Hey I Have This Really Cool Painting

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Hey I Have This Really Cool Painting"

Date: October 21, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Episode Overview

This episode covers a wide range of current events and social commentary, including:

• The recent attempted mass shooting thwarted at Atlanta airport
• The rise and consequences of social contagions linked to mass violence
• The theft of historical artifacts (with a detour into famous art heists like the Mona Lisa)
• Tech disruptions affecting daily life
• Declining marriage rates in China and the demographic challenges they pose
• Surprising new research on Parkinson’s disease and its risk factors
• The empowering and overwhelming presence of AI in consumer decision-making
• A chat about new coffee machines, minor sports moments, and the ongoing struggle with California’s political landscape

Throughout, Armstrong & Getty maintain their signature blend of sarcasm, curiosity, and skeptical analysis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fauci Back in the News, Peanut Allergy Studies

• [00:27] The show opens with Joe spotting Dr. Anthony Fauci on TV related to a peanut allergy study.
  • Joe Getty: “That shows you the divide in America ... half the country’s like, ‘I never want to see that guy’s face or hear his name ever again in my life.’” ([00:55])
  • Quick segue into Americans' fractured relationships with public figures and the odd persistence of Fauci’s role as a media go-to for all things health.

2. Medical Science: Parkinson's Disease—New Insights

• [01:01, 21:00] Jack teases, then later details, evolving science about Parkinson’s disease.
  • Jack Armstrong: "You can actually change your odds." ([01:29])
  • Four actionable steps to lower Parkinson’s risk:
    • Caffeine Intake: "Both coffee and tea consumption have been linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson's ... caffeine reduces oxidative stress." ([23:17])
      • Regular caffeine intake (2-3 cups/day) can reduce risk by 25-30%. ([23:55])
    • Dry Cleaning Chemicals: Avoid trichloroethylene (TCE), a carcinogen still used in many dry cleaners. Air out dry-cleaned clothes. ([24:13 - 25:58])
    • Pesticides: Exposure linked to significantly elevated risk—buy organic if possible. ([25:59])
    • Water Filters: Water can carry both pesticides and industrial solvents; proximity to golf courses increases risk. ([26:10])
  • Personal Note: Jack shares both his mother and grandfather died from Parkinson’s, adding a personal dimension to their interest. ([21:00])
  • Quote: “Now everybody knows everything. ... If you master the art of using AI, everything is at your fingertips. So what’s left?” — Joe Getty ([30:13])

3. Sarkozy Sent to Prison

• [01:37 - 02:15] The hosts react to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy beginning his five-year prison sentence.
  • Joe Getty: “He’s going to spend five years in prison, and at least this first stretch ... in solitary. … That’s pretty high position to be president and all of a sudden ... off to prison.” ([01:58])
  • Mix of astonishment and irreverence, with jokes about international corruption.

4. Atlanta Airport Mass Shooting—Tragedy Averted

• [02:34 - 06:53] The attempted shooting is recapped with audio from the news and some harrowing details.
  • Family alerted authorities when suspect Billy Joe Cagle expressed intent to harm many.
  • Shooter was unarmed inside but had an AR-15 and ammunition in his truck.
  • Jack Armstrong: “We did have a tragedy averted today.” ([04:26])
  • The randomness and root causes of these events—especially social contagion, suicidal ideation paired with the desire for notoriety—are discussed at length.
    • Joe Getty: “The real story is how we break free from people who are so depressed out there that they want to end their lives ... The new thing is ‘I’m going to take people with me so it means something.’” ([06:01])

5. Mona Lisa Heist, Insurance, and Ransom Follies

• [06:57 - 11:00] Lighthearted banter and speculation about art crime, referencing the Mona Lisa theft and recent jewel heists.
  • Discussion covers why stealing a famous painting is impractical compared to jewels (much easier to fence).
  • Armchair theorizing on how ransom swaps happen (bitcoin, suitcases of cash, classic movie tropes).
  • Joe Getty: “It’s a great new era for blackmail ... ransomware.” ([09:48])

6. Recent Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outage

• [13:13 - 14:27] The wide-reaching AWS outage is noted for knocking down major apps from Fortnite to Starbucks.
  • Joe Getty: “Who knew Facebook was connected to Amazon’s web server? Turns out lots and lots and lots of stuff is.” ([13:34])
  • Raises real concerns about centralization and cyber vulnerability.

7. China’s Marriage & Population Decline

• [16:51 - 18:09] Jack shares a news article about Chinese parental matchmaking, low marriage rates, and rapidly declining birthrates.
  • Only 6 million couples registered marriages last year—a record low, down 21%.
  • Gender imbalance is tied directly to cultural bias and the effects of the one-child policy.
  • Jack Armstrong: “China could have half its population in like 60 years.” ([17:40])

8. No Kings Protests and Protester Soundbites

• [14:27 - 16:39] Hosts play and dissect audio from recent “No Kings” anti-Trump protests.
  • Many protesters couldn't clearly articulate what they were protesting.
  • Jack Armstrong (mocking): “What do we want? We don’t know. When do we want it? Also unclear.” ([16:30])
  • “You’re literally at a giant protest right now. … How do you end up at a protest and can’t enunciate why you’re there?” — Joe Getty ([16:27, 16:15])

9. Practical: AI for Consumer Research

• [29:46 - 30:43] Both hosts discuss how AI (ChatGPT, Grok, Claude) now drastically simplifies research and shopping for items like computers or coffee machines.
  • Joe Getty: “It would have taken me hours to do that kind of research on my own.” ([30:13])

10. Everyday Escapes: Coffee Machines & Seeking Joy

• [27:39 - 32:37] Lighthearted talk about buying fancy coffee machines—part hobby, part coping with everyday challenges.
  • Jack and Joe swap stories on buying habits, tech, and life’s little passions.
  • Jack Armstrong: “Life is short and hard and there’s a lot of pain. So if you find something that makes you happy, if it doesn’t hurt somebody else, do it.” ([32:22])
  • Joe Getty: “I’ll end on that. That was really good.” ([32:29])

11. Sports: Dodgers vs. Toronto

• [33:46 - 35:09] Quick sports update—Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer hits a major home run.
  • Jokes about the cultural makeup of the Jays and possible U.S. vs. Canada rivalry.

12. California Politics & Gerrymandering

• [35:55 - 39:34] Updates on a California redistricting proposition that could eliminate nearly all Republican congressional seats, with political strategy analysis.
  • Initial polling showed wide opposition, but a surge from special interests and turnout could shift the result.
  • Joe Getty: “What’s disturbing ... something 70% of voters were opposed to could end up going the other direction because ... special interests and the power of the unions.” ([37:01])
  • General resignation about the corruptibility and cynicism of current political processes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the thwarted Atlanta shooting:

  • “There’s 1 to 15 people that would be dead if this hadn’t unfolded the way it did.” — Joe Getty ([04:35])
  • “How do we stem this social contagion of people wanting to essentially commit suicide but take a bunch of people with them so everybody knows how mad they are?” — Jack Armstrong ([04:55])

• On Parkinson’s research:

  • “Caffeine lovers rejoice. Both coffee and tea consumption have been linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease... The risk reduction generally is 25 to 30%.” — Jack Armstrong ([23:17, 23:55])
  • “Wouldn’t it be something if we figure out that autism, Parkinson’s or whatever ... had to do with more people moving to cities and needing to get their shirts pressed?” — Joe Getty ([24:47])

• On protest culture:

  • “You’re literally at a giant protest right now. ... How do you end up at a protest and can’t enunciate why you’re there?” — Joe Getty ([16:27, 16:15])
  • “What do we want? We don’t know. When do we want it? Also unclear.” — Jack Armstrong, quoting Family Guy ([16:30])

• On meaningless distractions:

  • “It’s amazing what human beings will do to avoid, like, thinking about their actual lives.” — Joe Getty ([31:40])
  • “We need our enthusiasms.” — Jack Armstrong ([31:59])

• On life’s struggle and little joys:

  • “Life is short and hard and there’s a lot of pain. So if you find something that makes you happy, if it doesn’t hurt somebody else, do it.” — Jack Armstrong ([32:22])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:27 — Fauci, peanut allergies & American divides
• 01:01, 21:00 — Parkinson’s disease science (main segment begins at [21:00])
• 01:37 - 02:15 — Sarkozy imprisonment & international corruption
• 02:34 - 06:53 — Atlanta airport shooting averted; social contagion & violence
• 06:57 - 11:00 — Mona Lisa heist, insurance, and ransom culture
• 13:13 - 14:27 — Amazon Web Services outage
• 14:27 - 16:39 — "No Kings" protests; critique of protest culture
• 16:51 - 18:09 — Declining marriage & population crisis in China
• 23:17 - 26:10 — Practical steps to avoid Parkinson’s—caffeine, dry cleaning, pesticides, water
• 29:46 - 30:43 — Using AI for buying decisions, the future of expertise
• 32:22 - 32:29 — "Do what makes you happy" philosophy
• 35:55 - 39:34 — California redistricting, gerrymandering, and political machinations

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, Quick-Witted: Banter switches seamlessly from global news to ridiculous hypotheticals.
• Sardonic but Inquisitive: Hosts often mock themselves, politicians, and protestors alike, but genuine curiosity is evident.
• Irreverent but Empathetic: Especially evident in personal anecdotes about medical struggles and mental health.

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Final Takeaway

A classic Armstrong & Getty episode—mixing gallows humor and pragmatic advice, world news and pop culture, skepticism about institutions, and a healthy dose of encouragement to find happiness where you can. Highly recommended for listeners who like their current events served with both seriousness and snark.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Announcer]

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

[Caller or Guest]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Caller or Guest]

A number of things I would like.

[Joe Getty]

To bring up before we get to the bulk of what we're going to do this segment. First of all, I just looked up the TV and saw freaking Anthony Fauci's face on CBS News because they're talking about that new peanut allergy study. What was the name of that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Decided to ask Fauci.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. So I guess that shows you the divide in America. CBS EARLY SHOW thinks you know who our audience would like to see? Dr. Fauci. Talking about pine neurologies where half the countries like, I never want to see that guy's face or hear his name ever again in my life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. Yeah. Picking him as the go to. Oh, speaking of health. And I'll explain why I am so interested in this in a little bit. But the science around Parkinson's disease is they're learning a lot and they've come up with several really effective ways to lower your risk. It's the second most common neurological problem that beset us after Alzheimer's. So stay with us.

[Joe Getty]

I want to hear that.

[Jack Armstrong]

And, and you, you can do it, too. This is not like, you know anything weird or unlikely, you can actually change your odds.

[Joe Getty]

This is kind of weird and unlikely, but it happened. The former president of France is going into jail today for his five year prison sentence.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nicholas Sarkozy, did he steal those jewels out of the Louvre?

[Joe Getty]

He was the guy in the Louvre with the, the song, all kinds of campaign finance stuff. And he was taking money from Gaddafi.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

God dang it. Anywho, he's going to spend five years in prison and at least this first stretch is going to be in solitary. They say to keep him safe, but that's pretty high position to be president. And all of a sudden he left his home today and he's off to prison.

[Jack Armstrong]

Five years.

[Joe Getty]

Good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Glad to see that. Was he part of France?

[Jack Armstrong]

Wasn't the son of the head of the UN making money off. I guess he was making money off Iran during the same.

[Joe Getty]

Well, was Sarkozy. Yeah. Was Sarkozy the guy running France when they were going around our sanctions on Iraq with Saddam Hussein and Megan Money?

[Jack Armstrong]

Probably.

[Joe Getty]

Bastards. Love bastard. Quite a disaster averted yesterday. They caught a guy who was going to shoot up the Atlanta airport. This is the way CBS reported it.

[Reporter or Interviewee]

What are your reasons at the airport right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I'm just here.

[Police Officer or Reporter]

A body worn camera shows the moment two Atlanta police officers approached Billy Joe Cagle at the airport's south terminal Monday morning. Police were canvassing for Cagle after his family called 911 less than 30 minutes earlier.

We were alerted by family members that Mr. Cagle was en route to somewhere in the Atlanta area. They weren't sure. Ultimately we. We found out it Atlanta airport and that he had the intention to. To inflict harm to as many people as he could.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. I want to hear more of this because we got more. But like, how. How specific was he with the family members? I mean, obviously specific enough that they called 91 1. Here we go.

[Police Officer or Reporter]

Officers arrested Cagle in the terminal. He was unarmed at the time, but police say just outside in his truck, they found an AR15 assault rifle and.27ammunition. Surveillance video shows Cagle arriving in that vehicle at 9:29 in the morning.

[Joe Getty]

That is absolutely horrifying. Go on. And then we have questions.

[Police Officer or Reporter]

Police say Cagle left his pickup truck with a loaded semiautomatic rifle inside. He then went inside of the departure area here at the airport to quote, unquote, scout the location. They say he planned on returning back to his truck to get his semiautomatic rifle inside the terminal. Cagle walked towards the security checkpoint and staked, stayed there for a while before walking away.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I do believe he was likely to use that weapon inside the crowded terminal that he had just seen. We did have a tragedy averted today.

[Joe Getty]

God dang it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

There's one to 15 people that would be dead if this hadn't unfolded the way it did. He's probably going in and seeing, okay, where's. Where's the most biggest concentration of people that can't run a certain direction and the fewest cops around.

[Jack Armstrong]

How do we stem this social contagion of people wanting to essentially commit suicide but take a bunch of people with them so everybody knows how mad they are? They were.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. But I still want to know more about how. How did the family know that Billy Joe idiot was. I mean, did he specifically?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. How specific was what he said? They didn't know it was the airport at first, but they warned that they. They called the cops and warned that they believed he was headed to Atlanta to harm people.

[Joe Getty]

He must have said something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. For the family.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no kidding. We'll probably hear more about that in the coming days.

[Jack Armstrong]

You got it. I think just a little more needs to be said about the decisiveness and courage of the Family to reach out to the authorities and say, hey, I know this sounds kind of crazy, but you need to listen to me. Here's what's going on. And having the. The confidence in their own judgment to make that call, I salute them for that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I wonder how specific he was, if they kind of had an inkling or if he just flat out said, that's it. I'm gonna go kill a whole bunch of people and gotten his truck. Yeah, I wonder. God dang it. It's just the randomness of the way these things play out is hard to wrap your head around. But the real story is, like you mentioned, how we break free from people who are so depressed out there that they want to end their lives. That's always existed. But the new thing is I'm going to take people with me. So it means something, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

And hits the Internet and gets news coverage and people talk about me. It's even in death. Everybody wants to be famous.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. Yeah. If. If it doesn't land online, it didn't happen. It had no meaning. I don't know how we break out of that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll be in the woods if you need me.

[Joe Getty]

Just came across this nugget before we take a break. I'd heard this before, but I didn't know this aspect of it. The guy who ran The Louvre in 1911 resigned after the Mona Lisa. Mona Lisa was stolen while he was on vacation. Somebody actually stole the Mona Lisa and had it for a while. They obviously got it back. The Mona Lisa was only like 100ft away from where these guys were on Saturday. Although it might have been 100ft through many walls. And I imagine the security over by the Mona Lisa is different than it was by Napoleon iii. Excuse me. Napoleon's jewels?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, please. Poor man's Napoleon. Although, you know, they. They managed to steal the Mona Lisa. Is it the same guy who used to run the San Francisco Zoo when they had the honor system for keeping the tigers in the enclosure? Remember when those tigers got out and chewed some people up? Horrible.

[Joe Getty]

You'd be way better off stealing jewels that you could fence than the Mona Lisa. It'd be really difficult to get any value out of the Mona Lisa. You want to buy a painting? It's a pretty good painting. Let me. Let me show it to. You could show it to.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a girl with kind of a weird smile.

[Joe Getty]

You can like it. You could show it to a numbskull in the darkest parts of the jungles of Africa. Who doesn't know that Electricity exists. And he would say, that's a Mona Lisa. What the hell are you doing with the Mona Lisa?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Exactly. Yeah. I don't know. So do you think that the. The. The heist of the. The historical jewels and crowns and everything was. They were stealing those specifically, or it was just an amazing density of precious stones that they could then, you know, separate out and sell? I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

I would assume they had, you know, cased that particular room. And I'll mention this again today in case you didn't hear me say yesterday, I guess it's fairly common for people to make their money off the insurance company because these things are insured for a lot of money and it's cheaper. So the insurance company will say, no questions asked, you return them, we'll give you $5 million. It's Che. Cheaper for the insurance company to pay you a big chunk and get the stuff back and let you get away with it than it is to pay off the insurance claim.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure. It could be insured for $30 million, right?

[Joe Getty]

So $5 million would be a bargain.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you send me some bitcoin, and I'll send the stuff back to you.

[Joe Getty]

It's funny how this may be a guy.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's an extra 15 bucks if you want the second day, by the way, for 5 million bucks, you get ground ups. Ground.

[Joe Getty]

This might be a thing that guys think about for some reason, the trying to do the swatch, the swap, like the hostage swap, or the, you know, the jewels for the money. Like, how you would pull it off. Do you do it on a bridge or do you, like, leave it in a park? But I'm watching you through binoculars or you don't get screwed. There's no, like, foolproof way to not get screwed on the deal.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's why the whole Internet bitcoin thing is really. It's a great new era for blackmail, like the. What's the term for you? Blackmail? A hospital. You're not going to be able to get back online unless you pay us off.

[Joe Getty]

Ransom. Cyber ransomware.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ransomware. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a new era.

[Joe Getty]

But. So I got the jewels. You're going to give me the check. What? You give me the check, then I'll give you the jewels. I ain't giving you the check till you give me the jewels. Now we're at odds.

[Jack Armstrong]

You turn around. You walk backward.

[Joe Getty]

I'll walk backward.

[Jack Armstrong]

Favorite ransom exchange scene of all time. Gotta be the Great Lebowski.

[Joe Getty]

I don't remember.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, please. So good.

[Joe Getty]

So good. What Is the way to do it though? Is there a. Is there a good, foolproof way to do it? How does like the CIA do it?

[Jack Armstrong]

You mean now? It's all about. I'm telling you, it's a bitcoin online. It's effortless.

[Joe Getty]

Hostages you can't do on the Internet, though. So I remember what we did, some sort of swap there in Afghanistan where I believe it was. It was like a. Oh, no, no, no, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

The hostages, you the money, and then they just drop off the hostage. You have to trust them that they're going to do it.

[Joe Getty]

Well, yeah, the trust is the hard part. The trust part. When we got that Bo Burgdorf, was that the one where we got back that numb nut soldier and they met like in a valley and we let five Al Qaeda terrorists walk across and then they sent him across or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

They did, yeah. The whole walking past each other in the middle, that's. That's the spy movie. Classic exchange. And it's from real life.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, right. And they said various things to each other. That is how it went down.

[Jack Armstrong]

And everybody has guns out. You shoot our guy, we're shooting your guys.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I got to think they're safe. I got to think this all through before I rob the Lou, because I haven't figured out how to get my money.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

I'll leave it in a sack in the park. God, don't. You didn't give me the money crap. I knew that was going to happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a bag full of old magazines.

[Joe Getty]

Bastards. I thought that's dishonest crap. We learned something about Amazon yesterday when the. When they got. Either they got hacked or they had a software problem or they forgot to update their app or whatever. Brought down tons of websites around the world. Among other things we can talk about coming up. Stay here.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Caller or Guest]

Switching gears today, Amazon Web Services was hit by a massive outage that brought down major apps and websites like Fortnite, Snapchat, and Facebook. Everyone under 20 was like, not Fortnite. Everyone under 30 was like, not Snapchat. And everyone over 40 was like, not Facebook.

[Joe Getty]

That's pretty good. That's pretty good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Who knew Facebook was connected to Amazon's web server? It turns out lots and lots and lots and lots of stuff is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Which is a little frightening if you start thinking about, you know, Chinese hacks or whatever. Because they probably know that people couldn't use their Starbucks app at the Starbucks yesterday because Amazon got hacked. Yeah. Because so many people are hosted or tied in or whatever with Amazon.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, they did not get hacked. They are saying it was a, an update, techie problem, internal, everything's fine. But as you say, if it was a Chinese hack, the. I'm sure our security services would have told them, don't say so. We're working our way through it. But anyway. Oh, speaking of China, fascinating demographic note about China coming up in a moment or two. But first, why would we play more clips from the no Kings marches over the weekend? Because it's fun, that's why. Let's hear some more.

[Protester or Interviewee]

We're out here in the no Kings protest and we're asking all the important questions, such as if Trump was elected, how exactly is he a king? Because he is trying to take control of everything. Like the, his text and balances are not working. So he is just trying to completely disregard the Constitution. I don't know. I feel like a lot of amendments have been kind of overcome, like, in a way that they're not supposed to be. We have. Which amendment specifically? Freedom of protesting.

[Joe Getty]

I hope these weren't college students.

[Jack Armstrong]

They were all young adult. Those were young adult women. Yeah, yeah. They were not children. By, like our amendment.

[Joe Getty]

Lots of our amendments are being overcome. Like, like which one? Like the, the first one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, our freedom of protest. You're. You're literally had a giant protest right now. One more. Michael 45.

[Reporter or Interviewee]

I would say that it's because even though he was elected, I agree, you know, due process. He got what he, you know, he got elected fairly. Sure. But he's doing things that make him a king. Like he's taking away, you know, civil rights.

[Jack Armstrong]

I.

[Protester or Interviewee]

That's a great question. I don't particularly think he's a king. It's how people are viewing him as.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, actively switching the levers of power in order to subvert elections.

[Protester or Interviewee]

And what does that mean?

[Jack Armstrong]

Things such as not. Sorry, trouble coming up.

[Joe Getty]

Now, the one woman in there, she had an answer. That is reasonable. But how do you end up at a protest and you can't enunciate why you're there? I, I've never been to a protest, but I'm pretty sure if I'm ever at one, if you ask me what I'm protesting, I would be able to tell you.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then finally, from the Family Guy 46, Michael, what do we want? We don't know.

[Joe Getty]

When do we want it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Also unclear.

[Caller or Guest]

Why do we want it?

[Joe Getty]

Because it was forwarded to us in an email, so it must be true. I recognize the voice of one Peter Griffin.

[Jack Armstrong]

Shut up, Meg. Let's see. So. I'm sorry, that was weird. That was like Homer Simpson. Wrong cartoon guy. So I was just reading an article about how Chinese, like middle aged and older people are desperate for their kids to get married because nobody is getting married. And they have this. It's kind of one of those job fairs in this big park. But it's not a job fair. It's like a resume, sometimes with pictures, sometimes not posted, you know, just walls full of them. And the parents come through and try to pick out what might be a good match for their, their kid.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God. Helicopter parents picking out a spouse for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it's because. And it's so crowded sometimes it's hard to move people trying to do this. They mentioned that in a nation of one point, what is it, 1.4 billion, 1.3 billion people. Just 6 million couples registered their marriages last year. That's down 21% from the previous year. Wow. Their marriage rates and birth rates are plunging. They're already way, way below replacement. China could have half its population in like 60 years.

[Joe Getty]

That is something, I mean something. An experiment to watch for the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I wonder how that factors into Xi Jinping's decisions about the great conquest that he believes is China's lot. That they should stand astride the world.

[Joe Getty]

How to keep from getting Parkinson's new information. Looking forward to this.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Joe Getty]

Looking up at the TV JD Vance is in Israel in the Middle east saying about 15 of the hostages bodies are not known where they exist. I don't know what that does for the whole peace talks thing. Anyway, if he says something interesting, we'll let you know.

[Jack Armstrong]

One more note on that Chinese matchmaking article I was talking about. I was reading down. Some of the stuff was funny, what they're looking for in search of, you know, you got to be this height or this age or earning power.

[Joe Getty]

It's a big thing for men.

[Jack Armstrong]

But then you get into this couple of sentences. This is in the Journal, by the way. The aftermath of China's one child policy has created unique difficulties for singles. Men outnumber women due to a traditional cultural preference for sons. You can have all the cultural preference you want that doesn't influence whether you.

[Joe Getty]

Have a boy or a girl. You'll end up with 50, 50 boys and girls roughly. Unless you have forced government abortions of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Girls or, or choice government choice abortions of girls by families. Yeah, that's the cultural preference for sons. They aborted girl babies or killed them when they appeared or just sent them off to orphanages and said that's not my kid, just abandoned them. So yeah, yeah. A traditional culture preference for sons.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. Is that what passes for journalism these days? Unbelievable. All right, moving along.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I Joe Getty, we lost my mom several years ago. She died of complications from Parkinson's disease, as did my grandfather, her dad. And so my fellow siblings and I are more than a little interested in Parkinson's disease and how it, you know, what the patterns are in the rest.

[Joe Getty]

I don't. Is there a hereditary component to Parkinson's? I didn't know that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, yes. And, and we'll get to that in a Second, but. So I read this article top to bottom. Believe me, the science is continuing to evolve. But this is four surprising things that may reduce your risk of Parkinson's, which was once considered relatively rare. It's now one of the most common neurological disorders in the world. Second place after Alzheimer's. Number of people living with Parkinson's has more than doubled in the past 25 years, etc. About 10 to 15% of cases are linked to inherited genetic mutations. The rest are considered sporadic with no known cause.

[Joe Getty]

Seven let down is what you said.

[Jack Armstrong]

10 to 15.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although treatments are available that can manage symptoms, there's no cure or that can really slow the disease progression, et cetera, et cetera. If you know about this, you do. If you don't, you can look into it yourself. But there are ongoing research on Parkinson's is revealing several risk factors related to lifestyle and environment, some of which are actionable. For example, moderate to vigorous exercise may reduce one's risk, according to a 2018 meta analysis. Healthy eating, less or unprocessed foods. Last year, a study found that higher levels of exposure to air pollution were associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's. All of that is still in the preliminary stages. Is it correlation or is it causation? But this is amazing to me. Here are some lesser known risk factors that can be offset by actions you can take as recommended by experts. Caffeine lovers rejoice. Both coffee and tea consumption have been linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, at least in part because of the caffeine. Yes, the mechanism isn't entirely understood, but it's known that caffeine, which I'm sucking down right now, reduces oxidative stress, which is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body that lead to cell damage as well as inflammation within the brain. And a Meta analysis of 26 studies confirmed that higher caffeine intake is associated with lower Parkinson's risk. It's been observed for a number of different substances. Blah, blah, blah. So that one looks pretty good. They quote a bunch of different scientists. Here's somebody from the Duke Something Medical Center. The risk reduction generally is 25 to 30% if you take two to three six to eight ounce cups of coffee per day over 10 years. How about a gallon of coffee over 50 years?

[Joe Getty]

The first 15 minutes of the day.

[Jack Armstrong]

You ought to be able to fly. Yeah, okay. Be careful about dry cleaning.

[Joe Getty]

What?

[Jack Armstrong]

Trichloethylene. I'm sorry? Trichloroethylene. Tce. We'll Just go. TCE is an industrial solvent long used in dry cleaning, degreasing in furniture care. It's considered a carcinogen. Been linked to certain types of cancer, as well as damage to reproductive organs, nervous system, immune system. And the growing body of evidence is beginning to reveal that exposure to high levels of tce, such as in contaminated drinking water, as well as closely related chemicals called pce, may risk increase the risk of Parkinson's.

[Joe Getty]

Wouldn't it be something if we figure out that autism, Parkinson's or whatever, a lot of it had to do with more people moving to cities and needing to get their shirts pressed?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's possible. Some of the evidence for this was a groundbreaking 2023 study. And you've seen commercials for lawyers linked to this that discovered that veterans who'd been exposed to T.C.E. and P.C.E. contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina had a 70% higher risk of developing Parkinson's compared to veterans who were at Camp Pendleton in California that did not have contaminated water. 70% higher. And they go into the numbers which are shocking and absolutely heartbreaking. Now, in the 50s, TCE was replaced by PCE. But PCE can still biodegrade into TCE. I believe both have been banned in California, but 60 to 70% of dry cleaners in the US still use it. The scientist says if your dry cleaner is using pce, take the bag off. Air your clothes outside so the chemicals aren't released inside where you're breathing them in. No kidding.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. All right, couple more big ones. Avoid pesticides. Numerous studies have linked exposure to high levels of pesticides to Parkinson's disease. 2011 study reported combined exposure to the minute. Well, I'll just say zero maneb and paraquat. In workplaces in heavily agricultural regions California increase the risk of Parkinson's threefold. They say. Switch to organic produce, which avoids certain pesticides, including the three named above. Has been shown to reduce pesticide biomarkers found in urine within days. How important it is, they're not quite sure. And then finally considered use. Consider using a water filter. Drinking water can be a source of pesticides and industrial chemicals such as piece a tce. Depends where you live. You got to get your water tested. Golf courses are often treated with pesticides to maintain the pristine look of the greens and fairways. And those facilities. Chemicals can contaminate both the surrounding air and drinking water. Dorsey and his colleagues. This one. The scientists found us in a study this year that people living within a mile of a golf course how about like a few yards Were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson's compared with those living six miles away or more. Yikes. That last one is not good. Honey, we're moving again.

[Joe Getty]

I just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, we'll post [e-mail] under Hot Links. It's a Washington Post piece and it'll be right next to the fabulous Feminization of America essay that we were talking about in hour two of the show.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of coffee, I just bought a new fancy, really fancy coffee machine. I don't drink, so I can't, like, get into wine or craft beer or scotch or any of the things that some other people get into or cigars, you know, because. For a variety, variety of reasons, but coffee. So I bought this fancy coffee machine because sometimes when I go to a fancy restaurant and they get a. I get a cup of coffee, it's just so damn much better than what I usually drink.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Real difference.

[Joe Getty]

And so I bought this fancy coffee machine. I get it on Friday.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll let you.

[Joe Getty]

I found a used one because they're ridiculously expensive. See, if I actually end up using it or liking it, it might just be a sad, desperate attempt as a full time single parent to find joy in my life, but. Or maybe I will really like coffee and use it every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack Armstrong loves coffee.

[Joe Getty]

What's that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Was that just produced, like in the last 15 seconds?

[Joe Getty]

And what did that accomplish?

[Jack Armstrong]

What does that mean? Yes, Hanson had that.

[Joe Getty]

Hanson.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, do your job. All right? Quit screwing around. Sound.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not sure what that added to the conversation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I took a look at some of the fancy machines because my youngest daughter and I like to go out for a latte when she's in town, that sort of thing. And I think, wow, I'd really like those. Maybe it'd be nice in the afternoon, but now with the milk and the.

[Joe Getty]

Cleaning, I got it. Yeah, I did a lot of research on this with the help of Chat GPT, comparing everything completely. No milk thing. No, I'm not drinking any milk drinks. I don't drink milk drinks. So. Yeah, because the cleanup, what I didn't want because I've been at people's houses before, they say, oh, I'll make you one. And it takes them like 15 minutes to get it all set up. Then they make you a little shot of espresso. Then I watched him clean for like a half an hour. And I thought, I don't want to do that. I have no interest in that. So I Got the whatever, self cleaning something or other. Whatever. Let's see if I like it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or again, copy that and paste that to a text. I'd like to see what you went with.

[Joe Getty]

I'll see if I. Again, desperate attempt to make myself happy with commercial items.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I was going to storm. That's what I said.

[Joe Getty]

I needed to get a new computer for my son the other day and I was trying to compare various things I gave Chat GPT. I told Chat GPT I did it the same thing on Grok. And Claude said this is what my son does with a computer. This is the game he wants what kind of computer should get. And it started comparing and contrasting and strengths and weaknesses and asking me questions and narrowing it down and saying this would be overkill, so don't buy that. Blah blah. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. It would have taken me hours to do that kind of research on my own.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I've done a couple of things like that lately and it's just absolutely stunning. It's funny because, you know, that's. And we were talking about the differences between men and women during hour two in general and you know, guys, knowing things and being able to do things is how we have status. But now everybody knows everything. If you master the rather easy art of using AI systems. True, you know, it helps that you know what to ask and how to ask, but really not much. So now everybody knows everything. So what's left?

[Joe Getty]

Sometimes I ask AI, am I being scammed here? And I explain something to them. Well, another way to handle that is webroot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep. It seems like there are new scams every day. Tech scams. Data breach is hard to keep up. And that's why this cyber scaries month you need webroot total protection. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

With real time antivirus, firewall and network monitoring and web threat shield, you'll be protected from malware, ransomware, phishing, phishing scams. Plus their identity protection includes dark web monitoring to see if your info is floating around on the dark web and up to a million dollars in expense reimbursement for stolen funds.

[Jack Armstrong]

Secure VPN too. 24. 7 US based customer support. New tech scam detection. You're backed by powerful protection that's built for today's threats. So go cybersecurity, not cyber scary. With 60 off webroot total [e-mail] Armstrong at 60 off for a limited time. But only when you go to webroot.comarmstrong one more time. Webroot.com armstrong I was watching all these.

[Joe Getty]

Videos about espresso beans versus coffee beans and, and how long after they've been roasted you should use them. And, and I thought it's, I was thinking the whole time, it's amazing what human beings will do to avoid, like, thinking about their actual lives. Whether you get into this or that or whatever it is, it's just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, we need our enthusiasms.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

What are you gonna do? Sit around, contemplate, you know, death all.

[Joe Getty]

The time or the point of life? All right, yeah, that's a good point too. What am I supposed, am I only supposed to think about parenting and mortality or, or can sometimes I get caught up in, you know, researching a new bicycle or a coffee maker or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Life is short and hard and there's a lot of pain. So if you find something that makes you happy, if it doesn't hurt somebody else, do it.

[Joe Getty]

I'll end on that. That was really good. That's great.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thank you. I'm here all week.

[Joe Getty]

That was a lot better than Jack Armstrong. Drinks coffee. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Loves coffee.

[Joe Getty]

There you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's. So what was the point?

[Joe Getty]

Stay here.

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Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Swing and drive, left field.

[Joe Getty]

This one is back. George Springer just had his Gibson moment. Bad knee o a three run homer to put the Blue Jays ahead. That was some home run right there by George Springer of Toronto, who are now going to play the Dodgers in the World Series. And it's funny he mentioned the Kirk Gibson moment. I kind of feel like there's a reverse situation going on here. If you're a sports fan, you know this. Going back to 1988, the Dodgers were just seen as like they Got no chance against the absolute machine that was the Oakland A's at that time. It wasn't even seen as a why even play the games? And then Dodgers ended up winning that World Series. And I feel like Dodgers are on the other side of this with Toronto and who knows, maybe we're setting up for a very exciting upset.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, granted, I don't think there's a single Canadian on the Toronto Blue Jays. They're all either Americans or more likely Dominicans and Venezuelans. But will there be any sort of weirdo America versus Canada, Trump threatening to annex vibe going on?

[Joe Getty]

I feel like it could be if it weren't the Dodgers, because for, for as many Dodgers fans as there are, there are lots of Dodgers haters too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, America's not going to climb on board and say, yay, Dodgers. Sorry, Dodgers fans. You know it's true.

[Joe Getty]

No, yeah, no. I was wearing a Dodgers hat yesterday. The number of people said, what are you doing, dude? Wearing a Dodgers hat.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know, Amazing. I'd rather see my daughter and my, my sister in a whorehouse. Etc, Etc.

[Joe Getty]

Do you have any idea what this is?

[Jack Armstrong]

My brother and a Dodger. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

When they, when they hit, they all do this on base, they do this thing with, they wave their hands. Do you know where that came from?

[Jack Armstrong]

I think they. No, no. A lot of teams have different versions of that. I guess they all have a particular gesture to the, the dugout.

[Joe Getty]

So I completely had missed the boat on this, this story somehow. So this stupid proposition in California to try to redistrict as an attempt to balance out what Texas is doing because.

[Jack Armstrong]

California is not blue enough, I thought.

[Joe Getty]

Was just a obvious attempt to look like the resistance by Gavin Newsom. The early polling was nobody liked it. Almost 70% of voters, even 60% of Democrats said, no, no, no, no, no, no. Redistricting should be in the hands of that special group, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

But the numbers have completely flipped around on that. And now Politico's got a story out today that they're considering sending Trump to California to try to rally Republicans to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Go to the polls.

[Joe Getty]

Because of what you've been saying in these off year elections. You know, it's only the really, really, really politically motivated and often tied into the unions, people that go out and in California, you're going to get trounced. That's what happened to Orange County, Arnold, back in the day. But right now it's looking like, I mean, Politico and Mark Halperin are treating it like, oh, it's A given that this is gonna pass.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

I didn't know that. I missed. I missed this story completely.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that is disturbing.

[Joe Getty]

The the yes. Newsom's on prop is spent two to one. The no. And it is disturbing. What's disturbing about it to me is not so much the what's going to come out of it, because it's, you know, it's the whole race to the bottom gerrymandering. Every state has done it. Now we're going to do it even further. And Republicans are doing. Democrats have been doing it. It's been going on for a long time. But the fact that something that 70% of voters were opposed to could end up going the other direction because of, you know, the way we do things, special interests and the power of the unions and everything else, it's not. I don't think they changed people's minds. I think it's just the concentrated effort.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I'll bet. The change in the polls is a change in methodology for. Methodology for likely voters.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because the concentrated special interests will have huge turnout. Mr. And Mrs. California were busy, you know, feeding their kids and trying desperately to make a living. They won't.

[Joe Getty]

I knew this at the time, but the numbers were so about 40% of California votes red, which is enough to lose every election. But you should have roughly 40% of the house members if you're gonna not be gerrymandered. But it's not even close. And it's gonna go down to like 6% or something if this goes through.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And what's especially galling about this and just makes it clear how so there's no principle anymore, is California, a number of years ago passed a law that was very specifically designed to have a nonpartisan districting panel try to come up with fair, reasonable districts. Now, the Democrats found ways to cheat that and load it anyway, but it was like at least halfway toward fairness. And Gabby Newsom with the excuse of counterbalancing Texas, nevermind all of the gerrymandered blue states, including California and New York. And, and I'm missing an obvious one. Oh, Illinois has said, oh, we've got to do this to fight Trump's gerrymandering. So he's going to make California completely blue.

[Joe Getty]

Really interesting political calculation. Whether Trump coming to California and campaigning on this would do more harm than good. Would it rile up more Democrats than it riles up Republicans to come out? I don't know if you missed a segment of this show. Get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

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Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I heart podcast.