Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: I Don't Want To Touch Everyone Who Has Been At McDonald's All Day
Date: February 10, 2026
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

This episode offers a rapid-fire discussion of current events, social trends, and personal observations in true Armstrong & Getty style: irreverent, skeptical, and laced with dry humor. Main topics include:

• GLP-1 weight loss drugs and Serena Williams’ Super Bowl ad
• Trump administration’s plan to roll back greenhouse gas regulation
• How automation and AI are shifting the labor/capital divide
• The evolution of fast food ordering and public health worries
• Celebrity deaths and odd tributes
• Viral moments: Super Bowl streaker and influencer culture
• Social pressures on businesses to make political statements, illustrated by a viral yoga studio confrontation
• Shrinkage and bias in legacy journalism (Washington Post layoffs, selective media coverage)
• A dramatic plane landing in Georgia
• The opening trial against social media giants for alleged intentional addictiveness

Key Discussion Points & Insights

GLP-1 Medications, Weight, and Celebrity Advertising

• Serena Williams’ Super Bowl ad for GLP-1 weight loss drugs sparks commentary about postpartum weight, exercise, and health.
• Armstrong and Getty note the changing landscape where even top athletes may turn to medication for weight management.
  • Jack: “That’s gotta be so frustrating...you gain weight, you have a baby, and just you’re exercising like crazy and nothing’s happening.” (00:49)
  • Getty (dryly): “Hope the GLP1 works for her and she can still take in enough nutrition...Or we’re gonna end up with the scurvy.” (01:37)

Major Federal Climate Policy Reversal

• The Trump administration plans to repeal the 2009 EPA “endangerment finding,” rolling back the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas regulation.
• Getty: “This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States.” (03:31)
• The pair agree such policy swings with the administration, expressing mild enthusiasm for economic effects.

Capital vs. Labor in the Modern Economy

• Discussion of Wall Street Journal analysis: an increasing share of profits going to capital (technology, equipment, software) vs. labor.
  • Since 1980, labor’s share dropped from 58% to 51%, while profits climbed.
  • Getty: “They just don't need workers. That's why some of the AI guys...are making noises about a super, super progressive tax code.” (05:21)
• McDonald's touchscreens and the automation of low-wage jobs are cited as real-life examples.

Fast Food, Touchscreens, & Germ Anxiety

• Jack laments ordering on McDonald’s touchscreens and questions their hygiene:
  • Jack: “Didn’t I just touch fingers with every single person who ate there that day?...I got the latest Covid and tuberculosis and a couple of STDs.” (07:12)
  • Getty: “All of it. Fecal matter, certainly.” (07:23)
  • Jack: “Should I be bringing rubber gloves with me?...I didn’t have to touch a single person when I used to go in and order.” (07:28)
• The awkward, tedious process of ordering is compared with “the way it used to be.”

White-Collar Job Market Shifts

• Getty cites a story about job seekers now paying recruiters to get noticed amid a glutted white-collar market—an inversion of normal dynamics.

AI, Government Job Transitions, & Ineffective Retraining

• Reference to Phil Gramm’s Wall Street Journal op-ed: government jobs programs fail to help workers adapt to tech shifts (e.g. retraining coal miners to code just as AI automates coding).
  • Getty (paraphrasing): “These things are...enormously expensive and actually interfere with people adapting to the new realities.” (08:53)
  • Jack: “Now, nobody needs to know how to code now.” (10:05)

Notable Detours: Super Bowl Streaker & Social Media

Super Bowl "Streaker"

• Recap of Super Bowl field invader who live-streamed with meta-glasses, staged a distraction, and went viral to promote “profitable trading.”
  • Jack: “He had a clever plan...trying to become some sort of influencer, I’m sure, as everybody in America is.” (15:04)
  • Getty (re streaking): “That’s the business half.” (16:16)
  • Getty (cynical): “Everybody wants to be famous.” (16:45)

Catherine O’Hara Tribute & Public Mourning

• Tribute to Catherine O’Hara (home alone, SCTV, etc.) and curiosity about people leaving teddy bears at the Home Alone house.
  • Jack: “I just don’t understand the emotions of that.” (13:05)
  • Getty: “That’s it. I’ve got to take money from foolish people and spend it on luxuries.” (13:13)

Mob Rule & Political Demands in Everyday Life

• Viral yoga studio incident: patrons berate staff for not making political statements about immigration.
  • Armstrong (clip): “Give us answers, let’s go. Say them out loud for the camera, for all my viewers. Let’s hear it. Why are you being silent? Let’s hear it, Delaney. Loud and proud, baby...” (18:53)
  • Getty: “Yeah, she’s maybe the worst person in America.” (20:07)
  • Jack: “If you don’t like [the studio’s stance], go to a different yoga place.” (20:25)
  • A Free Press piece is cited warning about the decline in decency and rise of “mob rule” in public spaces.

Media Layoffs, Journalism, and Bias

• The Washington Post lays off 30% of staff; entire sports desk shuttered, last article fixates on Colin Kaepernick.
  • Getty (paraphrasing Gerard Baker): “Faith in the honesty of these institutions has already been devastated by their own tendentious work.” (26:35)
  • Armstrong & Getty bemoan selective coverage, abundance of climate/change reporters, and lack of mainstream perspective.
  • Getty: “Now it’s 24-year-old Columbia School of Journalism graduates who are the least in touch human beings in America.” (29:03)
  • Jack: “The current [media] sucked. We’re better off without the current.” (30:51)

Dramatic Plane Emergency in Georgia

• A pilot safely lands a disabled plane on a traffic-packed road.
  • Jack: “It’s just luck that ... a car didn’t get crunched and people died.” (31:50)
  • Getty: “He called air traffic control and said, we’re going down, tell my wife I love her.” (32:12)

Social Media on Trial for Addictive Practices

• Landmark case begins: families argue Google, Meta designed platforms to addict children.
  • Jack: “Every product’s trying to be addictive ... whether it’s potato chips or this show or NFL football...” (33:06)
  • Getty: “It’s tough to draw a line between it’s really fun and I’m helplessly addicted.” (35:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments with Timestamps

• “Or we’re gonna end up with the scurvy.” – Getty on celebrity dieting (01:37)
• “Didn’t I just touch fingers with every single person who ate there that day?...I got the latest Covid and tuberculosis and a couple of STDs.” – Jack, on McDonald’s touchscreens (07:12)
• "He's maybe the worst person in America." – Getty, on the yoga studio protestor (20:07)
• "Now it’s 24-year-old Columbia School of Journalism graduates who are the least in touch human beings in America." – Getty (29:03)
• “The current [media] sucked. We’re better off without the current.” – Jack on legacy journalism (30:51)
• “That’s the business half.” – Getty, on streaking etiquette (16:16)
• “I just don’t understand the emotions of that.” – Jack, on public mourning at the Home Alone house (13:05)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Serena Williams and GLP-1 Drugs: 00:28–02:02
• Trump EPA Rollback: 02:04–03:42
• Labor/Capital Shift & McDonald’s Touchscreens: 04:01–07:45
• Super Bowl Streaker Recap: 13:49–17:03
• Viral Yoga Studio Protest: 17:54–23:08
• Media Layoffs & Bias: 24:23–31:11
• Plane Emergency Landing: 31:18–32:33
• Social Media Addiction Trial: 32:33–35:34

Conclusion

Armstrong & Getty’s February 10, 2026 episode deftly balances commentary on the day’s headlines with trademark sardonic wit. Whether dissecting the economics of touchscreens, the echo chambers of media and activism, or viral fame’s ever-lowering bar, the show consistently underscores the cultural whiplash of modern America—with a healthy dose of skepticism, nostalgia, and humor.