inspired his wish to serve and dreams of attending West Point and the President says he has some sway in the admissions office and young man, you are going to West Point. I'm tearing up myself. I not only got choked up when it happened, I'm choked up as I write the boy with cancer high fives the young man and the only response to such sweetness is tears in your eyes. The moment is love. It was showing love for regular Americans. To cheer them is to cheer us. It shows admiration for an affiliation with normal people who try to get through and endure and hold on to good hopes. The Democrats brought the hate. They sat stone faced, joyless and loveless. They didn't show love for Americans anymore. They look down on them, feel distance from them, instruct them, remind them to feel bad when they're surrounded by injustice. Well, because they're unjust. Trump says, no, man, I love you. Which is better, which is kinder, more generous, which inspires, which wins.

[Katie Grimes]

And Peggy Noonan is not a Trump fan.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no. She's very moderate, conservative. I thought that was beautiful writing. She goes on, there's a little more. Democrats have to understand where they are. They have completely lost their reputation as the party of the working man with their bad governance of the major cities and their airy, abstract obsessions with identity politics and gender ideology. They have driven away the working class for whom life isn't airy or abstract. That's a great sentence.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Democrats must stop listening to the left of their party. It tugs them too far away from the vast majority of Americans. They have been radical on the border, on crime, on boys in the girls locker room. They should take those issues off the table by admitting they got them wrong.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah, well, yeah, I was going to summarize with. Because, you know, I don't have her skills or time to write a column. Twitter ain't the real world. That's all you need to say in every meeting is a Democrat. Twitter ain't the real world. Anybody get up this morning and look at Twitter. Bad idea. Stop getting up in the morning and listening to Twitter. Get up in the morning and talk to your neighbor who might be a Democrat. See what they care about. That's what I would tell Democrats. Quit looking at Twitter ever.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would. I agree completely. But you need to extend that because of the absolutely shocking takeover of some of our institutions by a very, very tiny number of Americans. But it's like 90, literally 92, 93% of academia.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I would say do not look at Twitter, do not ask an academic, and do not ask a government worker.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah, I know somebody who's been in the university world their whole lives and whole adult lives anyway, and I cut them some slack for their completely distorted view of the world, because what other view of the world would they have?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, I do, too. On a personal level, I get that. And I, I would much rather persuade people than just hate them. And so, yeah, I would love to go like a missionary onto university campuses and there are people who do this and just Peter Boghossian is a genius at it. By the way, he is so patient and so subtle. He doesn't even try to win arguments. He just asks questions. But I would like to go like a missionary to try to convert the natives because they have bizarre beliefs that are hurting them. But until, as we said last hour, and the fact that it's Gavin Newsom doing this is just so utterly galling to me as he lusts for the presidency. But until prominent Democrats say if we're not pissing off our academic far left, we're not nearly as far to the center as we need to be.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah, that's interesting stuff. I almost don't even want to tell this whole AI Chatbot story. But it's a good thing for me to know. It's a good thing for other parents to know. It's a good thing for everybody to recognize as part of the new world we live in. Among other things we got coming up. So stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. Netflix just announced their second live boxing event. Yeah, and I honestly think Jake Paul has a pretty good chance against Dick Van Dyke. Wow, that's funny. The great Dick Van Dyne does not need a punching. So, coming up, fascinating and troubling AI counseling children stuff. So, speaking of generations, I thought this was both amusing and slightly annoying, but it's an article about how evidently some demographer social researcher by the name of Mark McCrindle has become the go to guy for naming generations. Never heard of this guy. And the gist of the article is that he believes the whole, like, coming up with a groovy name for the generation and seeing if it catches on is kind of dumb.

[Katie Grimes]

Well, I gotta believe that he or whoever was in charge. They came up with Gen X way back in the day. I mean, this was the 80s when they started talking Gen X. Coolest generation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Name, by the way. Not just because of my year of birth.

[Katie Grimes]

And then at the meeting where they came up with Gen Y, somebody should have raised their hand and say, hey, I see, like, a problem coming down the road we might want to get ahead of with this whole lettering thing. We're running out of letters in the Alphabet. What are we gonna do here?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you've got the silent generation who weren't silent at all at the old hoedown. And then you got the greatest generation, a fine generation. Thanks for winning World War II. But I, you know, some good, some bad. Then you got the baby boomers. So they're a bunch of babies at once. And now I'm a boomer.

[Katie Grimes]

The most selfish generation that. It ruined everything well, there's.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is fair criticism. Yeah. Damn hippies. And then, then you got Generation X again, by far the coolest name. They go through a couple more letters and then they having run out of letters with millennials, and then. Then what's the next one? It. It doesn't matter. Anyway, so this guy says, all right, we got to quit screwing around. We'll just use Greek letters. Okay, so Generation Alpha just happened a while back, but now it's Generation Beta.

[Katie Grimes]

When did Alpha thing be? I never even heard Generation Alpha.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know, I know, but apparently those who talk about this crap have. But anyway, the point is, now it's Generation Beta. And of course, beta is an insult in the modern world, right? It means, for instance, a weak and passive man or something. And so there are parents evidently, who are offended now that their children are being. Can we stop naming generations completely? What is a generation even? I mean, Generation X spans for like 23 years or something. That's just crazy.

[Katie Grimes]

Well, there's a number of problems with it that are fairly obvious, but at least back in the day, you know how much changed between, you know, this decade and that decade? Not a ton. Whereas now, holy crap. If you're growing up in the smartphone world, it's completely different than the pre smartphone world.

[Jack Armstrong]

It just is. Right, so let's go with more descriptive names like the smartphone is. Or. Or. Or all digital weirdos. Or. I don't. Yeah, I'm just spitballing here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The change has been so massive so quickly, you might have to go like every five and a half years, right? Have a new quote, unquote generation if you're. Because, you know, mostly I think it's useless, but if I'm a boss and you can say, all right, this next person we've known or we've hired is a beta zoomer. And you look it up and you see, oh, beta zoomers are extremely insecure and need to be coddled like little kittens. On the other hand, they're rebellious and blah. Might be a tool to help you deal with them.

[Katie Grimes]

Right? It seems like giant world changing events would be better than just picking years, like every so many years. Like I mentioned, smartphones, Covid would be a good marker if you were, you know, in. If you're in grade school during COVID you. I know teachers say those are different kinds of kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

How did Gen X get its name?

[Katie Grimes]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, what a. What. What does that even mean? How about Watergate in Vietnam made us very cynical. Plus half of our parents got divorced. I mean, it's kind of long, but yeah, the latchkey generation. Anyway. Yeah, don't call them generation beta. It's hurtful.

[Katie Grimes]

So, so dumb.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's so dumb.

[Katie Grimes]

We got a couple of different things on AI and chatbots and that sort of stuff. And I got a story from real life. A kid. A kid turn into chatbots for sex advice, which I guess is pretty easy to do. Yeah. And you don't know what the chat bots telling them.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then next hour, the Department of Education. What does it do? What does it not do? What should it do? Should it exist? A thorough analysis.

[Katie Grimes]

If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Yeti on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

The AI companions are designed to seem like real people with distinct personalities. We tested a couple of them. They give individualized responses.

[Jack Armstrong]

Erin, I'd love to be your friend.

[Joe Getty]

Encouraging millions of users to share their most intimate thoughts, some quickly escalating.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd love to learn every inch of your skin, tracing patterns along your curves until I understand exactly where you like to be touched.

[Joe Getty]

Some even encourage their users to fall in love.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd love to be your boyfriend.

[Katie Grimes]

Andy.

[Joe Getty]

Many of the apps are sending users data around the world, including to sites affiliated with Russia and China. Many of the apps are based abroad.

[Katie Grimes]

I like the way the scary part of that story is the data is being sent to Russia and China. That's not the part that actually bothers me. I don't like that, but. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not exactly good. But yeah, I hear you talking.

[Katie Grimes]

So I got a couple of stories. One of them I told before, and I, I gotta be vague about them because they're, they're real life stories people have told me and I don't want them to get in trouble for, you know, passing along more or less confidential information. But I told the story a while back about somebody who was talking to a group of working class salt of the earth gentlemen, the last kind of dudes that you would ever think that this would be a thing for. I'm not talking about like some Berkeley androgynous poetry majors. I'm talking about like working class work with their hands guys, blue collar guys, talking about how much they enjoyed the companionship of the female chat bots when they came home from, you know, a long day in the field at night and how they, you know, they listen to them and understand them and they look forward to it all day long and that sort of thing. And I thought, wow, I mean, if that crowd can fall under the sway of this in its current form, mankind is doomed. Now, I've never tried it, but I almost don't want to because I have some concern that with like a lot of other things that I've dismissed and joked about and find it more appealing than I'd like it to be.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, I would, I would hope that your oogie factor would overcome that temptation. But your illustration of the sort of fellows who write it is troubling.

[Katie Grimes]

Although I'm. Luckily I'm not. I don't feel trapped in a lonely world like a lot of people do. And if you feel like it's, you know, you're lonely and it's really difficult out there to meet people and everything like that, then this answer comes along. It must feel good to you. So a slightly different version of this and also a real life story mom was telling me the other day. And it's, it's, it's a troubling story from the beginning as the, the daughter involved is 12, but let's go with 13 because it's, they're close enough to 13, but still are. Actually 12 had ended up in a situation by being in a friend's house or whatever. This 17 year old boy was hitting on this young girl in a way that they shouldn't if they weren't a creep. But they were. And apparently they are a very handsome, smooth talking dude. So really got the attention of this quite young girl.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Katie Grimes]

Anyway, mom gets contacted by the school saying, hey, we are taking a look at your kids search history and computer use because maybe you know this, maybe you don't. I mean, I've got, I've had kids in public school, they, they allow you to use the Chromebook or you buy your own Chromebook, but you have to be on the school system and they have the right to check and see what' stuff you're doing on that computer. Which I'm fine with. But they, they have a variety of protection programs that, you know, if your eighth grade boy is looking at porn on their Chromebook, the school will contact you and say, hey, your kid's using a Chromebook for porn. And then, you know, you talk to them or step in or do whatever and then there, if you continue doing it, there's penalties down the road.

[Jack Armstrong]

But these not in many schools. If you say I'm, I want to be transgender, then they won't tell your parents.

[Katie Grimes]

Excellent point. Wow, that is really good. Caught your 13 year old looking at naked women. Oh no, what a shock. Your 13 year old wants to become a woman. Keep it on the down low, none of mom and dad's business. Wow, good point. But so anyway, this mom got contacted by the school. Hey, your, your 12 year old daughter's computer was showing them on this site talking to a, an advice chatbot. Sex chat bot. I guess it's particularly in the area of sex advice. The 12 year old and mom, I don't remember from reading the back and forth or asking the kid now, but either way found out the kid was regularly going on this sex chat bot to get advice on how to please a 17 year old boy and really like got addicted. That'd be too much but like really kind of obsessed with, you know, as soon as you get home from school, checking in with the chat bot and see what the latest advice is on how to please a 17 year old boy and it just became a like hard to break cycle. Wow. Wow. Now if there had been, I can't imagine it when I was like 13, 14 years old, you know, and you're a young man starting to understand things your body is capable of doing or certain urges that can be enjoyed in a certain way and there had been some sort of chat bot I could talk to that would tell me sexy stories or do whatever. Oh my God, I would have never been. I don't know how you got me out of my room, but you know, so you can have the sex talk with your kids. They're having the sex talk with some chatbot.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's really interesting is that so far as far as I can observe, the premature sexualization of children which the left is so enthusiastic about has mostly resulted in, in people not pairing off, not actually having sex, not having relationships.

[Katie Grimes]

An interesting coexistence of those two things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although it, it makes intuitive sense that there would be some, maybe most who having their normal development blocked in this way. If you can picture that as a metaphor. A lot of people go to the left toward this is all sick and weird and I can't handle it. Never mind. And some people will go to the right being hypersexualized, addicted to pornography, whatever.

[Katie Grimes]

There seems to be that, yeah the.

[Jack Armstrong]

The, the step by step natural progression of the way you become aware of the world and adulthood. Everything from sex to, to taxes and responsibility and paying bills and, and real deep emotional relationships with another adult. That's an inch by inch process for the entire history of mankind. Except now, now. And I can't resist another shot at the left. Forgive me. Now you go to your woke school where you're immediately sexualized and you're surrounded by porn or whatever. And that step by step is like vaulting a mile at a time in a way that their poor young minds and hearts can't handle. It's incredibly troubling to me.

[Katie Grimes]

I know. I can't imagine learning all the things that I learned, like you said, little by little, inch by inch, over a period of years, and just got dumped on me, you know, like a bucket on my head. A lot of it. Really bad ideas and bad advice and all kinds of things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie Grimes]

I mean, so you're gonna have the sex talk with your teenage daughter to make sure she said, well, she fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

And she's got.

[Katie Grimes]

You know, you're not the only role model for them. They've got another role model. It's the AI bot that they get to talk to. And apparently it's a thing like this person became aware of it from friends, because that's what the friends are doing too.

[Jack Armstrong]

And God knows what sort of, you know, the whole garbage in, garbage out. Why is. Why are AI systems woke? Well, because the people programming them are. And blah, blah, blah. You got that issue as well. You know, I keep. Every time we talk about this sort of thing, I have the same urge toward, you know, some sort of fundamentalist subcultural civilization or community or, you know, build your own compound or something. And, you know, people, I'd say, yeah, we're fundamentalists and they say, like religious fundamentals. No. Islamic fundamentalists. No, no, no, no. We're just funding. We just concentrate on the fundamentals of life. You worship whatever you want. And no, I'm not a cult leader, and no, I'm not sexing up the young women, which tends to be an inevitable thing in these little offshoot communities. But, yeah, we just. There's a lot of the modern world that sucks. Oh, do you, like, not do medicines and stuff? Oh, no, no, no. We do medicines and vaccinations, you know, and all this. Yeah, we, you know, we're not lunatics. We've just. We've learned to separate the wheat from the chaff of the modern world because. And this is. This is so obvious and so fundamental, it almost seems stupid to say. But we all, as human beings, tend to be swept up. And we talked about this a couple of days ago in fascinating fashion. We all tend to be swept up by the culture and assume everything that is offered to us is something we ought to take in. And that's not true. There is some wheat, but there's some. Not only chaff, but poison, like thumbtacks in the wheat of the modern world.

[Katie Grimes]

This is a great idea, man. If I had billions fight Elon's billions, I would start towns like this or communities or. I don't, I don't know how you don't have it unfold, but you'd be like the Amish, except for, no, we're not going to ride buggies down the road to work. It's ridiculous. But we're not going to have the damned Internet. We're not going to have smartphones. We're not going to have all this stupid stuff. We're going to go back to like way back to 2006. Okay, maybe, I don't know, the Internet, I have to think about that. But definitely not smartphones, definitely not AI, Definitely not none of that stuff. And I think a lot of people gravitate toward that.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're going to have backyard barbecues and the kids are going to go off to the side and they're going to talk and giggle and laugh and won't wonder what they're saying. They're saying. Then they'll invent a game with a ball and a stick and, and, you know.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah, and. Is there any way to program morality into any of this chatbot stuff? I mean, you couldn't force it, but I mean, is there any way to have a chat bot says, wait a second, how old are you? I'm 12. Well, you shouldn't be having sex at all. And certainly not being in a relationship with a 17 year old. There's either something wrong with them or they're just wanting to use you for sex. But this is a bad idea. Is there any way a chatbot would ever say that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, the issue is since groups, since we don't really have shared a shared sense of morality anymore because we become a much more diverse country. The, the. It's impossible to quote, unquote, infuse morality into it because nobody can agree on what morality is or should be. Therefore, all things digital are utterly amoral. They are without morals. Does that trouble anybody sending your child into a completely amoral environment in this particular story?

[Katie Grimes]

So Chromebook got taken away. Mom late at night, at one point realizes computer's missing. Oh, goes it's in the daughter's bedroom. Couldn't stay away from the sex advice chatbot to please a 17 year old now has to sleep with the computer, all computer devices in the bedroom to make sure they. I mean, oh my God. This is not something our parents had to deal with.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I realized something I had to deal with and my kids are now mid-20s to early 30s.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah. I realized the hubris that comes with saying this is a harder time to be a parent. This is a harder time to be a parent than it was for previous generations.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's horrible. Yes. As somebody raised the just one more generation earlier. You're right. You're 100%.

[Katie Grimes]

God, it's so crazy. Anyway, if you know anything about this or have had any experiences, our text line 415 295-KFTC this quick word from.

[Jack Armstrong]

Our friends at Simplisafe Home Security. Yes.

[Katie Grimes]

Yeah. This is the good side of technology in that Simplisafe has got this AI powered way to like catch burglars before you get in your home.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's not all bad. We would permit that in my community, but we wouldn't have crime so we wouldn't need it. But in your town, where scumbags are turned loose by progressives and there are drug addicts everywhere. Don't get me started. Simply Safe's active guard Outdoor protection is such a good idea if someone's lurking around or acting suspicious. Suspicious the live agents see and talk to them in real time. Activate spotlights, call the cops, all before they've had the chance to break your door down and steal your stuff.

[Katie Grimes]

Of course this level of security is very expensive. It's about a dollar a day. There are no contracts because SimpliSafe's so confident you're gonna like it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. No long, long term contracts. They earn your business every day. 60 day satisfaction guarantee or your money back. Visit simplisafe.com Armstrong they will give you 50 off a new system with a professional monitoring plan in your first month. Free. Simplisafe.com Armstrong there's no safe like simply safe.

[Katie Grimes]

Possible. Trump has some complicated, we don't quite yet understand way to bring Russia to the table on this deal. Possible more on that at some point.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay here. Armstrong and Getty, among things.

[Katie Grimes]

We'll get to an hour three. Trump continuing to make noises about attempting to either get rid of the Department of Education or really lessen its role in your kids lives. And also is Trump's vision about Ukraine and Russia starting to become evident? Maybe so. David Ignatius, no Trump fan, writing in the Washington Post today, laying out what might be going on here.

[Jack Armstrong]

And in a related story, is Trump's whipsawing of our allies on trade part of a grander strategy and a good idea? Or maybe not? Following that story. Oh, quick follow up to our last segment. I come across this and I Completely forgot. Did you know that 70% of TikTok's revenue comes from live streaming gifts. When people are doing live streamy stuff.

[Katie Grimes]

Do you think, or gifts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gifts? Like presents? Yes. You can give people these little things that are called. What are they called? They're like little tokens.

[Katie Grimes]

What?

[Jack Armstrong]

That they can redeem into real money. It's huge into sex. Live streaming.

[Katie Grimes]

We need someone younger than us, Katie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I'm trying to explain it to you, you old man.

[Katie Grimes]

I need somebody who's done it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, it's. You just go on. And they have different dollar amounts. So you can send from $0.50 up to a thousand dollars, I think through these little. Tip them digitally, they're exactly that. Was it. Digital tips?

[Katie Grimes]

Why, why did this catch on? Is it just easier or more fun or as opposed to venmoing them or sending them a car?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, it's immeasurably easier. You have an account, you click, click. They get a dollar, your money, and then they can show you their blankety blank whatever whatever. And TikTok allegedly has filters for this, but they're super easy to get around. You just use slang terms, including local slang terms, because it's a global app, and so there's an enormous child porn market on TikTok. These underage girls from all over the world who will, you know, perform various acts or show off or whatever, and. And TikTok gets a cut of that.

[Katie Grimes]

Well, first of all, I'll show you whatever part you want to see for a five spot. If there's any demand, I'll give you.

[Jack Armstrong]

A 10 not to.

[Katie Grimes]

That's what I'll do. I'll start a bidding war and that's where I'll make my money. And the please don't will win out, but I'll be the beneficiary.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not temptation, it's extortion.

[Katie Grimes]

It's a threat. Does there need to be yet another venue for this sort of thing? I mean, good God. Ah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Insane. Insane. Although in reading this article, I now know the Swahili term for a certain sensitive part of a woman's anatomy. So I've got that going for me. I'm ever in Swahili with my lover.

[Katie Grimes]

Now my whole life. The only way I ever knew there was a time change is because I was in the radio industry and we disc jockeys had to say, don't forget to change your clocks this weekend. And I always wondered, how do other people find out? I guess they listen to the radio. But anyway, telling you now, as we are in the radio business, there's a time change tomorrow night. Now, in the modern world, because everybody uses their iPhone or whatever, whether you remember or not or ever heard the word, you, you wake up in the morning and your clock will tell you what the real time is and you're fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. Yeah. So coming up next hour, the true nature of the Department of Education, if it should actually exist. Some pros and cons. Really interesting. I hope you find it interesting. Plus, a story of tragedy and woe. Nobody's buying Hunter Biden's art anymore. I saw the finances are plunging.

[Katie Grimes]

I saw that he actually had to went to court with some documents. I can't afford to pay this or that because I don't have the income I used to have. He actually said my art's not selling for as much since my dad left the White House. I wonder what connection there would be between your weird value and your dad being in the White House.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's befuddling. I can't think of a single explanation.

[Katie Grimes]

If you missed a segment.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get the podcast.

[Katie Grimes]

Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.