I Ain't Dying In Crocs

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "I Ain't Dying In Crocs" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: March 10, 2025
Host/Authors: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Description: The official, On-Demand podcast of The Armstrong & Getty Show! Accept no substitutes!

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1. Economic Policies and Donald Trump’s Interview

The episode opens with a deep dive into recent economic discussions surrounding former President Donald Trump’s interview with Maria Bartiromo. The hosts analyze Trump's remarks on the potential for a recession and his strategies to bring wealth back to America.

Joe Getty expresses uncertainty about predicting economic downturns but remains optimistic about the long-term plans to enhance American wealth:

“We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing. And there are always periods of… it should be great for us.” [01:13]

Jack Armstrong emphasizes Trump's ability to balance populist messaging with more analytical insights:

“Trump's intentional, very simple populist messaging sometimes strikes people, including me, as like crazy oversimplified. But that's often intentional.” [02:16]

The discussion highlights the contrast between the U.S.'s short-term quarterly planning often driven by Wall Street’s influence and China's century-long strategic planning. The hosts debate the feasibility of implementing long-term economic reforms within the framework of a democratic system that operates on frequent election cycles.

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2. Transgender Rights and Sports Debate

Transitioning to social issues, the hosts tackle the contentious topic of transgender participation in sports. Joe Getty criticizes the current approach to transgender inclusion, particularly in men’s and women’s sports:

“Transgender for everybody. And again, the men and women's sports, what is that, a 90 to 10 deal?” [00:26]

The conversation delves into the challenges of understanding and accommodating differing viewpoints within a polarized environment, questioning the societal capacity to govern complex issues like gender identity effectively.

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3. Technological Advancements in Automobiles

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing the rapid technological advancements in the automotive industry. The hosts debate whether cars have become too technologically complex, detracting from user experience.

Joe Getty laments the shift from simple, intuitive controls to cumbersome touchscreen interfaces:

“You don't want to look and touch that many things just to turn on the radio. Too many screens flying around, too much attention.” [23:00]

Jack Armstrong shares similar frustrations, especially regarding the safety hazards posed by distracting interfaces:

“You have to sit there and stare at what you're doing. Which means you're taking your eyes off the road.” [24:05]

The hosts discuss various modern car features such as wireless phone charging, ventilated seats, built-in vacuum cleaners, and gesture controls, questioning their practicality and user-friendliness. They cite statistics from J.D. Power indicating a decline in positive user sentiment toward touchscreen interfaces, highlighting a 23-point drop from 2015 to the present.

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4. Gender Policies in San Francisco's Russian Bathhouse

Shifting to cultural and gender-related topics, the podcast covers the controversy surrounding a nude Russian bathhouse in San Francisco. The establishment’s attempt to implement gender-specific nights led to public uproar and multiple policy revisions.

Jack Armstrong narrates the ordeal:

“They published the new announcement of the ladies night saying... 'Only biological women will be allowed.'” [15:10]

The bathhouse faced backlash, leading to changes from "biological women" to "sex assigned at birth," and eventually settling on the term "non-phallic night" to accommodate all gender identities. The hosts critique the convoluted language and the challenges of balancing inclusivity with privacy and safety concerns.

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5. Kentucky All State Choir Performance

The episode features an emotional segment on the Kentucky All State Choir’s enduring tradition of singing the national anthem nightly since 1980. Despite its lengthy duration, the performance is praised for its bravery and musicality.

Jack Armstrong reflects on the performance’s impact:

“I'm sitting here with chills, my soul stirred.” [17:49]

This segment underscores the power of music in fostering community spirit and national pride.

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6. Execution Methods in South Carolina

The finale of the episode takes a somber turn as the hosts discuss a recent firing squad execution in South Carolina. The executed individual opted for the firing squad over other methods, citing concerns about the electric chair and lethal injections.

Joe Getty recounts the details:

“He was wearing a black jumpsuit with Crocs and… shackled so that he couldn't jump around.” [32:49]

The discussion delves into the debate over execution methods, the ethics of the death penalty, and the complexities of implementing what the condemned perceives as a more humane method of execution. Jack Armstrong introduces theological perspectives on "an eye for an eye" and the historical context of execution methods:

“Thomas Edison, rather allegedly invented the electric chair to prove that alternating current AC power was unsafe because it could kill a person.” [34:00]

The hosts express skepticism about the purported painlessness of firing squads and question the societal and moral implications of such execution choices.

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Notable Quotes

• Joe Getty on economic optimism:
  “We're bringing wealth back to America… it should be great for us.” [01:13]

• Jack Armstrong on Trump's messaging:
  “Trump's intentional, very simple populist messaging… often more analytical than he comes off.” [02:16]

• Joe Getty on car technology frustrations:
  “You don't want to look and touch that many things just to turn on the radio.” [23:00]

• Jack Armstrong on execution ethics:
  “Nothing changes until you're invaded.” [07:45]

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Conclusion

In "I Ain't Dying In Crocs," Armstrong and Getty navigate a diverse array of topics, intertwining political analysis, social commentary, technological critique, and cultural observations. The episode underscores the complexities of modern governance, societal values, and technological integration, all while maintaining the hosts' characteristic blend of insight and humor.

Listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of pressing contemporary issues, enriched by the hosts' thoughtful analysis and engaging dialogue. Whether discussing the intricacies of economic policy, the challenges of gender inclusivity, or the pitfalls of over-technologization, Armstrong and Getty provide a nuanced perspective that encourages reflection and informed discourse.

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For more insights and discussions, tune into future episodes of Armstrong & Getty On Demand.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

People don't want to hear about these stupid ideas that they have. Transgender for everybody. And again, the men and women's sports, what is that, a 90 to 10 deal? I don't even know who the 10 would be, but they were there fighting for it. And I try and say to myself, because you always like to understand where your opponent is, whether it's in business or anything else. Is there something I don't understand? But we don't understand it.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So Trump did a big interview with Maria Bartiromo yesterday and a lot of different issues, but this is what's getting the most attention. So we can discuss.

[Joe Getty]

Look, I know that you inherited a.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Mess and you said that the other day.

[Joe Getty]

I've only been here.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Are you expecting a recession this year?

[Joe Getty]

I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing. And there are always periods of, it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I don't, I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So the fact that he didn't immediately say, no, there's not going to be a recession, him understanding the way the media works and everything means something.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. I thought his very brief screed about, you know, it's important in any sort of negotiation to ask yourself, is there something I don't understand about the other side? Occasionally, because Trump's intentional, very simple populist messaging sometimes strikes people, including me, as like crazy oversimplified. But that's often intentional. And occasionally he shows a glimpse behind the curtain and he's much more analytical than he comes off, I think. Right.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Can we, can we break out of the. You either like Trump or you don't like him for just a minute to have this conversation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So he's talking to the listener. I know you can, but I'm thinking about friends I know who would never, never be able to get past the they hate Trump so much or whatever. But he talked a little bit about having long term goals, thinking long term how China thinks in centuries in the interview. And I thought it was interesting on MSNBC this morning where they do hate Trump so much they can hardly see straight. David Ignatius of the Washington Post saying this.

He made a very interesting comment yesterday that I did pay Attention to where he said China works on a hundred year cycle of planning and the United States goes quarter to quarter. Something I've heard from corporate CEOs for years and I think he's right about that. I mean it's not to endorse the policies, but we do tend to get so caught up in these short term movements that we forget about what would be good for the long run in the country. But in any event, Wall Street's got the jitters today.

Well, right. And it reminded me, as we've been saying for years on this show, you always say the, you know, the Dow is not the economy or what's happening with the stock market is not the economy. And Wall street, man, the Wall Street Journal gets quoted all the time. We quote it all the time. It's a great newspaper but man, they're a quarter by quarter what's best for the next quarter newspaper and a bunch of people who make a lot of money off of being able to read what's gonna happen quarter by quarter by quarter. But I remember reading an article in the Wall Street Journal years ago, there's never been any movement on this on how when reporting rules changed and I don't remember when that happened but we went from reporting yearly or whatever to quarterly to the stockholders. Really changed the way we do business in the United States. And people started changing chasing that quarter. And if you've ever worked for a big company, you've seen them do things that you know is structurally a bad long term idea. But they did it because it's going to boost the stock price this quarter and they're not worried about the next quarter till they get to the next quarter. And that's what Trump's trying to talk about. And I don't know if you can actually do it. I don't know if you can bring manufacturing back to the United States. We start making things here and you know, China has its own orbit and we have our own orbit and they're separate and all that sort of. I don't know if you can do that in a one term presidency, but that's what he's talking about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, a couple of thoughts. That is the challenge because it could easily take 30 years to do it thoroughly and it's so easy to demagogue difficult in between, period. In a democracy from the left and the right. Oh sure, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I mean if a, you know, Josh Shapiro, whatever decided that, you know what, that's right. We gotta onshore a bunch of stuff because China, China are Dirty communists and bent on world domination and evil. But it would take a couple, two, three decades to thoroughly restructure the economy that way. And it's very difficult for democracy to do that. And of course, Trump's only got four years and if his successor, whoever that might be, gets in and is willing to continue those policies. But again, the difficulty is we vote every few years and the average voter is completely unsophisticated. Now, you folks, you've got, in terms of savvy, you've got multiple PhDs, but you know, the average schlub who turns out to the polls having been convinced that they're going to take away the old people, Social Security or Trump's the new Hitler, I mean, that's a hell of a lot of voters. And you can, you can get those people fired up and cut off the world's wisest long term plan at the knees without even trying.

[Unnamed Contributor]

This is a really big picture issue, though. I mean, I think this gets to the core of, is an authoritarian system where one guy makes the decisions like China, better than our system on this issue. Can we, can people govern themselves on this issue? Think long term and the reality of the new world.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, but thank you for asking. The other point I was going to make is actually kind of a preemptive answer to that question. And that is another thing democracies are famous for is being reactive. One of my favorite quotes from Churchill was when he said, nothing changes until you're invaded. You can't get people to vote for strong national defense until the poos hit the fan. I was thinking about this. Oh, I was listening to a good podcast and really thinking deeply about. These are the things I daydream about. If I were to design a plan for either party to truly do long term reform of Social Security and Medicaid, what would the messaging be? How would we approach that and like, preemptively guard ourselves against the demagoguery of they want old people to starve. And honestly, I couldn't come up with anything that would work. We will do nothing about those situations until they crash. And then everybody will say, how did this happen? And we will have to enact strong, unpalatable measures to save those two programs. I just, I don't know how to head it off in a democracy. I'm sorry to be discouraging. Well, like Dave Bad talk show host.

[Unnamed Contributor]

And I apologize, Dave Chappelle had a joke over the weekend of this all sounds great until you're paying $9,000 for an iPhone. The problem being If China gets what they want, they're just gonna, they're just gonna take the Apple factory and we're right. And unless we're willing to send in the Marines, there's not gonna be any getting it back. And then we'll have to all of a sudden figure out how to make the iPhone or MacBook or whatever in the United States or in India or some friendly country or whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's either there'll be 50,000 bucks for five years.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So it's either plan ahead or. Or it's gonna be worse since again. But if we can't deal with the simple math of Social Security as an issue, as you've been talking about, well, then we're certainly not going to deal with the complexities of bringing manufacturing back to the United States. Because we found out during COVID all the medicines and masks and every, every single thing you needed was made in China or somewhere else. Because we don't make anything right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Other than certain aspects of Trump's foreign policy, which I don't like at all, there's a hell of a lot he's doing that I think is great. I am uncomfortably reminded of when Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor of California and he had like, was it five giant reforms and he decided to push them all through at once, which was a terrible tactical error. Yes, you lunkhead. Because all of the special interest groups were able to pool their resources and energies and get it all defined, defeated at once. Whereas, even though the polling on the individual topics was very, very good, and I just, I find myself thinking, if the disruptions to the economy because of a legitimate long term, you know, brand of thinking make it really easy to demagogue against that, then there go the other budget cuts. All the enthusiasm for that will, will go away. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is brought on this recession. Be fairly easy to sell. And there goes the anti woke, you know, momentum, maybe the reforming the universities and schools to get the Marxist, you know, indoctrination out of them. I just, I'm a little concerned there's so much going on.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Well, if you could get a group of economists to discuss this and check their Trump fear, love or hatred at the door, do we need to think, okay, the whole globalization thing is over, that moment is over. China is going to have their sphere of influence and it might be half the planet. Everything is going to divide. We need to bring everything back or to friendly countries, period. Would most economists agree with that or not? I wonder.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think they would. Yeah, yeah. I don't. Unless they have a much rosier view of China and its future than any sane human being could have. Yeah, they'd agree with that.

[Unnamed Contributor]

If that needs to happen, there's going to be an ugly period of making that happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Or more likely, it's going to be what you said when it all collapses or the war starts or whatever. That's when we'll have to figure out how to make a car in the United States, an iPhone in the United States, all that sort of stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just, I'm not, I don't, I can't go with you that far that it's all going to be made in the United States. I think it'll be more regionalism as opposed to globalism. And I just hope Trump's being realistic about.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Well, he doesn't even want it. He didn't want to make things in Mexico or Canada right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's exactly where I was going with this. I think you would have to go full on, like, I don't want to get too technical here, partly because my memories of this crap attack pretty fuzzy. You don't want to go full protectionist, mercantilist, isolationist economics because that would, that would so radically remake the economy that would shake out over, you know, half a century or more. I like the idea of a much tighter regionalism, but that's going to involve, because, you know, Mexico, Guatemala, some of the South American countries have much lower labor costs. That's going to involve some of the mass production being there and all onshore. I think, I think, you know, a mix of the two. Onshoring and regional cooperation is probably the sweet spot.

[Unnamed Contributor]

But the Bernie crowd's got to be happy about trying to bring the jobs back to the United States, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, theoretically. Yeah.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Well, that's interesting stuff. Again, he's got three and a half years to do it, whereas China's got a hundred year plan and one guy makes all the decisions. That's gonna be fun to watch.

[Jack Armstrong]

Will it stock up on dried goods and ammunition, folks, or horrifying a bunch.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Of things to update you on? Gene Hackman, LeBron James.

[Jack Armstrong]

My favorite gender bending madness story of the year thus far.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Oh, boy, it sounds good. All on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Amazon prime has launched a new tool that will use AI to dub movies into English from foreign languages like sp, Spanish, Korean, and Sylvester Sloan.

Oh, I love that man. So AI could. I don't have to read the dang foreign film. That's cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's gonna. I put my headphones on late. The audio track is actually going to be translated.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, AI could do that obviously.

[Jack Armstrong]

Quite with. With good acting skills. I don't know about that, but I hear the pastor than their voice.

[Unnamed Contributor]

But if I'm reading it, what are my acting skills from reading the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you hear the voices on screen, right? It's like the, the everywhere, all the time. Up and down and behind you movie that I thought was so good, I.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Finally watched so Prime, a new prime minister in Canada. Trudeau's out, is that correct?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, not yet. Not yet.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Okay. They haven't voted for a new one yet.

[Jack Armstrong]

The exciting realities of Canadian politics to come. Also next hour, what China is up to and how they're doing it is absolutely clear now. Dramatic, shocking, terrifying. Stay with us.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I just wonder if steam was out yet.

[Jack Armstrong]

Speaking of gender bending madness, this may be my favorite gender bending madness story of the year thus far. Though it is early. So in San Francisco, you got the. You got one full nude Russian bath house. Okay. I don't know what you're doing. I'm not a Russian. What. What is do whatever you want?

[Unnamed Contributor]

I've heard the term bath house and then jokes about it, but I don't really know what a bath house is.

[Jack Armstrong]

You go, it's like a hot tubery. It's. You soak in the hot tubs and the mud baths or whatever and I don't know, I don't go to them.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Or are they a sexual thing or are there. Are they above?

[Jack Armstrong]

Allegedly, no, in reality, yeah. That was the big hookup place in San Francisco for years. That's where the AIDS spread so, so rapidly.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I'm really ignorant on this topic, but. So they're like real bath houses that just regular people not wanting to have sex go to. I've never, I never talked to anybody. I just got back from the bathhouse. Had a good time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah. In a lot of cultures. And we're actually using up all the time for the actual story I wanted to tell. But you know, what the hell. Yeah, Russians, Finns, your northern Europeans. Bath houses, hot springs, mud baths, saunas where you're naked. All that stuff is super common. But anyway, so this all nude Russian bath house, really, it wants to have a ladies night, so. So the women's are can just be there if of whatever religious bent they are, that they're not supposed to be naked around men or just don't want to be or whatever. And they published the new announcement of the ladies night saying quote, in order to Shelter religious preferences of women. Our community. Only biological women will be allowed. Well, there was an uproar, Jack, in San Francisco, and the language was quickly updated to sex assigned at birth. But then that was posted. Of course, everything lives forever on the Internet, and there are protests and counter protests and people yelling online and that sort of thing, even though they quote several transgender people, former fellows, saying, look, it's one night a month. No sane person goes to the banya every day of the month anyway. But so then, and I'm gonna hurry through this, they had to change it because nobody could agree on the terms to phallus and non phallus nights. Phallic and non phallic nights.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Because if you're a woman and you go to the bathhouse on woman's night and there's a wang there, it is not women's night.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yes, it is.

[Unnamed Contributor]

It's wang winter.

[Jack Armstrong]

Trans women are women, Jack, according to people mostly in San Francisco and places like that. But the bathhouse is like, all right, what do we call it? So nobody with a schwance shows up. After going through about six different iterations, they came up with non phallic night. Thank you for making the point better than conservatives ever could. Progressive friends Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed Contributor]

This is what it sounds like at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Hundreds of high school students from the Kentucky all state Choir uniting each night to sing our national anthem, a longtime tradition in the Bluegrass state, going all the way back to 1980.

[Jack Armstrong]

Brave. Yes, brave. I know how it ends.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Brave. Let's get to it. Come on. We got things to do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. I'm sitting here with chills, my soul stirred. Jack's bitching about how long it is. Wow. Nice little wow.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Let's move the metro gnome up five clicks. All right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Little kind of built to that moment. Okay.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I like the story for a little long, nice story.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is a beautiful and beautiful singing. Yeah, I mean, it was absolutely lovely. Coming up. Have cars gotten too technologically advanced? Now they're making everyone insane?

[Unnamed Contributor]

I've been saying this for 30 years. Of course, I'm a Luddite.

[Jack Armstrong]

You are a Luddite, but. And you like fast anthems. Everybody knows that about you. But on the opposite end of the technological spectrum, as things get weirder and more bloody and horrible in Ukraine, I don't want to talk about the war and foreign policy and Trump and all sorts of stuff. But. But two technical notes lately, as it's become kind of the experimental ground for all sorts of weapons systems that will be unleashed on other human beings for the next half century probably. Russia is doing two things to adapt to the technological sophistication of the Ukrainians. Number one, they are now using.

[Unnamed Contributor]

For.

[Jack Armstrong]

Goodness sakes, drones that are actually tethered to lightweight cable, extremely lightweight cable to communicate. Communicate with the drones over short to kind of medium distances because they can't be jammed.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Ah, wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's like a landline for your drones. And they literally have spools of super lightweight wire that goes out how far? I don't, I don't remember. Came across this a while back, but again, you're not going to send one five miles away. Obviously it's, you know, you're there at the front. And the other thing is on the eastern front, Russia is saddling up a mainstay of battlefields from centuries earlier to counter Ukraine's drone army. Horses and donkeys, the behooved animals carry supplies and soldiers to avoid the attention of drones which can easily spot and strike armored vehicles and other vehicles moving near the front lines. But you use a horse and a donkey especially, you know, in the dusk or dark hours and then you can get by. So they're, you know, it's not super widespread right now, but they're using horses and donkeys and manual trolleys now to move wood supplies and even the injured for miles to and from the front because they're much less easily observed. Anyway, Ukrainian forces are also experimenting with various unmanned land droney devices, including something, a very dog like looking beast that looks like exactly out of one of those Boston Dynamics videos. Inspire us all even as they're really freaking us out and giving us nightmares. Yeah, yeah.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So boy, anyways, the next war we're involved in is going to look a lot different than the previous ones. Like that we're actually fighting. We're involved in all kinds of military conflicts around the world, but like where we actually have, you know, boots on the ground, as they say.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's funny that we haven't developed nomenclature. What to call are various levels of violent involvement of the members of the military.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Well that, because it gets to the whole. Only Congress can declare war. But for the past, however long, you use the same 911 justification for every act you do all over the world. And the President can make the calls, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

The president or, you know, the Secretary of State or even the CIA can declare not war, but I want you armed fellows to kill those people over there.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Right? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which is, I'm sure Madison would go, wow, we never even thought of that. Anyway, on the other end of the technological spectrum, drivers are finding they wish smart technology in their cars was just a bit dumber. Now, Jack, you have always been a. A bit of a luddite when it comes to cars. You know, it's a matter of preference. I tend to like a little more technical sophistication in my automobile.

[Unnamed Contributor]

In my opinion, you can't improve upon what the air conditioning system was forever. You got a knob, you turn it toward blue for colder, red for warmer, and the speed of the fan. It worked perfectly fine. I don't know why we ever had to change it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, because thermostats are a thing and they're great. I want it to be 72 degrees in my car. It'll get it there and hold it there for me. You don't have a. You don't want a red and blue thing in your home, do you? Like you're staying at some cheap motel with cinder block walls. Come on now. Anyway, teach their own, I say. But automakers have been adding more and more new tech features that go beyond the just the touchscreens, assisted driving systems and companion home apps that have become ubiquitous.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I know, I know the feeling. How many times have I screamed in my car? Various other places, but quit trying to help me with various things where they think they're doing me a favor. Stop trying to help me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Have we hit the point of too much? Yes. Many drivers say it's too much. The share who had positive feelings about the intuitiveness of their car's controls was 79% in the year 2015. 79% nine years later has fallen to 56%.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Wow, that's interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

23 point drop.

[Unnamed Contributor]

That is interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

The trend was similar for, and this is what really rung a bell with me, drivers perceptions of dashboard displays, screen interfaces and the layout of instrument panels. Overall, people like like it pretty well, but touch screens, it's funny. I've got a newish car and I've been thinking about this a lot lately. They quote this one bloke, he sees them as both an annoyance and potential hazard. Changing settings can require multiple taps and usually doesn't deliver physical feedback like the twist of a knob or the press of a button that you can actually feel for. Twist how far you've twisted it or whatever. He says quote, you have to sit there and stare at what you're doing. Which means you're taking your eyes off.

[Unnamed Contributor]

The road, no doubt.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I've got a really cool car, but the touchscreen is way too cumbersome.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, I Shouldn't have to look and touch that many things just to turn on the radio. Too many screens flying around, too much attention. Yeah, it's quite amazing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, I would agree. Some 28% of new car buyers favor buttons over touch screens, but that number is growing. And then they get into a story that I don't know anything about. But I guess with a lot of electric cars, including Teslas, but in this case a Volkswagen model, they're like crazy technically advanced. Is that the right word? But this guy who lives in Canada, I believe went out on a really cold morning and he was gonna try to remotely start charging it, blah, blah, blah. But the doors wouldn't open because their sensor equipped handles were on the fritz in the cold. He had one of those car that like senses your approach and the handles emerge and then they sense your fingers and blah, blah, blah. So he couldn't get into the car. He had to shimmy into his car through the trunk like you had to back when your, your car was falling apart many years ago.

[Unnamed Contributor]

My car does that because of the app on my watch, which I find just amazing. So because I'm wearing my watch with the car app on it, it opens the doors when I walk up to it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now you wouldn't think the 3.1% or 3.1 problems per 100 vehicles of owners complaining about their handles being different, difficult. Sounds like a lot. 3.1 per 100 vehicles. But that's almost. Well, it's, it's 3%. That's up from 2/10 of a percent in 2020.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Was anybody unhappy?

[Jack Armstrong]

You reach out and you pull on the handle and the door opens. Right.

[Unnamed Contributor]

See that's another one to me is, was anybody unhappy with the door handle situation before? I thought it was fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

So there are, it's about 16 times as many problems now that they're so advanced and futuristic. So it would appear, at least for now, that we are at the end of fancy and computer driven. And futuristic is automatically a good thing.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, it's tough. I don't even know myself because I do lean toward the Luddite end. But like the Tesla stuff and Apple stuff I really, really like. I feel like they do a really good job of figuring out what you want in a way that you want it versus a lot of other products. So there is a, it's not all one or the other. It's all in the execution.

[Jack Armstrong]

So top of the list that people do. Like wireless phone charging pads. Yeah, he did. In ventilated seats. Oh, I'm A big fan.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Little bougie for me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, please, please. Hot, hot summer day. You got an air conditioner blowing right on your hiney. It's, it's, it's heaven on earth.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Makes me feel like my pants are wet. And secondly, it's just, it's, it's pants are wet. It's too fancy. I feel like it's just, it's setting myself up for a failure. I, I'd rather be hot or cold than, than use that technology.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, please email your theories about what's going on there. That's [e-mail] also very popular. Jack, weigh in on this for the Luddite crowd because I'm sure you're representing a certain percentage of people. Rain sensing wipers.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, I haven't found that many that work that well.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, great in theory.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

How about built in vacuum cleaners?

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wait a minute, that's a thing?

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who's got those?

[Unnamed Contributor]

I don't remember where I came across that, but it's. Yeah, it's internal in the car. And then you like, you can just plug in the hose. It's like if you got the vacuum system in your house, which I've only seen on the whole house vacuum.

[Jack Armstrong]

But yeah, I've had that because I am bougie.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, you just have a hose you plug into various parts of the car. That'd be pretty handy.

[Jack Armstrong]

So at the bottom of the wish list are passenger side screens. Like, like screens to look at.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah. I was in somebody's fancy Mercedes lift over the weekend with my kids. We ended up with a fancy Uber and it had a guy was showing me the screen on the passenger side that was just for the passenger. That was pretty cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow. Okay. So people are not impressed with that. I've never seen one. An augmented reality visible on the windshield. Well, if you want to have a head on wreck, it sounds like a great idea. I don't know. And according to J.D. power, drivers are underwhelmed by gesture controls where one can say, increase the volume by rotating an imaginary knob in the air.

[Unnamed Contributor]

You're an imaginary knob.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that sounds great in theory again. But I could see like you try it and you try it again.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So that's like the Apple Vision Pro. So you're doing things with your hands that it says. That's interesting. Well, if it worked, it might be fine. Again, it's the execution of all these things. A lot of these things would be great if they worked the way they said they were going to work.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And then they mentioned that with all the sensors on cars now for backup camera, well, forward cameras too, and parking sensors and whatever a fender bender can. Can cost you a hell of a lot of money, which has raised insurance rates as well.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, that's ridiculous. Speaking of Teslas, because of the aluminum body and the sensors, stuff like that, you get a tiny dent. You're going to spend 15,000 dol on a tiny dent. Elon claims because the newer Teslas have a different sensory system than the other ones did with the cameras and everything like that. Elon claims they're going full. You don't have to pay attention. Auto driving end of 26. I can't believe that. I don't think the government will allow it, will they? The you don't have to pay attention. You can sleep if you want to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Color me skeptical.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I'm pretty skeptical too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Final note of the evils of technological development. Here's a dude who likes to start his 24 Toyota Tundra pickup remotely. He lives in, you know, high elevation in Nevada. But that function doesn't reliably work with his key fob. So he begrudgingly starts it through Toyota's app, which charges a subscription fee. He points out, I got $1,000 a month payment. Now I gotta pay another 15 bucks a month. Just be able to start it remotely.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Wow. Yeah, the subscription fee thing, we've talked about that. That's a growing. You know, you want. You want this horsepower because they can adjust it. You want this horsepower, you pay extra per month.

[Jack Armstrong]

This upgraded stereo.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which I always get. Yeah, you got to pay a fee per month.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they mentioned finally, Jack. And this will gladden your heart. After owning the truck for a year and a half, he also recently bought himself a 1985 Chevy Silverado, which he can fix himself.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Yeah, yeah. And sometimes when you get in those, if you ever get a chance to drive something like that, there's something like. Like maybe it's nostalgia, but there's just something because it's so simple. It's just like relaxing in a certain way. So, like, I know. I know everything that's going on here. I don't have to think at all. You have any thoughts on that, you can text us. We got more on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed Contributor]

An Australian man who was credited with saving more than 2 million babies by repeatedly donating his blood has died at the age of 88. Doctors pronounced him dead when they heard this sound.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. So gross.

[Unnamed Contributor]

Oh, that's kind of funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Unnamed Contributor]

It's an easy transition from that to the firing squad execution that happened in South Carolina over the weekend. We've only executed four people in this country by firing squad in the last half a century. We did one the other day. He's a scumbag, by the way. Or he, you know, I don't know where his brain was. Now.

[Jack Armstrong]

He.

[Unnamed Contributor]

He became a Christian and says he's remorseful or whatever, but he committed horrible, horrible crimes. Beating to death people with baseball bats and whatnot. So anyway, strapped to a chair with a target placed over his heart and put a hood over his head. Three correction department volunteers armed with rifles fired bullets designed to shatter on impact. I don't know exactly what that's all about. They stood 15ft away, which, if you don't know how far that is, is a distance from the free throw line to the backboard. So that's how close you are. Three dudes stood there and shot him. He was. I thought this particular nugget was before the hood was placed on his head. Blah, blah, blah. I'll get to a statement in a minute. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with Crocs and. Make it easier for me to shoot him, actually.

[Jack Armstrong]

How? Oh, inappropriate.

[Unnamed Contributor]

His ankles and wrists were shackled so that he couldn't, like, jump around, move around, whatever. And he chose the. The. He chose the firing squad because he thought it was the least gruesome of the other alternatives. The other alternatives being in South Carolina, eaten by dogs. And I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is incorrect. I need. I need a source that information.

[Unnamed Contributor]

No, actually, the other choices. Actually, the electric chair, which he said would cook him alive. So he didn't want that. And they do lethal injection like most states do who have the death penalty. And he was worried that there would be a rush of fluid into his lungs and he would drown. So he sounds like a bit of a whack job. In addition to being a murderous scumbag. His final statement was to be one of love and calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty. And eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty. He said in a statement at that time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was. Why? Because we no longer live under the Old Testament law, but now live under the New Testament. So he began.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know what's interesting? Two perspectives on that. Number one, I was reading Theologian the other day talking about how the whole eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth thing is not a cry for vengeance. It's a cry for proportionality. What they're saying is if somebody does something offensive to you, don't kill them in their family. Keep it proportional. Otherwise it escalates and gets incredibly ugly. Second thing is, I was reminded that Thomas Edison, rather allegedly invented the electric chair to prove that alternating current AC power was unsafe because it could kill a person. And dc, his preferred method of electrifying things, was much safer and better.

[Unnamed Contributor]

So a number of states have turned to the firing squad, I guess if they ever start executing people again. There is some belief that it is incredibly painless. You will instantly die and feel no pain whatsoever.

[Jack Armstrong]

No. No sudden shock. But was it super bloody? Did they mention or anything?

[Unnamed Contributor]

They did not. It's almost got to be, doesn't it? I heard it was.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder if he was wearing some sort of special garment so it wouldn't be too, you know, much of a cleanup.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I ain't dying in Crocs, I'll tell you that.

[Jack Armstrong]

You have your standards.

[Unnamed Contributor]

I'd like to go out with some dignity. If you miss a segment at the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand, Armstrong and Gettysburg.