I Can't Get Off The Etch A Sketch

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: Episode Summary – "I Can't Get Off The Etch A Sketch"

Release Date: June 4, 2025

In the latest episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty from iHeartPodcasts, the duo delves into pressing economic issues, particularly focusing on the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China. The episode blends insightful commentary with dynamic discussions, interspersed with light-hearted segments and occasional humor, embodying the distinctive chemistry that Armstrong and Getty are known for.

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Trade Wars and Economic Policies

The episode opens with a humorous nod to outdated technology before seamlessly transitioning into a serious discussion about the current state of U.S.-China trade relations. Jack Armstrong introduces the topic by highlighting recent price hikes in beloved consumer goods as a result of tariffs imposed during the trade war initiated by former President Trump.

Key Discussion Points:

• Price Increases Due to Tariffs:

  • Timestamp [03:06]: Armstrong laments, “I’m sorry, I can’t get off the Etch A Sketch being used as an example.”
  • The hosts discuss significant price jumps in products like the Baby Born doll and the Etch A Sketch, attributing these changes to the tariff measures against China. For instance, a Baby Born doll's price soared from $34.97 to $49.97, a 43% increase, while an Etch A Sketch jumped from $14.97 to $24.99, marking a 67% hike.

• Impact on Manufacturers and Consumers:

  • Timestamp [08:18]: Armstrong remarks, “If automakers end up shifting production to China, it would amount to a remarkable outcome for the trade war initiated by President Trump.”
  • The discussion emphasizes how manufacturers are grappling with China's dominance in rare earth materials essential for various technologies, including electric vehicles and military equipment. The scarcity and high costs of these materials are forcing companies to rethink their supply chains, often at the expense of domestic production.

• China’s Strategic Response:

  • Timestamp [06:04]: Armstrong states, “China has built an arsenal of trade tools under Xi Jinping’s leadership, including export controls and critical materials used to make chips, cars, and F35 jets.”
  • The hosts analyze China's strategic maneuvers in response to U.S. tariffs, highlighting the appointment of a more aggressive trade negotiator by Xi Jinping. This shift signifies China's intent to maintain its strategic advantage and resist U.S. economic pressures.

Notable Quotes:

• Timestamp [07:35]: “I don't like the pronouns heterosexual couple.”
• Timestamp [13:03]: “The Chinese never underestimate your enemy.”

National Debt and Deficit: A Grim Outlook

Transitioning from international trade, Armstrong and Getty tackle the daunting issue of the United States' national debt and deficit. They critically assess current legislative measures aimed at addressing fiscal irresponsibility.

Key Discussion Points:

• Trump’s Tax Strategy and Inflation:

  • Timestamp [42:32]: “They're going to let inflation fix the debt. It's not a new idea.”
  • The hosts explore the controversial notion that fueling inflation could serve as a hidden tax mechanism to reduce the national debt. They argue that while inflation can erode the real value of debt, it disproportionately affects all citizens and poses significant economic risks.

• Biden Administration’s Fiscal Policies:

  • Timestamp [46:12]: “The CBO is underestimated. I would guess it’s adding to the debt.”
  • Armstrong and Getty critique the Biden administration’s approach to managing the deficit, suggesting that promised cuts and savings are either delayed or insufficient to counteract the rising debt levels. They express skepticism about the efficacy of partisan fiscal strategies and the political will to implement necessary reforms.

• Congressional Gridlock:

  • Timestamp [48:00]: “The Republicans are gutless cowards, which is certainly possible, or they have perceived that it doesn’t work.”
  • The conversation underscores the entrenched political divisions that prevent meaningful action on debt reduction. The hosts lament the lack of bipartisan cooperation, which they believe is essential for instituting sustainable fiscal policies.

Notable Quotes:

• Timestamp [51:08]: “It is a horribly idea.”
• Timestamp [49:55]: “Democracy doesn’t work anymore. We tried. We gave it a good try.”

China Cabinet Trade Edition: National Security Concerns

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to scrutinizing the interactions between U.S. state officials and Chinese trade representatives, raising alarms about potential national security risks.

Key Discussion Points:

• California’s Engagement with Chinese Officials:

  • Timestamp [06:01]: “Gavi will be hobnobbing with the Chinese communists nonetheless.”
  • Armstrong criticizes California officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass, for engaging in closed-door meetings with Chinese trade entities. He references a warning from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about the risk of state and local officials being manipulated by China's financial incentives.

• Industrial Espionage and Data Security:

  • Timestamp [10:35]: “The self-driving truck startup that siphoned trade secrets to Chinese companies…”
  • The hosts delve into the case of TuSimple, a self-driving truck company that transferred sensitive operational data to a Beijing-owned firm despite pledges to safeguard such information. This act is portrayed as indicative of a broader pattern of industrial espionage aimed at undermining U.S. technological advancements.

Notable Quotes:

• Timestamp [11:09]: “Why were we sharing it in the first place?”
• Timestamp [13:16]: “It's like Athens and Sparta stuff. I mean it's just huge.”

Cultural and Social Commentary

Interspersed with their economic discussions, Armstrong and Getty provide commentary on cultural trends and social issues, maintaining the show's characteristic blend of humor and critique.

Key Discussion Points:

• Language and Inclusivity:

  • Timestamp [36:22]: “We’ve got to talk about the whole crisis with men, adult men, and friends in America.”
  • The hosts touch upon shifts in language usage, such as the adoption of “y’all” over “you guys,” and its implications for societal communication norms.

• Media and Personalities:

  • Timestamp [21:34]: “John Madden biopic featuring Nicholas Cage...”
  • They briefly discuss upcoming media projects and public figures, adding a lighter dimension to the episode.

Notable Quotes:

• Timestamp [24:15]: “It gets you.”
• Timestamp [29:23]: “My son hits me with that every once in a while.”

Concluding Thoughts: The Path Forward

As the episode progresses towards its conclusion, Armstrong and Getty reiterate the severity of the national debt crisis and the challenges inherent in resolving it. They express a bleak outlook on the political landscape, emphasizing the need for radical fiscal reforms.

Key Discussion Points:

• Fiscal Dominance and Inflation:

  • Timestamp [44:15]: “We pay off the debt through fueling inflation.”
  • The hosts synthesize their earlier discussions, presenting a cohesive argument that current economic strategies are insufficient and may exacerbate the national debt problem through inflationary policies.

• Political Inaction:

  • Timestamp [50:55]: “Democracy doesn’t work anymore. We tried. We gave it a good try.”
  • Armstrong and Getty conclude with a somber reflection on the dysfunction within the U.S. political system, questioning the feasibility of future fiscal reforms.

Notable Quotes:

• Timestamp [51:08]: “It’s a horrifying idea.”
• Timestamp [50:53]: “Everything just goes one way.”

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Final Remarks:

Throughout the episode, Armstrong and Getty provide a critical lens on contemporary economic and political issues, underscored by their characteristic wit and insightful analysis. Their discussion on the trade war's impact on consumer prices and the looming national debt offers listeners a comprehensive understanding of these complex topics. By blending humor with hard-hitting commentary, the hosts make intricate subjects accessible and engaging for a broad audience.

Notable Moments:

• Timestamp [03:25]: "Wow."
• Timestamp [37:09]: “I don't know if there is or not, but we'll talk about that later.”

Conclusion:

Armstrong & Getty continue to deliver thought-provoking content that challenges listeners to engage with significant national issues. This episode, "I Can't Get Off The Etch A Sketch," effectively combines economic analysis with cultural commentary, providing a well-rounded and compelling narrative that resonates with both regular followers and new listeners alike.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s. A legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit, folks. It could crash.

[Joe Getty]

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[Cindy Crawford]

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[Elon Musk]

So good.

[Unknown]

Your bill, ladies.

[Jack Armstrong]

I got it.

[Elon Musk]

No, I got it. Seriously. I insist. I insisted first.

[Unknown]

Don't be silly.

[Elon Musk]

You don't be silly.

[Unknown]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Shoot. No.

[Unknown]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Cindy Crawford]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Elon Musk]

The President eager to get the bill across the finish line as we see prices rising amid the trade war he launched at Walmart, the nation's largest retailer. The cost of some toys way up. A baby born doll that cost $34.97 in March now costs $49.97, up roughly 43%.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Elon Musk]

Last month an Etch A sketch cost $14.97. Now it's $24.99, a nearly 67% increase.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. The humble etches sketch. 25 bones. That's rough.

[Elon Musk]

Wow.

[Unknown]

That's not a minor increase in price.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and that baby born doll, you might as well have a real baby at that price. Come on. Wow.

[Unknown]

The humble Etch A Sketch doubling in price.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Frustrating yet artistic.

[Unknown]

Elon Musk blaming the calling the bill an abomination. We will get into that more later because that's one of the lead stories today. And the fact that it's the lead story is kind of its own. But in addition to the big giant bill going through, economically, we got this tariff situation.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, I'd like to know how.

[Unknown]

Many more prices there at the Walmart have gone up that much. That's a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. Yeah. That's shocking. I'm sorry, I can't get off the edge of sketch being used as an example. I mean, at this point you can use a free App Type for 10 seconds and generate a professional quality illustration of Joe Biden surfing on the back of a dolphin smoking a bong in Malibu.

[Unknown]

I want to do the Etch A Sketch. You need a stair step. Stair step, stair step, Stair step, stair step.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. Painstakingly. What is that? Olden days. If you jostle it at all, it ruins all your work. Yes. That instead of the chat GPT or what have you. So it's funny, I had a thought as we were getting the material together for this segment. Picturing myself back in, in college. No need for Gladys. This didn't actually happen. Taking some, you know, high level political science class where they said, all right, we're going to describe this scenario for you. You have two superpowers, one well established, one rising. They are mortal enemies and sworn to dominate each other. And yet they have a huge and life sustaining trade relationship. Hostilities begin. Now, keeping in mind each country's best interests how do you think, Blepden? I would. I would think.

[Elon Musk]

Wait, wait.

[Jack Armstrong]

How did they. Why would they have that? Whose idea was this? This is untenable. There's no solution to this. I'd throw up my hands. And yet here we are. It's time to look in the China Cabinet Trade edition.

[Unknown]

China don't trust China.

[Jack Armstrong]

China. That's right.

[Unknown]

That makes me laugh every time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not very cleverly named, A look in the China Cabinet as we consider a number of stories about China. Again, all Trade Edition. First of all, Gavi Newsom of Cal Unicornia and Karen Bass and others are about to engage in a closed door meeting with Chinese trade officials as part of Gavi's attempt to establish California as some sort of quasi nation, I suppose, and then have happy joy, joy meetings with various Chinese corporations and trade officials and that sort of thing. Worth noting that in a public warning a couple of years ago during the horrific Biden years, the office of the Director of National Intelligence said that state and local officials are at risk of being manipulated to support China. Chinese government's agenda, particularly through trade and investment. Quote, financial incentives may be used to hook US State and local leaders given their focus on local economic issues, the bulletin said. But Gavi will be hobnobbing with the Chinese communists nonetheless. Moving along. Here's a headline for you. You may have heard that Trump, you know, hit China with the tariffs and various tit for tat retaliation took place. And one thing, Xi Jinping and his new guy, his new negotiator, who we'll talk about in a second if we have time. He's a hard ass. He is, interestingly, Jack, his name is he. So you got he and she in charge of China at this point. He's slightly confused.

[Unknown]

I don't like the pronouns heterosexual couple.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway. Anyway, he's a hard ass and he has advised Xi Jinping. Look, they need the pressure the, the rare earth materials for their magnets for all sorts of technologies. We just won't give them any rare earth stuff. And a couple of months ago they said they would, but they're slow walking it badly. So the headline is automakers race to find workaround to China's stranglehold on rare earth magnets. Listen to this. Now, major manufacturers, fearful they will have to shut down assembly lines both on electric and conventional vehicles, are considering moving some parts production to China.

[Unknown]

They're fearful they might have to shut.

[Jack Armstrong]

Down the production vehicles or Mr. President, move their production of certain parts to China to avoid complete factory shutdowns. If automakers end up shifting production to China. It would amount to a remarkable outcome for trade war initiated by president Trump.

[Unknown]

That'd be a remarkable outcome. That's not exactly what the plan was.

[Jack Armstrong]

A couple of the rare earth metals included in the consideration Jack include disprosy. I was so excited about pronouncing that right. Dysprosium and terbium.

[Unknown]

Terbium is a metal, you know, we.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ought to play rare earth mineral or made up.

[Unknown]

Yeah, no kidding. I think I bought you this ring. It's made of terbium, very rare.

[Jack Armstrong]

And the band dysprosium. Oh, moving along. China's new trade negotiator is a hard ass. This is he he to she. Uh, the previous guy was a U. S. Educated realist who was like all right, we both need to make money, let's stay cool. Now this guy is a dedic dedicated communist and a loyalist to Xi Jinping. He a firm believer in state control. Just like his boss, Xi has a clear mandate of not catering to America. Last month's Geneva deal, which China saw as a win, showed Xi the value of sticking to his guns according to people who consult with senior Chinese officials. So they have decided to get tougher and strategically Xi feels empowered to harden his position from the first term of Trump because the arsenal of trade tools China's built under his leadership include export controls and critical materials used to make. This is the rare earth stuff we were talking about and some other stuff but that are necessary to make chips, cars and the F35 jets. So it's gives China the ability to cause real pain for the US and finally anybody who's done business with China is familiar with the idea of industrial espionage. The self driving truck startup that siphoned trade secrets to Chinese companies. It's company called Tusimple Tu simple and I want you to maybe have a tick tock in the back of your mind or the idea of well it's a Chinese company but it's not, you know, it's not a state run enterprise. A week after one of America's largest self driving truck companies promised the US government it would stop sharing sensitive technology with Chinese partners, Tusimple transferred a trove of data to a Beijing owned firm. Why were they on a lot of deep.

[Unknown]

Why were we sharing it in the first place?

[Jack Armstrong]

Let me get to that. They want a lot of details said Xiaoling Han, US based TuSimple holdings employee to a colleague. Leading Chinese commercial truck manufacturer photon sought the data data from Tusimple's many test drives Around Texas. Very time consuming, expensive, technologically challenging test drives of self driving trucks all over Texas. Too simple was the leader in the global race to develop self driving trucks that could solve chronic driver shortages, make freight hauling cheaper, bolster military operations. Founded by two Chinese entrepreneurs with money from a Chinese business mogul, the San Diego based company set a record when its trucks traveled 80 miles in Arizona without a human driver. And the minute the Chinese based firm said hey we need all your data, they sent it all that is emblematic of what I'm always ranting about that Chinese nationals, whether now or in the future, will be on the hook for for Xi Jinping's orders. All of them, Every single one. So what, do I want to round up every Chinese American or Chinese student in the country? No, of course not. It's A impractical and B unnecessary. But the awareness that that possibility is not only like extant, that it exists, but it looms large. If you've got a company started by two Chinese citizens, I think founded by two Chinese entrepreneurs with money from a Chinese business mogul based in San Diego, it's a troubling look inside the China cab.

[Unknown]

End up losing to China or being surpassed by China in a number of ways. The way we allowed that to happen is one of the biggest stories in history. It's like Athens and Sparta stuff. I mean it's just huge.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's the Trojan horse, but over the course of decades and an enormously complex operation. But the Chinese never underestimate your enemy. You know, not only did sung to say that, but many generals have throughout history. Military theoreticians, they understand American people, a are super business oriented. If there's money to be made, we're interested. And secondly, we're friendly and open hearted and we think everybody else is too. Until they've stabbed us twice, they can stab us once and we think, well maybe that was a mistake because we're so naive about other cultures around the world. So you combine that, you know, business friendliness with just an open heartedness and we're incredibly easy to deceive as a people.

[Unknown]

That's a nice little feature you put together there. I got a handful of things that don't fit into any feature. I just think they're interesting. Something somebody heard in a government meeting yesterday that I found funny new movie that's out, a biopic that I'm kind of interested in and a bunch of other stuff on the way. Man. More details coming out on that Ukrainian strike in Russia. Freaking fascinating. Lots of stuff on the way.

[Elon Musk]

Stay here Armstrong and Getty and here.

[Jack Armstrong]

We have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit folks. It could crash.

[Joe Getty]

Ready to step out of the Financial history [e-mail] you can invest in almost everything, stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full [e-mail] disclosures looking for a smarter.

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My son got so excited the other day. Our Omaha Steaks package arrived at the front door. He said yes, he knows. He knows. He knows the burgers, he knows the steaks. He's, he's really amped up for this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Weekend and so appropriate to talk about fathers and sons and daughters because Father's Day is coming up. I know my dad absolutely loves the Omaha Steaks packages we send every year because he doesn't need stuff. He needs Deliciousness grilling deliciousness.

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Checkout I am not ashamed to tell you I'm a steak snob. I eat bad steak and Omaha Steaks quality is fantastic. And I mean gosh, it's more than steaks, it's incredible burgers. These gourmet hot dogs, the apple tartlets. Oh, I love them so much.

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[Jack Armstrong]

The third fastest team to reach 50 losses in an MLB history, making them the worst team in the last 125 years. In response, the team has announced that at future games they're Changing take me out to the ball game to take me out behind the shed and kill me. Wow, that's a little dark.

[Unknown]

What kind of joke is that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, they'll turn it around. I'm gonna bring some boys up from aaa. It'll be fine.

[Unknown]

Remember, originally the Colorado.

[Jack Armstrong]

No need to go Old Yeller on them.

[Unknown]

Yes, originally when the Colorado Rockers started playing, it was the air so thin and home runs, unfair advantage, blah, blah, blah. No, no. Now they're the worst team in 125 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

So yeah. Whoops.

[Unknown]

Number of things for you. Just came across this. The army has met its recruitment goal four months early. That's a different vibe that we apparently have in the country going right now than was happening under. Oh man. Biden. Different story. This is from a government meeting. I'll be very vague. I don't want to get anybody in trouble. Who told me yesterday at this government meeting they were at? It was an all day meeting. At the start of one of the meetings, a woman raised her hand and tearfully asked that the speaker stop saying you guys because it was gender hurtful. So now the speaker says y' all.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Unknown]

I know. It's hard to believe that actually exists.

[Jack Armstrong]

Please do not use gendered language to. To address everyone. Again, that's the you people are crazy morons meme of like a decade ago.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or certainly five years ago.

[Unknown]

When did the NBA Finals start, Michael? Is that tonight?

[Jack Armstrong]

I believe so. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Pacers and Oklahoma City.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And I think the Thunder are just.

[Unknown]

Going to win the whole thing. Yeah. I don't know what the ratings are going to be like either. Anyway, just going to mention this. The Knicks had the best run. They. The New York Knicks had the best run they'd had in a quarter of a century. And they fired their coach because they didn't make it further. I have been with my favorite teams on the wrong end of this many times. You have the best season you've ever had, but don't make it all the way. So you fire your coach and then it's another quarter century before you ever get close again. I don't understand that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, we would have gone all the way if it weren't for that. Let's switch everything up here because we're automatically going to be as good next year. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Anyway, that's a funny thing that happens in sports. Speaking of sports, a biopic coming out about one of the more fascinating people in. In all of history sports. Raiders coach, then popular announcer, then video game mogul. As my son is super into playing Madden right now. John Madden. Have you seen the pictures of Nicholas Cage as John Madden?

[Jack Armstrong]

I have not.

[Unknown]

Let me text that to everybody right now. Yeah, Nicholas Cage is going to play John Madden in the biopic. And in this picture right here, he looks exactly like young John Madden, who used to stroll the lines with his shaggy hair the sidelines as the coach of the Oklahoma Oakland Raiders. So looks pretty good to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd like to see a biopic of Nicholas Cage who will like make any movie that will write him a check, no matter how ridiculous, and is an extremely gifted actor.

[Unknown]

Oh, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, he's had some great roles.

[Unknown]

Goes back and forth between super amazing art and then just crap for a paycheck. Maybe that's how he funds the art.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, sure.

[Unknown]

And then for some reason yesterday I came across this. I know this was a story like six months ago, the whole. You can stop a baby from crying by throwing a slice of cheese on their head. Have you ever actually watched any of these videos?

[Jack Armstrong]

Not that I recall.

[Unknown]

Pretty entertaining.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's sounds like it.

[Unknown]

It's lots and lots of babies crying and then you throw a slice of that, you know, not really cheese, American cheese on their head.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're not throwing it at the baby, you're just tossing it onto their head.

[Unknown]

Pretty close to throwing it at the baby. I don't know. Yeah, it's throwing it at the baby.

[Jack Armstrong]

You throw the cheese and it's not comfortable.

[Unknown]

It slaps on their head and then they stop crying. Which is not surprising in that if, you know, if you've had a crying baby and you say, hey, now, what's going on? Who's.

Who's in a good mood?

You know, you can just, you just interrupt their flow or what they're thinking about. Often they stop crying, but so will a slice of cheese, apparently. But it's pretty funny. Yes, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie, I, I don't know about the baby one, but I have seen the.

[Elon Musk]

Trend where people are doing this with their cats.

[Unknown]

Oh, really? So I'm behind.

[Jack Armstrong]

If your toddler's potty training isn't going well, hit him in the head with a ham. I mean, what the hell? This is child abuse. I won't sit around chuckling about this. So dairy product involved child abuse.

[Unknown]

What do you do with the slice of cheese and the cat? I mean, what, what, what reaction are you trying to get?

[Elon Musk]

Exact same thing as the baby.

[Jack Armstrong]

They just kind of lean back and, you know, did you figure out why.

[Unknown]

Did you just toss a piece of cheese on my head?

[Jack Armstrong]

This is cheese on my face. It is definitely an interrupter if you will. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

It gets you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now where was I before this cheese was thrown on my head?

[Unknown]

Oh yes, the crying.

[Jack Armstrong]

More news of the day.

[Unknown]

Ah what Elon Musk said.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh drama strong and Gettysburg. And here we have a specimen from the early 2000s, a legacy investing platform. Please don't touch the exhibit folks. It could crash.

[Joe Getty]

Ready to step out of the Financial history [e-mail] you can invest in almost everything, stocks, bonds, options and more. You could even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. Go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full [e-mail] disclosures looking for a smarter.

[Unknown]

Way to teach your child to ride a bike and support American jobs at the same time? Most kids bikes are cheap imports, heavy, clunky and hard for kids to control. Guardian Bikes is changing that assembling bikes right here in the USA with plans for full US Manufacturing in the next few months. It's a commitment to higher quality and American craftsmanship you can trust. Each bike is lightweight, low to the ground and built to help kids learn to ride faster, many in just one day. No training wheels needed. Guardian's patented sure Stop Braking System. One lever stops both wheels giving your child more control, faster stops and prevents those scary head over handlebar accidents. It's so easy even a 2 year old can do it. If you're ready to support American jobs and keep your kids Safe, head to guardianbikes.com today. You'll save hundreds compared to the competition. Join their newsletter. You'll get a free bike lock and pump, a $50 value guard bikes built in the USA made specifically for kids.

[Cindy Crawford]

Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skincare brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skincare simple and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin tones and types and it's designed to work as a complete skin care system, leaving your skin feeling feeling soft, smooth and nourished. I recommend starting with Cindy's full regimen which contains all five of her best selling products including the amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of Melon Leaf stem cell technology. It's melon leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the Amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just $49.95. That includes our introductory five piece system, free gifts, free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that [e-mail] ATT has a new.

[Unknown]

Guarantee because most things in life are not guaranteed. Like actually getting the rental car you requested or your wedding turning out just like you dreamed it would. And someone making another pot of coffee in the break room after drinking the last drop of the last one. Yeah, don't get me. Not guaranteed. In a world where Nothing is guaranteed, AT&T is bringing something new to the table. AT&T is introducing a guarantee with connectivity you depend on, deals you want and service you deserve or they'll make it right. So if you want to know more about the AT&T guarantee, head to att.com guarantee AT&T connecting changes everything. Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.comguarantee for details.

[Cindy Crawford]

Wasn't that delicious?

[Elon Musk]

So good.

[Unknown]

Your bill, ladies.

[Jack Armstrong]

I got it.

[Elon Musk]

I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

[Unknown]

Don't be silly.

[Elon Musk]

You don't be silly.

[Unknown]

People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash back on purchases.

[Elon Musk]

Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, paper, scissors.

[Jack Armstrong]

Shoot, shoot.

[Unknown]

No, the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card. Visit Wells Fargo.com Active Cash of Cash terms apply.

I feel a little complicit in this. Although I still think it was an interesting story. So there is a been a couple of profiles on the daughter of the weird flamethrower psychopath terrorist. Boulder suspect's daughter dreamed of studying medicine. Now she faces deportation. USA Today has, as somebody pointed out, I'm glad USA Today found the real victim. They've done zero profiles and any of the people burned in the attack, right? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

USA Today is shameless.

[Unknown]

Yeah. It is interesting though that it seems his daughter is an American loving, successful. What a great country where a woman can be a doctor person and her dad is a nut job.

[Jack Armstrong]

Islamist scumbag. Yes, correct. Coming up next segment. And I don't think I'm overselling this. I've figured it all out.

[Unknown]

I don't think I'm overselling this. I've figured it all out. That's fantastic.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're talking the national debt and deficit and what the future is going to be just because I've figured it out. Doesn't mean you're gonna like it. Stay with us.

[Unknown]

My son hits me with that every once in a while. You know, Dad, I figured out the meaning of life. Okay, here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's see. Let's hear finally.

[Unknown]

Yes. So this got a lot of attention yesterday. Peter Doocy in the White House press room. This gets to the whole auto pen. Who was running the country. Did Joe Biden know what he was doing? Story.

[Jack Armstrong]

You look at these last minute Biden pardons, the big ones, BIDEN Siblings, Fauci, January 6th committee. That's right. Most of the big ones have the same very neat signature. We would expect that probably to be the auto pen. There is one that looks different. It looks authentic. Is this White House of the opinion that the only pardon that would count is one that the President signed himself? It's very interesting. The President is making a good point when he discusses the usage of the auto pen. Who was running the country for the past four years. Perhaps those documents were signed with the auto pen. Something that this I believe the Department of Justice is looking into. As you saw, Ed Martin made an announcement at the Department of Justice this morning to launch an investigation because the American people deserve answers.

[Unknown]

So we have James Colmer. He's head of the committee. I'll just sum up for him so he can move on. He, he says they're gonna bring some White House staffers in front of, you know, Congress and do some grilling and we'll see. But it is kind of interesting that in that flurry of last minute pardons, there's a bunch that appear to be the auto pen. It's hard to argue that Biden wasn't behind those since it was his own family and everything. But then there's one extra with a different signature. Did somebody slide that in? And you know, the, most of the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Most of these, was that the only one the mummy was aware of?

[Unknown]

True, true. Yeah. Yeah. And, yeah. And the whole, the whole move there in the last week to take drug offenders and move their life sentence to probation or whatever, was that super progressive staff members that were into that or was that a big Joe Biden? Cause his whole life, I remember at the time, it seemed kind of weird.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I still predict that very little will come of this because it's going to be impossible to nail down anything significant. But yeah, there was the politburo, as Tapper and Thompson called them in the book, were run in the White House to a large extent. I just, I'm not sure there's Any gold at the end of this rainbow, which is disappointing.

[Unknown]

But then there's one story. I forget what the policy was, but when Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House, he met, finally got to meet with Joe Biden and he said, why did you sign the. Whatever it was? Because that, you know, hurts this and hurts that and everything like that. And Joe Biden said, I didn't sign that. I'm still studying that. And Johnson said, no, you signed it. So either the old senile man forgot he signed it, which is perfectly believable. I mean, he talked about a woman being dead, then two minutes later asked to talk to her.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, you know, and told the same story twice back to back.

[Unknown]

Right. So he could forget signing a bill or somebody signed it for him and he didn't know, which is also possible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. At the time I took it to be a senility story, but it absolutely could be, you know, the latter. Yeah. I'm not saying don't investigate it because it's an interesting question. I heard somebody say the other day, not somebody wasn't like the guy in line at the grocery store. It was a learned commentator saying, you know, the only thing that the Constitution says the president actually has to sign is a bill. But I don't know, there are probably statutes surrounding that and I don't. That's just something I heard coming up. I figured it all out. Stay with us. Wow.

[Unknown]

Yeah. I would go ahead and be late for work to hear it all has been figured out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I'm still waiting for the Joe Getty cold warrior jingle which I've requested because I have some more China news.

[Unknown]

Reasons China.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, yeah. Reasons to be extremely suspicious of China and its various entities. After a word from our friends at Simply Safe Home security protects your stuff. Protect the people you love with the state of the art fantastic best home security system of 2025 according to CNET. That's SimpliSafe Home security.

[Unknown]

If someone's lurking around your house, lurkers agents can actually talk to them in real time because you've got that lifeguard protection situation where people are watching on the cameras and they could talk to them and say, hey you lurker, I see you lurking.

[Jack Armstrong]

You better get out of there.

[Unknown]

Cops are on the way. That sort of thing costs you about a dollar a day with a 60 day money back guarantee. If you want to try out the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Simplisafe system, love it. Four million plus Americans trust SimpliSafe. Number one in customer service by Newsweek. In USA Today, monitoring plans start around a Buck a day. Wait a minute. A system this advanced is around a buck a day? Yeah. Check into it simplisafe.com Armstrong you can claim 50% off a new system with a professional monitoring plan. You get your first month free too. That simplisafe.com Armstrong. There's no safe like Simplisafe. So I was talking about this trucking company that was sending all of its data to China a week after it swore to the US government that it wouldn't. Because the state of the ability to monitor that sort of thing and crack down on it is very tenuous, very wishy washy, honestly. Because we're still emerging from the haze of that China just wants to engage in trade and be our friends. Period of stupidity. But so anyway, oops, I scrolled down too far. So this is too simple. A leader in the global race to develop self driving trucks. They sent a bunch of data to. To, to Beijing, blah blah, blah. Within a year and a half of this coming to light. Too simple. Voluntarily just shut down its U.S. operations, auctioned off its truck, delisted from the Nasdaq. Its leaders moved hundreds of millions of dollars raised from US investors from the company's accounts to China, according to legal documents, and started new business ventures. Wow.

[Unknown]

Well, it's clear what happened there. The whole thing was a ruse. The entire thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, I would agree. Or at least it was using the United States for our, our assets and our freedom. And the moment we said, no, you're going way too far in sharing, you know, confidential data with the Chinese communists, they said, all right, we're out, we're taking our money, goodbye. So just know what you're dealing with when you're dealing with the, the Chinese.

[Unknown]

Why are you.

[Jack Armstrong]

By the way, there's.

[Unknown]

Was I supposed to have something?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, I don't know. We could break now.

[Unknown]

I thought that's.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, why not? After one more quick mention, the phrase welcome in is driving people crazy. What highly controversial welcome in do.

[Unknown]

Does somebody say that to you? When do people say that to you?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, all the time.

[Unknown]

They do?

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah.

[Unknown]

Welcome in, welcome homes or a restaurant.

[Jack Armstrong]

All of the above stores.

[Unknown]

And it's driving people crazy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Facilities. Yes. Why do people say welcome in all of a sudden? Why not just welcome?

[Unknown]

All right, well, I don't ever interact with people, so I'm the wrong person to ask. But that gets to the whole. We've got to. I saved this for today because I wanted to talk about it when you were here, the whole. Is there a crisis with men adult men and friends in America. Some people claim there is. I don't know if there is or not, but we'll talk about that later.

[Jack Armstrong]

So coming up, the solution to the national debt problem. You're going to hate it. Stay with us Armstrong and Gettysburg.

[Joe Getty]

You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and zoom. Welcome back to 1999. It's time for an upgrade. At public.com you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind at public.com go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Pay for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full [e-mail] disclosures looking for a smarter.

[Unknown]

Way to teach your child to ride a bike and support American jobs at the same time? Most kids bikes are cheap imports, heavy, clunky and hard for kids to control. Guardian Bikes is changing that assembling bikes right here in the USA with plans for full US Manufacturing in the next few months. It's a commitment to higher quality and American craftsmanship you can trust. Each bike is lightweight, low to the ground and built to help kids learn to ride faster, many in just one day. No training wheels needed. Guardian's patented SureStop braking system. One lever stops both wheels, giving your child more control, faster stops and prevents those scary head over handlebar accidents. It's so easy even a 2 year old can do it. If you're ready to support American jobs and keep your kids Safe, head to guardianbikes.com today. You'll save hundreds compared to the competition. Join their newsletter. You'll get a free bike lock and pump, a $50 value guardian bikes built in the USA made specifically for kids.

[Cindy Crawford]

Now I'd like to introduce you to Meaningful Beauty, the famed skin care brand created by iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford. It's her secret to absolutely gorgeous skin. Meaningful Beauty makes powerful and effective skin care simple and it's loved by millions of women. It's formulated for all ages and all skin tones and types and it's designed to work as a complete skin care system, leaving your skin feeling soft, smooth and nourished. I recommend starting with with Cindy's full regimen which contains all five of her best selling products including the amazing Youth Activating Melon Serum. This next generation serum has the power of Melon leaf stem cell technology. It's Melon Leaf stem cells encapsulated for freshness and released onto the skin to support a visible reduction in the appearance of wrinkles. With thousands of glowing five star reviews, why not give it a try? Subscribe today and you can get the amazing Meaningful Beauty system for just 49. 99. That includes our introductory five piece system, free gifts, free shipping, and a 60 day money back guarantee. All that [e-mail] ATT has a new.

[Unknown]

Guarantee because most things in life are not guaranteed. Like actually getting the rental car you requested or your wedding turning out just like you dreamed it would. And someone making another pot of coffee in the break room after drinking the last drop of the last one. Yeah, don't get me started. Not guaranteed. In a world where Nothing is guaranteed, AT&T is bringing something new to the table. AT&T is introducing a guaranty with connectivity you depend on, deals you want and service you deserve or they'll make it right. So if you want to know more about the AT&T guarantee, head to att.com guarantee AT&T connecting changes everything. Terms and conditions apply. Visit att.com Guarantee Guarantee for details.

[Cindy Crawford]

Wasn't that delicious?

[Elon Musk]

So good.

[Unknown]

Your bill, ladies.

[Elon Musk]

I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

[Unknown]

Don't be silly.

[Elon Musk]

You gonna be silly.

[Unknown]

People with The Wells Fargo ActiveCash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash back on purchases.

[Elon Musk]

Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, paper, scissors.

[Jack Armstrong]

Shoot, shoot. No.

[Unknown]

The Wells Fargo active cash credit card. Visit wells Fargo.com Active cash terms apply.

[Elon Musk]

Just days after leaving the Trump administration, Elon Musk ripping into the bill at the heart of President Trump's agenda. I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. Musk posted on X. This massive, outrageous, pork filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. It comes just hours after Trump declared the bill a big winner. But Musk now insisting the bill will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion and burden American citizen citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.

[Unknown]

The rest of that tweet was Elon saying everybody who voted for it should be ashamed of themselves.

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

One more voice. This is Senator John Thune of Sandy of South Dakota, rather 33 Michael.

[Unknown]

Will this lead to higher deficits?

[Jack Armstrong]

The answer to that is no. You're going to get growth in the economy and when the economy again is growing, expanding, you get more government revenue. Add to that the a couple trillion dollars in cuts that are in the bill and you had the Most significant reduction in spending and biggest amount of savings in history. Okay, so we're going. Did you want to throw in one comment before we plunge ahead?

[Unknown]

The savings are always on the back end and don't happen the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely true. So through the use of two emails, we will set up the problem. Then I will hit you with the obvious solution that is not only going to happen, it's happening now.

[Unknown]

Cannibalism.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's part of it. So JT writes, both sides lie about taxes and spending. They lie to us, probably to themselves. The so called big beautiful bill will make the Trump tax cuts permanent until they aren't. And they will stimulate the economy more than letting them expire. But our economic debt problem won't be solved by keeping the tax rates as they are right now. Tax cuts won't pay for themselves completely. They never do alternate. Alternatively, tax rate increases never bring down the deficit or the debt. The government just spends more, et cetera, blah, blah, blah. So that's the problem. Obviously, nobody's willing to do anything about it. Politically, this is a brilliant, elegant solution to the debt problem. It is also horrifying. Uh, this is from frequent correspondent Paolo who's compiled a couple of different sources and I am completely convinced. If this is in any way wrong, please tell us why. Mailbag@armstrong getty.com A theory about Trump's economic strategy. And it's not just Trump's, by the way, to introduct interrupt Paulo's flow. They're going to let inflation fix the debt. It's not a new idea. Fixing it in a sensible way is probably politically impossible anyway. Ladies and gentlemen, we have an enormous debt and it is practically politically impossible to raise taxes enough or cut spending enough to retire that debt and those deficits. So what if we could enact a gigantic hidden tax that people didn't realize they were being taxed? That's inflation. If you've been listening to the show, we've explained it many times how inflation is a hidden tax. You accumulate a certain amount of debt, you print enough money and put it out into circulation. That million dollars of debt you owed few years later, a million dollars feels like half a million dollars. You know how inflation works? If it's prices, it's in reverse. But it's almost like you look back at the rent you paid in 1994 and you're thinking, wow, that's quaint. Well, what if that was a debt? You'd think, wow, that's quaint. I can pay that off, right? So getting Back to Paolo's email. Trump wants to goose the booming economy. He'll do it and let fiscal policy resolve the situation later. Or at least that's how we'll rationalize it. And again, the Democrats are fully on board. My God. God, look at the inflation during the Biden years. All it takes is a Fed that keeps interest rates low come hell or high water, and inflation be damned. The inflation that follows effectively lowers the debt and effectively taxes everybody at an equal, hard to predict and probably very high rate. That's probably a doable plan. Just takes a handful of people to pull it off. Anything that requires Congress will probably never happen. It's called fiscal dominance. And I've got a couple of articles that we could get a little more into detail, slash into the weeds, but you've got the broad outlines of it. We pay off the debt through fueling inflation.

[Unknown]

Well, just from a tax standpoint, if you treat it as a tax, at least it gets spread among everybody. And it's not the very, very narrow tax base that is so incredibly unfair and, and, and, and keeps us from ever dealing with anything. But that doesn't work in this case because we just can't keep spending more than we take in. And, and hiding it in inflation is not a good idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, no, it's a horrifying idea. Yeah, it is. What's going to happen?

[Unknown]

Yeah, Nick Gillespie is a guy who runs Reason. They're libertarians. He's a hardcore libertarian. Oh, he's wears a leather jacket. That's the libertarian look.

[Jack Armstrong]

Look, he was. You want to be ready.

[Unknown]

He was responding to Senator Tom Cotton, who tweeted out today our tax cuts were set up America for Economic Growth. And he said simply. Nick Gillespie said simply not true. The best thing you could do is reduce spending. That's the one thing the government could actually control is spending. And Republicans, like Democrats, never cut spending yet. That's the way. It's just like if you want a diet, you can work out really, really hard, but you got to stop eating cake and ice cream. You got it. You got to stop taking in all the calories if you really want to get it under control. Sure, you know, growing the economy, that's all great, but we gotta stop spend. You just have to. It's the only way you're actually going to ever get there. But we won't or we haven't yet.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I think our two grimly realistic correspondents absolutely nailed it. Americans won't consent to taxes high enough to take care of the problem. Congress wouldn't even try to pass it anyway. It's politically untenable. And as we've seen illustrated all too vividly in the recent Republican effort to do anything about Medicaid. Yeah. Which if you're not familiar with it, it's gone from a very small program that was supposed to help the most beleaguered and poor among us to now a program for millions and millions of able bodied working age people who just don't feel like working. And they're on the government dole. Even reigning that in slightly, the Democrats mobilized a massive and fairly effective. They're trying to render blind people homeless and kick poverty stricken babies. And it worked enough that Republicans backed off. They thought, oh, there's no win in this fight. Screw it, we'll just keep Medicaid as it is.

[Unknown]

Yeah, the Republicans I see on any of the talk shows, they don't do a good job of selling it as, hey, we got a bunch of lazy bums on Medicaid that shouldn't be getting it. They must think that politically that doesn't work.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, I read a piece by Karl Rove and I know a lot of people in the kind of the newer conservatism don't like Karl Rove at all. And you know, he's got a flaw. He's got flaws like all of them, us. But he was arguing and he fleshed it out, I might be able to find it. But he said, look, we've just got to pitch the idea that there are freeloaders ripping off the system. Just use the word freeloaders and point out how the freeloaders are taking benefits from the blind people and the poor people and the babies.

[Unknown]

Which is true.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I read it and I thought that's brilliantly, obviously, simply effective. But either the Republicans are gutless cowards, which is certainly possible, or they have perceived that. No, that just. It doesn't work. It's too easy to frighten people. We're not even gonna try.

[Unknown]

Or is it that along with those freeloaders have been voting Republican the last couple of cycles. They're now Trump voters. They're now Republican voters. The freeloaders.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hello.

[Unknown]

We can't be calling out the freeloaders.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, Your Rust Belt, your Appalachia, whatever, where the plant is closed and everybody's on disability now and, and getting government checks. Yeah, it's the hillbilly elegy crowd. Honestly, JD Tell us about it.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's really frustrating.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I'm sorry to bring you bad tidings, but now that I see it. I see the problem in the solution. It makes perfect sense. It's a puzzle piece that fits.

[Unknown]

The latest number from the CBO just came out on the disgusting abomination and says the bill could add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The CBO. Of course, if it's. If it's your opponent's bill, you claim it's accurate. If it's your bill, you claim they never get it right and then it flips when they.

[Jack Armstrong]

The other side has power. Of course, keep in mind, as you pointed out quite aptly not long ago, the spending is immediate, the savings and the cuts are a few years down the road and they never end up happening. No. So the CBO is underestimated. Would, I would guess the adding to the debt. Yeah.

[Unknown]

And Mike Johnson can make accurate arguments about cutting spending mathematically, but if the spending is down the road, when there will be a different administration, a different Congress, and then they do away with it at the time, doesn't make any difference. And that has happened over and over and over again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, honey, if we buy this boat, I will give up drinking and golf in 2027.

[Unknown]

My argument for us being right is just look at a graph of US Debt. It only goes one direction. No matter who's president, no matter who has control of all three branches, it just goes one way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, no, that's just a technicality. I don't see your point at all.

[Unknown]

Oh my God. It's frustrating.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I know. So frustrating. Democracy doesn't work anymore. We tried. We gave it a good try.

[Unknown]

If you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and zoom. Welcome back to 1999. It's time for an upgrade. At public.com you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind. @Public.com Go to Public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Pay for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full [e-mail] disclosures.

[Unknown]

You're great at protecting your own personal information. You probably even use things like two factor authentication, strong passwords and a vpn. But as much as you try to be in control of how your information is protected, there are lots of places that also have it and they might not be as careful as you are. That's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second for identity threats. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US based restoration specialist will help solve identity theft issues on your behalf, guaranteed or your money back. Plus, all LifeLock plans are backed by the million dollar protection package, meaning Lifelock will reimburse you up to the limits of your plan if you lose money due to identity theft. You might not be able to control how others handle your personal information, but you can help protect it with LifeLock. Save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code IHEARTRA or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off.

[Cindy Crawford]

Terms apply Sonesta Travel Pass is the most rewarding way to travel. Sign [e-mail] for instant savings, bonus points and perks like early check in and late checkout, room upgrades and free stays. Choose from 1100 hotels across 13 brands and unlock their best rates when you book with Sonesta Travel Pass here today, Rome tomorrow. Join [e-mail] that's sinesta.com terms and conditions apply.

[Elon Musk]

Millions of people have turned to Claude, the AI assistant from Anthropic because it just feels different. Where other AIs often sound a little robotic, Claude has been designed with special research that informs its character, meaning that Claude just gets it when it comes to empathy and emotional intelligence. That's why Claude has become the if you know, you know choice for dating advice, career coaching, gathering your thoughts for those important life decisions, and more. Give Claude a try for free at Claude.com that's C-L-A-U--E.com and let us know how you feel the difference.

[Unknown]

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[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.