Look At Your Ass

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: “Look At Your Ass”
Date: October 16, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty deliver their signature blend of humor, observation, and thoughtful discussion. The show weaves together personal stories, news analysis, and a major feature on the realities of aging, from physical health to cognitive and emotional development. The hosts riff on everything from skin cancer to China’s industrial robot revolution, political cynicism, and the surprising age at which humans reach their “functional peak.” The tone is candid, sometimes silly, and, as always, peppered with their wry observations and memorable barbs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Health and Medical Progress

Segment: 03:19–08:39

• Armstrong’s Skin Cancer Surgery:
  Jack shares a personal update about undergoing a minor skin cancer procedure ("basal cell carcinoma") and reflects on the advances in medical technology.

  • “I had to have some skin cancer cut off. It's the non scary kind, the most common, the easiest to cure—basal cell carcinoma right on the bridge of my nose.” (03:53, Armstrong)
  • They discuss how in earlier eras, small injuries or illnesses would have been fatal, and appreciate modern healthcare’s ability to address such issues swiftly.
  • “If you run those models for people a few times, they'd be like, yeah, I'm staying in the 21st century. Thank you.” (07:59, Armstrong)

• Sun Exposure and Aging:
  The guys joke about excessive tanning and how age eventually reveals the consequences ("looking like a catcher's mitt").

  • “You are trading your youth for, well, looking like a catcher’s mitt. I hate to be unkind.” (05:55, Armstrong)

• Advice for Listeners:
  Both hosts recommend regular checkups and up-to-date tetanus shots, sharing personal anecdotes about injuries and the benefits of vaccines.

  • “Get up to date on your tetanus shot.” (10:34, Armstrong)

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2. China, Industrial Robots, and Economic Anxiety

Segment: 12:39–15:44

• China’s Robotic Factories:
  Armstrong reads from an article summarizing the overwhelming shift in Chinese manufacturing towards advanced automation. Contrary to the old narrative about cheap labor, the new advantage is state-of-the-art, robotized factories.

  • “CEO Ford Jim Farley said, it's the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen... no people, everything is robotic.” (13:01, Armstrong)
  • The scale difference is stark: China installed 295,000 industrial robots last year, compared to 34,000 in the US.
  • “34 grand [in the US], 295,000 in China. Wow.” (13:36, Armstrong)

• Tariffs and Policy Response:
  The utility of tariffs is debated, with one opinion being that policy responses like defensive tariffs may be too little, too late. There's a shared sense of urgency that the US must invest more in automation and industrial capacity.

  • “300,000 new industrial robots last freaking year.” (14:44, Armstrong)
  • Getty jokes, “Learn to speak Mandarin.” (14:57, Getty)

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3. Political Commentary and Cynicism

Segment: 19:46–23:29

• Kamala Harris & Politician Hyperbole:
  The hosts skewer Vice President Kamala Harris for claiming she’s “the most qualified person to ever run for president,” mocking both the statement and the sycophantic applause it received.

  • “How do you get those words to come out of your mouth?” (19:58, Getty)
  • Armstrong points out crowd behavior: “All the folks in the crowd who just shrieked with delight... What sort of cultists are out there yelling and screaming in delight?” (20:15, Armstrong)

• Trump, Trials, & Democratic Strategy:
  They dissect comments by Democratic strategist Liz Smith admitting that the case against Trump in New York was a tactical move by Democrats, not a purely legal one.

  • "This was not a real case. This was a plot to upend the presidential campaign." (22:03, Armstrong)
  • Armstrong notes the deep cynicism of U.S. politics, referencing Mark Leibovich’s “This Town.”

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4. When Do Humans Peak? Functional Age and Wisdom

Segment: 27:03–39:29

• The Myth of Youthful Peak:
  They examine a new multi-dimensional study which suggests humans actually reach their peak “overall functioning” (balancing cognitive, emotional, moral, and financial abilities) around age 55–60, much later than physical or cognitive speed peaks.

  • “Turns out that people reach their functional peak in their late 50s, early 60s—decades later than most people assume…” (27:57, Getty)

• Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence:
  Quick thinking and working memory peak in one’s 20s, but accumulated knowledge (“crystallized intelligence”), financial literacy, and moral reasoning increase into late middle age.

  • “Fluid intelligence... peaks at 20 and declines after that.” (29:43, Getty)
  • “Crystallized intelligence... keeps rising. Well, until your 60s...” (29:59, Getty)

• Emotional Intelligence & Stability:
  The most crucial traits for career and life satisfaction—conscientiousness and emotional stability—continue to grow through midlife.

  • “The two traits most strongly linked to career success and life satisfaction... both increase from early adulthood well into your 50s and 60s.” (33:38, Getty)

• Waning Moral Reasoning Late in Life:
  Research suggests moral reasoning can actually reverse in very late life (prompting some jokes on elderly shenanigans).

  • “Moral reasoning tends to rise through most of adulthood, and research indicates that it reverses very late in life.” (30:06, Getty)
  • “I’m really looking forward to getting older and older and losing my morals and saying whatever I can say.” (46:48, Michelangelo)

• Peak Earnings and Leadership:
  Highest salaries and occupational prestige are usually achieved between 50–55.

  • “People typically earn their highest salaries and reach peak occupational prestige between 50 and 55.” (37:25, Getty)

• Why Tech Companies Buck the Trend:
  They debate why tech’s wunderkinds succeed so young—possibly because the field is new and there’s less “accumulated wisdom” to be passed down.

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5. Comedy, Antifa, and Media Narratives

Segment: 42:53–46:26

• Jimmy Kimmel & The Antifa Debate:
  The hosts play a Jimmy Kimmel clip mocking the existence of Antifa and the idea of chaos in cities, then rebut him with their own (and contrary) observations.
  • “Antifa is just short for anti fascist. It's not a club you can join. There’s no chaos in Portland… None.” (43:03, Kimmel)
  • “So we let the federal courthouse be burned down and all the agents beaten down by a mob. But we saw the chaos is chaos, Jimmy.” (44:03, Armstrong)
  • They lament comedians migrating into political commentary and note how facts sometimes become casualties of political belief.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Armstrong on Medical Advances:
  “Thank God we live in a time where they can find that stuff early, detect it, remove it with, you know, relative comfort, and it doesn't turn into something nastier.” (06:26, Armstrong)

• Getty on Youthful Stupidity:
  “Remember when I snagged myself on the barbed wire fence when I was drunk trying to climb over it?” (08:09, Getty)

• On China’s Robots:
  “You’re walking alongside this conveyor… a truck drives out. There are no people, everything is robotic.” (13:01, Armstrong)

• Getty on Wisdom and Age:
  “Conscientiousness and emotional stability are the two traits you need for life satisfaction.” (33:38, Getty)

• Final Thoughts—Generational Wisdom:
  “My 13 year old regularly says I can't wait till I'm old and can say whatever I want to people. It's just like his dream.” (47:23, Getty)

• Armstrong on Truth in Comedy:
  “Jimmy, you’re an idiot. You are funny, but you really are unqualified for what you are now doing.” (44:59, Armstrong)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Armstrong’s Medical Story, Aging, and Sun Exposure: 03:19–08:39
• China’s Robots & U.S. Industrial Lag: 12:39–15:44
• Kamala Harris, Politicians’ Hype, Trump Trials, and Political Strategy: 19:46–23:29
• When Do We Peak? Multi-Dimensional Ageing: 27:03–39:29
• Media Narrative, Comedy & Antifa: 42:53–46:26
• Final Thoughts & Takeaways: 46:41–48:13

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Closing Tone

The episode manages to be both informative and irreverent, mixing data-driven discussion with relatable anecdotes, quick wit, and healthy skepticism of media narratives and political theatrics. Armstrong & Getty’s chemistry keeps the conversation brisk, perceptive, and always laced with a dose of self-deprecating humor.

---

For feedback or to submit black-eye anecdotes for Armstrong, listeners are encouraged to email [e-mail].

Transcript

[Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Asma Khalid]

America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Asma Khalid]

Ah, come on. Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

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[Asma Khalid]

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[Armstrong]

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[Armstrong]

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[WashablesOfSofas Advertiser]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong. Armstrong and Yeti. A woman recently won a video game tournament in Florida just five days after giving birth. And frankly, I'm more impressed that someone who's that good at video games had sex.

[Getty]

It's interesting that that joke continues given the fact that like practically every young man plays video games and the lowest.

[Armstrong]

Number of them are having sex ever.

[Getty]

Right, True, true. But there's a lot of like. Well, anyway, don't want to get off on that. Well, whose voice was that? I've been working solo for several hours. Look at who's at the door.

[Armstrong]

It's Jo Getty, Cold Warrior.

[Getty]

It's Joe Getty, Cold Warrior.

[Armstrong]

I love that so much. He's back. Shiver and some, some level of arousal.

[Getty]

So you went to breakfast or why did you leave for several hours?

[Armstrong]

Yes, I had a hankering for eggs Benedict. No, I had to have some skin cancer cut off. It's the non scary kind, the most common, the easiest to cure your basal cell carcinoma right on the bridge of my nose. So I went and got hacked, but it, it went fine. They. It's one of those deals where they remove some tissue, they excise it and send it to the lab real quick and they look at the margins and say, yep, you're clear. Or at. You got to take more tissue. And I know you've had the second answer.

[Getty]

That's right.

[Armstrong]

Got to be very disciplined.

[Getty]

We've got to go deeper.

[Armstrong]

Knock me out now. If it takes a hammer, do it right. But no, I actually. And I don't want to dispense anything with on a hundred miles of medical advice, but for reasons of scheduling and travel and stuff like that, I ended up at a plastic surgeon and not a quote unquote Mohs surgeon, which is a certain procedure that they do. Really happy that happened.

[Getty]

Oh, interesting.

[Armstrong]

Really happy. Yeah. But again, that's not to impugn anyone in their medical practice or blah, blah, blah.

[Getty]

So what's the kind that I'm. I'm always amazed when I go to the doctor and say, look at this, doesn't this look scary? And then like, no, that's nothing to worry about. My ability to identify what's the scary one and what's not is not very good, apparently.

[Armstrong]

Especially as you pass 60 years old. Yes. And your skin thinks, why am I hanging around Here, you've reproduced, you've raised your kids. Get the hell out of the way. The young people need to take over, and funky stuff starts to happen. But what are you gonna do?

[Getty]

I know a woman who eschewed sunlight for most of her adult life. Would that be the right use of that term? And now is really, really happy about it. And her friends are like, why didn't I do that? Because they were. They look tan and good when they were younger, and she did not. But, man, you get older, it makes. It pays off. I didn't do well. I got way too much sun when I was young.

[Armstrong]

And your hyper tanning types.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

I mean, man, you are. You are trading your youth for, well, looking like a catcher's mitt. I hate to be unkind.

[Getty]

It ages the heck out of you. Yeah, it does.

[Armstrong]

Well, and dermatologists, I think, or somebody pointed out to me, all right, look at the top of your arm. Now look at the bottom. The bottom of your forearm, the part that's shielded from the sun.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

Look at your ass. If you're that flexible. Yes. Own a couple of mirrors, whatever it takes. Look at your ass.

[Propane Advertiser]

Yes.

[Armstrong]

But anyway, so that is behind me delightfully. And I'll have a couple of black eyes, I think. And I've got a big white bandage on my nose. But, you know, thank God we live in a time when. Where they can find that stuff early, detect it, remove it with, you know, relative comfort, and it doesn't turn into something nastier. Yeah.

[Getty]

When we were talking about this a couple of weeks ago, would you. Would you. What period of time would you like to go back to in history and live where you think would be, you know, the golden age of being alive or what like that. You wouldn't want to go back very far, or a lot of us would be dead. I'd have been dead from the cancer I had 10 years ago. Or you, you know, you'd be hobbled around because you can't get a new shoulder or something like that, or all the different advances. Gazillion. Skin cancer, deads that.

[Armstrong]

Right, right. Well, and I'm just thinking if you could, like. And nobody has this good a memory, at least I don't. But if you could, like, put in everything that has happened to you in your life, then they run a simulation. All right, here's a simulation from 1860. Here's that, well, I probably would have been killed in the Civil War, but here's a simulation from 1900, 1950, and so on and so forth. I Mean, they might say, hey, do you remember, like, I've got a couple of dental implants because my. My teeth cracked or whatever. They went haywire and I had to get them. But they would look at that data and run it like a war game like they do on computers now, and say, hey, do you remember when you had that really bad toothache and they had to extract your tooth or whatever. That would have been sepsis. You'd have died from it at age 23 or whatever it is. I mean, if they could do that kind of computer model. And I think if you ran those models for people a few times, they'd be like, yeah, I'm staying in the 21st century. Thank you.

[Getty]

Absolutely. Remember when I snagged myself on the barbed wire fence when I was drunk trying to climb over it?

[Armstrong]

Oh, yeah.

[Getty]

That would have killed me if I had. Couldn't have got. Went and got a tetanus shot. Wow.

[Armstrong]

Well, and I have it on pretty good authority my wife and first child probably would have died. Died in childbirth. They were the classic. Died in childbirth. Impossible labor and difficult delivery and stuff like that. So, yeah, I'm here. I'm. I'm queer and I have no time machine or something.

[Getty]

I was. I was at a NASCAR race. A friend of mine was working one of the beer booths and could get me free beer. So you add those two things together and you are inebriated.

[Armstrong]

Age, place.

[Getty]

I was 31.

[Armstrong]

Good enough.

[Getty]

So then walking to.

[Armstrong]

Not 25, but it's good enough.

[Getty]

Walking to the car. I was a passenger. It was parked in a field and I had to crawl. I took a shortcut to crawl through this barbed wire fence in a field.

[Armstrong]

Sure.

[Getty]

And I was really hammered drunk, and I lost my balance and I slipped and my leg got caught up on the barbed wire fence with one of the barbs jammed into my leg, and it just kept sliding down my leg.

[Armstrong]

Oh, barbaric.

[Getty]

Separating me, open. And I couldn't feel it because I was so hammered. And I was actually thinking to myself, this is not good. I should be feeling this. And then when I got into the car with the passenger, me and a couple other people, we convinced the driver to pick up a hitchhiker on the way home.

[Armstrong]

Gets better and better, doesn't it?

[Getty]

Remember that story?

[Armstrong]

Yes.

[Getty]

So we had this hopeless dude in the back seat with me bleeding. That's a good time, huh?

[Armstrong]

That was quite a crew you were running with back in those days.

[Getty]

Oh, geez.

[Armstrong]

That happened to me once. I was fairly inebriated and reached behind a guy's couch because I dropped something or whatever and pulled it back and felt just kind of a scratching on my arm, but didn't pay attention to it. And we went back to doing what we were doing. And at some point he said, where's all that blood coming from? Oh, yeah, I'd rake like a nail all the way down. Oh, just beautiful. Oh, but I was up on my Titanus shot. And that's a tip for you folks. That's your takeaway from this segment. Get up to date on your tetanus shot.

[Getty]

Yeah, unless RFK Jr says it gives you autism or something.

[Armstrong]

Oh, boy. Speaking of the 21st century, we got this great email in which Diane kind of summarized an article. Do you remember seeing that headline, I don't know, a couple of weeks, couple months ago, Western Executives who Visit China are coming Back terrified. There are a couple of different versions of that story. I think it may have been the big auto executives, but she sent along a little commentary. And the first thing this guy says is, and this is an interesting angle, he's talking about how badly the left has lied for decades about how China took over manufacturing. And I've never thought of this as a left right thing. But anyway, just to read what he says, how liberals swore it was just because China has cheaper labor. All those rice farmers willing to work for slave wages. Well, see, I told you so. Yesterday the Telegraph ran an illuminating story, headline, western executives who visited China are coming back Terrified. If you guessed what terrified Western executives were, legions of cheap Chinese workers. Think again. And this guy has traveled to China. But he says, I in the past have suggested the only real advantage China ever had was that its factories were newer than ours. They invested in state of the art, they came along a lot later than we did, etc. You know, if I buy a car this year and you bought a car five years ago, I'm going to have a more up to date car. But he says, no, no, no. CEO Ford CEO Jim Farley said, it's the most humbling thing I've ever seen after a recent trip touring Chinese manufacturing plants. It wasn't the slave labor conditions, it was the robots. Quote, you're walking along this, alongside this conveyor, and after about 800-900- meters, a truck drives out. There are no people, everything is robotic. Wow. Added another Australian billionaire who took a similar tour. And the executives describe these vast dark factories where the robots do so much of the work, they don't even have lights on for the humans. They don't need Them.

[Getty]

Well, that's interesting that that is cost effective given the fact that they do have basically slave labor or people that can force into working very low wages. But it's still apparently the best bet to have a robot.

[Armstrong]

It's both. I'm sure it's both depending on, you know, the sophistication of the plant. But listen to this here. This is how many in new industrial robots were added last year in the UK it was a pitiful 2500. Back to our stat yesterday, was it 0 of the top 50 companies in the world are in Europe?

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

Or was it 25? It might have been 25, but zero. Anyway, so how many robots last year, industrial robots? 2500 in the UK, 34,000 in the UK. In the US 27,000 in Germany. So again, 34 grand in the US, 295,000 in China. Wow.

[Getty]

So they are way ahead of us.

[Armstrong]

In robots and investing like maniacs in automated labor.

[Getty]

That's something.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, that's something they don't have.

[Getty]

You know, when we had the big dock strike thing going on. They don't have unions that are going to try to fight any advancement in technology. No, no, no. We still need human beings to stand here and read the license plate. China ain't gonna do that right now.

[Armstrong]

This guy then jumps to the defensive tariffs, which he says, change the calculus. Spring a generation of executives to try to figure out how to build cheaper stuff here. There has been a fair amount of that. Tariffs are now the only answer since China is 10 or 20 years ahead in factory build outs. Had someone stood up 20 years ago and said the reason production's moving to Asia is only because they have newer, more efficient factories and all of this might have been avoided. But we heard. I heard, I bought. No, it's their labor's cheaper. There's labor's cheaper over and over and over again. 300,000 new industrial robots last freaking year.

[Getty]

How many do we have in the.

[Armstrong]

United states last year? 34,000.

[Getty]

Wow, that is something. Dang it.

[Armstrong]

Dang it is right?

[Getty]

Learn to speak Mandarin.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, it's my suggestion. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Getty]

I gave in too easily. Okay.

[Armstrong]

No, we gotta do. We gotta fire up our industrial capacity. We gotta get off. Get your sweet lips off the Chinese sugar teeth.

[Getty]

Yeah, but man, we've got to rely.

[Armstrong]

On ourselves more, on our allies.

[Getty]

Every robot probably replaces what, a couple people because they can work around the clock. Holidays.

[Armstrong]

That's an interesting question. I would guess it's more than that.

[Getty]

Yeah, that's really?

[Armstrong]

Plus, they're. They're speedy. Yeah, you tell it. Work faster, you tweak the little dial in its back. At least that's what I'm imagining.

[Getty]

You work faster a hole, they say. I don't say that. I'm not gonna say that.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, I'm working fast enough already. I'm on strike.

[Getty]

No, your mother was working faster last night. You don't have that sort of my.

[Armstrong]

Sweaty, wait a minute sort of pushback from robots.

[Getty]

Okay, we got more on the way. Stay here. Armstrong and Gettys this episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You know we all make decisions every day, but on Price Picks, being right can get you paid.

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[Asma Khalid]

America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Asma Khalid]

Ah, come on. Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight. Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity. With Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance. It keeps up with your business, not the other way around.

[Asma Khalid]

Whoa, this thing moves.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Propane Advertiser]

The US Electric grid is approaching a breaking point. As demand soars from data centers and home energy use, our aging infrastructure can't keep up. And the Department of Energy warns that without action, blackouts could surge 100 fold by 2030. The good news? One solution is already here. Propane. It's American made, stored on site and always ready. Powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather. Learn [e-mail].

[Meaningful Beauty Founder]

I like the some people.

[Asma Khalid]

Say very nice, but go ahead.

[Armstrong]

I'm just speaking fact.

[Getty]

Yeah, so Kamala Harris was doing an interview somewhere. She's still promoting that stupid book. Some people say I was the most qualified person to ever run for president.

[Armstrong]

How?

[Getty]

I mean, I realize politicians say amazingly over the top things all the time, but that is. How do you get those words to come out of your mouth?

[Armstrong]

Well, hubris and lack of self awareness I get. But what about all the folks in the crowd who just shrieked with delight.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

And happiness when she said that. Good lord. You know, when, when, when. My guy's a bit of a, you know, half assed candidate, but he's better than the alternative. I'm not gonna. If he's doing his book tour, which has been widely mocked after he loses the election so, you know, some people think I would have been the greatest president in the history of the world. I'm not gonna yell and cheer. I'm like, yeah, well, you're the best. We could vomit up last election cycle. I'm not gonna pretend you're a saint. What sort of cultists are out there yelling and screaming in delight?

[Getty]

I don't know.

[Armstrong]

Kamala Harris. I mean, well, some people say a lot of crazy crap, but that's near the top.

[Getty]

But when Trump says, they say I'm the healthiest person that's ever been president, I laugh. I don't cheer.

[Armstrong]

Right, right. Yeah. Speaking of the last election cycle, we just got hold of this or were reacquainted with it. It happened, you know, a few weeks ago, several weeks ago. But it's Democratic strategist Liz Smith and Scott Jennings on CNN talking about the trials, literally the trials of Trump. 63.

[Asma Khalid]

Michael, I think Democrats are learning, and I'm gonna agree with you that Democrats.

[Armstrong]

Cannot only be the party of resistance.

[Asma Khalid]

We cannot.

[Armstrong]

Like, we resisted so hard between 2017 and 2024.

[Asma Khalid]

We impeached the guy. Like, we prosecuted him, convicted him of.

[Armstrong]

34 felony counts, and guess what?

[Asma Khalid]

He still got elected.

[Armstrong]

So I don'.

[Asma Khalid]

Much harder we can resist right now.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Are you admitting that the case against.

[Getty]

Trump in New York was part of the organized Democratic Party resistance?

[Asma Khalid]

It was a Democratic prosecutor, and at.

[Getty]

The time, at the time, I said.

[Armstrong]

I thought it was unwise.

[Asma Khalid]

I went on Fox News, there were Democrats who said this.

[Armstrong]

At the time, there were a lot.

[Getty]

Just to be clear.

[Armstrong]

This wasn't just to be clear.

[Getty]

Everybody who now touts the 34 felonies, take it from Liz.

[Armstrong]

This was not a real case. This was a plot to upend the.

[Getty]

Presidential campaign, which I just think it.

[Asma Khalid]

Was a boneheaded move by Alvin Bragg.

[Getty]

Wow, that's interesting.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't need confirmation from Liz Smith. I already knew it 100%.

[Propane Advertiser]

But.

[Armstrong]

The. The cynicism in politics, actually inside politics, I don't think it's possible for the layman to picture it.

[Getty]

No. Normal people, and I mean normal, normal people couldn't do it.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. One of the most, you know, communicative and devastating lines of all time from Mark Leibovich's this Town Is. Two of those consultant hacks were on a talk show in the green room laughing about they don't. The viewers don't get the joke. They're not in on the joke. And Lebovich had to ask him a couple of times, what's the joke. Come on, what's the joke? And the guy finally answered that we're patriots.

[Getty]

That's rough.

[Armstrong]

I think we're all better off knowing it. Ma'. Am.

[Getty]

Danny is in a debate tonight that I'm sure will have some highlights from tomorrow as they're gonna grill him on his communist anti Jew tendencies.

[Armstrong]

Disarm the police, release all the prisoners, end all the programs for the bright kids in schools. Sounds great.

[Getty]

Government run grocery stores. I sure I assume he'll be pressed on all these things.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Asma Khalid]

America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Asma Khalid]

Ah, come on. Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

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[Getty]

Whoa.

[Asma Khalid]

This thing moves.

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[Meaningful Beauty Founder]

I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but like, I never liked being told, oh wow, you look so good for your, your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, Every age. That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more at meaningful beauty.com brewers@dodgers tonight.

[Getty]

With the Dodgers leading two nothing, Blue Jays at Mariners with Seattle leading to one likely headed toward a Dodgers Mariners World Series. So there you go.

[Armstrong]

West Coast Special.

[Getty]

We talked about this a little bit earlier, but I want to get into more of the specifics because I find this really interesting. The headline sort of hides a lot of the really good stuff. The headline being that you reach your functional peak as a human later than they had previously thought. Now, functional, functional is what we're going to get into defining here, that word as they use 16 different dimensions. This is a serious, like university study. This is not, I don't know, so many studies and you should look out for this. It's fun to talk about them. So many studies that you hear that are, you know, it turns out, you know, it's paid for by the Pudding Corporation and it turns out you'd be better off eating more pudding in your life or whatever. Right?

[Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Just dumb stuff like that. But it turns out that people reach their functional peak in their late 50s, early 60s, decades later than most people assume when you figure in all these different things. So physical strength, obviously, and certain cognitive abilities like processing speed decline steadily after your mid-20s. And I think we all can attest, yes. Oh, if you're past your mid-20s, you're aware of that. But a whole bunch of other things you get stronger at for quite some time, but they all diminish eventually. Intelligence, personality, emotional intelligence, decision making, overall functioning continues developing through midlife, reaching its apex at around 60 years old. A 25 year old can process information faster, hold more items in their working memory and solve abstract reasoning problems more Quickly than someone decades older. So that stuff. You're better at 25 than you are later, and that's. Who was I talking to the other day? They were. They were younger than me, and they're talking about that. How they. They forget stuff now. And I said, yeah, I finally had to give in and start, like, leaving myself notes because I used to just. I used to be very proud of. I just. I could remember everything I needed to do and how I was going to do it, and I just knew I was going to remember that. Worked for a while and then it. Until it didn't. Fluid intelligence, because we were talking about working memory. They're holding information in your head and all that sort of stuff. Peaks around 25. Fluid intelligence, the ability to think on your feet and solve novel program problems, peaks at 20 and declines after that.

[Armstrong]

Wow.

[Getty]

Isn't that something, huh?

[Armstrong]

Okay.

[Getty]

That's probably good for, you know, a lot of your military age people and the kind of decisions they got to make really quickly on their feet. And they're around 20 years old.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, man, there's a lot to this. Yeah. Other terms to understand and subtleties and the rest.

[Getty]

But yeah, other advantages emerge with age that younger adults haven't had time to develop crystallized intelligence, which is not a term I'd heard, but it means accumulated knowledge and vocabulary. Obviously keeps rising. Well, until your 60s, right? That'd be. You can call it wisdom if you wanted to. Financial literacy, for some reason, improves into your late 60s, early 70s. It goes beyond other kinds of intelligence, and that's something. Yeah, but then dig this one, moral reasoning, because this all comes under the category of you. You being able to function. So some of them drop off early, some of them go later. Moral reasoning tends to rise through most of adulthood, and research indicates that it reverses very late in life. Your moral reasoning will reverse very late in life. So I'll rob a bank and have an affair. Or what's. What's. What's that all about?

[Armstrong]

I'm gonna have to ask my slaves if they agree.

[Getty]

Very late in life. You're a little young.

[Armstrong]

Late in life.

[Propane Advertiser]

I think.

[Getty]

I think you're just a bad person if you got slaves at this point.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, well, guilty. Yeah. Isn't that. This rings true. I mean, it's interesting that they came up with different terms or more specific terms for the aspects of wisdom.

[Getty]

Mm.

[Armstrong]

I'm not sure we need all of them, but it's interesting to hear it broken out. I mean, you just. You have so many case studies, not only your Own, but those of close friends and relatives and their experiences. And you just, you're. You're like a much more experienced surgeon. Yes, Michael, Maybe that's why so many old people say whatever's on their mind because they have no more moral reasoning.

[Getty]

I don't know. Is a case of the efforts the same as moral reasoning?

[Propane Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

Or you know, combines in some cases. But.

[Getty]

Yeah. Well, Katie and I were talking earlier when you were gone. Just some of this stuff really flies in the face of why do we have 80 year olds running the country? Oh, on some of these. Some of these. But.

[Propane Advertiser]

Right.

[Armstrong]

I got a bunch of old guys running the country and their financial literacy appears to be. There is none.

[Getty]

Emotional intelligence climbs through midlife before tapering off. Based on research comparing age groups, older adults, this is a financial one. I guess older adults are about twice as likely as younger adults. To avoid the sunk cost fallacy, the habit of throwing good money after bad. Twice as likely at like 60 as you would be at 30 of understanding. No, you know, this turned out to be a bad idea. Let's just move on. As opposed to, well, we've come this far, we better keep spending more money.

[Armstrong]

Right? Yeah, yeah, I would agree. Again, it's a question of having lived through that sort of thing a couple of times and realizing, okay, this is really disappointing, but we have to admit it's a loser and move on.

[Getty]

Yeah, it's interesting that they did that. They separate out financially financial intelligence where it might just be all wisdom there it's just accumulated knowledge. And yeah. Personality also matures with age, conscientiousness and emotional stability, which are the two traits that are most strongly linked to career success and life satisfaction according to this study. I have to say that again. So the two traits most strongly linked to career success and life satisfaction, which I don't know about you, but having a satisfying life is way up on my list of priorities.

[Armstrong]

Whose ass you kiss. That's the most important thing. It's not who you know, it's who you bleep.

[Getty]

Wow. Conscientiousness and emotional stability are the two traits you need for life satisfaction. That makes sense. But both increase from early adulthood well into your 50s and 60s, so that's good. Researchers weighted these various dimensions and created a composite index tracking overall functioning. And overall functioning peaks between 55 and 60 with clear declines emerging about 65 to 70. So I got a few years left before, I mean, because I'm barely functioning now, I got a few years left before it really starts to crash. True International depression.

[Armstrong]

You don't. You don't get much time to enjoy your peak, do you?

[Propane Advertiser]

No.

[Getty]

Well, we're not designed to live past that.

[Armstrong]

Right. Really. Conscientiousness and an emotional. What was it? Stability.

[Getty]

Stability, yeah.

[Armstrong]

Can that be translated as being beaten down? Emotional stability? No, I'm fine. I've been kicked before.

[Getty]

Well, it is true you get emotional stability, but I remember, God, quite a few years ago, I was proud of some reaction I had to something. And you, you said it's just because you have lower testosterone.

[Armstrong]

I fully admit that.

[Getty]

Which took all the fun out of it. But there is. You do also gain emotional stability, don't you think? It isn't just low T.

[Armstrong]

Because, again, B, again.

[Getty]

Because you've been through these situations before. This isn't the first time you've had a boss shoot off about something dumb or whatever situation, or you, you get something in the mail from the tax board that's going to be a pain in the ass. It's not the first time any of these things have happened, so you don't quite get as crazy.

[Armstrong]

Well, please, if anybody disagrees with this, by the time you're playing in your third super bowl, you're focused on the game, you're focused on doing your job in a way you can't be. The first time.

[Getty]

Absolutely.

[Armstrong]

Cited obvious example.

[Getty]

Or think about raising kids. The second kid versus the first kid. I mean, think about. Yeah, the. Just the, you know, the first time your first kid falls down and bonks their head versus when you get to the second kid. Yeah, they bump there. They're fine.

[Armstrong]

Getting back to the testosterone thing, though. What, what you need to remember, I think, or maybe you don't. I don't know, is that virtually everything we think, everything we do is chemicals sloshing around in our brain and the spark of the divine. But. And I believe in free will. I believe we have a certain amount of control over how we're going to react and you work to develop that. But I mean. Yeah. So of course different levels of different chemicals is going to affect the way you approach life. It's. It's. It's obvious. It has to be.

[Getty]

Well, yeah, I'm just trying to claim that any, any growth I've had is not all because I have lower testosterone.

[Armstrong]

Oh, no, no, not at all.

[Getty]

I would never take some credit for some growth.

[Armstrong]

Right. Well, I think that that discretionary part I was talking about, that absolutely grows because you've gone through it once when you lost your head, you've gone through it Another time where you didn't lose your head and you're thinking, yeah, I'm staying calm again this time.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

And then when he leaves for the day, I'll take a poop on his desk. Whatever it takes. Vengeance. Vengeance is fine.

[Getty]

A little sugar in the gas tank take care of that.

[Armstrong]

Probably. Yeah. Served cold.

[Propane Advertiser]

Right.

[Armstrong]

You know what I'm saying?

[Getty]

Huh? Good luck breaking down on the freeway on the way home. That's where you end up when you get older. The fact that you're like super quick thinking. Cognitive Reasoning drops after 20. Wow. That's early in life.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Getty]

So kind of wrapping it up. Studies, sobering studies cited by the authors show that people typically earn their highest salaries and reach peak occupational prestige between 50 and 55. It's not just because you've been around the company for a long time or blah blah, blah. It's actually when you've got the most accumulated knowledge and emotional stability and all those sorts of things.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. In short, you're most likely to do a good job at it.

[Getty]

Yeah, exactly. Now the fact, as it says here, that the leaders of many political countries are in their 70s or 80s is not. Yeah. These are all averages though, of course. I mean, just flat out on the face of it, obviously Donald Trump's brain is different than Joe Biden's brain.

[Armstrong]

Absolutely true. Yeah. And it strikes me that in a lot of your tech industries, for instance, your tech companies, they're run by wunderkinds. These, these young phenoms who are not 55 years old when they have their greatest success, is that because there is no accumulated knowledge to be had in.

[Getty]

Their fields specific to that field?

[Armstrong]

I mean, management is management dealing with people is dealing with people. But maybe energy and willingness to work 80 hours a week and, and not being tied to any sort of quote unquote, accumulated wisdom. Maybe that explains it. I don't know. I mean, because you'd think it. A Sam Altman, for instance, would hire a gray haired CEO and say, I'll just worry about the innovation stuff, you run the company. But that's not the way it goes.

[Getty]

The 55 year old CEO would say, what are we doing? What is the point of this?

[Armstrong]

What is I A? I keep telling you, it's AI. AI Artificial intelligence, All right?

[Getty]

Robots. The fact that my moral compass may go south on me in my old age, that's got me concerned. Wonder what sort of hijinks I'll be up to.

[Armstrong]

How bad could it get?

[Getty]

How far off the rails will I get? Exactly. If you have any thoughts on any of that? You should text or email. It's interesting stuff. We'll finish strong.

[Asma Khalid]

Next Armstrong and Getty.

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[Asma Khalid]

America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Asma Khalid]

Ah, come on. Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight, ultra powerful and built for serious productivity. With Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance, it keeps up with your business, not the other way around.

[Asma Khalid]

Whoa, this thing moves.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech [e-mail] Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Propane Advertiser]

The US Electric grid is approaching a breaking point as demand soars from data centers and home energy use. Our aging infrastructure can't keep up, and the Department of Energy warns that without action, blackouts could surge 100 fold by 2030. The good news? One solution is already here. Propane. It's American made, stored on site and always ready, powering homes and businesses with cleaner, reliable energy that doesn't depend on the grid or the weather. Learn [e-mail] hi, I'm Cindy Crawford and.

[Meaningful Beauty Founder]

I'm the founder of meaningful beauty. When Dr. Sebaugh and I decided to do a skincare line together, he said to me, we are going to give women meaningful beauty. And I said, that's exactly right. We want to give women meaningful beauty, which means each and every product is meaningful. It has a reason to exist. It's efficacious. You're going to get results, and then you just go out and live your life. Meaningful beauty confidence is beautiful. Learn more@meaningful beauty.com.

[Getty]

One thing you could say about Donald Trump, though, he has a vivid imagination. He has created a dangerous organization to get the old people excited and fired up. A supervillain called Antifa.

[Armstrong]

And we are going to find and charge all of those people who are causing this chaos in Portland and all.

[Getty]

These other cities across our country. And if we can't find them, we're going to pretend we did. Antifa is just short for anti fascist. It's not a club you can join. There are no membership dues. There's no chaos in Portland. None. There is no chaos in Chicago. There was no chaos in Los Angeles. They're pretending there's chaos as a pretense for a military. Military takeover. Wow.

[Armstrong]

Wow.

[Getty]

That's comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

[Armstrong]

Wow. Yeah. Now, I'll admit the chaos in Portland is fairly, you know, tight geographically.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

I mean, there's. There's the sort of chaos that rampant crime and drug abuse and bums and junkies brings. But the violent protests.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

Are in a fairly small place. But. So we let the federal courthouse or facility be burned down and all the agents beaten down by a mob. But we saw the chaos is chaos, Jimmy.

[Getty]

But we saw the chaos in Los Angeles that clearly existed. And Chicago is what Chicago is.

[Propane Advertiser]

But.

[Getty]

Wow, that's a heck of a thing for him to say. And that whole Antifa doesn't exist theme.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. What is that? They, you know, I think, and I've been a victim of this at times in my younger days before I developed the wisdom where we were talking about last segment, where you have sources you trust and they state something unequivocally and you see hit a handful of times and you think, you know what? That's good enough. I'm not going to acquire personal knowledge or look into it. If the New York Times just told me and, and MSNBC that Antifa doesn't exist, I'm going to state it as fact, as if I know it. Personal.

[Getty]

That's true. I mean, that's what we all do. What else are you going to do? Independently verify every study story you come across? I mean, it's a hard way to live your life.

[Armstrong]

Every single one. Yes. But. Yeah, that's an utterly ridiculous thing to say. It just means anti fascist. It's not a club you can join. Jimmy, you're an idiot. You are funny, but you really are unqualified for what you are now doing. Not in terms of intelligence, in terms of effort.

[Getty]

Well, what's interesting is that they.

[Armstrong]

Like.

[Getty]

Jimmy Fallon's decided I'm going to make my living because I can sing and dance and tell jokes and I don't need to wade into politics. But Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, who are incredibly talented, Stephen Colbert especially, doesn't need to do politics. Yeah, but they just want to fix the world or I don't know what that.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, they're, they sincerely think this is really important for their time. And they're either so self righteous or, you know, honestly concerned that they think I'm going to make this part of my act. And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But it's that important.

[Getty]

There was no chaos in Los Angeles.

[Armstrong]

I know, it's really crazy, right? Next they're going to tell us that whole Cop City thing in Atlanta where Antifa was showing up strong. There's. There was no chaos at Cop City in Atlanta. Well, there's Jack and there's Joe and it's time to close the show with.

[Getty]

The help of Katie Green and Michelangelo.

[Armstrong]

They're our friends, they're like family and they're on our radio. So let's hear their final thoughts before.

[Getty]

They have to go. Well, that's creepy. Here's your host for final thoughts, Joe Getty.

[Armstrong]

Let's get a final thought from everybody on the crew to wrap up the show for the day. There he is, our technical director pushing the buttons. Michelangelo. Michael, what's your final thought?

[Getty]

You know, I'm really looking forward to.

[Armstrong]

Getting older and older and losing my morals and saying whatever I can say. I'm just sitting there thinking about it.

[Getty]

And smiling and smiling.

[Armstrong]

Our esteemed newswoman Katie Green has a final thought.

[Getty]

Katie, that clip of the airport getting hacked, I'm really glad that I was not there because that would have just scared the hell out of me. No, me too. I would have wondered what is next. Clearly something has come off the rails here.

[Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Getty]

Is there about to be a bomb go off in here or what?

[Armstrong]

Yeah. Wow. Jack, do you have a final thought? You'd like to share. Yeah.

[Getty]

It's funny. My 13 year old regularly says I can't wait till I'm old and can say whatever I want to people. It's just like his dream. You can't wait till he's old and can finally speak his mind.

[Armstrong]

You know what son? It's every bit as good as you're imagining. It's great. My father final thought is I just got a little skin cancer surgery and I am going to have black eyes and some swelling and stuff like that because it was right on the bridge of my nose. What is the best story I can tell about how I ended up with two black eyes? We'll take your submissions [e-mail] you stood.

[Getty]

Up for for a woman who was being wronged by some dude in a bar or whatever.

[Armstrong]

And how about three dudes you weren't going to too much.

[Getty]

Two dudes you weren't going to let.

[Armstrong]

Him get away with it, right? Right. So I figured I got to take out the big one first. That's how I'll start my story.

[Getty]

Armstrong and Getty wrapping up another grueling four hour workday.

[Armstrong]

So many people to thank, so little time. Go to armstrong getty.com we got a lot of great clicks for you there including the hot links Katie's corner. Pick up some Armstrong and Getty swag for your favorite. A fan. Maybe it's you in time for Christmas. The light hoodie. So comfy, so useful during the autumn.

[Getty]

I need to get one of those. I need a new one for the season. I'm gonna go to the website today. See you tomorrow. God bless America.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Getty]

This is fabulous.

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[Armstrong]

That was not. None of that did not come from a dog. But damn it, let's not play games with this. This is the United States of America for God's sake. Lie after lie after lie.

[Getty]

Do not listen to the lies.

[Armstrong]

This is what will happen to you. Nessus.

[Getty]

Okay, this is all crazy.

[Armstrong]

That's enough of that.

[Getty]

I than I'm just saying have a terrific day.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Asma Khalid]

America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the global story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world, world and America.

[Tristan Redman]

Meet listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Asma Khalid]

Ah come on. Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

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[Armstrong]

Whoa.

[Asma Khalid]

This thing moves.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

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[Armstrong]

What kind of programs does this school have? How are the test scores? How many kids do a classroom? Homes.com knows these are all things you ask when you're home shopping as a parent.

[Getty]

That's why Each listing on Homes.com includes.

[Armstrong]

Extensive reports on local schools, including photos, parent reviews, test scores, student teacher ratio, school rankings and more. The information is from multiple trusted sources and curated by Holmes.com's dedicated in house research team. It's all so you can make the right decision for your family. Homes.com we've done your homework.

[Morton Buildings Advertiser]

Looking to build before next spring? Order now with Morton Buildings and get site Prep savings by October 31st. Get ahead of winter weather and save big through the end of October on select projects during Morton Buildings Winter Build Sales event. If you need a garage, a stall barn, a storage building for an rv, boat or other vehicles, a shop for your farm hobbies or car restoration projects or anything in between, take advantage of this special savings now. Morton Buildings uses quality materials and expert craftsmen with an industry leading warranty to ensure your addition is built stronger, lasts longer and looks better. We'll be working all winter long, but the building spots are limited. With offers this great, why wait? Visit MortonBuildings.com and click Get Started. Today. Certain restrictions may apply. Savings offer on new building purchases by October 3, 31st, 2025. Building delivery required by April 30th, 2026. Contact your local Morton office for more details.

[Armstrong]

This is an I Heart podcast.