Jack Wants To Put A Camera In Gavin Newsom's Bathroom

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Jack Wants To Put A Camera In Gavin Newsom's Bathroom
Date: January 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive into current California politics, media dynamics, law enforcement controversies, government accountability, and cutting-edge technology. The conversation features sharp criticisms of Governor Gavin Newsom, scrutiny over government processes, insightful media analysis, and a playful but thoughtful discussion about the advances and future of self-driving cars. Interspersed throughout are the duo’s trademark irreverence, humor, and cultural references, as well as a light-hearted animal news segment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Federal Oversight of California Wildfire Recovery

00:30 - 02:10

• President Trump's Executive Order: Joe Pollock (California Post) reports on Trump’s order to speed up wildfire recovery by federalizing the permit process, responding to delays by state and local officials.
• Newsom Pushes Back: Governor Gavin Newsom resists accusations, insisting what Californians need is funding, not permit streamlining.
• Commentary on Red Tape: The hosts point out systemic government inefficiency.
  • “If Gavin Newsom is involved, you can just assume there’s malfeasance or poor management.” — Michael, [01:01]

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2. Media Bias & Coverage Disparities

02:10 - 04:45

• California Versus New York Media: Jack rants about how major stories in California get less national play compared to similar New York events.
  • “It’s always bothered me that… anything that happens in New York gets national attention. Things happen in Los Angeles or California, nobody pays any attention.” — Jack Armstrong, [02:36]
• California Post as a New Player: Discussing potential for California-focused journalism to gain national relevance.
• Recent LA Police Commission Incident: A radical protest at a police meeting is largely ignored by national outlets, despite its severity.

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3. Radical Protest Tactics & Public Perception

04:45 - 06:15

• Harassment of Journalists: Story of agitators targeting a California Post reporter covering a police accountability meeting; panel contemplates the intent behind such intimidation.
  • “Terrorizing a young woman, trying to provoke a reaction, desperately hoping for violence and chaos.” — Michael, [04:07]
• Saul Alinsky Tactics: Reference to provoking authorities, banking on public perception of police brutality, even when provocation is intentional.

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4. Why West Coast Media Lags Nationally

06:15 - 07:06

• Population Density & Media Origins: Michael suggests historical and demographic factors have entrenched the dominance of East Coast national media.
  • “That’s where the infrastructure grew up. So that’s where it is.” — Michael, [06:46]

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5. Gavin Newsom’s Image, Hair, and Political Prospects

07:06 - 09:43

• Satirical Praise: Nelly Bowles’s snarky take on Gavin Newsom’s persona, linked to billionaire Alex Soros’s public political endorsements.
  • “I like Gavin’s aggressive sociopath energy. I like his whole attractive Marin family… but even I balk at this.” — Nelly Bowles (read by Michael), [07:23]
• Presidential Power Rankings: Mark Halperin’s recent assessment sees Newsom dropping due to unforced errors.
• Vanity Segment: Jack jokes about wanting a live cam in Newsom’s bathroom to document his elaborate hair routine.
  • “If somebody could somehow get a camera into his bathroom… Imagine what a great video that would be.” — Jack Armstrong, [09:37]

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6. The “Doomsday Clock” and Public Alarmism

10:06 - 15:35

• Mockery & Critique: The Doomsday Clock concept is lambasted as overwrought and unscientific.
  • “This is a stupid concept that for some reason gets people’s attention.” — Jack Armstrong, [10:06]
  • “This is truly the stupidest concept in the world.” — Charles C.W. Cook (quoted), [14:47]
• Expanded Threats: The hosts chart the shift from nuclear war focus to including climate change and “autocracy” (implicitly referencing Trump).
• Institutional Critique: Many hallowed organizations and their pronouncements are called into question for outsized influence.

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7. Russia’s War Crimes in Ukraine

16:05 - 17:06

• Civilian Train Attacked: Discussion of a deadly Russian strike on a Ukrainian passenger train and international silence.
  • “If this happened in China or the United States or any African country or anywhere, this would be declared a war crime.” — Jack Armstrong, [16:36]
• Staggering Losses: Over 2 million casualties since the war began.

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8. Tech History & Self-Driving Car Wars

18:00 - 28:13

• Historical Analogies: Edison vs Westinghouse (AC vs DC), VHS vs Beta, setting up a comparison to current self-driving tech battles.
• Waymo vs Tesla: Contrast between lidar-based systems (Waymo) and Tesla’s camera/computer “vision,” with pros, cons, and personal experience anecdotes.
  • “My cybertruck drove me to work today… It’s really quite amazing.” — Jack Armstrong, [20:46]
  • “The Tesla idea was that what humans can do with their eyeballs and a brain, a car must also be able to do…” — Michael, [21:21]
• Mapping vs “Eyeballs”: Discussing the strengths and limitations of mapping (Waymo) vs generalized vision (Tesla).
• Potential Societal Shifts: Imagining a future where commuting is transformed by self-driving offices and working on the go.
  • “If you can turn that commute… into sleeping, watching a show, going through emails… that will revolutionize life in America.” — Michael, [27:46]

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9. Touchscreens in Cars: The Case Against

28:13 - 30:44

• Old Controls Preferred: Michael argues touchscreens are dangerous without tactile feedback—until full automation is realized.

  • “Touchscreens are a terrible idea until self-driving comes along because… there’s no tactile response.” — Michael, [29:52]

• Self-Driving Converts: Jack admits he was once a skeptic but finds the technology genuinely life-changing: watching football while being driven.

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10. Lighthearted Zoological News

31:32 - 36:08

• Animal Headlines: Bald eagles nesting in California, a mountain lion captured in San Francisco, and a wild elephant encounter in Sri Lanka.
  • “Reminding people that wild elephants can be dangerous. For people with an IQ of 6, that’s caution.” — Jack Armstrong, [34:40]
• Fun Facts & Banter: Panting eagles, comedic riffs on animal naming, and affectionate ribbing about patriotic attachment to eagles.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If Gavin Newsom is involved, you can just assume there’s malfeasance or poor management.” — Michael, [01:01]
• “It’s always bothered me that… anything that happens in New York gets national attention. Things happen in Los Angeles or California, nobody pays any attention.” — Jack Armstrong, [02:36]
• “I want to vote for Gavin for things I don’t care about… I like Gavin’s aggressive sociopath energy.” — Nelly Bowles (read by Michael), [07:23]
• “If somebody could somehow get a camera into his [Newsom’s] bathroom… Imagine what a great video that would be.” — Jack Armstrong, [09:37]
• “This is a stupid concept that for some reason gets people’s attention.” — Jack Armstrong, [10:06] (on the Doomsday Clock)
• “If you can turn that commute… into sleeping, watching a show, going through emails… that will revolutionize life in America.” — Michael, [27:46]
• “Reminding people that wild elephants can be dangerous. For people with an IQ of 6, that’s caution.” — Jack Armstrong, [34:40]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Federal vs. State Wildfire Recovery: 00:30 – 02:10
• LA Police Meeting Protest & California Post: 02:10 – 06:15
• West vs. East Media Discussion: 06:15 – 07:06
• Gavin Newsom, Soros, and Power Rankings: 07:06 – 09:43
• Doomsday Clock & Cultural Institutions: 10:06 – 15:35
• Ukraine War Crime Discussion: 16:05 – 17:06
• Historical Tech Battles & Self-Driving Cars: 18:00 – 28:13
• Touchscreen Rant: 28:13 – 30:44
• Animal News: 31:32 – 36:08

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Tone & Style

The hosts balance sarcasm, skepticism, cultural critique, and real-world anecdotes, paired with playful banter and layered pop-cultural references, to dissect contemporary issues in media, politics, and technology. Their style is irreverent, skeptical of authority and media “wisdom,” and always ready with a joke—even on serious subjects.

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For Further Listening

To catch the spirited debate, tech asides, and humorous rants in full, listen to the podcast episode:
Armstrong & Getty On Demand - “Jack Wants To Put A Camera In Gavin Newsom's Bathroom” (January 28, 2026)

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

[Joe Getty]

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

[Michael]

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

[Joe Pollock]

President Trump has signed a new executive executive order aimed at speeding up recovery from major wildfires in California last year. But rather than just offering assistance, he's taken aim at state and local officials, accusing them of approving only some permits required for rebuilding. The guidance says the Department of Homeland Security will now oversee the process. California Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing back against any allegations of wrongdoing. He says Californians didn't need an expedited permit process. They need money to rebuild.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Michael]

I think if Gavin Newsom is involved, you can just assume there's malfeasance or poor management.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, so, but you see, the deal, though, Gavin, is the story isn't people have their permits but don't have money. That could be true, but that's not what the story is. The story is they don't have their permits yet.

[Michael]

So red tape, paperwork, bad governance.

[Joe Pollock]

Yeah.

[Michael]

The next voice you're going to hear significantly. Jack, you just mentioned this last hour, and we'll talk more about it in a second. This is Joe Pollock reporting for the California Post, the new west coast outlet of the New York Post.

[Joe Pollock]

The executive order essentially takes over the permitting process, especially where any federal money is involved at the state and local level, with the goal of speeding up the rebuilding process not just in Pacific Palisades, but also in the area of the Eaton fire. And there's a separate section of the executive order that looks at $3 billion that the federal government gave to the state of California for spending to prevent or mitigate wildfires. And they want to look at what happen happened to the money and how it was spent.

[Michael]

That's weird. Asking accountability for giant piles of government spending.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why say this out loud to all of us, including Executive Producer Hansen, if we don't develop a relationship with the California Post like yesterday, where we get some of the reporters on, we're really making a mistake because obviously they really, really want to let people know they're out here doing their thing and we're perfect for them. Absolutely perfect. It's hand in a glove.

[Michael]

Fits like OJ's glove.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. We can get this going. So here's a California Post story from yesterday. And it's always bothered me. It's always bothered me that New York, anything that happens in New York gets national attention. Things happen in Los Angeles or California, nobody pays any attention it's never made any sense. The LA Times used to be a really big deal back in the day. They were. I looked at them as like the equivalent of the New York Times just the way. But it fell off for all kinds of different reasons we've talked about over the years. Maybe the California Post can make some headway on that. But if this happened in New York, it would have gotten news you haven't heard about it probably. Yesterday, radical leftist agitators ambushed an L A Police commission meeting, screaming obscenities at officers and accusing the department of being murderers before viciously turning on a California post journalist. Around 40 agitators, many of them obscuring their faces with medical masks and keffiyeh scarves. Imagine the video of this in New York. It would be everywhere. Antifa types happened in LA yesterday. Around 40 agitators chanting F. The police assailed the officers as pigs and shouted anti law enforcement slogans as their increasingly disruptive act antics ground the proceedings to a halt. Which of course was the point. The unhinged radicals tried to use their intimidation tactic against Post reporter Jamie Page who was covering the public meeting, peppering her with insults and attempting to physically block her camera. Screaming at her, getting in her face. You're afraid of me, aren't you? One well known agitator seethed at the Post reporter.

[Michael]

Yeah, terrorizing a young woman, trying to provoke a reaction, desperately hoping for violence and chaos. When will we wake up to the fact that that's what these radicals are going for?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right, and scaring a reporter who's there covering a police commission meeting. Which is exactly what, like one of your number one news things that should ever happen locally.

[Michael]

Right, right, but, but again you're like looking for reasonableness or reasonable explanation of what they're doing and why they're doing it. They, they seek to overthrow the system. They're trying to get it to crash. That's their only purpose.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pretty awful that it doesn't get more attention than this.

[Michael]

You know, you're right though. You think you could, you know, illustrate to a reasonable center left person, well wait a minute, wait a minute. Why would they be angrily protesting, covering a meeting where the police are being held to account? Does that make any sense to you? Now maybe you believe me that these people are just radicals bent on overthrowing liberal democracies, but people don't want to hear it or they don't believe it.

[Jack Armstrong]

That whole acting crazy and aggressive and then screaming at people. You're afraid of me, aren't you? I like I I physically react to that with horror. I hate that.

[Michael]

Yeah, well, you want to punch them in the face. Yeah. And they have made the Saul Alinsky inspired calculation that, okay, we provoke violence and we deserve it, but we can frame it as the oppressors trying to keep the little people down and it will be successful. 65% of the people, I'm sure they have data. Honestly, you know, whatever percentage it is, 60% of the people who see that footage think, wow, police brutality. Those protesters are right. And 30% think they were, that's why they showed up. But they win. They win when they follow that tactic. I know a lot of you good people think, well, let's try to give in to their, their desires and beat the bejesus out of them every time they try this stuff. I know, it's tempting, isn't it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you think the California Post is going to work?

[Michael]

Yeah, on one level or another. It might just become a department of the New York Post in essence. But what's a website? I mean, how much money does it have to make to work? I don't know. But why?

[Jack Armstrong]

Why? Why has west coast media not been able to like, get the national media presence that the east coast media gets?

[Michael]

Why?

[Jack Armstrong]

Why is that there's no reason for people, people across the country to be more interested in New York than in la? I don't know.

[Michael]

I think the national media evolved from the regional media and there's more population density there and just, you know, inertia. That's where the infrastructure grew up. So that's where it is.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's where all the well known reporters are and pundits, they all live in New York or dc, travel back and forth between.

[Michael]

Yeah, great snarky shot at Gavin Newsom by the brilliant Nelly Bowles. Someone needs to take away Alex Soros. Social media. The Soros family, who, when claiming their politicians should stop bragging about it. Young Alex Soros, the boy king chosen to shepherd his father's vast resources toward another generation of the most lunatic left wing causes, posted a selfie with Gavin Newsom from Davos like he's a new Pokemon for young Alex. See, I actually like Gavin a lot. Nelly writes, I want to vote for Gavin for things I don't care about. The fake California high speed rail, the homelessness, corruption. I like Gavin's aggressive sociopath energy. I like his whole attractive Marin family. And I like that his scandals involve the French laundry. I like that his hair likely takes multiple products and daily regimens to maintain. I don't want to explain Myself, votes are private. But even I see. Oh my God, Nelly, I am in love with your intellect. Oh my God. But even I balk at this. Alex Soros, buy your politicians in private. Do not make them do a walk of shame and share pictures of them in lingerie to show the world that you can buy whatever you want. We get it. But someone might want to marry that girl one day. And now look what you've done to her.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is pretty funny.

[Michael]

Oh, Nelly, you're a genius.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Mark Halperin, who has got. He spends more time thinking about the nomination for Democrat president than like any journalist I know, he has a ranking the big eight or something like that. And he moves him up and down in the power rankings week by week and that sort of stuff. But he feels like Gavin had a really bad couple of weeks that he went down in the power rankings last couple of weeks, which I thought was interesting.

[Michael]

Hey, where does he have Rahm Emanuel? Because I just heard a piece just completely manual.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, he moved Rahm Emanuel up. Oh, really? Somebody dismissing him?

[Michael]

They just said there's no energy in that part of the Democratic Party. The reasonable centrist be true that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That might be true. That's. That's dismissive of the people and not the guy. The guy is really, really good. But yeah, there might not be an audience for what he has to say. That. That definitely could be true. The hair thing, though, I would. I don't have hair and I've never really had hair. But I'll bet the process for Gavin getting his hair done, if somebody could get. If somebody could somehow get a camera into his bathroom. Deep gel is our source and, and have the. Imagine what a great video that would be. The 20 minute, two hour. I don't know what the process is to get that hair like that, but it would take a while and number a number of products. It's not one product guaranteed.

[Michael]

Michael Label this segment of the podcast. Jack wants to put a camera in Gavin Newsom's bathroom. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you have hair.

[Michael]

I do.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's probably a multi step process.

[Michael]

Luxurious.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's got to be something to it, right?

[Michael]

Oh, I would think so, yeah. Yeah. Unless his hair is just naturally poofy. It's a gift. It's a beautiful gift.

[Jack Armstrong]

The doomsday clock has been moved closer to midnight. This is a stupid concept that for some reason gets people's attention and got a lot of tension over the years, including ours. Well, I want to explain while it's a stupid concept, in case you hear it on another News source because you know, people make a big deal out of it. Among other things on the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Governor Kathy Hochul]

Pro tips on shoveling from someone from Buffalo. Who knows. Just push it out of the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Governor Kathy Hochul]

See what I'm doing here? No strain on the back from doing that. And when it gets a lot heavier, you're gonna have to do a little bit more. But don't lift much. Just do it in smaller bits. Okay? Little bits, little bits. You can do this. Do a big pile and fill this up because that can lead to a heart attack. You don't want that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's the governor of New York feeling like as a public servant she needed to give some people tips on shoveling snow. In a state where you shovel snow every single year your whole life. You grow up shoveling snow, everybody shovel snow.

[Michael]

Blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

But she thinks you need to get out there and let people know how to do it.

[Michael]

She's not duck that. Governor Hochul.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not what I feel like the role of government is not really.

[Michael]

It's fine.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's got a lot of attention as it does every time it gets updated. The Doomsday Clock, which if you don't know what it is, we'll explain it here in a second. Got moved to 85 seconds to midnight. The closest to midnight it's ever been with midnight being the apocalypse. They should have asked for some sort of scary sound. I'm sorry, Michael. The Doomsday Clock.

[Michael]

Oh no, not the apocalypse.

[Jack Armstrong]

Bum, bum, bum. The Doomsday clock, a metaphorical timepiece. Timepiece meant to depict how close humanity is to destruction. Ticked closer than ever to midnight over the weekend. This got lots of news because for some reason we are built to assign a person or a panel with like the all knowing responsibility of declaring things. And then we take it seriously in a way that's odd. Like Nobel prizes or Pulitzer prizes or the Doomsday Clock or lots of different things. Like we just assume that these eight yahoos have way more insight given to them on from God or something than any other group of people possibly could. Or you on your own, right?

[Michael]

Nobody says, wait a minute, who are these people? What are their standards? Blah blah, blah. You know what the greatest examples of that are? Is like the AMA and the American Psychiatric Doctors who are radical leftist groups.

[Jack Armstrong]

So it's the grimmest outlook yet on Earth's future. From the Clocks Creators, which is a non profit organization and publication called the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that has set the clock each year since 1947. The original idea was once the Soviet Union got the bomb that, okay, how close are we to nuclear Armageddon? And we're going to kind of use this as a. When tensions get hot between us and the Soviet Union and then other countries started to getting the bomb, you know, we'll move the clock closer to try to just kind of alert people that I think we're really close to like all out nuclear war here or after the Cold War. I've got the chart here. Over the years, right after the Soviet Union fell, the clock got moved Back to like 17 minutes to midnight. Like, we're a long way from Armageddon at that time. This is the way they looked at it. But it's been going up, up, up, up, up, closer to midnight ever since. And it's the closest it's ever been because they added in other stuff, not just nuclear Armageddon, they included, guess what I mean, you know the answer to this question.

[Michael]

Climate change.

[Jack Armstrong]

They factored in climate change starting quite a few years ago.

[Michael]

Unbelievable.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now the rise of autocracy. And, you know, that's all Trump. You know that's all Trump, right?

[Michael]

Because you got an autocrat and he gets hot because the climate change, he's probably going to push the button.

[Jack Armstrong]

Failures, failures in climate action, disruptive technologies like AI, which is another one to throw in, and the rise of autocracy are among the reasons that they had to move it closer to midnight than it has ever been before. The idea that the world is closer to blowing itself up than it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis or at various times, like during the 80s with the Soviet Union is, is just dumb. The whole, the whole concept is dumb. What's dumb is that anybody pays any attention to it. Here's here, here's. Oh, I lost it. Here's Charles C.W. cook of the National Review. This is truly the stupidest concept in the world. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the clock stayed at seven minutes till midnight and moved back at the next review to 12 minutes. So it was the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was seven minutes. We've moved up almost, well, six minutes since then, which is just nuts.

[Michael]

I just, I question the whole clock thing and their scale. I mean, if after the, the, the end of the Cold War briefly, that it was just 17 minutes till midnight, I mean, if somebody told me you're going to die in 17 minutes or you're going to receive unbelievable wealth in 17 minutes or anything, you know, like, of incredible importance, that's like now, that's right now. I don't even have time to take a shower.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah, it's out of whack. Because if you told me, like, my health was at a quarter, quarter till midnight, midnight being dying, I'd think, oh, crap, I gotta make some changes in my life.

[Michael]

So it's obviously designed to be overwrought.

[Jack Armstrong]

And from the beginning.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah, I appreciate their intent. Hey, let's not go too far down this road. Remember, everybody's bristling with nuclear arms.

[Jack Armstrong]

I get that.

[Michael]

I think it's a good thing. But yeah, like, I think your analysis was spot on. Like, so many of these institutions of old that may have started, it's like, you know, the naacp, there's all sorts of examples that, yeah, back in the day, they were fine, they were good. But they've become something completely different enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

Although the world order is as unsettled as it's been in a very, very, very long time. I mean, if they wanted to make that argument, you know, I'm all for it. So Russia attacked a civilian train in Ukraine overnight, killing a bunch of people. And that is. Zelensky put out a heck of a post saying this is out of bounds war crime anywhere on earth. If this happened in China or the United States or any African country or anywhere, this would be declared a war crime you cannot put up with. Leaders of the UN would be coming out, blah, blah, blah, blah. And nobody's saying anything. You can't attract some passenger train out in the rural part of Ukraine as part of your war.

[Michael]

It's just terrorism.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it is. And it is amazing how it just doesn't get much of attention. We're coming up on like in a week, the four year anniversary. And they announced the totals today, the latest totals. 2 million people have died, gone missing, or taken off the battlefield to injury. Two million.

[Michael]

Good lord.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a big number. If you missed a segment of this show, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty, man.

[Jack Armstrong]

When you get all worked up about football, like, if you're, if you're into it and you're following the playoffs week by week end of the season in the playoffs and then that week in between the championship games in the super bowl, always seems so weird because you got this momentum going.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah. Gonna have to like, spend time with friends and family.

[Jack Armstrong]

Clean the garage.

[Michael]

Yeah. So I remember I was completely unaware until as a fairly advanced age that back in the day when Thomas Edison was trying to get electric power going and electric lights, there was a big disagreement, there was a war between Alternating current. And what's the, what's D.C. stand for again? Direct current. And, and Edison was an AC guy. Who's, who's the main DC guy?

[Jack Armstrong]

I can't remember Herman Melville, I don't.

[Michael]

Know, I don't remember Angus Young. But I remember first hearing somebody saying, you know, D.C. was a better idea. But it was like hearing somebody say that oh, Lincoln was wrong, we should have kept the slaves. I mean because Edison was such a hero and everything. But I thought it was interesting that, you know, it was not clear which way it was going to go.

[Jack Armstrong]

This happens sometimes. A less important version would be VHS versus what back in the day?

[Michael]

Yeah, beta.

[Jack Armstrong]

Beta, yeah. There was different kinds of ways to record TV shows for the first time and, and the worst technology won out. But sometimes that happens.

[Michael]

Yeah. Why did VHS triumph?

[Jack Armstrong]

I can't, somehow I just got like, got in faster or whatever that just happened. Promoted more aggressive and then.

[Michael]

Yeah, I don't remember if, you know, hit us with an email if that would make you happy. I will read it. Well, a similar battle is going on right now between two different self driving car technologies. And one of them is going to take over and there are hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars at stake. In this corner you have Waymo which has on its roof a mounted lidar rig that spins continuously. It's a radar system essentially. It's cool looking.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you've never seen a Waymo, it looks really, really cool. It looks very space age. You got this big round thing on there spinning around and around and around. It gives it the real robot look.

[Michael]

Yeah, very space agey. Yeah. So it sends out laser pulses continually that bounce back from the road, storefronts, other vehicles, pedestrians. While radar signals emanate from its bumpers and side panels. The Waymo uses these sensors to generate a detailed 3D model of its surroundings, detecting pedestrians and cars that human drivers might struggle to see. In the other corner you have Tesla's technology. It operating in the full unsupervised self driving mode. It has no lidar, no radar, just eight cameras housed in pockets of glass. The car processes these video feeds through a neural network, identifying objects, estimating their dimensions, planning its path accordingly. And well there's something, there's something different.

[Jack Armstrong]

That happened with, with Tesla because it went from, they switched a couple of years ago because I got the newest one and it, it, I don't remember what it's called but it's got a different look to it. But it's not just cameras, it's something else. Anywho, I know they're different technologies.

[Michael]

Yeah, well, I don't know about that. Not just cameras. According to this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Certainly the way it, certainly the way it portrays it on the screen. It doesn't look like it's just cameras.

[Michael]

Interesting cameras. Anyway, one of the, one of the other is going to win with it. I don't want to get into a huge amount of detail.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was, I might. My cybertruck drove me to work today and I like to put it in Mad Max mode where it says it's most aggressive mode. It's actually a little, it's more aggressive than I drive. So it's a little unnerving sometimes. But driving me to work and it's gotten so good but regularly like the off ramps coming up and I think, shouldn't you be over by now? I mean I would be over in the other lane by now. And I just sit there and wait and see how's it going to make this happen. But it finds a hole, it figures it out. Calculating all the different speeds and people coming from this direction, that direction. It's really quite amazing.

[Michael]

Wow, how interesting. But anyway, the Tesla idea was that what humans can do with their eyeballs in a brain, a car must also be able to do with sufficient cameras and computers. If a human can drive without LiDAR, so too can an autonomous vehicle, or so Tesla claims.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there's got to be something obviously is going on because it calculates distances and puts it on the screen. You're now 36 inches. You're now 32 inches. Well, my brain can't do that. So there's something happening with the cameras or something.

[Michael]

Well, yeah, your brain does do that. It just doesn't give you a number. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I better stop or I'm going to hit my wife's car in the garage, you know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And she's going to be so mad.

[Michael]

Right, right. So they, they mentioned that the global taxi and ride hailing market is at about a quarter of a trillion dollars a year right now and will reach 3/4 of a trillion dollars within. So it's an enormous technical question.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Elon says that the current technology he's gotten Teslas is enough to go fully. I forget what the term it is, but you don't have to pay attention anymore. Currently you're supposed to pay attention, but he clearly adjusts that from time to time on how much you need to pay attention. When I first got a Tesla self driving Tesla, you if you took your eyes off the road for a second and A half, it'd go, I mean you couldn't, you couldn't. And it was really, I hardly ever used it because it was really like, well, what's the point of this? What am I doing here? I might as well just drive. Then it comes and goes on how slack it is. And right now it's really damn slack. I can pick up my phone, scroll through some texts. It might after 30 seconds give me a little nudge that hey, pay attention. But it lets me kind of. Yeah. Because if I can't, if I can't check emails or do whatever I want, I don't understand the point of self driving.

[Michael]

Well, it's not that my arms are so tired I can't stare anymore. Right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I know it's safer, but I mean that's not going to be the big draw. I don't actually worry about dying in a crash on the way to work every day.

[Michael]

So the final note on this topic, and I wish there was more information on this, fantasies of self driving vehicles are ancient, having appeared in Aristotle's Politics, which I read in school. And then came a chariot with no horse nor driver yet knew which way to go. I have no idea what that reference is. And also the Arabian Nights. Is that your magic carpet?

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe, yeah.

[Michael]

Anyway, ancient fantasy. The first functional robo taxi emerged in 1994 when Germany engineer. I combined two words just to save time. Very busy. Some would say German engineer. I say Germany. Ernst Dickmans installed a rudimentary automated driving system into two Mercedes sedans. It was able to drive on European highways at speeds up to 130km per hour while maintaining lane position and even executing passing maneuvers in traffic. He had been testing prototypes for a number of years and they. It was just two sets of forward facing video cameras of various sorts and a, you know, a 1990s style computer.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I don't know if this is still true with Waymo, I should look into this. But I know originally with Waymo their technology was because like they sent all the cars around San Francisco for a very long time. They just mapped the entire city. So they had every single road, alley, sidewalk, bike lane, everything in their computer. And then the car could follow that. And that's why it was restricted to, you know, that city until they mapped another city. And whereas Tesla is not doing that. It's just like you said, it's like using your eyeballs, only it's got eyeballs in places where you can't have eyeballs and reacting to situations a little bit. I wonder if you could combine the two. Mapping everything and the eyeballs.

[Michael]

Yeah. The obvious limitation on mapping is if there's construction or whatever. You have those infamous episodes where Waymo is stuck in the middle of an intersection or.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know. Everybody says to me, I don't think I could get to where I trust it to drive without looking. That's what I thought, too, until you use it like 10 times and you realize it's perfect. It's better than I probably am. It doesn't. Like every once in a while, think, what am I supposed to do for dinner tonight, I wonder, you know, while you're driving. It doesn't do that. I know. Not. Not to the point you can sit in the back seat. But when it goes fully automatic, automated, where you could go to. Or will it ever. Will laws or insurance companies ever let it go fully? You don't have to pay attention, Waymo. You don't have to pay attention. Obviously, you're in a taxi. It's not my job to pay attention when I'm riding in a taxi.

[Michael]

Right, clearly.

[Jack Armstrong]

When Teslas or whatever can get to that technology, am I allowed to sleep, get a half hour, nap in on the way home? Or just completely dedicate myself to. Or watch the football game? That'd be awesome.

[Michael]

Or do. Do some curls or something. Bring some. Some weights with you. A little kettlebell work. Kettlebell swings. I was doing those in the gym yesterday because I'm better than you anyway, in answer to your question, yeah, absolutely. Clearly. And it won't be terribly long. Fully automated, self driving.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I'll tell you what that's appealing.

[Governor Kathy Hochul]

The.

[Jack Armstrong]

The I've got to pay attention or you yell at me was not that appealing to me, so I didn't use it very often.

[Michael]

But that's our system around here, Right? Right, right. But then, of course, comes the dystopia. Then the government will forbid humans from driving.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Because, you know, honestly, the computers will have a hell of a lot fewer wrecks than people. I'm not talking about you people. I'm talking about the people all around you. Look around. You count what percentage of the people you see around you in traffic are probably idiots.

[Jack Armstrong]

Unless you're right. Unless you're really disciplined. Everybody's looking at their phone more than they should when they drive. I mean, get in a traffic situation and look at everybody around you. Almost everybody's got a phone in their hand. It's not rare. It's not like 1 out of 10 or 3 out of 5 or. It's almost everyone. And so That's a pretty good argument. I hate the idea of driving being taken away from humans, but I don't think I've got an argument for why it shouldn't happen, you know, once the technology is there. But I'll tell you what, if you can turn that commute you've got, whether it's 20 minutes or an hour 20, like in California, into sleeping, watching a show, going through emails, I mean actually getting work done, that's a hell of.

[Michael]

A thing that will revolutionize life in America, you know, in a way, particularly if the way to, you know, give yourself energy in the car, your energy source, your fuel changes as well to one that makes less environmental impact. I mean that could, I mean I've got a eight hour workday. Yeah. The first hour and a half of it is in my car, but I'm fully engaged in work.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you're doing zoom.

[Michael]

Then I do the stuff that needs to be in person and then I head on back in my incredibly comfortable self driving office on the go or whatever. Yeah. Quick word from our friends at Ruff Greens and then a technology jack that's in most cars that I think is a terrible idea and I hope they phase it out. The good folks at Ruff Greens want to support your beloved dog's long term health by providing live bioavailable nutrients, including essential vitamins, minerals, probiotics and digestive enzymes, and of course, omega oils. The idea is they work together to improve nutrient absorption, maintain joint and muscle health and enhance overall vitality.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Katie's actually doing this with her dog. I can't wait to hear about the results. But again, it's not a dog food. It's something you put on your current dog food so you don't have to change your dog's food and you should try it out. Ruff Greens is offering a free jump start trial bag. You just cover shipping. Use the discount code Armstrong to claim your free Jumpstart trial [e-mail] it's R.

[Michael]

U F F greens.com by the way, rough greens.com dogs don't believe in silent letters so they would never spell it R O U G H. It's R u f f greens.com use that promo code Armstrong. Don't change your dog's food. Just add rough greens and watch the health benefits come alive. Now I've got a nice car. It's not quite as fancy as your self driving technological miracle car, but it's nice. But it has a touchscreen in it and I think touch Screens are a terrible idea until self driving comes along because number one it can do a lot of different things which is kind of fun. But there's no tactile response.

[Reporter]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. You have to do. You have to do more looking.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Much more to hit the right spot.

[Michael]

Old timey controls, you'd glance down, see where they were but then you could feel it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And eventually you had your car for a while you could, you knew where everything was to adjust things without looking.

[Michael]

Right, right. And often you know the touchscreen, some of the individual controls are so small it's really easy to swing and miss. And then you're staring at your screen, you're looking down and all. And then I wrecked.

[Jack Armstrong]

I thought I would have no interest in self driving cars. So I think I'm a good test case for this. I mean I was fully. Why would anybody want that 100% when it first came out and but like the other day, now that I've got it, I'm. I take in the football games on my phone on the YouTube app. So it's on TV. I'm not watching it but that's how I listen to it. The TV broadcast the NFL games. Third down and long. I switch on the full. The self driving and I'm watching the game on my phone as it drives me down the freeway is awesome because I want to see that play.

[Michael]

Yeah. So the mayor of New York is an anti semitic America hating Marxist Islamist. An update on Zoran Mumdani's reign. There's not actually. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

And we've got Normada off the coast of Iran and we're threatening big time. What? How they're threatening us back by the way. Should get to that maybe in hour four. Stay tuned.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what appears to be a harmless attack on a congressperson overnight. Ilhan Omar, who I can't stand. But I don't want anybody attacked in any way. There's another interesting wrinkle to that of that we have come up with in the last couple of hours. We'll get to that.

[Michael]

Now for very interesting. But first. Oh, the Mamdani report coming up. But first it's a visit to the Armstrong and Getty Zoological Gardens or if you prefer the Ang Zo O. I do not pronounce the word zoo because it's zoological. Properly pronounced zo.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. That's an interesting stand. I think you should die on that hill.

[Michael]

You know, zoos are one thing I will never ever be tired of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Michael]

Going to the zoo I like. Oh my God. I love going to the zoo. I wish I was in the zoo right now. Anyway, a handful, a trio if you will of animal related reports.

[Reporter]

Big news here from that famous family of bald eagles in Southern California in the San Bernardino National Forest. Mom and dad, Jackie and Shadow capturing the world's attention. So many watching that nest cam live. It was last year in March. In recent weeks, the new development. Mom and dad have been observed building up their nest. Jackie laying an egg over the weekend last Friday night. And then overnight, Jackie laying a second egg. Scientists say in about 35 days or so we may start to see them hatch.

[Michael]

Shame it was that bent nosed jackass David Muir doing that report because they kind of ruined it.

[Jack Armstrong]

ABC back in first place among evening newscasts.

[Michael]

Oh, I wonder if everybody just tried CBS and went back.

[Katie]

Yeah, Katie, fun eagle fact. I didn't know this until watching the live stream. They pant like dogs. They open their mouths and stick their tongues out to cool themselves down.

[Jack Armstrong]

Eagles pant.

[Katie]

Yeah, like dogs. I didn't know that.

[Jack Armstrong]

The panting.

[Michael]

That that is a fun eagle fact.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is absolutely my next band at an open mic night. The panting eagles.

[Michael]

Oh, well, I can't wait then.

[Reporter]

This wildlife officials in San Francisco have captured a mountain lion that was spotted in recent days prowling among the multimillion dollar homes in the Pacific Heights neighborhood. These sightings are rare in the city. In this case, the cougar was safely tranquilized and moved to another area.

[Michael]

I'd like to point out that a Porta Potty is a multi million dollar home in Pacific Heights.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good point.

[Michael]

Not to mention Silicon Valley.

[Katie]

Another fun fact. While a reporter was doing the story on the mountain lion, a coyote walked through the shot in the background. So it's chaos out there.

[Michael]

Wow. Nature's taken back. California New can blame them. Mankind hasn't done a very good job with it. The mountain lion, fascinating beast, also known by a number of names. The puma, the cougar, the catamount. That's my favorite one. That's a different, different animal completely. What about Sri Lankan animals you're saying? Any news on them? Yes, as a matter of fact.

[Reporter]

Harrowing moments for a troop of terrified tourists in Sri Lanka. The massive elephant approaching a vehicle carrying Russian travelers using its trunk to rock the car. The giraffe driver trying to accelerate its trunk keeping the van in place. The Russian embassy in Sri Lanka issuing a sharp warning, reminding people that wild elephants can be dangerous.

[Jack Armstrong]

Reminding people that wild elephants can be dangerous. For people with an IQ of 6, that's caution.

[Michael]

Pie filling may be hot to me. Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

No kidding.

[Michael]

You're too stupid to understand the warning. If you need the warning.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Don't fall off this ladder because of gravity and whatnot is what the sign should say.

[Michael]

You know, kind of sweet, heartwarming eagle report or wild elephants on the rampage. I gotta go with NBC Nightly News. I did wild elephants.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did anybody here get sucked into the baby eagles thing? I know people like. Like grown up people with jobs and other things to do that got sucked into the baby eagle thing and really enjoyed it. Yes, Katie.

[Michael]

Oh, I love it.

[Jack Armstrong]

You being with child. That makes sense. You get to. Yeah.

[Katie]

Even last year, though.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Michael]

What? You got to be pregnant to, like birds and. And. And. And eagles. It's our national bird.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, there's life.

[Michael]

Every American's heart swells with pride.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't. If your heart's swelling, see. See a physician.

[Michael]

You're a patriot.

[Katie]

That's what you are.

[Jack Armstrong]

I. I like eagles fine. It's just I didn't get into the Checking multiple times a day and saying to texting friends, oh, did you see that? Whatever the name, Madison stood up today. Jackie and Shadow stood up.

[Michael]

Don't give them names. That's stupid. It's like you're a freaking child now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whose heart's swelling with patriotism.

[Michael]

Well, no, it's Jackie. Jackie the eagle. Really? It's this short for Jacqueline.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is it so much. Stop it.

[Michael]

It's the female eagle. All right. Grow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, man. All right, we're gonna have to hold.

[Michael]

On to our Mandani report until next hour. He's a communist and hates America and an Islamist fascist as well, but I don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Long and short, but I don't want him sprayed with anything. We'll get to. Coming up on hour four. If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.