Hanta Hanta Hanta!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Hanta Hanta Hanta!"

Date: May 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, delivers an energetic and satirical analysis of current headlines, with signature banter and sharp skepticism about the media. The main themes of this episode are the persistent media obsession with the Hantavirus, inflation and its economic impacts, escalating geopolitical tensions with Iran and China, and a range of cultural and political observations. Armstrong & Getty’s blend of humor and cynicism shines as they challenge narratives, call out hypocrisy, and wade through the latest in politics and media hype.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Obsession with the Hantavirus (Hanta, Hanta, Hanta)

• Media Coverage Criticized: The hosts repeatedly question why the Hantavirus is dominating news cycles despite experts stating there is little risk.
  • Jack: "No kidding. Holy crap, those people are obsessed.” (03:42)
  • Joe: "Is that like driven by the viewer slash listeners or is it entirely just talking head driven?" (03:46)
• Circular Coverage: The cycle is mocked as self-sustaining media hype.
  • Jack: "I've never been more confused about a news story with these sorts of legs. Day 10... and always saying experts emphasize there is nothing to worry about. Yeah, that's what you've said for 10 days. So what are we doing?" (03:52)
• Satirical Analogies: Armstrong compares the repeated “nothing to worry about” narrative to gathering his family every night just to assure them "there's nothing to worry about.”
• Later in the Episode: They praise Jon Stewart’s take on The Daily Show as aligned with their own skepticism.
  • Jack: "Love the way Jon Stewart on the Daily Show last night handled the whole freaking Hanta thing. He, like us, can't understand the coverage of this story. The never ending there's nothing. Nothing is happening. Well then why are we talking about it? Very weird." (15:11)
• Listener Mail: A listener argues there’s reason for “a little concern at least,” citing unusual transmission patterns. Jack responds with skepticism about the endless coverage. (48:04–49:01)
• Notable Quote
  Jack Armstrong: "Enjoy the endless coverage every single day for weeks and weeks and weeks." (48:56)
  Joe Getty (mocking): "Your lack of care is going to get you the rat virus." (49:01)

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2. Inflation and Economic Anxiety

• Inflation Headlines: Armstrong reads from top newspapers highlighting record inflation rates—“Inflation shot up,” “Inflation soared,” “Inflation jumps.” (04:27–04:55)
• Economic Details: Discussion of energy prices driving inflation, citing $7.68/gallon diesel in California and broader logistical impacts.
  • Jack: "Every truck filling up, hauling stuff around is having to put in that, especially in California, really expensive diesel... a little inflation added on to the stew of everything going on." (05:54)
• Cynicism Toward Media Framing:
  • Armstrong & Getty argue media thrives on bad economic news, especially if it reflects poorly on current leadership.
• Personal Impact: Jokes about everyday items, from lipstick to golf balls, becoming more expensive.
  • Joe: “Lipstick... the lipstick, yeah, yeah.” (05:48)
• Gas Tax Politics: They unpack President Trump's proposal to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, questioning its actual economic benefit for consumers. (21:05–21:51)

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3. Iran, China, and Geopolitical Chess

• Iran Negotiations: Updates on the nuclear negotiation stalemate, with sharp mockery for Iran’s alleged "bad faith" demands.
  • Jack: "I just, I got their proposal. I reject it, you know, wholeheartedly... That's a bad design. It's stupid. It's not even worth talking about." (06:21)
  • Joe: "That's some response though. I mean, that is... the least good faith bargaining I've ever heard of. Ever." (11:57)
• Geopolitical Satire: Frequent analogies liken international negotiations to absurd barters involving “cars” and “sleeping with your wife.” (06:58–07:17, 12:23–12:39)
  • Joe: “And I get to sleep with your wife." (12:33)
• Iranian Strategy: They theorize Iran aims to “wait it out” betting American political will is weaker than Iranian endurance—especially with U.S. elections on the horizon.
  • Jack: "I'm with the analysts who believe that Iran thinks we're in a worse situation than they are." (09:58)
• China’s Role: Speculation about China exploiting American distraction in the Iran conflict:
  • Joe: "They get, like, all their energy is imported and 80% of it or something like that comes from the Strait of Hormuz.” (27:41)
  • Discussion of President Trump meeting with Xi Jinping—will anything substantive materialize?
  • Jack: "I wonder what those meetings are like... Do they actually, like, get anything accomplished in those meetings?" (28:45)

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4. U.S. Politics & Institutions

• Domestic Political Gamesmanship:
  • Democrats' reaction to Supreme Court and redistricting battles is under fire.
    • Joe: "Democrats are systematically tearing down respect for all of the important institutions in the country, including the Supreme Court over and over again." (22:27)
  • Discussion of partisanship eclipsing patriotism.
    • Joe: “...if they tie Trump to America's success on any front, just culturally, anything, then they hate that and want it to fail.” (08:08)
• Gerrymandering & Judiciary: Jabs at the shifting partisan arguments over gerrymandering, with both sides accused of hypocrisy as the redistricting battlefield swings.
  • Jack: "...coverage has now switched to the national coverage is now switched to Gerrymandering's out of control. We need to put an end to it. You were fine with it up until last week..." (22:56)

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5. China’s Influence in American Politics

• Chinese Spies & Propaganda:
  • Shocking headline about a California mayor being exposed as a Chinese Communist Party operative.
    • Jack: "My favorite headline, and I'll let you run with it. California Mayor Charged with Working for Chinese Government." (19:57)
  • Wider pattern: Reflection on Chinese strategies of targeting local politicians early in their careers (referencing the Eric Swalwell/Fang Fang scandal).
    • Joe: “America is lousy with Chinese spies.” (30:51)
• Tactics of Entrapment: Anecdotes about the use of gifts, money, or romantic entrapment by foreign agents.
  • Joe: “Once you start down that road, you find yourself in some interesting positions, ethically speaking, that are pretty behind your head.” (31:37)
• Cultural Reflection: Amusing stories about resisting temptation and dangers traveling abroad.

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6. California Urban Woes & Crime

• Lawlessness Commentary: Skewering the law-and-order situation in LA and other California cities:
  • Jack: “No more nakedness. No more drug use. No more robbing, no more burning dogs in the street.” (13:14)
• Firsthand Anecdotes: Armstrong laments public drug use and bizarre policies (can’t get a syringe for medicine, but can get one for heroin as a junkie).
  • Joe: "There's one junkie gal I've seen naked more than I've seen my wife naked!" (13:37)

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7. AI, Technology, and the Chatbot Divide

• AI Literacy: The hosts, spurred by listener correspondence, humorously explore AI’s strengths and foibles—especially how neural networks "learn" (or fail to understand) concepts.
  • Paolo (listener email): "A neural network does not discover that rule in the human sense. It does not suddenly realize, 'Oh, I'm supposed to leave the number unchanged.' ... it simply behaves as though it understands those things so convincingly..." (45:30)
• Chatbot Quirks: The team jokes about arbitrary rules governing chatbots—such as "no raccoons"—and the ranking of AI providers (ChatGPT/Coke, Claude/Pepsi, Grok/RC Cola).
  • Jack: “Some of the chat bots have just a few rules, and some of them have lots of rules ... Including which one was it that had. No, do not bring up raccoons.” (46:44)
  • Joe: “Was. I think that's Chat GPT or gremlins. Yes or nomes. Unless you're specifically asked, don't talk about raccoons.” (46:58)

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8. Cultural & Entertainment Notes

• Late Night TV’s Demise: Observations about the irrelevant economics of late night talk shows and their anti-Trump, government-oppression narrative.
  • Jack: "...all the hosts got together to solidarity, to stand up resistance against, you know, the government's cracking down on, on late night talk shows. No, time is cracking down on late night talk shows. That's what, that's what really is happening." (36:18)
• Rock and Roll Tangent: Joe recommends a documentary about saxophonist Bobby Keys, with a warning about the perils of nostalgia and hard partying.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Media Hype Satire:
  • Jack: "If I gathered the kids in the living room every night and said okay, there's nothing to worry about. Okay, right. And then we'll just go back to what..." (04:10)
• On Escalation with Iran:
  • Joe: "If you're going to hit somebody, hit them. Don't hit softly. All you've done is invite aggression." (12:07)
• On U.S. Partisanship:
  • Joe: “Just partisanship has now killed patriotism, at least on the left. And let's not do that on the right, by the way.” (08:08)
• On Redistricting Hypocrisy:
  • Jack: "You were fine with it up until last week when the Democrats it looked like they were going to get the upper hand... Now all of a sudden gerrymandering is bad again. It's Everybody's so transparent." (22:56)
• Mailbag Philosophy:
  • Quoting Zeno of Citium: "Nothing is more hostile to a firm grasp of knowledge than self deception." (44:09)

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Important Timestamps

• Media & Hantavirus Discussion Kickoff: 03:29–04:27, resumes at 15:11 and explored in depth at 48:04
• Inflation & Economic Woes: 04:27–05:54
• Iran Negotiation Satire: 06:21–07:33, 08:56–10:47
• China-American CEOs / International Summit: 27:13–29:16
• Chinese Espionage in US Politics: 29:39–33:52
• California Lawlessness: 13:35–15:11
• AI & Chatbot Discussion: 45:19–47:30

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Tone & Style

True to Armstrong & Getty, the tone is irreverent, punchy, and skeptical toward media narratives, government actions, and cultural trends. They mix informed cynicism with everyday observations, candid analogies, and humor, balancing substance and satire.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode energizes listeners with spirited, critical takes on the week’s headlines—mocking the media’s panic machinery, dissecting the nuts and bolts of domestic and foreign policy debacles, lampooning AI culture, and lamenting the state of late-night TV. Armstrong & Getty don’t pretend to have all the answers—they want you to question them too. And in their words, if you don’t care about the Hantavirus, “your lack of care is going to get you the rat virus.”

Transcript

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[Jacob Goldstein]

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[Bethenny Frankel]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center,

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and get it. And now here. Armstrong and get it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from Studio C, a dimly lit room deeper than the bowels the Armstrong and Getty communications compound. The bowels I tell you and say today we're toiling under the title of

[Joe Getty]

the show the shadow of Iran looms over China talks. Or wait a second, the shadow of China talks looms over. I can't remember which their shadows or if you prefer. Is anybody outside the media thinking about the Hana virus?

[Jack Armstrong]

No kidding. Holy crap, those people are obsessed.

[Joe Getty]

Is that like driven by the viewer slash listeners or is it entirely just talking head driven?

[Jack Armstrong]

I do not know. I've never been more confused about a news story with these sorts of legs. Day 10 or whatever it is of it leading every newscast I see and always saying experts emphasize there is nothing to worry about. Yeah, that's what you've said for 10 days. So what are we doing?

[Joe Getty]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean like if I gathered the kids in the living room every night and said okay, gathered everybody around to say it, there's nothing to worry about. Okay, right. And then we'll just go back to what.

[Joe Getty]

What are you.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then the next night you don't

[Joe Getty]

need to be afraid every night.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, weird, well aware. And we ought to jump on the. The headline that came just before we got on the air with inflation up. Look at these headlines from at least four of the publications I got in front of me talking about inflation highest in three years. Walsh, Washington Post, New York Times, Inflation shot up. Wall Street Journal, Inflation Soared. Financial Times, Inflation jumps. Those are all bad headlines about inflation.

[Joe Getty]

Whoops.

[Jack Armstrong]

You don't want it to be jumping, soaring, shooting up or reaching highest rates.

[Joe Getty]

I'm anti surging as well. Yes, that's bad too.

[Jack Armstrong]

So not a good. Oh boy, 3.8% nothing compared to the heights of COVID obviously, but. And it's 40% of it was the fact that energy prices are up because of the war, which is not surprising. But that will trickle out into the rest of the economy they say in coming months. Since every thing Gets transported on something that uses usually diesel, which I paid last night in my diesel truck. 768 for a gallon per gallon of diesel. It's gonna hit $8 soon. Anyway, it says in the Wall Street Journal products from lipstick to golf balls will be more expensive. Oh man, it's an odd going to

[Joe Getty]

start stealing them out of other guys bags or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lipstick.

[Joe Getty]

The lipstick, yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

From lipstick to golf balls.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

But yeah. Why wouldn't everything go up if it. Because every, every truck filling up, hauling stuff around is having to put in that, especially in California, really expensive diesel. And anyway a little inflation added on to the stew of everything going on. That's fun.

[Joe Getty]

Well, back to the who's casting a shadow over what thing. Let's, let's finish this up with Iran. They're not negotiating in good faith. Whatever the next thing is, do the next thing. Why is there a next thing? Let's do it.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Trump comes out yesterday, you know, on any or I guess it was the night before and he. I just, I got their proposal. I reject it, you know, wholeheartedly. That's a bad design. It's stupid. It's not even worth talking about. Yesterday he called it a peace plan. It's a piece of garbage. Well then the details come out. Good God. I mean that is some serious putting a thumb on somebody's eye. Yeah. Here's our proposal. You pay for everything you broke. We get to continue to hang on to the Strait of Hormuz and we're going to keep trying to get a nuclear weapon.

[Joe Getty]

And we get Florida, the nice half.

[Jack Armstrong]

What do you think of that? I mean that is like our joking proposal of selling a car where one side comes in, says I'll give you $0. No, no, no, you're going to take my car and give me money and I get your tap sleep with your wife. Wait a second. We seem to be really far apart on this deal.

[Joe Getty]

Negotiations are ongoing,

[Jack Armstrong]

so I don't know. Trump has done a lot of deals in his life. I would think he would realize when he's negotiating with somebody who's not the least bit serious.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Is he assembling firepower, consolidating support among the Gulf states? I don't know. I've given up guessing. It's just dragging on and on and on. The fake ceasefire, although we've ceased firing, has gone on now longer than the war part of it with nothing settled. Now I was watching Mark Kelly who the Democrats have decided bald headed former astronaut from Arizona. Don't you know They've, they've decided he's the go to guy. He radiates masculinity and Americanness or something or other.

[Jack Armstrong]

You can't criticize him because his wife got shot.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I can. Sorry about your wife. That was horrible. But he's, he was on Morning Joe Today, which I uncharacteristically watched a couple of minutes of, and he came off as blatantly anti American success. It was just another reminder that if they tie Trump to America's success on any front, any front, economically, militarily, just culturally, anything, then they hate that and want it to fail. Even if it's the United States military, even if it's opening the strait. Just partisanship has now killed patriotism, at least on the left. And let's not do that on the right, by the way. I would not support that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what do you think Iran is up to? If you respond to a proposal with, yeah, how about you pay for everything that you broke? Reparations and we keep the straight, which we didn't have before the war. So we come out of it better than we went into it. What do you think they're up to?

[Joe Getty]

You know, Iranians are notoriously brutal negotiators. They love it, they revel in it. They want to haggle about everything. Either they're just trying to peg the deal making way over here so that if they come over a little bit, it seems like a lot, or it's simply the hardliners, and this is probably a more likely explanation. It's the hardliners who think we can take this pain way longer than the electorate in the United States will, and they will turn on Trump and Trump will head for the exit and we will be in fine shape and hold onto our power.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, gonna wait it out. I'm with the analysts who believe that Iran thinks we're in a worse situation than they are.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, you got to up the pressure, up the, up the ante, turn the screws.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, if you leave things as they are, they may be right. We get closer to the midterm election. It's summer and gas is. I don't know what y' all are paying for out there. I know my parents are horrified that it might hit $4 where they live in Kansas. But whatever you're paying for gas, I mean, Trump's approval ratings are in the 20s. You know, that sort of thing could easily happen if we just keep continue this stalemate. And Iran might be right that he decides this is not worth it. This is not doing Me. Any good?

[Joe Getty]

I think ceasefire was foolhardy back in the day. We stopped too soon.

[Jack Armstrong]

The only thing you can do to change that equation, like you said, is change the facts on the ground. Start bombing the bejesus out of them. Now it looks like things are worse for you than us.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. How do you like that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Weird beards. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Bastards.

[Jack Armstrong]

Also, the news story that broke today that the UAE has been bombing Iran secretly.

[Joe Getty]

Not.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not bragging about. Have been getting bombed. Nobody knew what it was. Turns out at the. It's the uae, but God dang it, what a. What a terrible situation. Anyhow, with inflation where it is, disinflation news that's going to get a lot of people's attention. And then for the media, you're talking about that roots against America. They're going to love the inflation story.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're going to be all over it. You know, if you want to meet with Xi Jinping, Donald J. And settle whatever, you can settle, great. But the minute Air Force One's tires leave the tarmac, leave the Runway, you definitely don't take off from the tarmac. I guess as soon as they leave the Runway, you gotta give the order. We've got to change the math here because it's. It is a stalemate. As it stands, it could be a non stalemate in about six hours if again we turn the screws.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that is some. That's some response though. I mean, that is. That is the most. What was that? That's the least good faith bargaining I've ever heard of. Ever.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Where did I read? I can't remember the precise wording of it, but it stuck with me that the. The greatest sin or the greatest mistake is to hit softly. If you're going to hit somebody, hit them. Don't hit softly. All you've done is invite aggression.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's. Here's what I'm offering you to buy your house. And then they come back with, no, you're gonna. You're gonna give me this much for this house and the house I'm buying. Yes, you're buying both.

[Joe Getty]

And I get to sleep with your wife.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's always right. And all these deals, just like with the car. Yes, I get to sleep with your wife.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I don't want to sleep with your wife. She's not really my type. You're sleeping with my wife?

[Joe Getty]

What if she doesn't want to? In my faith, we can't make our women do what we want.

[Jack Armstrong]

In your faith? Funny. Okay, we should start the show Officially, I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty. This it is Tuesday, May 12th. How'd it get to be May 12th? Year 2026. We're Armstrong and Gideon. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Let's begin then, officially, according to FCC rules and regulations. Here we go at Mark.

[Jack Armstrong]

So when I'm mayor, my plan is

[Jacob Goldstein]

first three weeks, signs up across the city.

[Jack Armstrong]

No more nakedness. No more drug use. No more robbing, no worse.

[Joe Getty]

No more burning dogs in the street.

[Jack Armstrong]

No more dog abuse.

[Joe Getty]

What the hell is that? That's Spencer Pratt talking about la. He's going to enforce the law. To quote the hot selling Armstrong and Getty T shirt at the Armstrong and Getty store, armstrong and getty.com.

[Jack Armstrong]

wow. That's an attention getter.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, he's executive producer. Hanson quoted a cop he knows in. I think it was the LA area. Might have been San Diego. It doesn't matter because San Diego's falling apart too, which is tragic. But who said there's one junkie gal I've seen naked more than I've seen my wife naked? Wow. Oh, yeah. Nudity and public sex. Not to mention the pit bulls running wild and shooting up in the streets and utter disregard for the law. You know, you told the story yesterday of they wouldn't give you the syringe, just the syringe part at the pharmacy to give your son medicine down the street to hand out needles to junkies. Somebody blanking. Explain that to me. That's Calunicornia logic.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? I noticed pulling into the radio station today, driving by the. The drug addicts, a lot of them get up early. You got to admire they're, you know, willing to take on the day. Sun's up. I'm up. Huh? Yoli. Yolo. You only live once. Let's get up and get after it.

[Joe Getty]

I got to the radio ranch. What time was it? Five o' clock in the morning. And a young bicyclist pedaled right by me. It was an early, early bike ride. I admire his commitment to fitness, getting some exercise before he was oddly dressed. You know, a road bicyclist, but teach their own.

[Jack Armstrong]

I admire the fact that. Why do they get up so early?

[Joe Getty]

They're still up.

[Jack Armstrong]

They're still up. They're not. They're getting up early. Yeah, okay.

[Joe Getty]

They're. They're going home to bed. Home. Quote unquote. Yeah, tent.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway. Anyway, we got more of the headlines that are going on here and then we'll get into some of the story. Love the way Jon Stewart on the Daily show last night, handled the whole freaking Hanta thing. He, like us, can't understand the coverage of this story. The never ending there's nothing. Nothing is happening. Well then why are we talking about it? Very weird.

[Joe Getty]

Healthy people who are not at risk have been brought to Nebraska whether they're in isolation because we keep reporting on it, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

So we got a lot more in the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. I used to worry like crazy what would happen to my wife and kids if I wasn't there. It was such an enormous relief when I was properly insured and I knew that they would be okay if the worst happened. I want you to have that feeling too.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures Jacob this

[Jacob Goldstein]

is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? Business software is expensive. And when you buy software from lots of different companies, it's not only expensive, it gets confusing. Slow to use, hard to integrate. Odoo solves that because all Odoo software is connected on a single affordable platform. Save money without missing out on the features you need. Odoo has no hidden costs and no limit on features or data. Odoo has over 60 apps available for any needs your business might have, all at no additional charge. Everything from websites to sales to inventory to accounting. All linked and talking to each other. Check out Odoo at o d o o.com that's o d o o.com this

[Bethenny Frankel]

is Bethenny Frankel from Just Be With Bethany Frankel. Let me be blunt. Most dog food is junk. It just is. And I'm not feeding junk to Biggie and Smalls. That is why they eat just food for dogs. It's real, 100% human food with ingredients I actually recognize, not mystery pellets pretending to be healthy. And once I switched, the difference was obvious. Better digestion, better skin, more energy. Dogs who actually feel good instead of just surviving dinner. Here's the thing. Do you care about quality? You make an intentional choice to be healthy. So why are you gambling with your dog's health? So let's think about our furry babies. Go to justfood for dogs.com right now and get 50% off your first box. No code. Just try it. Because once you see the difference, you're not going back.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just saw this inside the business headline. CBS News boss Barry Weiss blindsided 60 Minutes icon Leslie Stahl giving that Netanyahu interview to Major Garrett. Which was kind of surprising. The I'd ever seen Major Garrett. I didn't even know he was part of 60 Minutes. He had the big lead story Sunday night.

[Joe Getty]

I thought that was a good interview.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it was good.

[Joe Getty]

I thought he was fair, asked the right questions. I was surprised by the tone of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he's not 150?

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

He might be 60, but that's young by 60 Minutes standards.

[Joe Getty]

We have some clips of that we ought to play later on in the show. It's pretty interesting. Pretty interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's my favorite headline, and I'll let you run with it. California Mayor Charged with Working for Chinese Government. We got to do that story. It's amazing. We got a mayor in a California city. It was actually an employee of the Communist Party of China.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Nice. So we touched on the fact that the President said the Iran cease fire agreement is on life support with about a 1% chance to live. We'll play that audio too. They're still covering the hantavirus at the Free Press. We actually got a really good email from somebody saying, you know, this strain, she said, I'm not worried about it, we'll read some of it later. But this, this strain is not good because a lot of people were exposed to it, blah, blah, blah. Clearly it's not Covid like, but it's story worth covering. Not for like a day. Yeah, yeah. Let's see the guy two weeks ago, the shooter at the correspondence dinner just pleaded not guilty in federal court. Good luck with that, chum. Let's see you got.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh.

[Joe Getty]

President Trump endorsed a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax in an interview Monday.

[Jack Armstrong]

That'd be. You're probably wondering like I did how much that is. So I chat GPT did. It's about 18 cents a gallon for your regular gas and something like 22, 23 cents a gallon for your diesel. How much you would notice that, I don't know because by next week, whatever you're buying is probably going to be 18 to 23 cents more expensive. Yeah. Did you know that that brings in $2 billion a month to the federal government, that tax?

[Joe Getty]

That's a lot of money. Yeah. Yeah. So what? That would be $60. So it'd be $16 for a $20 tank, is that right? No, it's 18 cents per gallon. Right, right. So you do the math. You're good at math. Well, it'd save you a little money anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. With a place where about a cup of coffee?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well, a nice cup of coffee with like some mocha in it. Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the US Supreme Court asking it to halt the Virginia Supreme Court ruling that struck down their redistricting measure. It's amazing the rhetoric that's flying around over this and, and God, you Trump does play fast and loose with some of the institutions of the country in the way. I don't like, but the Democrats are systematically tearing down respect for all of the important institutions in the country, including the Supreme Court over and over again. What they're saying about the Virginia Supreme Court ruling is utterly, utterly dishonest. Saying the out of control court. Go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sorry. Enjoying my delicious coffee.

[Joe Getty]

You're not going to have money for it soon unless they cut the gas tax. They're saying the supreme court's out of control and it's a Republican court and they didn't want us to be able to. They fixed the election. Supreme Court just said no. There's a procedure for amending the Constitution. You guys didn't follow it. You got to do it right. That's it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. They have their own Constitution with their own rules just like every other state. I like that. The coverage has now switched to the national coverage is now switched to Gerrymandering's out of control. We need to put an end to it. You were fine with it up until last week when the Democrats it looked like they were going to get the upper hand on all the gerrymandering. Then it would switch to the Republicans are going to come out like 10 seats ahead. It looks like currently in the whole gerrymandering wars. Now all of a sudden gerrymandering is bad again. It's Everybody's so transparent.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Speaking of which, here's one of those headlines you love. Supreme Court Overturns Dismissal of Alabama Redistricting Map. So which one?

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know either.

[Jack Armstrong]

Negates the rejection of the stay, which was overturned.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got more on the way and we'll try to explain it to you. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty Support for the show

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[Jacob Goldstein]

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The war with Iran, of course, looms large over this meeting, but trade is arguably the top issue on the agenda. A lot has changed since the last time Presidents Trump and Xi met face to face in October in South Korea. But the big issues are largely the same. Trade and technology, Taiwan and the fentanyl crisis.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, and everybody says that Iran is going to play a big role, which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to what Trump and Xi would come up with about AI, what the discussion would be like. But I think Iran's going to be front and center.

[Joe Getty]

Where do you think the pressure is going to come from the Iran conflict? Is China going to be? Does China see it as an advantage. We can really press Trump because he's on the ropes with Iran. I don't know, thinking they, they're desperate for the oil.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've heard pundits on both sides of that that Xi is liking us wearing down our military stockpile and being distracted. On the other hand, they get like all their energy is imported and 80% of it or something like that comes from the Strait of Hormuz, so.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Yeah. Interesting, huh? Go on, Michael.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

White House officials says more than a dozen business leaders, including several tech executives, will join President Trump in Beijing Thursday and Friday when he meets with President Xi. The list includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, and outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is also set to attend, along with the chief executives of Goldman Sachs, MasterCard, Visa, and several others, putting a major emphasis on landing a new trade deal with China.

[Joe Getty]

It's really quite the gallery of CEOs that are going over with Trump. I kind of like it as a flex.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder what those meetings are like. Do they actually, like, get anything accomplished in those meetings, or is everything accomplished behind the scenes because you got two old men who don't speak each other's language listening to interpreters all day long? I just can't imagine much happening.

[Joe Getty]

Well, she's the decision maker and Trump is to a large extent. Although the problem with Xi is how many times has he committed to buy a zillion American soybeans or whatnot and he just doesn't. Yeah, I don't know. We'll have to see.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stop sending us fentanyl. Stop stealing all our technology. Stop hacking into our businesses.

[Joe Getty]

Stop sending spies. Of course, that, you know, we are at such a disadvantage as an open society versus not only a closed dish society, but a omnipresent, all powerful surveillance state. It's. It's a tough, tough fight for us. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

We didn't mention the now former mayor of Arcadia, which is a suburb of la, who turned out to be working for the Chinese Communist Party. She resigned yesterday, but she's been on the city council and involved in everything in a suburb of Los Angeles for years.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Reporting directly back to President Xi and spreading propaganda best she could about how there's not actually slaves and the Uyghurs aren't being abused and all this different sort of stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. Trying to whip up Chinese Americans to hate America and remember the motherland. Yeah. And the point was made and it was a great one. I was reminded of this last night that uh, there have been stories about, like, small town or smallish town governors who seem to be up and comers. Like, they're being talked about for maybe Congress someday. The Chinese will target you at that point in your career. Like Eric Swalwell, when. When Fang Fang was doing the bing bong with him, he was not a powerful man at all, but he was an up and comer. So America is lousy with Chinese spies.

[Jack Armstrong]

I bet they get the word fast, too. If it's a guy that has a reputation for. You can send an attractive woman at him and throw him off his game pretty easily.

[Joe Getty]

Right. I told this story the other day to somebody about my first job out of college. It was in the convention and visitors industry. And the first trip I made with my boss, he said, look, they may, like, send food or booze or whatever, or even like a girl up to your room. He said, don't start down that road because it will happen. Really? Yeah. Because they Even at your level. Oh, I know. It was ridiculous. It didn't happen, by the way, honey. Absolutely did not happen to get you

[Jack Armstrong]

on the hook for later in case you became more important, because.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I think so.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And not for blackmail either. But he warned that once you start down that road, you find yourself in some interesting positions, ethically speaking, that are pretty behind your head.

[Jack Armstrong]

You mean like that kind of interesting position?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, no, no, no, indeed. Impossible and unpalatable, but that, you know, they would have you in a position you didn't want to be in. The whole point being if they could get, you know, the Plumbers Union or the, you know, association of Whatsits to come to Birmingham, Alabama, instead of Milwaukee or whatever, that made them tons and tons of money. So, yeah, they would. They would be very generous with their gifts. Anyway. What was that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Speaking of? You mentioned Milwaukee. You see that guy? I think he owns the Milwaukee Bucks. That billionaire, that Chinese woman. There's no mention of her being tied to China, but she was.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, right. She.

[Jack Armstrong]

She. She contacted him through social media, just like, direct messaged him, hey, how would you like to go out and had sex with them right away? Then hits him with a. Yeah, I videotaped all that. And I'm gonna tell all your co workers and your wife and I want

[Joe Getty]

half of your fortune. Yeah, yeah, thanks for reminding me why I brought that up. The whole Swalwell Fang Fang, Chinese spice thing. And what they do, whether you're a Chinese national or an American, is they get you in a slightly compromised position, then they inch you over the Line of illegality or, you know, something seriously unethical or immoral or something like that. By using the leverage of the last thing you did. So it's like nudging blackmail to the point where they sink the hook into you. Now you can't come clean.

[Jack Armstrong]

When I was in Russia, a woman approached me that was clearly a. A woman of the night in my fancy hotel. Like in the hotel. But I don't know if that was a. You know, it might just have been. American businessman, you know, by himself in a hotel. Seems like a good place for your hooker.

[Joe Getty]

Right? But lonely guy with hard currency. Yeah. Heck yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

But certainly could have been some sort of. We don't know who he is, but might as well get him compromised. That's the last thing I would do

[Joe Getty]

in a million years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good Lord. Who knows what's going to happen with some random Russian woman in your room. Jesus.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, I know. Yeah. Picture yourself dismembered and see if your arousal doesn't subside. Oh, oh, my shallow grave out in the woods of Kirkutsk or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of which, my God, remind me to tell you about the Russian soldier who was just captured by the Ukrainians. Talking about how just horrible their situation is. Oh, man. Putin is on the ropes. More on that to come.

[Jack Armstrong]

I saw some story today about some one armed guy that they sent in

[Joe Getty]

a battle with two plates in his head. He got blowed up completely and the minute he could get back on his feet, they sent him to Lita, try to, you know, gain another 15 yards of ground. Wow,

[Jack Armstrong]

That would suck. There is.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, please.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Some more on that war a little bit later. Anyway, so is Trump in China right now?

[Joe Getty]

He lifted off, I believe, Tuesday morning as we speak. Yes. Yeah. Go see Winnie the Pooh. Try to get a pot of trade, honey, Eh? Wasn't worth that metaphor.

[Jack Armstrong]

I. I don't know what sort of. Well, like you, like you said, I don't understand what these deals with China are because they similar to dealing with Iran. They lie all the time. So I don't understand what having a bit handshake. We agree to only use AI for good. Okay, sure.

[Joe Getty]

That one's extra stupid. For sure. The trade stuff, you can make it a little better for a while. You can get them to agree to something, they'll follow through. See, you follow through for a while. It's. It's, you know, it's a situation that can't be saved or, you know, fixed. It can just be managed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did you see any of the most sanctimonious thing on all of television last night. Well, where all five of the late night hosts joined Stephen Colbert for his final week of broadcasting. All of them were there. Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, Seth Myers and the missing one. Anyway, the mainstream media is really loving that gathering and everything like that and, and positioning it all. And there's a lot of commentary on this last night. Among them, just positioning it all is like them versus Trump.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And NPR had the coverage about the Colbert show going away and it being Trump, the federal government cracking down him. And I didn't like the. I don't like the government going after talk show hosts for what they say

[Joe Getty]

as a talk show host, news shows or anything else.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, but no mention of the fact that those shows no longer are viable. They don't make any sense financially.

[Joe Getty]

No. There's no reason they should exist.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, there's no reason. If you started today, you wouldn't say, let's have a show with like 500 employees that cost us gazillions of dollars to make every night that hardly anybody watches.

[Joe Getty]

Because people need to watch something late at night and there's nothing else on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Yeah. You wouldn't create it from scratch today if you're, if you're starting over and no mention of that on it. And I remember when all this blew up originally I went back and looked up the numbers. Johnny Carson, way back in the day, he was like a quarter of NBC's revenue or something like that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like just a huge, huge deal. Whereas Colbert is like loses money, money for the network and why would they continue? But anyway, all the hosts got together to solidarity, to stand up resistance against, you know, the government's cracking down on, on late night talk shows. No time is cracking down on late night talk shows. That's what, that's what really is happening. Sure. Technology and, you know, other options, other things to watch.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

They made the argument that across all five shows, if you include online videos, they're more impactful than Johnny Carson was at the time, which I don't even know if I believe that it's impossible to measure the impact of people clicking on YouTube videos.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Yeah. I don't know much about the market, but yeah. I don't know. A word from our friends at Ruff Greens. Ask any dog owner in a vet's office who hears a serious diagnosis and they all share the same feeling. They would have done anything to prevent it. And that's what Ruff Greens is all about. Nutrition, health.

[Jack Armstrong]

So rough Greens, pennies, a day you can give your dog what they're missing from their regular dead dog food. The regular dog food that you get off the shelf live stuff like probiotics, enzymes, omega oils, plus over 20 vitamins and minerals. It's all natural, made in the United States and you can try it out for nothing. So why not get a free Jumpstart trial bag of Rough Greens? Just cover the ship shipping. Go to roughgreens.com and use the discount

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

get into Speaking of late night talk shows, the Daily show making fun of the news coverage around the Hantavirus, which I couldn't agree with Jon Stewart. More on that and a bunch of other news of the day.

[Joe Getty]

Stick around Armstrong and Getty Foreign.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosure is available at public.com disclosures

[Jacob Goldstein]

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[Bethenny Frankel]

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[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't realize this. Trump had 55 posts in three hours last night.

[Joe Getty]

Holy cow.

[Jack Armstrong]

On a wide range of topics.

[Joe Getty]

55? Really? All over.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean like he was all worked up about things Obama did and Biden did and Hillary did and some tick tocks he'd seen and

[Joe Getty]

wow, how does

[Jack Armstrong]

he have time for that? He gets all, he gets all geeked up like a, like a, an athlete before a game, I think. Or a cokehead. Well, he's definitely not that. Yeah, he doesn't even drink coffee.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you know, he's going to meet with she and he's probably ramping himself up for this whole thing and he's just. Ah, so he posts all different things.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of which, I was tubing last night, as they used to say back in the 80s, and I came across a fantastic documentary about Bobby Keys. Perhaps the greatest rock and roll sax player of all time. In fact, I'd say he is.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if I've ever heard that name. Who do you play for?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God, everybody. Everybody. The Rolling Stones, Every great, You know, Brown Sugar. Gosh, he's played on a million hit records. He's the greatest rock and roll sax player of all time. He's also a legendary partier, lifelong great friend of Keith Richards. Don't watch. I'm normally very responsible about my weekday imbibing. Don't watch a documentary about one of the great partiers in rock and roll history while you're trying to have one drink. It just. It doesn't work.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's funny.

[Joe Getty]

It does not work. Oh, man. I'll come up with a list of songs for you. Anyway, here's your freedom.

[Jack Armstrong]

What were you enjoying? Scotch on a Monday night. Scotch on a Monday night.

[Joe Getty]

There you go. Yeah. The Glenn Morangy 14 year in particular, Freedom loving quote of the day, Michael. Here it is. Passed along by Greg in Brookhaven, Mississippi. Never had the pleasure of being in Brookhaven, Greg. Maybe someday. This is a quote, Jack, from Zeno of Citium. You don't hear Zeno of Citium quoted enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know him. Or that saxophone player.

[Joe Getty]

No, no, no, no. I don't know if Bobby Keys has ever been. I'll bet he has been to Brookhaven, Mississippi. Anyway, nothing is more hostile to a firm grasp of knowledge than self deception.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that whole Orwell quote about the hardest thing to do is see you know your hand right in front of your face.

[Joe Getty]

When a person starts believing things about themselves or the world without checking whether they are true, they slowly move away from real knowledge. This is what he means by self deception does not always come from lying in a direct way. Often it happens quietly when someone convinces themselves that their version of events is correct, even when evidence suggests otherwise.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a tough one.

[Joe Getty]

That is a tough one. Mailbag all day. Yeah, yeah. Drop us note [e-mail] Funny note here from Anna Louisa. Luddy night in sunny La Mesa. My favorite recent chatbot answer. Recently asked my free chatbot for the distance from San Diego to London. The first two times it gave me the standard miles estimated flight time. With this note, driving is not recommended as it requires crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Not recommended? About 10 minutes later, I asked it a third time. It changed its mind. Now the note read, driving is impossible. And she says, why did it change it its mind?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's an interesting. I don't know. And then this from Paolo, who frequently writes about AI matters and how the bots actually work to illustrate how little chatbots actually quote, unquote, know and why we shouldn't be surprised when they say something stupid. Imagine you train a neural network, the technology behind modern AI systems, on the world's easiest task. You give it one number, and you want it to give you back the exact same number. If you feed it five, it should answer five feet. At 27, it should answer 27. A human understands the rule almost instantly. Yeah, just repeat the number. I get it. A neural network does not discover that rule in the human sense. It does not suddenly realize, oh, I'm supposed to leave the number unchanged. Instead, it slowly adjusts millions or billions of tiny internal settings until its answers start looking close to the example it has seen. So if you give it, say, 257, it may respond 257.1, despite the fact you've shown it millions of examples where the correct answer was exactly the same as the input. That kind of network can get extremely close to copying the number correctly. But no amount of training will make it perfect for every possible number. That's mind blowing.

[Jack Armstrong]

So our One More Thing podcast we did yesterday, we got into all the rules that exist with the different chatbots.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And some of the chat bots have just a few rules, and some of them have lots of rules about what they will say or how they're supposed to approach it. Including which one was it that had. No, do not bring up raccoons.

[Joe Getty]

Was.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think that's Chat.

[Joe Getty]

GPT or gremlins. Yes or nomes. Unless you're specifically asked, don't talk about raccoons.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Very, very odd. Very funny. The Armstrong and Getty One More Thing podcast from Monday, May 11th. Oh, speaking of which, I've got a big AI story coming out coming up. Grok is in trouble. The story posits that Chat GPT is Coke, Claude is Pepsi, and Grok is RC Cola.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. It's hurting. Anyway, Paolo goes on to understand that these systems do not understand sameness. It does not possess the abstract concept, leave the number unchanged. It simply behaves as though it understands those things so convincingly that its behavior is indistinguishable from behavior that demonstrates real understanding. Interesting. Okay, moving along. Your.

[Jack Armstrong]

Your rating of the. Of those companies, is that their AI? I only know about the chatbots. I don't use AI for anything but the chatbots.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I don't know how Good. Anybody any of those companies are at the really complicated stuff. That is what actually AI is.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. Yeah. The agents and, and that sort of thing. Yeah. Got this note from Julie who says, let me be clear, I'm not in any kind of panic over the Hana virus. But this Hooper, this super hard to spread virus infected at least 11 of the 150 people aboard the ship. The three die. The ship's doctorship's guide, a Spanish passenger patient in critical care in France whose condition is rapidly deteriorating. Someone in Nebraska, et cetera, et cetera. And she says the fact that this Andy strain can be spread person to person, which is very, very rare and seem to be just from people in the same room, not intimate contact. And the fact that it has a long incubation period, reports seem to have settled down. 42 days. She says yeah, it's worth a little concern at least.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, if you say so. Enjoy the endless coverage every single day for weeks and weeks and weeks.

[Joe Getty]

Your lack of care is going to get you the rat virus. Armstrong and Getty.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odoo at O D O o dot com. That's O D O O dot com.

[Bethenny Frankel]

This is Bethenny Frankel from Just Be with Bethenny Frankel. Let me be blunt. Most dog food is junk. It just is. And I'm not feeding junk to Big Smalls. That is why they eat just food for dogs. It's real 100% human grade food with ingredients I actually recognize. Not mystery pellets pretending to be healthy. And once I switched the difference was obvious. Better digestion, better skin, more energy. Dogs who actually feel good instead of just surviving dinner. Here's the thing. You care about quality. You make an intentional choice to be healthy. So why are you gambling with your dogs health? So let's think about our furry babies. Go to justfood for dogs.com right now and get 50% off your first box. No code. Just try it. Because once you see the difference, you're not going back.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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