Armstrong & Getty On Demand – “Beard Scramblers!”

Episode Date: January 12, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Overview

This episode centers on major civil unrest in Iran, U.S. foreign intervention tactics (including rumors of new “brain scrambler” weapons), implications of AI in the workforce, controversial proposals to collectivize housing, and rapid-fire takes on awards season movies and culture debates. As always, the hosts blend sharp political commentary with sardonic humor.

Major Discussion Segments

1. Iranian Protests & Potential Regime Change

[02:30–07:53]

• Context: Iran is seeing its largest anti-government protests in years with escalating violence, burning vehicles, and the regime cracking down harshly.
• Richard Engel (NBC) reports that protesters “are not asking for change… now they want it to go,” referring to the government ([03:42]).
• Jack and Joe reflect on regime changes through history and note Iran’s vulnerabilities after losing key allies: “Iran is weaker than it’s ever been because it lost Hezbollah, it lost Bashar al Assad…” – Jack ([04:05]).
• Joe questions the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions and wonders aloud about Trump’s next move: “I just don’t feel like sanctions have ever done anything that I’ve ever seen” ([07:05]).
• Discussion about rumors of regime leaders (“the mullahs”) fleeing: “Did you hear the rumors that the mullahs were spotted at the airport?” – Jack ([04:50]).

Notable Quote

“I was watching that pretty closely over the weekend. Really would love to see that regime fall. See those people yanked out of the palace by their beards, drugged through the streets.”
— Joe, [03:19]

2. Venezuela, U.S. Intervention, & “Beard Scramblers”

[07:53–12:16]

• Reports cite U.S. citizens being advised to leave Venezuela as pro-government militias clamp down ([08:24]).
• The hosts talk through a viral post about a claimed U.S. operation using “sonic weapons” or “brain scramblers” against Venezuelan security.
• Alleged weapon effects: “It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood…” ([09:26], News Nation).
• Joe and Jack joke about the lack of a brain scrambler sound effect and riff on the operational ease such weapons would bring: “Maybe we start doing that to Iran. Start scrambling with beard scramblers.” – Joe ([12:05])
• Recurring tongue-in-cheek references to beard/soundwave–themed weaponry.

Memorable Banter

“Do we have that ray gun sound?” – Joe
“We got nothing for a brain scramble.” – Jack ([11:41])

3. AI’s Encroachment into Creative Work

[18:06–23:13]

• Segment covers a $10 billion AI startup in the Bay Area hiring professionals (from poets to dermatologists) to train AI—essentially to help replace their own professions.
• Poets and writers are included, with Jack remarking: “Poets who ‘enhance AI’s understanding of poetic structure… can earn as much as $150 an hour. Which for your average poet is what they make in a week, on average.” ([19:28])
• Joe skeptically questions AI’s potential to match deep human creativity, e.g., in poetry or literary arts ([19:54]).
• Jack shares a personal story about a video editor hired to critique and annotate AI-generated videos—they joke that it’s an “interesting job,” but she’s training her own replacement ([20:55]).
• Whimsical pondering: Could AI replace talk radio? Joe claims, “there’s a fair amount of talk radio that AI could do… I can name like five shows…” ([22:22]).
• Existential worry: If artificial intelligence can produce “a hundred years’ worth [of literature] in five minutes, what would that do?” – Joe ([20:14])

Notable Quotes

“Will AI ever be able to do that? I’m skeptical about that.”
— Joe, [19:54]
"Is AI going to crank out talk radio next?"
— Jack, [22:01]

4. Housing, Race, & Neo-Marxist Policy

[27:25–37:09]

• A clip from Sia Weaver (NYC tenant organizer) proposes shifting property from “individualized good to a collective good” and foresees white (and some POC) families having “a different relationship to property” ([27:55]).
• Jack critiques Weaver’s racially loaded language and self-satisfaction about “white families” losing property ([28:30]).
• Hosts highlight dissent from black homeowner associations defending homeownership as black wealth-building, criticizing Weaver’s “Marxist policies” ([28:46]).
• Jack draws on Alicia Finley’s Wall Street Journal analysis, identifying a strategy: make private ownership unprofitable to collapse the system, then “the government will seize the buildings and hand them over to tenant collectives…” ([32:19]).
• Socialism critique, using the Venezuela-Poland comparison: Venezuela’s GDP plummeted under socialism while Poland thrived with capitalism ([35:13]).

Notable Quotes

“Socialism is… a system of shared misery.”
— Jack, [34:10]
“That’s all you need to know. Answering the age-old question of where would you rather retire—Poland or Venezuela?”
— Joe, [36:25]

5. Awards Season & The “Woke” Debate in Movies

[40:33–45:48]

• A trailer for the movie “One Battle After Another,” which swept the Golden Globes, serves as entry to discussing culture wars in Hollywood ([40:33]).
• The film's plot: Ex-revolutionary fights corrupt officials, features leftist/radical themes (ICE, racism, pronouns, white supremacy). Jack and Joe debate whether it’s truly “woke” or more satirical ([41:42]).
• Listeners text in: “The new movie that DiCaprio is in is so woke and the worst movie… We actually walked out of the IMAX theater because it was so bad.” – Listener text, read by Joe ([42:46]).
• Jack references last year’s award-winner about a transgender cartel boss, notes a trend of unwatchable “message” movies ([43:01]).
• Spirited sidebar: Why are sex scenes in movies? Joe argues they never advance storylines, Jack counters with their appeal and role as part of life ([44:26]).

Notable Quotes

“You are more anti sex scene in movies than anybody I’ve known outside of the clergy.”
— Jack to Joe, [44:54]
“It would be like if you were talking to your co-worker at work and you dropped your pants real quickly and then pulled them back up.”
— Jack, on random explicit scenes, [46:01]

Chronological Key Segments & Timestamps

| Topic | Start – End | |----------------------------------------------|----------------| | Iranian Protests, Regime Change | 02:30–07:53 | | Venezuela intervention, Sonic Weapons | 07:53–12:16 | | AI Replacing Creative Work | 18:06–23:13 | | Housing Policy, Neo-Marxism, Socialism | 27:25–37:09 | | Golden Globes, “Wokeness” in Film | 40:33–45:48 |

Memorable Moments & Tone

• Humorous banter about sound effects for “brain scrambler” weapons and obsession with beards.
• Sharp skepticism about the latest “woke” Hollywood fare, poking fun without entirely dismissing opposing viewpoints.
• Blunt economic realism: Venezuela vs. Poland as an object lesson for socialism vs. capitalism.
• Riffing on AI: Existential dread mixed with self-deprecating humor about talk radio being replaced.

Conclusion

This episode is quintessential Armstrong & Getty: irreverent, rapid-fire, and clear-eyed in its skepticism and wit. The hosts skillfully surf between geopolitics, technological disruption, domestic policy debates, and culture war flashpoints, serving up tart commentary and barbed humor for devoted listeners—and critical insights for anyone trying to make sense of headlines.