Ladies & Gentleman...THE BEAGLES!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Ladies & Gentleman...THE BEAGLES!

Date: May 8, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Episode Overview

In this Friday episode, Armstrong and Getty deliver their signature blend of news commentary, wry humor, and cultural observations. The main theme revolves around the recent activist rescue of research beagles in Wisconsin (“Project Freedom”) and its curious handling in the media, along with a fast-moving whirlwind of news: Iran escalating attacks in the Persian Gulf, job numbers shaped by the “AI hurricane,” UFO distractions, the supposed Hantavirus panic, and candid reflections on language education and other societal norms. With their usual banter, the hosts dissect media narratives, political credibility, war strategies, economic confusion, and even the state of public schools—highlighted by clips of the week and rapid segues into humor and social commentary.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Project Freedom & The Beagle Rescue

• The episode title riffs off the story of activists freeing beagles from a Wisconsin biomedical research breeder.
• The hosts lampoon media coverage that focuses on “cute beagles finding homes” and ignores the legal and ethical controversy of animal liberation activism.
  • [00:39] Joe Getty: “Some of the mainstream media…just reporting that—look at all these beagles, they’re going to good homes. Isn’t that sweet? Look at the doggie. That's so wild.”
• Both hosts express discomfort with animal research on beagles, questioning the necessity and humane aspects.
  • [02:04] Joe Getty: “I’m not a fan either. I’m torn on this one.”
  • [02:07] Jack Armstrong: “Poor little guys. What sort of research are they doing on beagles? Unless it's…how much they like being petted or chasing tennis balls.”
• Quick side discussions touch on hidden monkey research centers and the ethical trade-offs in medical experiments.
• The activist move is compared with other protests, highlighting low legal risk and high publicity.

Memorable Moment:

• [02:18] Jack Armstrong: “Of all protests…you could get me in wound up for a penalty-free rescuing beagles and playing with a bunch of beagles. You might be able to get me to do that.”

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2. Middle East Escalation & Political Credibility

• Latest Events:
  • Iran attacks on the UAE are mentioned as breaking news.
  • There’s skepticism about the durability of the ceasefire and speculation about whether the US or allies will independently attack Iran.
• Media Analysis:
  • Discussion on the Washington Post reporting a CIA source claiming Iran can withstand sanctions much longer, pushing against claims that Iran is on the brink of collapse.
    • [05:21] Joe Getty: “That's the problem with trashing your credibility. It takes a long time to get it back.”
• Project Freedom:
  • The now-aborted US initiative is analyzed as chaotic and possibly driven by international calls (notably from MBS—Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia).
    • [05:57] Jack Armstrong: …“Trump sent out Hegseth and that Admiral dude and Marco Rubio in the same day to talk up this new big project we had, and then canceled it like an hour later… that’s because MBS called up and said, what the hell are you doing?”
  • They note the apparent double standard in their critique of presidential crisis management, regardless of partisan affiliation.
    • [06:24] Joe Getty: “…If that was Biden, I’d be just murdering him for the seat-of-the-pants, half-cocked, what-the-hell-are-you-doing nature of all this…”

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3. Media Panic: Hantavirus & UFOs

• Armstrong and Getty skewer what they see as press hysteria over Hantavirus—labeling it “the new Covid” even as most people aren’t concerned.
  • [09:26] Joe Getty: “Had it ever even crossed your mind? …Never even crossed my mind that this was another Covid thing. But they act like on the news…I just heard it on NPR, it was on CBS and ABC…like everybody’s scared to death that this is another pandemic. Well, I wasn’t.”
• They call out the clickbait tendency to inflate fatality rates for a more dramatic panic, making fun of rising numbers across networks.
  • [10:56] Joe Getty: “…I heard one network news say it was 50 [percent] and I’m like, all right, all right, let’s just go with 80… just end it there.”
• UFO “revelations” are mentioned as part of an ongoing, unserious distraction.

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4. Economic Confusion: AI and Jobs

• Headline: New unemployment numbers are out—good news superficially (unemployment at 4%), but the hosts deeply question the meaningfulness of these figures amid profound AI-driven distortion.
  • [08:11] Joe Getty: “It’s all completely and distorted and meaningless because of AI. Stay tuned for the real story.”
• AI as Distorting Force:
  • They discuss Greg Ip’s (WSJ) analogy of AI as a “hurricane strength weather system” that makes economic data nearly impossible to interpret using old models.
    • [22:22] Joe Getty: “AI’s pervasive presence makes it almost impossible to discern what’s actually going on. He writes, It is swamping the effects of tariffs and the war with Iran, events that would normally be Category 5 storms in their own right.”
  • Surging capital investment in AI companies dwarfs other economic sectors (>$800 billion/year).
  • The surge in AI-driven growth obfuscates the lack of broader economic expansion:
    • [24:54] Joe Getty: “My back of the envelope estimate is that the AI economy grew 31%. The non-AI economy just 0.3 0.1%.”
  • They joke that if the AI boom fizzles, it reveals an anemic underlying economy.

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5. Education—Language Learning Rant

• Armstrong launches into a passionate argument to scrap mandatory foreign language requirements in high school, noting poor outcomes and lack of proficiency among students.
  • [27:15] Jack Armstrong: “…I wondered that when I was a kid and I wonder still as an adult … Is there any point in this...when we’ve got, you know, math and reading at such low proficiency all across the country at all ages?”
  • [28:22] Joe Getty (cautious): “My objection to it, I think, is that they teach languages in an academic way… kids come out of it with zero ability to speak conversationally.”
  • They joke that real-world skills like using Google Translate would be more useful.

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6. Lighter Moments & Quick Hits

• Rolling Stones Album: The hosts riff on rumors of the Stones’ new album, questioning the point if bandmates never actually meet in the studio.
  • [12:21] Jack Armstrong: “When you’re ungodly wealthy… and you’re not even willing… to be in the same room with somebody to work on your album… you don’t care much, is my theory.”
• Clips of the Week: A rapid-fire, out-of-context rundown of the week’s weirdest or most memorable soundbites, e.g., “boob mold,” political threats, and candid moments from the news.
• Mailbag: Listener emails touch on odd podcast ads (cornhole tournaments), bowling alley acquisitions, and San Francisco’s fight against open-air drug use.

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Highlighted Quotes & Timestamps

• On Beagle Research Rescue:
  • [00:39] Joe Getty: “Some of the mainstream media is ignoring the controversial part of it and just reporting that—look at all these beagles… Isn't that sweet? Look at the doggie.”
• On Activism:
  • [02:18] Jack Armstrong: “You could get me in wound up for a penalty free rescuing beagles and playing with a bunch of beagles. You might be able to get me to do that.”
• On Ceasefire Chaos:
  • [06:24] Joe Getty: “…If that was Biden, I’d be just murdering him for the seat-of-the-pants, half-cocked, what-the-hell-are-you-doing nature of all this…”
• On Media Hantavirus Panic:
  • [09:46] Joe Getty: “I hate the media. You can't hate the media enough.”
• On AI Distorting Economics:
  • [22:22] Joe Getty: “AI is more like a hurricane-strength weather system… it is distorting the stock market, profits, the speed and composition of economic growth, trade, and even our moods…”
  • [24:54] Joe Getty: “The AI economy grew 31%. The non-AI economy just 0.3 0.1%.”
• On School Language Requirements:
  • [27:15] Jack Armstrong: “…is there any point in this, in this hour, a day that is spent on this when we’ve got, you know, math and reading at such low proficiency…?”

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Important Timestamps

• Beagle story & animal research ethics: 00:39–03:25
• Middle East tension, Project Freedom & political analysis: 03:43–07:50
• Hantavirus media frenzy: 08:40–11:27
• Economic uncertainty, AI impact on jobs/data: 22:09–24:54
• Foreign language education rant: 27:15–31:06
• Clips of the Week: 18:37–21:18

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Notable & Memorable Moments

• Hosts’ deadpan about “penalty-free” animal activism (“rescuing beagles and playing with a bunch of beagles”).
• Searing critique of media obsession with pandemic stories and sky-high fatality percentages.
• Armstrong’s exasperation over school curricula and the futility of US foreign language classes.
• Witty takedown of the economy’s “AI balloon”—and a lament that nobody really knows what’s going on under the surface.
• “Clips of the Week” ending with the unexpected and gross “boob mold” story.
• Lighthearted banter about podcast ads, bowling, and aluminum can shortages.

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Overall Tone & Language

The show is informal, irreverent, with plenty of banter and asides; the hosts frequently break from serious commentary to indulge in sarcasm, mockery, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Both are candid about their biases and skepticism, especially toward the political class and the media.

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This episode covers a sweeping set of current events—combining in-depth skepticism, cultural riffs, breaking news, and comedic relief—making it an engaging listen or read for anyone wanting more than the usual media spin.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human

[Joe Getty]

broadcasting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio

[Joe Getty]

at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

It's Friday.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty communications compound were snuggled in here tight with the daiquiri machine ready to fire up as we head into the weekend. And today we are toiling under the title of the show.

[Joe Getty]

Looking back fondly at the two days of Project Freedom, or if you prefer, ladies and gentlemen, the Beagles. The Beagles, yes. The experimental Beagles of Wisconsin, giant breeder of beagles for medical research, biomedical research. Activists went to free the Beagles. Like, not to be confused with their first album, meet the Beagles, and weirdly. And we'll play this for you. And it was. It's what they're calling a daylight liberation or something like that. I can't remember the term. But activists essentially announced, we're going there, we're breaking in, and we're freeing the animals that are going to be experimented on. If you want to arrest us, go ahead because they get a lot more publicity and, you know, it's generally fairly minor charges. And we all know Kamala Harris raised money for rioters, for instance. Somebody else pays your fine and there's. There's almost no downside. So anyway, what's really weird about this is some of the mainstream media is ignoring the controversial part of it and just reporting that. Look at all these beagles. They're going to good homes. Isn't that sweet? Look at the doggie. That's so wild.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's the way I saw it on the news, and I didn't pay much attention to it, so I didn't know it was actually happening. I don't like the idea of medical research on beagles.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not a fan either. I'm torn on this one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Poor little guys. What sort of research are they doing on beagles? Unless it's, you know, how much they like being petted or chasing tennis balls.

[Joe Getty]

I don't really like it exactly. Teaching them to sit and stay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, you know, I probably wouldn't, but of all protests. You could get me in wound up for a penalty free rescuing beagles and playing with a bunch of beagles. You might be able to get me to do that.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna do that. Before I like, you know, throw crap at ice agents. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. As a comparison, if that's the alternative, yes, I would rescue the beagles.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh. I want to know what kind of research they're doing on the Beagles. I live very close to a monkey research center that is kind of hidden because. And then it's got a very small sign because they don't want it, especially in the part of the world I live in. They don't want people to know that now every once in a while it comes under some sort of protest because they're doing all kinds of things that probably aren't the most pleasant to monkeys in there.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Right now, if important leaps forward are

[Jack Armstrong]

being made,

[Joe Getty]

can at least entertain the arguments. Anything today, Some of the. Like just to improve cosmet.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, exactly. I'd like to know what you're doing. Anyway, we got a lot of big news going on today. It's hard to tell what's happening right at this moment, but New York Times is reporting attacks like in the last couple hours on the United Arab Emirates by Iran, uae.

[Joe Getty]

Thank God the ceasefire is holding, which they said.

[Jack Armstrong]

They seem to sound like they were at the end of their rope two days ago. So who knows if they're going to just go ahead and attack Iran without waiting for anybody's approval. And. And y', all, the, the two other big stories you've got. Oh, geez. UFOs are in the news.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I know. Bread and circuses.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is it with people in their UFO stories there? There are no classified UFO documents that are going to be of any interest to you. There just aren't. There aren't. So think about something else for your day. Beagles or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

It was like the near daily Epstein revelation, none of which moved the ball down the field in any way toward the giant sex trafficking, children cannibalism conspiracy. It was all just, just crap.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the two stories that are getting the most attention, one in the Washington Post, one in the New York Times. The one in the New York Times that came out overnight. Well, I'll do it in the other order. The one in the Washington Post that came out overnight is they have an intelligence source in the CIA, unnamed source, saying the assessment of the CIA is that Iran could hold out for many, many months under the current blockade and situation. And the idea that they're on the brink of falling is just wrong. Obviously, if that's true. And people who don't want that to be true are saying another Washington Post unnamed source story, just like all the ones about Trump being a Russian asset and all that sort of stuff over the years.

[Joe Getty]

But yeah, that's the problem with trashing your credibility. It takes a long time to get

[Jack Armstrong]

it back it is the problem. Exactly. So obviously, if that were true, that would be a big deal that the, the whole they're about to fall apart just isn't accurate. So I guess it depends on whether or not that's a true story or not. And then the other one that's so interesting, you mentioned Project Freedom, which lasted what, like 26 hours? Trump sent out Hegseth and that Admiral dude and Marco Rubio in the same day to talk up this new big project we had, and then canceled it like an hour later. Um, which was a heck of an interesting thing, according to the New York Times. That's because MBS called up and said, what the hell are you doing? No ceasefires, no nothing. We need to get Iran now. Now is the time. Now. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Today. Today is the day we're going to finally end this thing with Iran. And he got really, really upset. Denied US airspace, so we couldn't even fly over Saudi Arabia to pull off Project Freedom. And that's why Trump canceled it, which could certainly be accurate.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I understand they had a phone call later and worked out at least some of it, but yeah, I, you know, I was thinking about Project Freedom today, and if I'm going to be honest, if that was Biden, I'd be just murdering him for the seat of the pants, half cocked. What the hell are you doing? Nature of all this. And there may be things going on behind the scenes that we don't know. For instance, the MBS call. And God knows what China is saying or promising or threatening, but boy, from. I'll just say, from outward appearances, it appears to be haphazard.

[Jack Armstrong]

Did a Chinese ship come under fire yesterday? That's one of the stories, and it hasn't been nailed down yet, but that seems like that'd be a big deal. But why Iran would fire on an obviously marked and flagged Chinese ship? It's hard to imagine what they're trying to accomplish there.

[Joe Getty]

Whoopsie. Unless they're like, even more of a death cult than we had been saying. I mean, that would be a. Well, that would be. We only have one goal, one friend, and that is Allah and bringing on the Great War of the Apocalypse.

[Jack Armstrong]

Unless they think China's reaction to that would be. You got to open the straight. See, they're even firing on our ships, like pressure the United States, but I don't know. I don't know if that's the way they're going to react.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, if that's true, then China has no levers In Iran.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, that's three fairly big developments and one of them big if it's true. And that's the. But anyway, that's a lot. Jobs numbers just came out better than there is expected, which is usually good news. And unemployment holds at about 4%, which is, according to economists, about as low as you can ever get. So that's a good sign, right?

[Joe Getty]

It's all completely and distorted and meaningless because of AI. Stay tuned for the real story.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you might think, yeah, I got a job. But Diesel seven and a half dollars, for instance, in California. So anywho, let's start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Friday, May 8, V. E Day when the war. War ended in Europe in World War II, the year 2026. Were Armstrong and getting. We approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Let's begin then, officially, according to FCC rules and regulations. Here we go at mark.

[Caller or Guest]

So the people on the boat with the hunter virus and they want to get off. Well, I ain't trying to be heartless and cruel, but no, no, no, y' all can't get off. Stay out there. Listen, let them control it while y' all out there in the water. Go out on the balcony, do whatever y' all need to do. We don't need no more over here spreading and taking us out. I'm sorry. Now, I'm not. Again, I'm not trying to be insensitive. I understand y' all got families, y' all got kids y' all want to get to. But what y' all want to do? Come home and infect them?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a woman worried about the hantavirus spreading. So every major newscast I took in in the last 24 hours had some doctor on there say, I realize people are in a panic over the fact that the hantavirus might be another pandemic like Covid. But here are the facts. And I thought, are they? I'm not. Were you? I'm not.

[Joe Getty]

No.

[Jack Armstrong]

Had it ever even crossed your mind? It never even crossed my mind that this was another Covid thing. But they act like on the news. I just heard it on npr. It was on CBS and ABC last night as I watched the news like everybody's scared to death that this is another pandemic. Well, I wasn't.

[Joe Getty]

I hate the media. You can't hate the media enough. I made a mental note not to go bird watching in Argentinian landfills, but other than that, really.

[Jack Armstrong]

A mental note? You didn't write it down. You just hope I hope I can

[Joe Getty]

remember next time in Argentina myself, approaching an Argentinian landfill. I'm hoping my mind clicks and, you know, comes back to this moment. Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

But it is an interesting. First of all, I can't believe all the newscasts I watched last night led with this again, rather than the fact that ships were attacked and the war might start back up again is clearly the biggest story in the world. But anyway, everybody led with the fact that a whole bunch of those people with hantavirus got off the boat several weeks ago and it is can be transmitted from person to person. So many are wondering if it's another Covid, only deadlier. No, it is.

[Joe Getty]

Clearly.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you were wondering about that, you're an idiot. It's very hard to spread as opposed to Covid, which is incredibly easy to spread.

[Joe Getty]

Perhaps you recall that. Yes, I remember.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you wouldn't want to get the old hantavirus. 30 to 40% death rate. That's the opposite of COVID where you are almost guaranteed to be okay unless you were really old.

[Joe Getty]

Taking in the news is yesterday. It was funny, it reminded me of like the local weather channels always out outdo each other for who will predict the highest high temperature in the summer. Yesterday the I was reading some medical authorities say the fatality rate for Hana viruses somewhere between 34 and 38%. And a lot of people were going with 40. And then I heard one network news say it was 50 and I'm like, all right, all right, let's just go with 80, 80% of people and just end it there. Come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a bad disease though, if like one out of three people die.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, you get it? Sure. Yeah. And I've not heard anybody differentiate between, you know, the old, the infirm.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, no, I haven't either. It sounds like just whoever gets it.

[Joe Getty]

So it's probably another coronavirus anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, just exactly like that. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stay away from Argentinian dumps. Good God, think about it.

[Joe Getty]

Common sense.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, we got clips of the week today. We also, we're gonna get to headlines here in a little bit and a bunch of stuff that's not end of the worldy to talk about. AirPods now have smart cameras in them. According to the news I'm looking at up there, that's what we needed. So I can take pictures with my ears. It's a great time to be alive. Stay tuned. We're Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

So when I heard this week that the Rolling Stones, who are in their 80s, have a new album Coming out in July called Foreign Tongues, I thought, is this gonna be like the last album where they were never in the same country, let alone the same studio to record the album? Which I just. I don't know. I feel like if you won't. When you're ungodly wealthy or you obviously have nothing but free time, you're retired and you're not even willing to hop on a private plane and be limoed to a studio to be in the same room with somebody to work on your album. You. You don't care much, is my theory. Anywho, reports are that for this one at least, making Keith got together in studio, very intensive work together in a studio for several weeks, then there was much more of a. That sort of thing.

[Joe Getty]

But I was discussing this very thing with some former bandmates of mine and why they even bother. It's interesting, I think. What is what they love to do?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, if you're. If you get together in a room and work, actually work on it, then, yes, I would take that answer. If you won't even leave your cushy home to go to a different cushy place on a private plane, I don't feel. Then I don't really understand what you're doing. You don't love it that much, apparently. What is that?

[Joe Getty]

Well, I don't want to go further down there.

[Jack Armstrong]

You need more money?

[Joe Getty]

No. Well, all right. So, yeah, the ceasefire is holding in that we're attacking in Iran and Iran is attacking us. They're also attacking the uae and the Gulf states are getting ready to attack Iran. So that's going well. I was surprised to see the tease of the Morning Dispatch, which is the Dispatch Morning News newsletter was, could Hantavirus go global? That's a pretty serious news site. Don't they pride themselves on, like, slow news and no clickbaity?

[Jack Armstrong]

No clickbait is their motto. That's a very clickbait headline. Well, do they say there's a possibility of it? I haven't heard anybody say there's even the slightest possibility of it. It's really hard to transmit.

[Joe Getty]

You know, it's funny. It's not in their top five stories. Oh, there it is in their, like, big, long story Now. Now, I don't. I don't know. I wonder if it's just that everybody's talking about it, so they're trying to set the record straight. It's a long piece. I haven't read it, so I feel like the.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is not much of a ceasefire when people are firing each Other thing is overblown. What's your feeling on that in that?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just. I'm a fan of reading history and wars. There's lots of wars where they declare the end of it and there's major battle. Well, major battles, but battles where people die after the war ends and it didn't mean the war didn't end or that it wasn't an agreement that led to an ending. Right.

[Joe Getty]

That's absolutely true. The thing that bothers me though is that based on the messaging from the White House, many things have happened which should have earned serious return fire and or an escalated pounding and that you de escalate by escalating and I am mystified as to our like a doting father patient with his four year old trying to punch him. I don't quite get the strategy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. The big question of course still being that is there a group that we're negotiating with that is going to sign on a piece of paper and agree to a whole bunch of different things and then the group that's firing on ships and then the group that signed the paper doesn't have control over the people firing the ships. That's the open question.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I just don't know what to think and who to believe at this point. The messaging has been so scattershot from the White House, I don't think they're helping. Three judge panel the U.S. court of International Trade blocked Trump's global 10% tariff that he announced a couple of months ago. Rubio announces New Cuba Sanctions Man, I'd love to see Marco get rid of the dirty commies on Cuba before he's out of office. I know that's his like to say it's his fondest wish doesn't begin to describe how deeply he feels the oppression of the people of Cuba.

[Jack Armstrong]

He will when he's president. Back to Iran. Trump did threaten and we'll play the clip in a little bit of turning Iran into what a glowing hole if, if they don't agree to, to this. The terms he was asked have as the firing resumed on the side of the United States. Oh, you'll know when it, when it starts again because Iran will be a glowing hole. So that was another wipe the civilization off the face of the earth threat.

[Joe Getty]

I guess that's at least three cataclysmic threats in the last two weeks that haven't come true.

[Jack Armstrong]

But can you threaten that big and then not do it over and over again and get away with it?

[Joe Getty]

One more story for You. Meanwhile, back in China, they've sentenced their last two defense ministers to death for corruption.

[Jack Armstrong]

They don't put up with corruption there.

[Joe Getty]

Haha, haha.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we got clips of the week on the way and then we'll get into some more of the news of the day. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

My oldest son needs to get his driver's license. I have too many things I have to drive kids to. Tomorrow I'm going to buy a chauffeur's hat because that's what I'm going to be doing all day long. He needs to get his driver's license. Good God. I can't keep doing this.

[Joe Getty]

Snappy. So I'm looking through these zillions of emails we get, including guest pitches and clickbait. I think this may be the opposite of clickbait. The headline from the Atlantic Daily what India's Diet Coke shortage means for the U.S. wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is not clickbait.

[Joe Getty]

It's almost so dull sounding. I'm intrigued.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you feel like there's gotta be something missing, right?

[Joe Getty]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. That sounds, that sounds, that can't be that meaningless. But maybe there's a shortage of something I need.

[Jack Armstrong]

Puts the anow back in banal. I don't know. There's something there.

[Joe Getty]

Oh boy. No, that's not in there. Let's see. Oh, it's the cans.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

It's an aluminum shortage.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got more of the story the day. Stories of the day that continue to unwind in an interesting fashion passion with details coming out all the time right after clips of the week.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, let's take a fun look back at the week. That was what a week? It's cow clips of the week. Yankees. Oh, wow. Carson Benj with a pulchritudinous play.

[Jack Armstrong]

I am confirming now I am wearing his skin. I've been wearing his skin now for about two weeks. And Old Spice is the main fragrance as well as various alcoholic beverages.

[Joe Getty]

This is the purported suicide note that his former cellmate claims Jeffrey Epstein left behind. What you want me to do? No fun. Not worth it. Federal judge is criticizing the current conditions for the accused gunman of the White House correspondents dinner. At a minimum, I should be apologizing to to make sure that he's taken care of. They should check themselves before they wreck themselves. President Trump said today that the conflict with Iran is going very well. We know Iran is embarrassed by the

[Jack Armstrong]

fact that our blockade is holy. We have absolute control of the street.

[Joe Getty]

One way or another, we win. And you know why? John. He said, I always win. Operation Epic Fury is concluded.

[Jack Armstrong]

They should wave the white. The flag. The white flag of surrender.

[Joe Getty]

You're insane in the brain. Americans expressing growing concern about President Trump's job performance and the president underwater on every issue tested. Will F. Trump be your guiding principle in dealing with the president? Donald Trump sucks and you keep on saying that sanctuary prevents violent criminals from.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I didn't.

[Joe Getty]

Lie for me. Councilman Robins plan for treatment first. I will go below the Harbor Freeway tomorrow with her and we can find some of these people she's going to offer treatment for. She's going to get stabbed in the neck.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now, in one stash house alone, 40

[Joe Getty]

pounds of fentanyl was recovered. Yeah, look, I mean, my hope for America is what it's always been. I think it's the hope I hope we all share. We want it to continue to be the place where anyone from anywhere can achieve anything.

[Jack Armstrong]

And there was a tremendous amount of mold growing underneath boobs. I don't think I can make up something worse than that.

[Joe Getty]

Boob mold.

[Jack Armstrong]

Somebody whose boobs are so big and hang down and she doesn't clean herself

[Joe Getty]

that the mold is growing under there sub booble molding. It's clips of the week. I know, Hanson, you work hard to craft clips of the week, but it ended on a sour note.

[Jack Armstrong]

How did that get into clips of the week especially? That's the.

[Joe Getty]

That's what people are walking away with.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, yeah, and like when I told that story, I prefaced it with, you know, if you don't like things gross, turn away for a few minutes, etc. Etc. Literally warn people. And then on clips of the week, it just comes and slaps you out of nowhere. That gross, gross story you. Ew.

[Joe Getty]

That was off putting. All right, we need to move on or something. Transition music or. I don't, I don't know, something, Anything, anything at all. There you go. All right. Yeah, you want to hear this? AI is distorting practically everything about the economy. The economic numbers are coming out and they're nearly impossible to interpret in the normal ways.

[Jack Armstrong]

And why is that? So I mentioned the jobs numbers came out today and were better than expected. More jobs created and unemployment hanging around 4%, which is about as low as you can ever get. So why is that? Why is that meaningless?

[Joe Getty]

According to Greg IP of the Wall Street Journal, until recently, AI was a welcome tailwind for US growth, where beyond that now AI is more like a hurricane strength weather system making itself felt across the entire economy. It is distorting the ST stock market profits, the speed and composition of economic growth, trade, and even our moods, especially about the job market. And AI's pervasive presence makes it almost impossible to discern what's actually going on. He writes. It is swamping the effects of tariffs and the war with Iran, events that would normally be Category 5 storms in their own right. Then he goes into some of the statistics.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do you understand the why of this? How is AI responsible for distorting the fact that we just created 115,000 jobs?

[Joe Getty]

Because it's all speculative and could go away. Whether it's a bubble or what's almost like a bubble, a balloon that will deflate halfway or something like that, it has such an enormous effect on our economy that it's not illustrating a trend, it's just illustrating itself.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. I don't know if I understand the jobs part of it, but certainly the stock market. Last week, the Nasdaq and S and P both set records for being high the same week that you had the poll numbers come out. That people are about as pessimistic about the economy as they've ever been in my lifetime. At the same time, your stock market's hitting highs, but the highs in the stock market are, as we all know, like five to seven AI companies that are doing really well.

[Joe Getty]

As he points out. They quote Morgan Stanley that says the capital spending by the five largest AI hyperscalers, those are the companies that are really getting after. It topped $800 billion this year and is supposed to be $1.1 trillion next year. That's about 3.3% of the gross domestic product. And it would exceed projected spending on national defense. Which he says raises a fascinating question. What if the AI boom went away? Not the technology itself, which is here to stay, but the accompanying frenzy. And he says the usual answer is that an AI bust would crater the economy. But after taking into account the distortions, don't be so sure. And again, this is a little in the weeds. I found it interesting, but I'm a nerd. But his point is. Well, I liked his weather system analogy. It's blowing everything else away and making the numbers really hard to interpret.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, an interesting AI story.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I'm sorry. One more note. Here it is. This was my favorite and I forgot about it. He says, my back of the envelope estimate is that the AI economy grew 31%. The non AI economy just 0.3 0.1%.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's a number. We need to know if all the growth is around AI which could turn out to not be anything close to what they claim. Then the growth is, you know, whatever, fairly anemic. And then if it is what they claim, we're still doomed. Because it turns out AI is as big a deal as everybody thought and it's going to take over the world.

[Caller or Guest]

So what the type of AI Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

She nailed it. I bet she has an economics degree because she nailed that, right?

[Joe Getty]

What the f kind of AIs is this? Indeed it is. It did.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Caller or Guest]

The type of AI it is

[Joe Getty]

Words to live by.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think I feel I could work all day long and never get that down. That is an. That's a hard thing to replicate.

[Joe Getty]

It'd be easier without the bleeps, you know, because I'm really. To really study the inflection, you need all the vowels anyway. A friend of mine said if you're learning a foreign language, get the vowels right. If you get the vowels right, you're on your way. Sorry. Here's an AI aided company that's doing great. Simplisafe Simply safe home security. It is more than just a camera and, you know, send you a text message. It's a comprehensive ecosystem of sensors, cameras for inside and out, and 247 professional monitoring in the event of a break in fire, flood. Simplisafe's agents are ready to take action for you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Simplisafe has got the cameras, the sensors, the everything. And they don't lock you into a contract. Why is that? Because they are confident that you're going to like the Simplisafe system. You're going to use the Simplisafe system. How many houses have a complicated security system that nobody ever uses? You buy the house, you don't even look for a manual. It's just there on the wall. Nobody even looks into it because whatever reason you don't believe in it, simply safe you will actually use. And you're not locked into the contract.

[Joe Getty]

And I don't even want to tell you what we used to pay for our security system. Simplisafe is so affordable, and it's a thousand times better right now. You can get 50% off your new SimpliSafe system at simplisafe.com Armstrong that's simplisafe.com Armstrong there's no safe like Simplisafe.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I had endless power and money, one of the things I'd like to do is like really attack completely revamping public schools. And not in the ways we're usually talking about, but, I mean, just ignoring the woke Stuff and all that sort of stuff, which is a heck of a thing to ignore, but just I think there's so many things that are in school, we just got in the habit of having that that aren't necessary. And I wondered that when I was a kid and I wondered still as an adult, just all kinds of things that we learned. Well, one of them would be the foreign language stuff. Is anybody getting anything out of that? So like, my son is taking Spanish. I asked him the other day something and he's like, I don't know, I can't speak any Spanish. So then I ask one of his friends who's on his third year of Spanish, and he could say like three words. Is there any point in this, in this hour, a day that is spent on this when we've got, you know, math and reading at such low proficiency all across the country at all ages?

[Joe Getty]

In theory, yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, a lot of theory make the

[Joe Getty]

argument to you, but in fact, I've run into the same phenomenon myself, including some really bright kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah. Thought, what the hell? What.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what are we doing? I. And I can see how it got started, the motions and I can see how it got started. And then it continues, especially with Spanish where it's just, it's so multicultural and forward thinking and, you know, we're, we're a bilingual country people. A lot of people like the idea of that. I hate the idea of that. I think it's suicide. But yeah, I think it continues for no good reason. You want to go off to college and study a foreign language, knock yourself out. But making it mandatory for high schoolers again, with math and reading being where it is. F that.

[Joe Getty]

Honestly, Once you pass 14 years old, most people, you're wasting your time anyway. Your capacity to learn language is so much less so as usual, Jack with an extremist position, I. I would prefer a more middle groundy approach. My objection to it, I think, is that they teach languages in an academic way. Kind of the same way you teach English in English class. The mechanics of it, the rules, you know, the conjugations and that sort of thing. And I understand the value of that, but the problem is the kids come out of it with zero ability to speak conversationally. You give me a class full of 12 year olds and, or, you know, whatever grade, pick a grade and just do conversational, whatever language. I guarantee all of them would be able to say, hey, how you doing? Which way to the blank. You know, just all of your conversational. What time is it? How are you doing? Can you trim the bushes a little closer to the ground? You know, whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. I think it ought to get stripped down to the nuts and start completely over. And if you were thinking clearly, you wouldn't add that in, especially once again, I'll say it for the third time. When people can't do math or comprehend their English reading when our scores are where they are, how about you have two classes of math instead of one and eliminate a whole bunch of other crap that is accomplishing nothing.

[Joe Getty]

All right, here's Mr. Getty's German class class. Download Google Translate. It's an app. I'll give you two minutes. All right. And touch English to German. There you go. Class is dismissed.

[Jack Armstrong]

That might be a decent class. The one time in your life when you go to this country on vacation when you're 50, here's what you do right to get around for that three days.

[Joe Getty]

The best part is where you can put your camera on it and it'll take a picture of a sign and

[Jack Armstrong]

translate what the sign says.

[Joe Getty]

It's really miraculous.

[Jack Armstrong]

God, I wish I'd have had that when I was in Russia. That would have changed my trip completely. That would have been awesome.

[Joe Getty]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, we've got Mailbag next and a bunch of other stuff. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettys.

[Jack Armstrong]

Apparently in the last couple hours we blasted the heck out of a couple of empty Iranian tankers that were trying to return having snuck bias going out with many millions of barrels of oil. But more on that an hour too.

[Joe Getty]

So Rand doesn't get their deposit back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, right.

[Joe Getty]

Too bad.

[Jack Armstrong]

Return your empty tanker.

[Joe Getty]

See? Yeah, here's your freedom loving quote of the day. Continuing our series about war. This from the great General George S. Patton. Perhaps he could mention it to Donald J. What's that? I'm being told Patton has passed. God rest his soul. The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine. When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a good way to approach lots of things.

[Joe Getty]

I would agree.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's pretty good.

[Joe Getty]

Well said there, Mailback. You have something you'd like to say? Well, drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongandgetti.com Flynn in Jacksonville did that very thing. Guys, I absolutely 100 fully understand that you have no role or influence in what ads are played in my podcast

[Jack Armstrong]

feed, but I can't help but comment

[Joe Getty]

on the sheer bizarre number of ads for Cornhole I've been getting.

[Jack Armstrong]

And not just from one organization, but at least two. The game of Cornhole.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, multiple groups targeting me to play Cornhole. What's going on, Flynn? I wish I knew. Big Cornhole has targeted you for some reason.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't let me forget to bring up this class action style lawsuit against a big company that's bought up all the bowling alleys in America.

[Joe Getty]

Oh man.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting story.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah. If you want to know what's happening with Cornhole, look at Big Bowling moving. Scott from South City, that's San Francisco, says today you are over egging the pudding that it putting that is San Francisco's recovery. While all the many realtors in town echo your words are not totally true. While Mayor Lurie has indeed made some inroads, the open air drug markets continue on. Drive up Leavenworth from market tells me this every day as I drive up to Nob Hill. And then he has a link to a guy who posts videos every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

You are crazy if you don't think the the advancement that has been made is miraculous. Miraculous. Over the last couple of years, in the best parts of San Francisco, you couldn't leave your hotel room. Now it's the streets are clean and gleaming and you don't see a homeless person as far as you can see.

[Joe Getty]

Thanks, tourist guy. Resident disagrees. On the other hand, he concedes, as you might have heard, that there has been a lot of progress. What Lori has done, and this is the first step, and this is so smart, is you'd say, okay, not everywhere. No junkies here, no junkies here and no junkies here. And don't be whining to me about where should I go or I need a shelter bed.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, just get out. That's progress, man.

[Joe Getty]

The last three trips, the Unicornian blue cities of America.

[Jack Armstrong]

In the last three trips, I saw one homeless person and that person was being talked to by two city people to try to explain to them where they need to go. Which is amazing compared to where it was a couple of years ago.

[Joe Getty]

Go. True enough. Paulo writes, guys, let's keep our eyes

[Jack Armstrong]

on the prize with Iran.

[Joe Getty]

Less Hormuz, more new. No nukes. The only thing that justifies the war is ensuring Iran doesn't get nukes. For the purposes of the war, the Strait of Hormuz is a red herring. We're distracted by the economic and political ramifications of Iran's actions in the Strait to the detriment of what should be our prime concern. No nukes for Iran.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, obviously I agree with you 100%. Just wish the President had made that his opening pitch before the thing even started started and constantly without all these other distractions.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and similar point from psy. I'm comparing this Operation Epic Fury to Desert Storm. Seems to be very little public discussion or promotion of our current successes in Iran. During Desert Storm, people couldn't wait for the daily BDA briefings from Storm and Norman. It wasn't just about seeing the military technology blow up s but also understanding the campaign's progress and strategy. This time around, it feels like the general public is largely unaware of the scale or effectiveness of our capabilities. Maybe that's due to directive from President Trump for political reasons. Maybe it's not just General Cain style. I also, you know, it's funny, he says quit repeating the nuclear bomb BS and explain there are killers and have to be killed. I disagree with you there. I also think that we're just socially, culturally, politically a very different spot. The whole look, I don't love the guy, but we're all in this together. We're all American spirit has, if not vanished. I can't find it and don't remember where I saw it last.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is about to happen to bowling in America, among other hot topics.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's right up there with the Diet Coke shortage in India.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yikes. And other news of the day. So there have been things happening in just the last couple hours re Iran and that whole deal. We'll get to an hour or two. If you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.