Checking-In With Crazy People

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: Episode Summary – "Checking-In With Crazy People"

Release Date: August 4, 2025

In the "Checking-In With Crazy People" episode of the Armstrong & Getty On Demand podcast, hosts delve into the intriguing and often contentious topic of societal standards surrounding body image, particularly focusing on the right-wing obsession with thinness as highlighted in a recent New York Times article. This detailed discussion blends insightful analysis with humorous banter, providing listeners with both thought-provoking content and relatable humor.

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1. The New York Times and the Right-Wing Obsession with Thinness

The episode kicks off with Host 3 introducing a significant cultural critique from the New York Times. The article under scrutiny examines how conservative Christian influencers are intertwining diet culture with conservative morality, thereby reshaping beauty standards.

• Host 3 ([05:01]) states:
  "So when did, when did not being obese become some sort of right wing thing we need to watch out for?"

This sets the stage for a deep dive into whether this phenomenon constitutes a genuine trend or if it's merely a manifestation of a specific group's beliefs.

2. Trends vs. Group Behavior: The First Amendment Angle

Hosts engage in a spirited debate about the nature of trends versus isolated group behaviors. Host 2 introduces a provocative perspective on the First Amendment, suggesting that declaring a group’s behavior as a "trend" has legal implications.

• Host 2 ([06:27]):
  "Here's a new limitation of the First Amendment that I'd like to introduce. If before you write some big magazine slash newspaper slash website article about a trend, you need to remember..."

He argues that with billions of people globally, identifying actions of a subset as a trend may be legally questionable unless balanced against equal behaviors from opposing groups.

3. Body Positivity vs. Diet Culture

The conversation shifts to the modern movements of body positivity and fat acceptance, juxtaposed against the traditional push for thinness. Host 3 challenges the notion that societal pressures are pushing individuals toward unhealthy body standards.

• Host 3 ([07:40]):
  "I don't think being too thin is our problem."

Host 2 counters by highlighting the impactful reach of obesity as a societal issue, suggesting that America's export of obesity worldwide surpasses its efforts in spreading democracy.

• Host 2 ([08:15]):
  "Obesity a more successful export than democracy."

4. Media Influence and Cultural Sensitivity

The hosts critique how media outlets like the New York Times may exaggerate or misrepresent cultural trends, leading to skewed perceptions. They express skepticism about the media's portrayal of certain behaviors as widespread trends when they might be limited to specific groups.

• Host 3 ([12:14]):
  "And I'm guessing that all of these journalists in the New York Times that wrote this because it was a big piece of people together, they're probably all just stick figures who go to the gym every day and, you know, offended."

This segment underscores the tension between individualistic and collectivist perspectives, especially in how different political ideologies respond to social norms.

5. Personal Anecdotes: Family Dynamics and Food

Transitioning from heavy topics, the episode takes a lighter turn as the hosts share personal stories about family life and food habits. They discuss generational differences in dietary preferences and the humorous challenges of catering to varying appetites within a household.

• Host 2 ([13:11]):
  "Our daughter Delaney headed back to law school. And it's too bad because it's great fun having her here, but hanging around to any extent with a 20 something with a 20 somethings metabolism is just bad."

• Host 3 ([14:12]):
  "What kind of grill? What's it gonna do?"

These exchanges highlight the everyday struggles and comedic aspects of maintaining family relationships amidst differing lifestyles and habits.

6. Generational Gaps and Lifestyle Choices

The hosts further explore the contrasts between older and younger generations, particularly in their approach to food and household items. Discussions about grills—ranging from high-end models to basic, makeshift versions—serve as a metaphor for broader lifestyle differences.

• Host 3 ([14:56]):
  "Get one with legs so I don't have to lay down on the ground."

• Host 2 ([15:03]):
  "So yeah, you're right, Jeff. We don't need much food."

These light-hearted moments provide a relatable touch, emphasizing how differing priorities and resources shape daily life.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Host 3 ([05:01]):
  "So when did, when did not being obese become some sort of right wing thing we need to watch out for?"

• Host 2 ([06:27]):
  "Here's a new limitation of the First Amendment that I'd like to introduce..."

• Host 3 ([07:40]):
  "I don't think being too thin is our problem."

• Host 2 ([08:15]):
  "Obesity a more successful export than democracy."

• Host 3 ([12:14]):
  "They're probably all just stick figures who go to the gym every day and, you know, offended."

• Host 2 ([13:11]):
  "Our daughter Delaney headed back to law school..."

• Host 3 ([14:12]):
  "What kind of grill? What's it gonna do?"

• Host 2 ([15:03]):
  "So yeah, you're right, Jeff. We don't need much food."

---

Conclusion

"Checking-In With Crazy People" offers a balanced mix of serious societal analysis and everyday humor. The hosts effectively navigate complex topics such as media influence on body image, the intersection of cultural norms and political ideologies, and the personal dynamics within families regarding food and lifestyle choices. By interspersing thoughtful commentary with relatable anecdotes, Armstrong & Getty provide listeners with both valuable insights and entertaining moments, making this episode a meaningful addition to their podcast repertoire.

Transcript

[Host 1]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Host 3]

Check in with crazy people real quick. It's one more thing. Armstrong and Getty.

[Host 2]

One more thing.

[Host 3]

Before I get to two specific stories from the New York Times, which is like visiting a zoo sometimes, I just saw there's a trend. Apparently it's hard to say if it's a trend or if it happened once and they're just pretending it's a trend, but of a woman who used Hinge. That's one of your popular dating apps, probably owned by Match.com. match.com bought up all the dating apps, so they're all the same now. But Hinge figured out a way to get a guy on a first date to build, like, a piece of furniture from Ikea for her.

[Host 4]

That's pretty good.

[Host 3]

Which.

[Host 2]

There's a lot of stuff in the modern world that pisses me off. This is not one of them.

[Host 3]

As a guy, you know, I thought it would help. Yeah, I would do that. I'll build your furniture. I kind of enjoy it, but.

[Host 4]

Well, yeah, I mean, shows me, you know, how to do something.

[Host 3]

She said she felt like she was getting the full boyfriend experience by pretending to like him, I guess, briefly. So he would build her some furniture.

[Host 4]

That's pretty brilliant.

[Host 3]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host 2]

It's got the rod, though. The reek of desperation. If, as a guy, you agree to it, though.

[Host 4]

Oh, totally.

[Host 2]

I mean, come on, dude. No, that's. That's. That's what you do for your girlfriend. It's not an audition to become a boyfriend. Otherwise, it's just labor.

[Host 3]

I'm just not being paid free labor to work here. Yes, exactly. So I mentioned one of these has got to do with dating. But first, this one, the Wall Street. The New York Times, rather, is sometimes like visiting the zoo for me. I grew up in rural Midwest and I mean, it's as different from the culture of the people because New York isn't even the same as the New York Times. It's a special kind of weirdo, people. Anyway, they had a long, very judgmental.

[Host 2]

Just because they're of a somewhat different cultural set of norms and strata, frankly a different level.

[Host 3]

I'll let you decide. Long article about why the right is obsessed with thinness. When diet culture meets conservative morality. Conservative Christian influencers are reshaping beauty standards and promoting diet culture. And it goes on and on and on from there for many, many, many, many words like these articles do.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 3]

So when did, when did not being obese become some sort of right wing thing we need to watch out for? I don't know. And you know, the thinnest places in America are usually your lefty cities like la, San Diego, San Francisco, Boulder, Colorado, places like that. New Hampshire. That's where all the thin people are. Granola eating Subaru driving traders. Joe shopping.

[Host 2]

Yeah.

[Host 4]

Walking to work.

[Host 2]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Here's, here's a new limitation of the First Amendment that I'd like to introduce. If before you write some big magazine slash newspaper slash website article about a trend, you need to remember, and there's, there's a test, there's a two tiered test I'm going to suggest here, but you need to remember that not everything that happens, that several people have done is quote unquote, a Trend. There are 8 billion people on earth, probably, I don't know, a quarter of them are online, at least some. And so that's billions of people. If 733 of them who happen to be right wingers think, you know, you're better off being thin, it's healthier, that's not a trend. And here's, here's how the First Amendment will limit you. If I can prove to you as the globe's ombudsman that there are an equal number of right wingers who like to be fat, then you don't get to declare that there's a trend of right wingers who think you ought to be thin. It's just a group of people doing something. It's not a trend. You don't have to worry about it.

[Host 3]

Well, there's that, which is obviously true, but then there's the claiming that the trend is something we should be concerned about is the other thing. Because they're claiming that the right wing thin moralist influencers are trying to force teenage girls to be thin. And of course that's dangerous with anorexia and all these different things. Even though we're the fattest we've ever been, the number of diseases and hospital costs associated to obesity have exploded like our waistlines in recent Years. I don't think being too thin is our problem.

[Host 2]

And we've mostly, as a country failed to spread democracy around the world, but we have spread obesity around the world. Obesity a more successful export than democracy.

[Host 3]

Yes, Katie?

[Host 4]

Oh, it's just that that was one of the bigger stretches I've heard in a while that.

[Host 3]

Right. It is a stretch.

[Host 4]

Fit is gonna. I don't know.

[Host 2]

Okay, here's a question for you.

[Host 3]

This sort of crap drives me crazy. I've hated this for decades and this is a new version of it.

[Host 2]

All right, I'll get to the very interesting and revealing question after Jack rants a little more.

[Host 3]

So there's a distinct idea that overeatnor gluttony, which is one of the seven deadly sins, is immoral. And if your body size is not whatever society thinks is an appropriate body size, that, that is a sin. The whole.

[Host 2]

Those are two different things.

[Host 3]

The whole I'm influenced by society and body size thing. Ah. Who do you know that falls into that category? I've never known anybody that magic scenes are, are, are leading them to like, ruin their lives because they need to look like. What are you talking about?

[Host 2]

Well, you're not an adolescent girl.

[Host 3]

No, I'm not.

[Host 2]

I would say that. So. And that's. I think that's a bit of a blind spot for you. But here's a. Here's my fascinating philosophical question.

[Host 3]

But it would seem to be that society is telling us we should be fat. If I look around other than on.

[Host 2]

A magazine, certainly there's a case being made for it.

[Host 3]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 2]

Pretty aggressively a few years ago. Yeah. Fat acceptance, body positivity. So here's one of these questions. You know, what color is the sky in your world? Very. Two very different sorts of people. A conflict of visions. Thomas. Soul. Blah, blah, blah. Since conservatives tend to be more individuals, individualistic, individual rights, blah, blah, blah, and lefties tend to be a little more collective. Collective action. We need to band together, blah, blah, blah. Is it partly that we can't picture somebody who's easily influenced by the culture around them because we're not like that. Whereas they, the collectivist, you know, lefties who actually want to give socialism another try. A lot of them, they are that easily influenced and so they're much more sensitive to that sort of influence. I couldn't give a crap if some quote unquote trend is going on that, you know, six year old suburban dads ought to look like this, that or the other. I would look at that and laugh and go back to Doing whatever I was doing.

[Host 3]

I don't care.

[Host 2]

Now, that might just be me as an individual, but don't you think. I'll throw it to Katie. Don't you think that people on the right tend to be less concerned about what everybody else thinks?

[Host 4]

I. 100%, absolutely.

[Host 3]

And then this, as Katie called it a stretch to try to turn it into. You're using the right, which is more religious, is trying to put a religious spin on. You need to look a certain way. What?

[Host 2]

Yeah, maybe there's some group of 12 women online somewhere, like have a Bible study and decided Jesus wants you to be thin. But there's people saying all sorts of crazy shit online. That doesn't mean you have to pay attention to it.

[Ad Reader 3]

Or.

[Host 2]

Or it's a trend.

[Host 3]

But. But what if you should be thin you, I should be thin you. We should all be thinner, right? We should be. So where do you stop there? That's not like a moral statement or whatever. It's just. Ask your doctor. They would tell you, you should be thinner.

[Host 2]

Yeah, I don't. We're back to people being especially sensitive to criticism, I guess.

[Host 3]

Or.

[Host 2]

I don't know. How about, you know, love the. You can hate the sin, but love the sinner.

[Host 3]

And I'm guessing that all of these journalists in the New York Times that wrote this because it was a big piece of people together, they're probably all just stick figures who go to the gym every day and, you know, offended.

[Host 2]

On other people's behavior.

[Host 3]

Right, exactly.

[Host 2]

They're offended on society's behalf, which is another commonality. Over yonder.

[Host 3]

I'm glad that we don't have to make up things for a living. Like. Well, I don't know. Often there are times I think they think they're actually just observing life and coming up with clever things. I don't think they're making it up.

[Host 2]

Yeah, they don't think I would agree. I tell you what. Our daughter Delaney headed back to law school. And it's too bad because it's great fun having her here, but hanging around to any extent with a 20 something with a 20 somethings metabolism is just bad. It's just bad and. And just not good.

[Host 3]

And I'm not strong enough to resist.

[Host 2]

She just. She can, like, pick up a key lime pie on the way home from work and introduce that in the house and, you know. Do you want to go out for a latte? Dad, why don't we have a cinnamon roll? We're having dinner in three hours. Yeah, I know, but I'm Hungry and blah blah, blah. It just, it never ends.

[Host 3]

The other end of it for old people, when I go to my parents house, they just don't eat. They're old now. They just don't need to eat and doesn't anybody eat?

[Host 2]

Wow. So it's past that whole. The whole get together revolves around food now to being not so much because.

[Host 3]

I know that's where I am in my life. The amount of food I need to live is so tiny. It's shocking really. It always makes me think there's. We're surrounded by billboards and ads and reviews and discussions and, and. And all the accoutrements that go with it. With the new you, we gotta have the KitchenAid mixer. All the different things. You need so little food in your life to get by. It should be a minor thing in your life.

[Host 2]

Oh man, I'm just about to spend a lot of money on a grill and you had to say that. Now I feel bad about it.

[Host 3]

What kind of grill? What's it gonna do?

[Host 2]

A good grill, a nice grill.

[Host 3]

I got that little hobo one that's on the cement.

[Host 2]

Yeah, your homeless guy. Little mini Weber.

[Host 3]

I have to get down on my knees to use it.

[Host 2]

It's a. It's a Weber with three bees. Chinese knockout.

[Host 3]

It did cost like. I think it cost eight and a half dollars. I got it on sale.

[Host 4]

Get it on teemu or whatever.

[Host 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host 3]

So your girl's nicer than that.

[Host 2]

Oh my lord, jack.

[Host 4]

Spend another $10.

[Host 3]

Get one with legs so I don't have to lay down on the ground.

[Host 2]

Cook so you don't have to hold it in your hands.

[Host 3]

Ow.

[Host 2]

It hurts so much.

[Host 4]

Last night for dinner, three grapes. That's all I had.

[Host 3]

There you go.

[Host 4]

So yeah, you're right, Jeff.

[Host 2]

We don't need much food.

[Host 4]

Well, I guess that's it.

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[Host 1]

If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.

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