Hey Honey... Any Interest In Shattering The Twinkie?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Hey Honey... Any Interest In Shattering The Twinkie?"

Date: January 6, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Overview

This episode dives into a lively and opinionated discussion on major current events, including heightened tensions over US-Greenland relations, the strategic importance of Greenland, shifts in media landscape, inflation’s cumulative assault on American finances, consumer trends with car loans, and pop-culture oddities from 50-year-old Twinkies to AI-generated mishaps. The tone is sharp, sardonic, and frequently irreverent, with ample back-and-forth banter between Jack and Joe.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. US Military Rhetoric Toward Greenland (00:43–11:16)

• Backdrop: Denmark’s Prime Minister reaffirms that Greenland doesn’t want to join the US, warning against military action.
• Steven Miller on CNN: White House advisor Stephen Miller refuses to rule out US military force to take Greenland, arguing its strategic necessity for NATO and US defense.
• Hosts Reaction:
  • Jack objects to treating allies with “bad cop” tactics:
    “Trump and Cump tend to treat allies the same as adversaries… Say, ‘no, of course we’re not gonna use military action against our ally.’” (04:00)
  • Joe summarizes Miller’s stance:
    “So you start by not saying no to the question of are you actually going to take Greenland?” (02:53)
    “…NATO is not going to fight us over Greenland. So basically we could use the military to take Greenland…” (06:09)
  • Both hosts ultimately agree—Greenland’s strategic importance is obvious, but they criticize the heavy-handed, adversarial approach.

Notable Quote:

Jack Armstrong (05:23):
“You can draw more flies with sugar than vinegar. Or honey than vinegar.”

• Negotiating Styles Compared:
  • Jack imagines “President Joe Getty” handling this with more diplomacy:
    “We have no desire to trample on your dignity or act the bully. But understand me, this is not negotiable… How can we help you get there and do it behind the scenes.” (07:50)
  • Joe jokes about Greenland becoming “a very large icy Guam” (09:02), highlighting the colonial tone.

2. Media Landscape Shifts—CBS, Bari Weiss, and News Credibility (12:49–15:52)

• CBS News shakeup under Bari Weiss:
  • Joe recaps promos emphasizing renewed focus on “the average American” and avoiding elitist narratives.
• **CNN’s Tony Dokoupil pushed back against Ibram X. Kendi and was called racist, suspended—Jack notes the irony of media dynamics.
• Joe’s optimism:
  “I’m more optimistic about news than I’ve been in quite some time between Bari Weiss and CBS and Washington Post…” (15:09)

3. Tucker Carlson, Venezuela, and “Gay Marriage Regime Change” (16:38–18:02)

• Tucker’s Segment Satirized:
  • Carlson suggests US regime change in Venezuela is about promoting gay marriage—hosts mock this as “Froot Loops.”
    • Jack Armstrong: “I’m as skeptical, hostile toward gender bending madness as anybody. And that’s Froot Loops. Wow.” (17:42)
    • Joe Getty: “Is he a fraud? Did he go crazy?” (17:49)
  • Both see it as emblematic of polarizing, showboating cable news rhetoric.

4. Pop Culture Oddities: The 50-Year Twinkie Experiment (18:08–18:57)

• University Experiment:
  • Professor recounts leaving a Twinkie for 50 years—it’s now gray, brittle, and technically intact.
• Hosts Joke:
  • “Hey honey, Any interest in shattering the Twinkie? Sounds like a euphemism, doesn’t it?” —Jack (18:51)

5. Rebuilding After LA Fires and Financial Inequity (19:23–20:36)

• Wealth Disparities Post-Disaster:
  • Wealth allows faster rebuilding; insurance red tape delays less affluent residents.
• Jack’s Critique of ‘Equity’ Framing:
  “When in human history has it not been kind of advantageous to have a hell of a lot of money?” (20:18)
  • Wall Street Journal’s take on equity ridiculed as misguided.

6. Car Payments, Consumer Debt, and Six-Figure “Illusions” (21:06–27:17)

• Car Payment Averages:
  • Monthly average over $750 with longer loan terms (up to 100 months).
• Cultural Shift:
  • Jack notes: “Average price of a new car broke $50,000 this fall, up from less than $38,000 in early 2020…” (21:34)
  • Observes that younger generations are used to perpetual payments (phones, cars) rather than upfront purchases.
• Six-Figure Anxieties:
  • A Harris poll shows 64% of six-figure earners feel $100k just “bare minimum to stay afloat.”
  • The hosts discuss inflation: earning $40k in 1998 equals $79k in 2025 (28:39).

Notable Quotes:

Jack Armstrong (24:10):
“Living very financially conservatively has been incredibly good for me and mine, period.”
Joe Getty (25:13):
“Time is the big deal. So start [investing] early.”

7. The Brutality and Insidiousness of Inflation (26:29–31:18)

• Inflation’s Impact:

  • Jack rails against politicians deliberately stoking inflation:
    “…an intentional strategy by politicians to spread out more bribery money to get themselves reelected and hold onto their power.” (26:43)
  • Emphasizes double salaries required just to maintain lifestyle since late ‘90s.

• Personal Stories:

  • Jack tells of supporting a family on a $40k salary in 1998; now, “starvation wage” equates to $79k (28:39).
  • Both hosts urge listeners to internalize inflation’s effects.

Memorable Moment:

Jack Armstrong (29:25):
“It is the theft, it is the rape. It is the just incredible, brutal crime against people that they don’t even understand is being done to them. And it makes me nuts. I want to go on some sort of nationwide speaking tour…I think it would do the country a hell of a lot of good.”

8. Tech Follies and First Amendment AI Tattoo (31:40–33:13)

• AI Humor:
  • Jack asks Google Gemini to design a First Amendment tattoo—AI generates a version full of typos and nonsense phrasing.
  • Both mock the state of AI:
    “AI is going to take all of our jobs soon.” —Joe Getty (33:13)

9. Gender Controversies and Woke Policies (33:48–35:55)

• Gender in Public Spaces:
  • Viral story: woman and boyfriend confront a biological man in the woman’s locker room at Planet Fitness; staff are at a loss due to woke policies.
  • Jack provides graphic commentary and bemoans the confusion.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Trump and Cump tend to treat allies the same as adversaries…”
  Jack Armstrong, 04:00
• “You can draw more flies with sugar than vinegar. Or honey than vinegar.”
  Jack Armstrong, 05:23
• “We have no desire to trample on your dignity or act the bully…”
  Jack Armstrong (presidential negotiation hypothetical), 07:50
• “I’m as skeptical, hostile toward gender bending madness as anybody. And that’s Froot Loops. Wow.”
  Jack Armstrong, 17:42
• “Living very financially conservatively has been incredibly good for me and mine, period.”
  Jack Armstrong, 24:10
• “It is the theft, it is the rape. It is the just incredible, brutal crime against people…”
  Jack Armstrong, 29:25
• “AI is going to take all of our jobs soon.”
  Joe Getty, 33:13

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Greenland/US Tensions: 00:43–11:16
• Media/CBS News Changes: 12:49–15:52
• Tucker Carlson/Venezuela: 16:38–18:02
• The Twinkie Experiment: 18:08–18:57
• LA Fire Rebuilding & Equity: 19:23–20:36
• Consumer Debt/Car Payments: 21:06–27:17
• Inflation Realities: 26:29–31:18
• AI Tattoo Fail: 31:40–33:13
• Gender in Locker Rooms & Social Issues: 33:48–35:55

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Overall Tone & Takeaways

Armstrong & Getty deliver a rapid-fire, unsparing critique of American politics, global diplomacy, inflation, media, and culture. Their style blends exasperated wisdom, dark humor, and an appetite for calling out hypocrisy across the spectrum. Key recurring themes include the dangers of treating allies with the same aggression as adversaries, the creeping normalization of massive consumer debt, and the massive impact—often unacknowledged—of inflation on daily life.

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Useful For:
Listeners who want a punchy, skeptical, and often irreverent breakdown of the week’s most controversial headlines, plus a dose of economic reality and cultural commentary.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Guaranteed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Human plastic bags, plastic lids. What do we do with you? You can't go in the recycling bin, but you can be recycled if taken to a new recycle on center. Find one near [e-mail] OregonCenters.

[Radio Announcer]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And here's Armstrong and Yeti.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After the extraordinary events in Venezuela and yet more incendiary remarks about Greenland, the Danish Prime Minister has appeared on national television saying she had already, quote, made it very clear where the kingdom of Denmark stands and that Greenland has repeatedly said that it doesn't want to be part of the United States. She also warned of the consequences of US Military action to seize Greenland.

[Jack Armstrong]

How is this actually a conversation?

[Joe Getty]

Well, we're about to get into it a little bit more, but. So I was looking up at CBS News just now, and our friend of the show, Ian Bremmer, is on there to talk about his risks of the year. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're chatting with him soon.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we're gonna record a podcast with him tomorrow going through the risks of the year. But US Following Ian Bremmer over the weekend on his Twitter feed, and he said, this whole Greenland thing is not a joke. Trump is serious, Europe better pay attention, blah, blah, blah. And I thought, wow, really? And that was over the weekend. And then. So Stephen Miller. What is Stephen Miller officially? Is he just an advisor? Is he.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, he's. I think he's got a title. I can't remember what it is. Chief Advisor or something like that.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, he was on with Jake Tapper on CNN yesterday, and they got into the Greenland conversation. Here's how it went.

[Jake Tapper]

Can you rule out that the US Is, as ever, going to try to take Greenland by force?

[Stephen Miller]

Well, let me. Let me go back a step. The president has been clear for months now, so I know you're treating this as breaking news. The president has been clear for months now that the United States should be the nation that has Greenland as part of our overall security apparatus. The.

[Jake Tapper]

Your wife posted that, like, hours after the Venezuela operation.

[Jack Armstrong]

But that's.

[Jake Tapper]

That's why it's newly relevant.

[Stephen Miller]

No, and I'll talk with you about it for an hour. I think it's really important conversation. I just want to. I just wanted to reset, Jake, by making clear that it has been the formal position of the US Government since the beginning of this administration, frankly, going back into the previous Trump administration, that Greenland should be part of The United States. The President has been very clear about that. That is the formal position of the U.S. government.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, so you start by not saying no to the question of are you actually going to take Greenland? He continues Right, but can you say.

[Jake Tapper]

That military action against Greenland is off the table?

[Stephen Miller]

You wouldn't be a military action against Greenland. The. The Greenland has a population of 30,000 people, Jake. The real question is, by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark? The United States is the power of NATO for the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests. Obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States. And so that's a conversation that we're going to have as a country. That's a process we're going to have as a. As a new community of nation.

[Jack Armstrong]

For the record, I agree with much of the substance of what he's saying, but what bothers me sometimes is that Trump and Cump tend to treat allies the same as adversaries with the same negotiating style. The whole, we're not gonna take military action off the table. You're talking about a NATO ally. You say, no, of course we're not gonna use military action against our ally. It's just. It reminds me of some bad cops who I've seen and. And a lot of us have dealt with. These good cops are great. They're fantastic in their heroes. Bad cops have the opportunity to not be a hard ass, but they're still a hard ass because they like it.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Like a TSA agent I was going to talk about from my trip.

[Jack Armstrong]

Feel free. And they escalate tension unnecessarily because I'm all about effectiveness, not. I don't give a damn about treading on somebody's toes. It's about effectiveness.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. So what's the part that you do agree with in theory, though, that it should be part of the United States? And why does the Danish get to have control over it?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's untenable that the United States has to say to Denmark, can we please use Greenland to defend the Western world against the Russians and the Chinese? It's your land. So even though it's incredibly strategically important, can we please maybe put a couple more planes there? That's just. It's untenable. It's stupid. The problem is you can. You can. Is my sainted grandmother used to say on my mom's side, you can draw more flies with sugar than. Than vinegar. Or honey than vinegar.

[Joe Getty]

Well then let's get a little more vinegar from Stephen Miller. With just 30 more seconds of this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Conversation, maybe we can clean our microwaves with it. Yes.

[Jake Tapper]

So you cannot take it off the table that the US would use military force to seize Greenland. You can't take it off the table.

[Stephen Miller]

Jake, I understand you're trying very hard to. Which again is your job. I respect it is great to get exactly the headline right. That catchy headline trying to get an answer that says, that says Miller refuses to rule out the. The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There's no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you're asking of a military operation. Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland. One last question, Steven. Make any sense?

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, I, I suggested earlier that Stephen Miller could slip comfortably into an SS uniform and I should not have said that. I retract that. It was an effort at humor. It was ill considered ill conceived and I apologized. Sorry, you were saying something. Because that was, that was a perfectly reasonable answer. And he was absolutely right about Jake Tapper, that phony.

[Joe Getty]

But they're both right. Why won't Stephen Miller just say no?

[Jack Armstrong]

Like you were saying, Trump never takes stuff off the table. Well, yeah, but that gets back to my treating allies and adversaries differently.

[Joe Getty]

I don't think there's anything wrong with taking it off the table.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't either.

[Joe Getty]

Military action against an ally.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, by the way, private to Jake Tapper. Hey, Jake, did you hear Joe Biden was senile?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, well, we gotta talk about that later because I was hanging around some people of the left. The Trump is got dementia thing is the story of the left right now. Just, it's so obvious every day he's got dementia. Oh, you've got to be kidding. But anyway, I don't want to get sidetracked on that while we're talking about Greenland. So how about that though there at the end with Stephen Miller basically saying NATO is not going to fight us over Greenland. So basically we could use the military to take Greenland with the idea that because we're the big dog in NATO and that would just be too disruptive to the world. France and Germany and Great Britain aren't going to break with us and go to war with us over Greenland.

[Jack Armstrong]

President Joe Getty would approach this differently. I would be talking to the Danes and the leaders of Greenland, which again is like a medium sized town in Iowa.

[Joe Getty]

And you'd Say to the leader of Greenland, did you see what happened with Maduro? Do you want a helicopter ride?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, no, no. My spokesman is out of line. We'll have to have a word off the air. No, what? I would. I would make it clear that, look, we, NATO, which honestly means the United States, need full free access to Greenland in whatever way is necessary to protect ourselves in the Western world. It's of incredible strategic importance. But we have no desire to trample on your dignity or act the bully. But understand me, this is not negotiable. We need to get to a result that includes that. How can we help you get there and do it behind the scenes. And if you don't get cooperation, then maybe you adjust your sales a little bit. But the interesting part of what Miller said, and this might be a negotiating stance, but again, this is treating your allies like adversaries. He said Greenland needs to be part of the United States, a protectorate of territory. He did not say we need free, unfettered access to Greenland as a bulwark of defense. He said it needs to be part.

[Joe Getty]

Of the US So they should be Guam.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. Essentially northern cold. Yes, A very large icy Guam.

[Joe Getty]

And you said if that doesn't work, we'll have to adjust our sails. And adjust our sails means Apache helicopters and you're in a blindfold and feet cuffs and you're riding back to Brooklyn.

[Jack Armstrong]

And like Maduro himself, you're thinking, dang it, I should have taken that deal. Yeah, yeah, I can see why.

[Joe Getty]

If I'm. If I live in Greenland and we are. Well, are they.

[Jack Armstrong]

What.

[Joe Getty]

What is their relationship with the Danes?

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm sorry? Who's the, The Greenland?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, they're essentially a protectorate of Denmark.

[Joe Getty]

Well, okay, so you're not. You're not fully independent now. So wouldn't you rather be part of the United States in terms of getting to live your cool Greenland lifestyle forever versus part of a tiny little country that can't protect you against China or Russia?

[Jack Armstrong]

Which brings us back to honey and vinegar. They are essentially in the same way that you, I, or anybody. If somebody tried to bully me into playing golf this afternoon, I would say f you. Even if my inclination was to play golf or I was at least open to the idea of it. I don't take well to bullying and I just don't. Don't be that bad cop unless you absolutely need to. But anyway, I do agree again on the substance. Greenlands of incredibly important strategic, well, importance. That's some good writing there.

[Joe Getty]

There's also the whole Overton window thing, that Trump seems to get better than, people realize just, you just move the conversation over here and then you can come up short of that. And it seems like a relief.

[Jack Armstrong]

But without having gone so far in.

[Joe Getty]

The first place, it might have seemed belligerent.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I just. I don't like that as a negotiating style. Again with friends. But I've made that clear. Isn't Canada next to Greenland? It's not far from us. I was just thinking we could take both states. Wow. Wow, Michelangelo, making Trump look like a moderate.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now you're a colonial settler. Colonialist, like I heard about in college. Michael, you're a monster.

[Joe Getty]

Some of those other, like, Central. Central America countries or South American countries that Trump was mentioning, he said the other day, colombia is a mess. They're a disaster. I can see this sort of thing happening. Or Cuba, certainly Cuba's been on our radar forever.

[Jack Armstrong]

100%. Yeah. And I'm not. I don't think I'm contradicting myself. It's just a matter of how you get there. But during the post WWII era, when we stood astride the globe like the lone colossus, because we were the lone colossus, we in foreign policy, in trade, in society, developed all these attitudes about this is the way the world is. And that was a very unique, very special, weird time in human history. And now we're much closer to the mean in terms of, you know, international relations. We need not have communist strongholds 90 miles off Florida or right across the Gulf of America in Venezuela. It's insane. We've got a giant landmass that China, Russia's gotta sail straight by. If they wanna hurt us, I think we need to own. That has been the reality of the entire history of mankind, except for that blip of we're so powerful, nobody will challenge us. The UN kind of does stuff and so we don't have to be a hard ass anymore. Hey, wake up from your dream world. America. The reality's back.

[Joe Getty]

Big changes at CBS News since Bari Weiss took over. I'm very excited about this. If you don't know about it, among other things on the way. Stay here.

[Radio Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[News Anchor]

So other news, as you just heard from Jill. Well, as to other news, now to Governor Walls. No, we're going to do Mark Kelly. First day, first day, big problems here are we going to Kelly here are we going to go to Jonah Kaplan?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, boy.

[News Anchor]

We're doing Mark Kelly possibly demoted from his retired rank of captain in the Navy.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that's disappointing. I'm sure they'll get that fixed. But that was night one of the new CBS Evening News. And more importantly than that, that they've got a new anchor and they're all that sort of stuff is they've been running promos for the last week. This is all with Barry Weiss taking over that they're going to change their whole strategy around CBS News and the new anchor. CBS News tweeted out yesterday and this has been in their promos on too many stories. The press has missed the story because we've taken into account the perspective of the advocates and not the average American or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites and not enough on you. That changes. Now the new CBS Evening News. And then unfortunately they had those, those hiccups on the beginning show.

[Jack Armstrong]

But well, it was Tony Decouple who was the guy who did such a great job pushing back against the now completely discredited con man Ibram X. Kendi. And remember, for pushing back on Kendi, decouple was called a racist. Was he suspended and everything? It was absolutely ridiculous. But that will all that stumble? Well, first of all, was he undermined by liberals?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, good question. Good question.

[Jack Armstrong]

Secondly, all that'll be forgotten.

[Joe Getty]

That's quite possible. Actually. I'm more optimistic about news than I've been in quite some time between Barry Weiss and CBS and Washington Post and what's his name, the billionaire Jeff Bezos, born in 1964. Jeff Bezos.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jeffrey. Jeffrey Bezos and his letting a whole.

[Joe Getty]

Bunch of people walk when they are angry at his new take on the news and everything like that. I'm happy to see that there's a crowd out there that thinks not only is it important and right but that there's a market for people who want the truth. Freaking npr. They're endless promos of for people who still want the truth. Oh, my God, that rubs me the wrong way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, they're shameless. Oh, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is shutting down so there will be no more broadcasting. Whoops now it'll just not be a taxpayer supported liberal outlet out there. Fine.

[Joe Getty]

Anyhow, so you got, you know that old school traditional media, heritage Media they call it, like Washington Post, cbs battling against all the other things that are out there, you know, Twitter feeds and Snapchats and all the different sorts of things. And Tucker Carlson, who's very, very huge. We're going to play a clip here that doesn't matter who the guest was because it could be a fake historian or a fake religious leader or a fake whatever that Tucker Carlson's having the conversation about. But here's his take on why he snatched Maduro.

[Tucker Carlson]

We can safely discount democracy as a reason for affecting regime change in Venezuela. We're not going to go kill Nicolas Maduro because we don't like the way he's treating his people. It's possible we're mad that he doesn't allow gay marriage. That is a distinct possibility, but no one will say that out loud.

[Stephen Miller]

What?

[Tucker Carlson]

Not defending the regime, just saying. One of the most conservative countries.

[Joe Getty]

In.

[Tucker Carlson]

North or south or Central America, only El Salvador really comes close, which is much smaller, of course. And by the way, the US backed opposition leader who would take Maduro's place if he were taken out is of course pretty eager to get gay marriage in Venezuela. So those of you who thought this whole project was global homo, not crazy.

[Joe Getty]

Actually, why are we trying to install this woman? It makes no sense.

[Tucker Carlson]

Well, because she'll bring gay marriage to, to Venezuela. And that's, that's important. I mean, that's what we stand for.

[Joe Getty]

You've got to be kidding me.

[Tucker Carlson]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm as skeptical, hostile toward gender bending madness as anybody. And that's Froot Loops. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

One of the more interesting stories is what happened to Tucker Carlson? Is he a fraud? Did he go crazy?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not that they're a warm, welcoming port for China and Russia. It's the gay thing.

[Joe Getty]

Huh? It's because we're trying to get gay marriage going.

[Radio Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Professor/Teacher]

One of my students just happened to ask me, well, how long would a Twinkie last? And I said, well, let's do an experiment. So I gave the student a couple of dollars, asked the student to go down to Marilyn Hinkley's and pick up a package of Twinkies. I basically unrip the package, ate one of the Twinkies and then put the other package up on the chalkboard. I basically say the Twinkie has become much like me. It's older, it's grayer, and it's more Flaky, you know, but it's become more brittle so you can no longer take it, you know, you wouldn't want to whack it on a table because you probably shatter the Twinkie.

[Joe Getty]

That's the guy that did the famous Twinkie experiment, is now 50 years old. No normal food product would do that. No natural of any kind food product would do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

No. Hey, honey, Any interest in shattering the Twinkie? Sounds like a euphemism, doesn't.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, 50, 50 years, a half a century, an apple would decay to nothing, you know, or lots of things, but they're the Twinkie stands.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I was gonna craft myself a sandwich and realized, oh, man, we haven't bought bread since like before the vacation and all. And I go into the pantry, loaf's looking pretty good. I'm thinking, that ain't natural.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I know. That's one thing. When I buy the healthier breads, you got like two days.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. So speaking of consumer issues, a handful of stories, first of all, just briefly, and this deserves, you know, pages and pages of in depth coverage, I suppose, but the attempt to rebuild the sites of the terrible fires in the LA area is not going well at all. Anybody in LA knows that between the logistics of it, the red tape, the sheer numbers of people involved, it's been incredibly slow and frustrating and angering the Wall Street Journal, oddly enough, with an article entitled A year after fires. LA's rocky recovery is shaped by wealth, insurance and red tape. And they keep coming back to the idea that people with lots and lots of money seem to be getting started rebuilding sooner because they don't have to wait for insurance. And that's not really fair. And I'm thinking, what the hell, no kidding. When in human history has it not been kind of advantageous to have a hell of a lot of money? But they've got so much cash they can get started and then wait for the insurance money. And that's inequitable.

[Joe Getty]

But that bothers you. So it'd be better if they also couldn't build, then nobody could build.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's equity. That is a brilliant example of equity. Wall Street Journal. Be better than that. Be smarter than that. What has become of you? Anyway, moving along, here's an article for you. Car payments now average more than. I want everybody to think of the number. Car payments now average more than $750 a month.

[Joe Getty]

On average, more than 750.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the 100 month car loan.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I was about to say so. Not only is that number extraordinarily high. I know the length of these loans have gone up a lot, so I remember it wasn't. I'm old, but remember back in the day where four years was a long loan? When they introduced four years, it's like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, 40 months.

[Joe Getty]

Are you crazy?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. The average price of a new car broke the $50,000 barrier this fall, this past fall. That's up from less than 38,000 in early 2020, before the pandemic hit. It went from 37 and change to $50,000 in five years.

[Joe Getty]

I tried to start a conversation with a young person the other day on the whole why the payments thing is bad. And you'll, you'll make different decisions if you don't do payments. We're talking about cell phones particularly. They looked at me like I was speaking Chinese. It just made no sense for whatever reason. Yeah, but it's, it's only like $5 more a month to get the newer phone.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's.

[Joe Getty]

But okay, never mind.

[Jack Armstrong]

So many folks needed new vehicles after putting off buying during COVID supply chain chaos. Others, feeling flush, opted for luxury vehicles at much higher price points.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right, but if you were, you know, my point is if you'd go, if you'd pay cash or even with a much shorter loan, you'd make a different buying decision. You would buy a cheaper phone car.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever, which would be good for all of us. You know, buy a used car. So anyway, the struggle to keep monthly payments to a place where consumers will go for them is so tough that the typical 48 to 60 month car loan term is given away. Given away to 72 month terms and 72 months.

[Joe Getty]

$750. I think that's insane. And I know we got a lot of car commercials coming up that say hunger. Don't say that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of course our sponsors are good, honest folks. We'll get you a real deal. But just think about your pocketbook.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and see my previous conversation, my lecture about that is falls on deaf ears. People, people only think about the payment. And if it's only another $40 to get them more expensive car spread out over 100 months, you think $40 is nothing?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right, That's. It's really tempting, but this is so interesting. And those of us who, you know, are of a certain number of years and maybe aren't like buying cars on credit or whatever anymore. For instance, a few. I don't, I didn't know this. You got a $50,000 car loan. Say you're buying a $60,000 car, which is just a little better than average 5% over five years. So that's a 60 month loan. At 5%, that works out to roughly $950 a month. That's a hell of a car payment anyway.

[Joe Getty]

And the way cars depreciate, you do a 72 month or 100 month loan, what the hell is your car worth compared when you're making those last payments?

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, wow. And we don't do a Dave Ramsey thing around here. We talk about a lot of different things, as I'm sure you've noticed. And I don't particularly like lecturing people because you're all adults and can figure it out for yourselves. On the other hand, I will just tell you this and leave it alone. Living very financially conservatively has been incredibly good for me and mine, period.

[Joe Getty]

Well, one more, one more thing, and this is, this is not as lecture, but it's good advice. My brother and I were talking about this with.

[Jack Armstrong]

I tried not to be luxury. I wasn't luxury.

[Joe Getty]

I was though. I absolutely was and I'm trying not to be. Now my brother and I are having this conversation with the younger crowd on like 401k or opening a, you know, any sort of fund or something like that. Time is a bigger deal than anything. Bigger than what the market does. And there's nothing bigger than time. You start as like an 18 year old, 20 year old or whatever. You've got advantages that can't be matched no matter what happens to a 40 year old.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Time is the big deal. So start.

[Jack Armstrong]

You are a superstar investor because you started early, no matter what. So in a closely related story, this is from MSN or somebody. Six figure earners are living the illusion of affluence while working side hustles, skipping meals and pretending Venmo's not working.

[Joe Getty]

I mean pretending Venmo is not working. What is that one?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's. Oh man. I. Well, you owe somebody 50 bucks for you, the big dinner or something because you agreed to, but you realize, oh my God, I don't have it. Oh my Venmo's not working. It's weird. I'll get it to you, to your friends. Wow. Yeah, we're not gonna be friends long.

[Joe Getty]

You pull that more than once.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's see. Findings of a survey from the Harris poll reveal a surprising sense of economic anxiety with 64% of six figure earners saying their income isn't a milestone for success, but merely the bare minimum for staying afloat. Well, I hope this depends where you live.

[Joe Getty]

Does this article get into the fact of what we were talking about last year, what a hundred thousand dollars a year is now versus the year 2000? I mean, inflation changed that. If you. If you still think of $100,000 a year the same way as you did at the beginning of this century, you're completely off base.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right, yeah. Or even the beginning of this decade, for the love of Milton Friedman. And I am so tempted to launch into my screed about how insidious inflation is and how it's an intentional strategy by politicians to spread out more bribery money to get themselves reelected and hold onto their power. They're devaluing your salary, they know. They're devaluing your savings and your investments, but they do it anyway because they know you don't get it. You don't understand how incredibly brutal a disservice they're doing to you. Inflation is intentional and it is insidious. Anyway. Oh, to your point, I think I mentioned this. Did I mention this on the air?

[Joe Getty]

I don't think I did.

[Jack Armstrong]

My daughter's partner. Husband, man, he's not as her husband yet. Who knows what they are? Boyfriend, whatever. He was asking about the trajectory of my career and our careers together. And I mentioned that. You do what for a living? They pay you for that? That when we got into talk radio, because we knew that's where our future was, we got our pay cut in half and we started at $40,000 a year. Now, at the time, I was about to have my third kid, and trust me, we were pretty poor. But I got to thinking, well, made a second. That sounds very, very dramatic. Adjusted for inflation, what would that salary, that paltry, just starvation wage, be right now? Anybody want to guess what's 40? This was in 1998. Michael, what's the equivalent salary in 2025? You want to guess? I'm going to guess 15,000. No, it would be more money. Okay, More money. Inflation works.

[Joe Getty]

We're talking 40 then versus what it would be now.

[Jack Armstrong]

As I did at $40,000 in 1998. How much would I have to make now? I'll go the other way. I'm saying 90,000. It's actually 79,000.

[Joe Getty]

So double.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

That's amazing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hear somebody make 79 grand, say they're out of school for a year and. Yeah, I got seven, I think. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Good for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well done. No, that was my. Okay, honey, we can't ever go out to eat. You know, we're gonna drive our old cars into the ground. Blah, blah, Blah WAGE Back then, 79 grand. That's what inflation does.

[Joe Getty]

I think it's incredibly helpful to have that knowledge. Everybody should have that in their heads. It's doubled since the late 90s. Or have, depending on how you look at it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Including your savings. That ought to be militantly angry.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You got your. Whatever your net worth is. That's rough. I don't even like to think about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know, I know.

[Joe Getty]

It's brutal.

[Jack Armstrong]

And yet it is the theft, it is the rape. It is the just incredible, brutal crime against people that they don't even understand is being done to them. And it makes me nuts. I want to go on some sort of nationwide speaking tour. I'll speak for free. I'll pay my own airfare. Just. If I could con. Get people to understand what's happening with this, I think it would do the country and them a hell of it and us a hell of a lot of good.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, man. I read a couple of different articles and we got to take a break, but a couple of different articles about this weird economy that nobody can figure out, where we had a huge quarter and the stock market sets records yet some of the worst numbers ever in terms of people's attitudes or being delinquent on car payments and student loans. And by the way, student loans hit at the first of year. That's going to be a giant story for a lot of people.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, let me. Let me put it to you like this. Then I'll show up. The Inflation Reduction Act. I mean, we could stop there. Crime against the English language.

[Joe Getty]

The new green deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

The new green. That whole giant bill that, that. That splashing of cash probably cost you 10% of your life savings because of what it did to inflation. They stole 10% of your life savings when they passed that bill. People need to understand that, but they don't. Well, you do now. Thanks for listening.

[Joe Getty]

It's our job to come in and make everybody less happy. Is that what we're trying to do?

[Jack Armstrong]

Angry. Put on the bandana, Pick up the axe handle. Let's get started. You ever listen to this is up to you.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, you don't listen to Armstrong. You get it.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's great.

[Joe Getty]

I get in the car in a good mood, and then by the time I get to work, I want to jump off a bridge.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm either angry or sad. Sometimes angry. Some days sad. I know. We suck. I apologize.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty. Oh, the most depressing radio show.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, no.

[Tucker Carlson]

There you go.

[Joe Getty]

More ever more on the way. Stay here.

[Radio Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is absolutely hilarious. So during the commercial break, I was kind of idly thinking, as I've had before, if I was ever going to get a tattoo.

[Joe Getty]

This is what you do during commercial breaks. You think about what tattoo you would get.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is what I was doing during this commercial break. Yes. And I was thinking if I ever get a tattoo, it'd be a First Amendment type tattoo because it's practically a religion with me. Which reminds me, I just ordered a great portrait of Orwell. Cost me a few bucks for my man cave. Anyway, so I asked Google Gemini, design me a First Amendment tattoo. Not too big, and at the bottom is a really nice flowing American flag in 1791. Under it, which is when it was all ratified and all. And I'm going to read you verbatim what Google Gemini. These are the greatest technical minds on Earth. The tattoo that Google Gemini came up with. And this is. It's. Well, it's essentially the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law, law, establishment and religion, or prohibiting, comma, free exercise thereof, or abridging the speech or fredendum of the press of the right space to peacefully to assemble and to petition the redress the governess sent.

[Joe Getty]

AI is going to take all of our jobs soon.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I just said it to all you guys. I've got to tweet that.

[Joe Getty]

That's really damned interesting because nobody really seems to have the answer for this. Why does AI do that sometimes? I mean, how can it be so incredibly brilliant, so fast with so many things, and then do something that good? God, a second grader could Google what is the First Amendment and. And rewrite it for you, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we'll. We'll post [e-mail] and. And I'll tweet it out in a couple of minutes.

[Joe Getty]

That's amazing.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know. It is amazing. It's. There are no less than half a dozen typos in there. How does that happen? Yeah, I don't. I don't know. Because nobody knows it can be found anywhere. Yeah, the First Amendment. The wording of it. Anyway, kind of a mini gender bending update. Do we have the. The gal? Yeah, not that gal. That's a boy, for one thing. Clip number 17. This young California woman in Concord, California.

[Joe Getty]

You were really comfortable touching your bro. I literally saw your shadow, bro. Like, come, listen. They can say what they want.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're in the female's locker room beating your.

[Professor/Teacher]

Come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. That is a young woman and her boyfriend confronting a man who stepped out of the Shower in the Planet Fitness woman's locker room, bare ass naked, fully intact. Male, tall, big guy. All right, Puts a towel around himself, then goes into the stall in the bathroom and pleasures himself. You clearly visible because there's overhead lighting. I'm looking at the video right now. How do you like it?

[Joe Getty]

Pardon me?

[Jack Armstrong]

Unless he's in a cucumber, I know precisely what he's doing. And. And of course, they're a Planet Fitness that is woke. They, they didn't know what to do about it. She reported that. They're like, we don't know what to do. So she goes back in, her boyfriend with her boyfriend says, get the F out of here.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, when I heard her say that, I thought that was a pretty ballsy, if you pardon the expression, move. But she had her boyfriend with her. Okay, that was a good idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then did you hear, dude, you.

[Joe Getty]

Know, working your man at the health spa or whatever?

[Jack Armstrong]

The 26 year old man who shattered four windows at J.D. vance's home and vandalized a car? 26 year old William DeFore, the son of wealthy Democratic donors, has been been going by the name Denise or something lately. Another one of the just crazy. It's a new brand of crazy.

[Joe Getty]

If you missed a segment, get our podcast, Armstrong and Getty on demand. We do four hours every day.

[Radio Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.