Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Livin' Like A Caveman!"
Date: February 17, 2026
Host: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty (with Katie Green)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Armstrong & Getty take listeners on a wide-ranging ride through topics including Olympic highs and lows, the mental pressures of elite athletes, peculiarities of Norway’s youth sports system, an analysis of a recent mass shooting and its coverage, and deep uncertainties about AI’s future impacts—with a special focus on Elon Musk’s dystopian optimism. They blend humor, skepticism, and their signature conversational style as they debate everything from malfunctioning microwaves to the existential meaning of work in an AI-driven future.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Olympic Recap: Pressure, Victory, and How Norway Dominates

• Quad God Choke:

  • Opening with discussion of the “Quad God” figure skater who, despite being the favorite, fell multiple times and finished eighth.
    • "He did lots of interviews afterwards and just said, I choked. I just, I couldn't handle the pressure." — Jack Armstrong [03:10]
  • Joe sympathizes: “Wow. A guy who's competed at his level...The Olympics are a special beast.” [03:27]

• USA Hockey Teams:

  • Anticipation for probable US vs. Canada gold medal matches.
  • Contentious players: Kachuk brothers and Abby Murphy noted for their “instigator” styles.
    • "I'm a little conflicted. I like winning. I'm a little conflicted." — Joe Getty [05:16]

• Bobsled Gold & Oldest Winter Olympian:

  • Recognition of Elena Myers Taylor, gold medalist and the oldest individual Winter Olympian at 40.
    • "After that, will you just sit in there and hope not to die?" — Jack Armstrong (about bobsled driving) [05:51]

• Experiencing G-Forces via SNL’s Colin Jost:

  • Jack and Joe play and react to Colin Jost’s bobsled ride, marveling at the intensity ("I truly thought my body was going to break apart." — Colin Jost [06:48]), leading into a riff on the lunacy of skeleton and sports mortality.

• Norwegian Youth Sports Model:

  • Joe summarizes a TV feature on why Norway excels: kids can’t keep score until age 13, no youth specialization allowed, and state-sponsored Olympic development after national talent testing.
    • “Their youth sports are the opposite of the United States. They don't even keep score until they're 13.” — Joe Getty [07:53]
    • Over-specialization in American sports is decried; both hosts bemoan injuries among young athletes and the lack of fun and breadth (e.g., “Getting effing Tommy John surgery” at 16 — Joe Getty [08:49]).

2. Mass Shooting Coverage & Social Trends

• Rhode Island Hockey Rink Shooting:

  • The hosts address a tragic shooting involving a trans woman, Robert Dorgan/Roberta Esposito. Jack and Joe are critical of the media’s lack of investigative curiosity about this demographic’s overrepresentation among recent mass shooters.
    • “It's now astronomically high, especially given the small percentage of folks who claim to be quote, unquote, transgender.” — Joe Getty [16:13]
    • “The militant gender theory thing was just part of his crazy.” — Joe Getty [17:53]
  • The episode touches on the shooter’s mental health, estrangement from family, history of Nazi social media posts, and complex divorce.

• Media, Mental Health, and Social Impact:

  • The hosts criticize mental health approaches and ‘gender-affirming’ care for children, relaying concerns from skeptical doctors about irreversible changes.
    • “We need a proper investigation into the risks of giving people large doses of the wrong sex hormone, among other problems.” — Joe Getty [17:53]
  • Jack and Joe draw parallels to other unlikely mass shooter demographics, underlining what they see as media inconsistency or neglect.

3. Daily Life & "Caveman" Commentary

• Microwaves: Fragility & Modern Convenience:

  • Jack laments a workplace microwave destroyed in anger and his own household microwave dying, leading to a wry comparison:
    • “Just like living like a caveman.” — Jack Armstrong [20:09]
  • Discussion about modern impatience: “We live in an era where people pace back and forth impatiently in front of a microwave.” — Joe Getty (citing their old boss) [21:13]

• Nostalgia for 2016 & Tech Frustrations:

  • Jack highlights how young people are nostalgic for 2016 social media, while he himself becomes annoyed at Grok’s sluggish AI responses:
    • “My grock is slow. Every question I've asked Grok, in the last weekend, it must have taken 30 seconds...seems crazy to wait that long.” — Jack Armstrong [21:42]

4. AI Anxiety & Elon Musk’s Radical Predictions

• AI’s Impact on Entertainment:

  • Explaining ByteDance’s new video generator and how it’s upending Hollywood. Joe relays the dread among screenwriters:
    • "'I hate to say it, it's likely over for us.'” — Brett Reese, quoted by Joe Getty [26:26]
  • Hosts debate whether AI movies/superhero flicks will matter to average viewers, apart from displacing VFX artists.

• Companion Bots & the Eeriness of AI Intimacy:

  • Jack tries interacting with a ‘companion bot’ and finds the experience disturbing:
    • “I didn't push its limits to see how far it was willing to go.” — Jack Armstrong [28:30]
    • Katie and Joe describe bots’ uncanny conversational tone, with Katie noting, “Oh, and it told me to come here again, which almost made me chuck…” [29:28]

• Elon Musk’s "Don’t Save for Retirement" Clip:

  • The hosts play and dissect Elon Musk’s prediction that retirement savings will be obsolete in an AI economy:
    • “Don't worry about like squirreling money away for retirement. In like 10 or 20 years, it won't matter.” — Elon Musk [31:20]
    • Jack’s dry response: “A guy with three quarters of a trillion dollars...telling me I don't need to save for retirement?” [33:09]
  • Discussion centers on the “whole ball game”—how resources will actually be distributed, and skepticism whether future abundance will erase inequality or human striving.

• The Singularity: Unknowable & Imminent?

  • Elon argues rapid AI self-improvement makes future predictions impossible:
    • “The way this unfolds is fundamentally impossible to predict because of self improvement of the AI and the accelerating timeline. Yeah, it's called singularity for a reason.” — Elon Musk [35:04]
  • Jack & Joe riff on the possibility of sudden, runaway change, likening the current moment to cresting a roller coaster before the big drop.
    • “We're just...at the top of the roller coaster and you're about to go.” — Jack Armstrong [36:46]

• Human Purpose in an AI Era:

  • Questions raised about kids’ need to learn, declining reproduction, and meaning without work.
    • “God, will my kids ever have a job? Maybe they'll be the first generation to never have a job at all. Because there aren't any.” — Jack Armstrong [39:09]

5. Food, Health, and Tomorrow’s Teaser

• Ultra-Processed Foods as the New Tobacco:
  • Joe and Jack tease an upcoming 60 Minutes segment that frames ultra-processed food as potentially more dangerous than tobacco.
    • “Ultra processed food is like the worst idea humans have ever come up with...might be the whole obesity thing.” — Jack Armstrong [43:10]
  • Notable advice: “If it's got a million ingredients, don't eat it.” — Joe Getty [44:19]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Handling Failure:

  • “I thought it was pretty cool that he…just said, I choked…All of the pressure flooded into my head when I was standing out there and I, like, I couldn't feel my feet.” — Jack Armstrong [03:10]

• On American Youth Sports:

  • “You got to play baseball year round. You're 16 years old. Getting effing Tommy John surgery.” — Joe Getty [08:49]
  • “Everybody knows this. Playing that variety of sports makes you better at your one sport. Over-specialization is not good…” — Joe Getty [09:09]

• On Companionship with Bots:

  • “It is flipping disturbing. Yes, Katie.” — Jack Armstrong [29:02]
  • “Just the tone and I mean it is so real.” — Joe Getty [29:14]

• On AI and Human Purpose:

  • “Are we all going to have this exactly the same size house, driving the same value car, eating the same quality of food and be okay with it?” — Jack Armstrong [33:52]
  • “I do wonder when they...Have you ever actually talked to one of them?” — Jack Armstrong (on companion bots) [28:15]

• On Raising Kids in the AI Age:

  • “What are you supposed to be encouraging your kids to do other than be nice to other people? Maybe that's the best you can do.” — Jack Armstrong [37:30]

• On The Singularity:

  • “We're just...at the top of the roller coaster and you're about to go.” — Jack Armstrong [36:48]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Olympic Figure Skating: 02:32 – 04:19
• Norway’s Youth Model: 07:53 – 10:21
• Mass Shooting Tangent: 14:25 – 19:48
• Microwave “Caveman Living” Bit: 20:09 – 21:04
• 2016 Nostalgia & AI Frustrations: 21:26 – 22:15
• AI in Entertainment (Sea Dance 2.0): 25:56 – 27:12
• Companion Bots Discussion: 28:12 – 30:43
• Elon Musk Retirement Clip & Debate: 31:20 – 33:52
• The Singularity & AI Acceleration: 35:04 – 37:23
• Society Without Purpose/Work: 39:09 – 39:32
• Ultra-Processed Foods Warning: 43:10 – 45:10

Tone and Flow

True to Armstrong & Getty’s style, the episode bounces between wry humor, skepticism, and genuine concern—whether about troubled athletes, the future of work, or just a smashed office microwave. The conversation style is rapid-fire and occasionally irreverent, balancing serious critique (especially regarding media and technology) with sarcasm and everyday anecdotes.

Final Thoughts

• Jack calls for a return to more meaningful, healthy living and warns against complacency.
• Joe vents about pointless meetings and wasted time: “This is an experiment to see how quickly it can make me insane.” [46:38]
• Both hosts ponder whether their children’s generation will ever need to work and mock the predictions of both nuclear and AI-generated apocalypse.

If you missed the show, this episode delivers a classic Armstrong & Getty blend of cultural commentary, current events, and a healthy dose of existential angst about the future—plus a few laughs at the absurdity of our tech-obsessed, microwave-dependent times.