Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: How Many Yachts Do You Need?!
Date: February 17, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the week’s major news—from Elon Musk’s provocative comments about retirement, luxury, and AI futures, to the fallout from Robert Duvall and Jesse Jackson’s deaths. The hosts unpack recent mass shootings, poke at political hypocrisy, analyze new Gallup data on gender identity, and offer their signature blend of sarcasm, skepticism, and deadpan humor on current events and cultural trends. The show features the classic Armstrong & Getty combination: irreverent commentary, robust debate, and laughs—even as the topics turn serious.

Key Segments, Insights, & Memorable Quotes

1. Elon Musk Says “Don’t Save for Retirement”

[03:13 – 04:49]

• Elon Musk reportedly said there was “no point in saving for retirement” due to a coming AI-driven future.
• Joe Getty (C): “Elon's a fascinating autistic genius, blah, blah, blah. But for a guy that rich to tell me, 'don't worry about saving for your retirement. It'll be fine.' Yeah, but what if it's not? Are you going to rip me off a check for $10 million?” (03:33)
• The hosts mock utopian tech promises: “How many yachts do you need? In the AI future, we will all have villas in Vail. We’ll all have yachts...”
• Jack Armstrong (B): “Feel like one [yacht] would do the trick. But I don't know. I'm yachtless right now, so...Yachts for everyone. What do I know?” (04:40)
• Quick takedown of “universal high income”—newest lingo for wealth distribution.

2. Media Coverage: Deaths of Robert Duvall vs. Jesse Jackson

[04:56 – 06:39]

• Armstrong expresses frustration that Jesse Jackson’s death “obliterated” the coverage of actor Robert Duvall.
• B: “I'd much rather talk about the great actor Robert Duvall than race hustler Jesse Jackson. Hey, I said it.” (04:56)
• Getty discusses Jackson’s alleged record of “blackmailing” corporations: “He would come to a big corporation in a racial flap. If you donated millions to his nonprofit, all of a sudden he would give a speech that got you out of trouble.” (05:30)
• Quick side: The idea of running for President as a business move; “His protege, Al Sharpton, learned that lesson well.” (06:01)
• Duvall reminiscences: They tease a personal story on meeting Duvall (06:49), and his best work.

3. Major International Conflict & Political News

[06:59 – 10:38]

• Big international news is being “obliterated…by celebrity deaths and missing women.”
• “We’re close to maybe full-on war with a big country. Biggest war in certainly 30 years.”
• Cites the lack of attention on Eipstein files: “Why have they not released enough Epstein files? See, you forgot that one.” (07:35)
• Getty: “We railed against the release of investigatory materials. It's unprecedented. It is indefensible. It's evil. And yet there's some really good stuff in there.” (07:52)
• “Prince Andrew full on perv. As was Epstein...” (08:00)

4. Munich Peace Conference: Rubio’s Speech, AOC, & Political Grandstanding

[09:08 – 10:38]

• Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Peace Conference is called “one of the great political speeches of recent decades.”
• Other US politicians (AOC, Whitmer, Newsom) reportedly “bad-mouthing the current president on foreign soil.”
• Armstrong: “AOC was asked if the US will come to Taiwan’s defense... The look on her face was as if she’d never thought about the topic.” (10:10)
• National Review’s take: “Her problem is she's a stupid communist.” (10:38)

5. Turkey Attacks & Animal Aggression

[11:46 – 12:47]

• Light interlude after heavy topics:
  • A viral video: “That's a turkey attacking a UPS driver.” (11:50)
  • Discussion of aggressive turkeys and past staff encounters.
• Hosts joke that “the animals have turned on us!”
  • “Who can blame them?” (12:47)

6. News Headlines Roundup (w/ Katie Green)

[17:10 – 21:19]

• Geneva Talks: “Don’t be surprised if we are in a lengthy, serious war with Iran very soon...there’s not a lot of public discourse going on.”
• Jesse Jackson obit, trans shooter at a hockey game, Epstein files drive resignations, Goldman Sachs dropping DEI, Mars rover finds clues of past life, nearly 2 out of 3 Americans take weekly prescription drugs.
• Commentary on prescription drugs data: “That number’s only going to go up as the population gets older.” (20:49)
• Teases discussion about Gallup poll on LGBT+ demographics and shooters.

7. Transgender Shooter Discussion & Data on Gender Identity

[25:29 – 34:08]

• Coverage of mass shooting at a Rhode Island hockey game by a transgender man; hosts address both the facts and media response.
• C: (on media reticence discussing trans shooters) “If it were anything but this, there would be an insatiable hunger to understand the links and the common causality. It would be consuming the progressive media. They’re beyond terrible. They're evil.” (29:41)
• Hosts explicitly connect mental illness, activist manipulation, and shootings:
  • C: (on trans shooters) “You start with...someone with significant psychological problems...then convince them the cure is a gender transition. Add the gasoline: ‘If anyone questions you, they're threatening your life.’ That’s how you end up with these shooters.” (27:11)
• Cites new Gallup poll: Only 3% of 18–29-year-olds identify as transgender, and essentially zero in those over 50.
  • B: “So that makes my point...when you got a tiny, tiny percent of the population identifying as a certain thing, you'd think that would make the news.” (31:55)
• Discussion of the social trend for young people to come out as gay or queer, many later change: “The queer thing doesn't mean anything.” (33:16)
• Armstrong anecdote: “Friend’s high school daughter and all 9 of her friends came out as gay...he sat her down and said: statistically this isn't possible.” (33:23)

8. Olympic Choke: The “Quad God” Disaster

[35:07 – 38:31]

• The hosts react to the much-hyped favorite in figure skating (“Quad God”) who was expected to win gold but collapsed under pressure and placed eighth.
• B: “He said, I choked. I couldn't handle the moment...everything in my life just came flooding into my head.”
• They draw parallels to classic sports failures: “Mike Tyson getting knocked out by Buster Douglas...The Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead.”
• C: “Quad fraud? Oh, no. I will not permit that.” (37:39)
• Laughter and reluctant admiration for the athlete’s honesty.

9. Mailbag & Listeners’ Notes

[41:41 – 46:58]

• Letters about Presidents Day, restaurant odors (“porta potty smell”), and Melania Trump documentary ticket sales (alleged ticket-buying manipulation).
• Getty, with his trademark vivid imagery: “I once ventured into a guest room...it smelled like the undead had had digestive problems and then crapped and died.” (44:53)
• Brief note on the American athlete Eileen Gu competing for China, NBC’s double-standards.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “How many yachts do you need? That’s a good question to answer.” – Joe Getty (04:34)
• “For a guy that rich to tell me, ‘Don't worry about saving for your retirement’...are you going to rip me off a check for $10 million?” – Joe Getty (03:33)
• “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” – Eric Hoffer, quoted by Getty in the context of Jesse Jackson (42:09)
• “You add to that, then throw the match onto the gasoline...If anybody dares question any of this, they're threatening your life. That's how you end up with these shooters.” – Joe Getty (28:45)
• “Quad fraud? Oh, no. I will not permit that.” – Joe Getty, after Jack jokes about the Olympic skater’s failure (37:39)

Tone & Style

• Irreverent, deadpan, and sharply skeptical: The hosts pull no punches discussing politics, culture, media hypocrisy, and the week’s big stories, with wide swings between humor, sarcasm, and blunt critique.
• Conversational and rapid-fire: Frequent pivots between gravitas and banter; biting takes laced with pop-culture references and listener engagement.
• Emotionally honest – particularly in the segment on the Olympic “choke,” where the human element is foregrounded.

Additional Topics Briefly Touched

• Prescription drug use and its causes
• DEI backlash in corporate America (Goldman Sachs drops DEI board criteria)
• NASA Mars findings
• Youth LGBTQ identity survey data
• Outrage at coverage of political grandstanding overseas (Munich conference)
• “Rough Greens” dog supplement ad (used as a humorous segue)

Segment Timestamps Reference

| Timestamp | Segment Description |
|-----------|---------------------| | 03:13 | Elon Musk on retirement & utopian AI luxury | | 04:56 | Duvall vs. Jackson: Media & “race hustler” monologue | | 07:35 | Epstein file drops; morality of releasing material | | 09:08 | Politics at the Munich Peace Conference | | 11:46 | Turkey attacks UPS driver; animal hijinks | | 17:10 | Katie Green’s headline news roundup | | 25:29 | Rhode Island trans shooter: analysis & data | | 30:29 | New Gallup LGBTQ/trans identity poll discussed | | 35:07 | Olympic “Quad God” disaster, sports psychology | | 41:41 | Mailbag: jokes, plumbing tips, Melania doc conspiracy| | 47:29 | Eileen Gu, NBC’s double standard for athletes |

Conclusion

This episode is a masterclass in Armstrong & Getty’s blend of cultural observation, caustic wit, and “call it as we see it” commentary on America’s political, social, and media landscapes. Whether tackling serious news, lampooning tech-billionaire fantasies, or commiserating over Olympic heartbreak, the duo’s style is never less than engaging—and often sharply provocative.