Armstrong & Getty On Demand – "Just One Prune a Day!" (September 9, 2025)
Episode Overview
In this episode of the Armstrong & Getty On Demand podcast, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty explore several urgent and controversial issues, focusing on the deteriorating state of American public education. They discuss the latest "nation's report card," educational decline despite increased funding, the impact of administrative bloat and ideology, and highlight expert Roland Fryer's proven—yet ignored—solutions. International news (Israel-Hamas developments), generational differences in life priorities, media narratives around Trump and Epstein, and even the personal trials of prune consumption for "regularity" round out the episode in typical A&G style: irreverent, candid, and packed with sharp commentary.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Media Coverage of Trump’s Public Appearances & Bias (03:20–04:47)
- Discussion centers on how the media portrays reactions to Trump at public events.
- Armstrong criticizes the selective reporting:
"They [media] said you weren't allowed to air any booing of President Trump. No, they said cheering or booing, but they all make it booing to make it sound like there's some sort of...cover up to squash it. That sort of thing makes me angry." – Joe Getty [04:25]
- Jack Armstrong is weary, saying he’s become numb to this media behavior.
2. Israel Strikes in Qatar (04:54–05:18, 27:41–30:57)
- Breaking news: Israel reportedly targets Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar.
- Joe: "They’ve been pretty good at this in the last couple of years: knowing where somebody is, getting like that floor of the building, and making sure they’re dead." [04:57]
- Jack reflects on Israel’s aggressive new defense posture and how global condemnation only hardens their resolve.
- The hosts discuss Qatari responses and speculate that surface-level outrage may mask private satisfaction among some leaders.
3. The "Nation’s Report Card": Evidence of Educational Decline (05:31–16:07, 19:12–24:34)
- The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores are down across the board.
- Notable statistics:
- 12th-grade seniors have dropped 10 reading points since 1992.
- Only 35% are proficient in reading, 22% in math.
"You graduate a high school class where only a third can read at proficiency...and they're not setting the bar very high for proficiency." – Joe Getty [07:56]
- Teachers are praised, but the hosts criticize multi-layered administration and the shift toward ideological curricula.
- Armstrong highlights the tendency to pass students irrespective of basic skills, harming the children and future teachers.
4. Woke Reforms & Grading for Equity (09:42–11:21)
- Armstrong reports on textbook bias and "grading for equity," where penalties for missing work or cheating are eliminated in some districts, attendance/behavior excluded from grades, and unlimited test retakes are allowed.
"You don’t need Sherlock Holmes. When a guy is standing over the victim with a smoking gun…It’s just unbelievable." – Jack Armstrong [11:08]
5. Impact of Immigration and Absenteeism on Schools (12:31–13:36)
- Both cite rampant illegal immigration as a contributing factor, noting language barriers and increased absenteeism post-COVID.
6. Roland Fryer’s Ignored Solutions to the Education Crisis (13:36–24:34)
- Armstrong extensively quotes Roland Fryer, a Harvard economist, who demonstrated dramatic improvements in poor schools with five principles:
- More instruction time
- High expectations
- Frequent teacher feedback
- Data-driven instruction
- High-dosage tutoring
- Houston’s "Apollo 20" schools erased achievement gaps; improvement reversed when funding and support were pulled.
"We’re watching temporary setbacks calcify into permanent inequality, even though we know how to reverse them." – Jack Armstrong, quoting Roland Fryer [21:40]
- Both hosts lament that such successes are rejected by the "education industrial complex" because they don’t benefit unions or administrators.
7. Administrative Bloat in Education (15:35–24:10)
- Discussion of how administrative staff has exploded out of proportion to teachers, further diluting educational outcomes.
"Layers and layers of administrators that didn’t used to exist and we’re getting a worse result. The math seems pretty easy on this." – Joe Getty [15:35]
8. Generational Shifts: What Counts as Life Success? (41:25–48:48)
- NBC poll asked Gen Z (ages 18–29) to define life success:
- Young Trump-voting Men: prioritize having children, financial independence, fulfilling career, and marriage.
- Young Harris-voting Women: emphasize fulfilling career, having money for experiences, emotional stability, and helping others. Marriage/children ranked very low.
- Armstrong:
"Having children listed by almost six times as many men as women...That’s crazy." [47:24]
- Getty notes the unprecedented nature of women deprioritizing marriage and childbearing.
9. Media Narratives: Trump, Epstein, and Distraction (33:42–37:19)
- The hosts mock the media’s obsession with tying Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, highlighting the lack of substance and suggesting it’s just clickbait or a distraction from real issues.
"If somebody came to me and said, hey, this is all just meant to distract you...I would have to at least consider it because there’s so many things important going on right now." – Joe Getty [36:33]
10. Comic Relief: The Prune Experiment (31:33–32:55)
- Getty updates on his experiment to "add one prune a day" for digestive health:
"I was supposed to add in one per day...I started at one, then I went to two. I'm now up [to] three. Still no results, so we'll go with four today." – Joe Getty [31:41]
- Armstrong is incredulous at the low starting dose and grossed out by the "gooey" prunes. Both poke fun at the situation.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On the education system’s decline:
"We are now down 10 points for 12th-grade reading since 1992... And what we've got as a result is we've gone down 10 points for reading. Moving down." – Joe Getty [05:56]
- On American schools as jobs programs:
"It is now a government jobs program. Our government school system." – Jack Armstrong [15:03]
- On educators' fear of real reform:
"An amazing success story rejected by the educational establishment. Which is why I say there... I don’t think there’s any fixing it." – Jack Armstrong [23:44]
- On personal health:
"I do not like the consistency [of prunes]. I have a hard time getting them down." – Joe Getty [32:39]
- On Gen Z priorities:
"Women who voted for Kamala Harris…the top four: at 51%, fulfilling job and career... Being married, almost the bottom—6%. Having children, tied at the bottom—6%." – Jack Armstrong [43:17]
Important Timestamps
- 03:20 – Start of content; Trump at major public events and media manipulation
- 04:54 – Israeli rocket strikes in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders
- 05:31 – Analysis begins of the NAEP "nation’s report card"
- 07:56 – Jaw-dropping proficiency rates for 12th-graders
- 09:42 – Discussion of woke reforms damaging academic rigor
- 12:31 – Effect of immigration and absenteeism post-pandemic on schools
- 13:36 – Introduction of Roland Fryer's research and ignored education reforms
- 15:35 – Administrative bloat in education
- 31:33 – Joe’s "one prune a day" digestive update
- 41:25 – NBC poll: Gen Z’s changing definitions of success
- 43:17 – Stark gender differences among young adults on marriage/children
- 47:24 – Armstrong sums up the implications for the nation’s future
Tone and Style
- The hosts balance seriousness with irreverence, addressing heavy topics like education and geopolitics with wit, skepticism, and directness. Personal stories and running gags (such as the "prune" bit) provide comic relief amidst the policy talk. Both remain critical of bureaucracy, ideology-driven institutions, and click-driven media narratives.
This summary captures all major topics and insights discussed in "Just One Prune a Day!" and should equip any listener (or non-listener) with a clear understanding of the episode’s key arguments, recurring themes, and signature moments.