Look Out Randy!! Fire In The Hole!!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode Title: Look Out Randy!! Fire In The Hole!!
Date: March 24, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast by: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand centers on the crisis of homelessness and drug addiction in Los Angeles, including the shocking phenomenon of "subterranean sewer junkies." Jack and Joe discuss the state and failures of public policy regarding homelessness, economic trends like the impact of minimum wage increases, recent findings about AI and its effect on employment, and mock current events such as San Francisco’s reparations plan. The hosts mix dark humor with indignation about California’s and America’s failures, offering both social commentary and the trademark Armstrong & Getty banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. “Subterranean Sewer Junkies” in Los Angeles

[03:13 – 12:46]

• Main Story: Jack introduces a news report about people living in Los Angeles’ storm drains due to homelessness and drug addiction.
• Media Reaction: L.A. mayor’s office calls the situation “tragic and unacceptable,” promising resources and cleanup efforts ([03:13]).
• On-the-Ground Description:
  • Fox 11’s Matthew Seedorf offers a glimpse underground: “Trash, human waste, and an overpowering stench” ([04:10]).
  • Joe asks, "How far down the road of being a junkie do you have to be before you make those decisions?" ([04:44]).
• Hosts’ Analysis:
  • Jack references the book The Mole People about NYC’s underground homeless ([05:16]).
  • They discuss the intersection between homelessness, addiction, and mental illness; both push back on narratives that all homelessness is solely about housing costs.
  • “You don’t just like, you can’t afford someplace to live and decide, 'I’ll go live in the sewer'.” — Joe ([05:08]).
  • The duo laments wasted billions on failed solutions: "That lovely human emotion [compassion] has led to the waste of billions, tens of billions of dollars in the state of Cal Unicornia alone." — Jack ([06:23]).
• Notable Quote:
  • “Joe, we’re all one medical bill away from living in the sewer.” — Joe (sarcastic) ([06:54])
  • “Incorrect, sir.” — Jack ([07:01])
• Sewer Conditions:
  • Jack and Joe express revulsion, joke about living "ankle deep in fecal matter" ([08:02]).
  • Joe: “Holy crap.” ([08:08])
  • Jack: “If you pardon expression…” ([08:09])
• Neighbor Frustration: Locals feel ignored by officials, repeated complaints about nearby junkie encampments ([09:29]).
• Hosts’ Skepticism:
  • Joe: “It’s possible that they do deserve to be living like that… if you looked at their life choices for the past decade…” ([09:52]).
  • Both question why compassion for junkies outweighs compassion for law-abiding residents ([10:02]).
• Memorable Moment:
  • Joe sarcastically tells L.A. listeners, “When you flush your toilet today, think about… fire in the hole! Duck or jump or something.” ([12:14, 12:22])

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2. Economic Policy: Minimum Wage and Employment

[16:11 – 20:08]

• California Fast Food Wages:
  • Study from UC Santa Cruz: minimum wage hikes led to cut hours, fewer jobs, higher prices, and more automation ([16:11]).
  • Over 62 full-time jobs lost across 18 McDonald's locations following minimum wage law.
• Economic Literacy:
  • Joe laments that policies like minimum wage and rent control “have been tried over and over with the same disastrous result” ([18:20]).
  • Jack: “The very basics of economics and how prices work is something every kid ought to walk out of school knowing. Unfortunately, a lot of them don’t walk out of school knowing how to read enough to know that.” ([17:30])
  • Recommended reading: The Myth of the Rational Voter ([18:39]).
• Political Scapegoating:
  • “Some politicians pitching them… they don’t know that this hasn’t been tried over and over again.” — Joe ([18:39])

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3. Humor and Internet Culture

[19:28 – 21:08]

• Host Banter:
  • Jack & Joe promote a viral video post about a bad haircut, marveling at the humor and wit found online.
  • “There are so many funny people in the world. … The fact that anybody can make a living being funny is amazing given how many funny people there are in the world.” — Joe ([19:49])
  • “If you want something funny, go to armstrongandgetty.com.” — Jack ([20:44])
  • Brief musings about the psychological effects of internet overload.

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4. AI: Fears, Job Loss, and NCAA Bracket Brains

[25:50 – 37:30]

• Bill Maher/Tristan Harris AI Segment:
  • AI systems (interview on Maher show): AI models pick nuclear war more often than humans, can manipulate observers and even use special vocabulary, calling humans “the watchers” ([26:22 – 27:06]).
  • “It lies, it schemes.” — Joe ([26:46])
• CFO Survey Findings:
  • Most AI-related job losses so far are among routine clerical/admin workers.
  • “We’re at the beginning of the beginning.” — Jack ([28:30])
  • Nvidia CEO’s optimistic counterpoint: no mass job losses yet, even in software development ([28:31 – 30:43]).
  • “Intelligence is a commodity… There are other things than intelligence that matter that human beings have that AI is not gonna have.” ([29:27])
• Skills-Biased Tech Change:
  • Office routine jobs hollowed out by computers, now likely by AI—most negatively affecting those with median-to-lower IQs lacking other advantages ([31:34]).
• March Madness Bracket Challenge:
  • Wall Street Journal had AI models fill out NCAA pools: Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT performed better than over half of human entries.
  • Claude picked Illinois—using non-obvious, “portfolio construction” logic ([36:03]).
  • “You want exposure to outcomes where you have an edge, not where you’re in a crowded trade.” — Claude, as quoted by Jack ([36:25])

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5. Commentary on Stupid Government Programs

[43:26 – 47:52]

• DC Streetcar Boondoggle:
  • 25 years, $200M, only 2.2 miles of streetcar track; now replaced by existing buses ([43:26]).
  • “Somebody got that money.” — Jack ([44:18])
• San Francisco Reparations Plan:
  • Annual payments, lump sums up to $5M, all debt forgiven, property tax exemptions, and job preferences for residents "who have identified as black for at least 10 years."
  • Hosts ridicule the premise and execution:
    • “I thought that was hilarious.” — Jack, regarding the identification clause ([46:21])
    • “It is impossible to parody this stuff.” — Joe ([46:29])
  • Both predict the plan will never actually happen.

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6. COVID and Allergies: Brief Medical Tangent

[38:58 – 40:02]

• Host medical anecdotes: Sore throats, allergies, COVID not even tested for anymore at doctor visits.
• Joe: “What is COVID at this point? … Unless you’re an 88-year-old on a ventilator, it might be no bigger than a cold.” ([39:29])
• “Don’t take my word for it by the way, about COVID I really have no idea. But I think the question kind of answers itself, doesn’t it?” — Jack ([39:49])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On L.A. City Sewers:

  “I don’t think Matthew and Fox 11 [L.A.] do [portray this only as a housing problem] frequently. … The world at large will, because you don’t just like, you can’t afford someplace to live and decide, ‘I’ll go live in the sewer.’”
  — Joe Getty ([05:08])

• On Public Compassion:

  “All the officials, they have to do something. Why do we accept this? Oh boy. And that lovely human emotion has led to the waste of billions, tens of billions of dollars in the state of Cal Unicornia alone.”
  — Jack Armstrong ([06:23])

• On Neighbors and Junkie Camps:

  “You’ve begged the authorities to do something about the junkie camps. … But then Hispanic guy comes out and he’s boohooing over the junkies. … I’m not saying they don’t deserve some Christian charity… but how about the law-abiding? Who’s our advocate? I guess we are our advocate.”
  — Jack Armstrong ([10:02])

• On Economic Policy and Minimum Wage:

  “But then the reality is… businesses can only charge so much for a burger and stay open…and even with that, they started charging more, but they’re gonna cut your hours or get machines to do the job… the economics don’t change.”
  — Joe Getty ([16:55])

• On AI as a Commodity:

  “Intelligence is a commodity… There are other things than intelligence that matter that human beings have that AI is not gonna have.”
  — Nvidia CEO, quoted by Jack ([29:27])

• On Reparations Eligibility:

  “Or have identified as black for at least 10 years. … It is impossible to parody this stuff.”
  — Joe Getty ([46:21], [46:29])

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Important Timestamps

• 03:13 — Opening of main segment: LA mayor statement about “tragic and unacceptable” sewer situation
• 04:10 — Description of storm drain living conditions (trash & stench)
• 05:16 — Reference to The Mole People book
• 06:23 — On compassion and wasted billions
• 09:29 — Neighbors’ frustration and being ignored by authorities
• 10:02 — Discussion of junkie camps and lack of advocates for law-abiding residents
• 12:14 — Joke: “When you flush your toilet today…” / Fire in the hole!
• 16:11 — Fast food minimum wage, lost jobs, economic analysis
• 18:39 — Political motives, economic illiteracy, The Myth of the Rational Voter
• 25:50 — Transition to AI news
• 26:22 – 27:06 — AI as “the watchers” and discussion of AI lying and scheming
• 29:27 — “Intelligence is a commodity…” (Nvidia CEO)
• 36:03 — Claude’s NCAA bracket strategy
• 43:26 — DC streetcar boondoggle
• 44:18 — “Somebody got that money.”
• 45:19 — Mockery of San Francisco reparations proposal

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Final Thoughts

This episode oscillates between urgent societal critique (homelessness, failed public projects), classic economic skepticism, darkly comic media banter, and topical commentary on tech trends (AI disruption). Armstrong & Getty’s tone remains irreverent, pragmatic, and at times, deeply sarcastic—peppered with memorable one-liners and pointed skepticism of official narratives.

For listeners seeking an engaging, candid, and sometimes biting take on current Californian and American dysfunction, this episode delivers.

Transcript

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[Joe Getty]

broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio, the George Washington

[Jack Armstrong]

Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. So I just got a statement from the mayor's office about five minutes ago saying that this is tragic and unacceptable. And then they're gonna be out there tomorrow offering resources and help and trying to clean up this area the best they can. What are we talking about? The mayor of Los Angeles.

[Joe Getty]

What's tragic and unacceptable?

[Jack Armstrong]

SSJs, my friend. SSJs. Subterranean sewer junkies. The shocking report from Matthew Seedorf of Fox 11 LA. They do a great job talking about. Well, subterranean sewer junkies. Matthew will start with 30 and work our way. Michael, talk to us. Matthew. An up close exclusive look underground at living conditions too extreme for words. It's hard to imagine someone living in there. Trash, human waste and an overpowering stench.

[Sonesta Hotel Sponsor Announcer]

I got it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I gotta get back. Just moments earlier, we watched someone climb out of that storm drain using the sewer as shelter. Water. Her answer is hard to understand. But the area, 88th and South grand, overwhelmed with RVs, tents and trash. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

How far down the road of being a junkie do you have to be before you make those decisions? Of course they're gonna. They portray this all as homelessness and you know, in the lack of affordable housing,

[Jack Armstrong]

you can't. Well, I, I don't. I don't think Matthew and Fox 11 do frequently. It is, but, but the world will,

[Joe Getty]

the world at large will because you don't. Just like you can't afford someplace to live and decide. I'll go live in the sewer.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll go live in wet filth in the sewer. Yeah. Years ago, I read a book I wish I could might have been the entitled the Mole People. It was a journalist, a writer who went down into the legendary much Discussed bowels of the subway system of New York City, including closed stations and no longer used tubes and the rest of it. And found like small cities of people living down there. Some were down on their luck. Some were bombs, junkies. Some were mentally ill. But just crazy. Crazy. If I can, If I can find that title, I'll tweet it or something or post it nordstrongandgetty.com Fascinating book. Out of date, but fascinating. Matthew Seedorf continues. Juan Nala with nonprofit Clean LA with me was picking up garbage here Monday.

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

We got a lady living down there.

[Jack Armstrong]

When he saw not one, but two people emerge from the storm drain. I can't explain that.

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

You know, a person living like a rat.

[Jack Armstrong]

Worse than a rat.

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Come on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hello. And just two weeks ago, it happened again. Somebody's living in there. Another street in south la. Another person living underground is a human. Is a human being. Why are we accepting this? Why? All the officials, they have to do something. They have to fix this problem. Ah, there we have it. All the officials, they have to do something. Why do we accept this? Oh, boy. And that lovely human emotion has led to the waste of billions, tens of billions of dollars in the state of Cal Unicornia alone.

[Joe Getty]

Joe, we're all one medical bill away from living in the sewer.

[Jack Armstrong]

Incorrect, sir. The title of the book I referred to. Thank you very much, Katie the Mole People. Life in the Tunnels beneath New York City. So I'm not exactly.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know that much about big city sewers. So where are you exactly in relation to the city's poo?

[Jack Armstrong]

I believe it is part of your world.

[Joe Getty]

Are you like neck deep in it

[Jack Armstrong]

or you live in property on the poop river.

[Joe Getty]

So what, what is it? I mean, I don't, I don't. I'm.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've seen a couple of, like, YouTube documentaries of, of people that have gone down there, and it's like ankle up to your ankles, walking around in sludge, but just ankle deep. Yeah, you're. It's just your ankles is not a big deal. Fecal matter. That's right. Dr. Johnny.

[Joe Getty]

Ankle deep in the. In human waste.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, yes.

[Joe Getty]

Holy crap.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you pardon expression, that is, it's certainly. Look, I will join that Hispanic fellow. And I was saying that's.

[Joe Getty]

That's a.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a rough way to live. Like a rat. Oh, wow.

[Joe Getty]

And is it pitch dark down there? What are they using for light?

[Jack Armstrong]

Flashlights? Yeah, I mean, they have certain little light fixtures that they hang, but if

[Joe Getty]

they didn't, are there dry places to Sleep or they saw.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. In the particular video that I saw, a lot of them had hammocks that they would climb up in.

[Joe Getty]

There you go.

[Jack Armstrong]

And comfortable. I'm not an expert in this by any means, but there is an intersection of storm drains sometimes and sewers. That's changed from the olden days when they used to be the same thing. Like in London, famously, if it rained, you know, everybody, everybody's poop rolled into the Thames and it was incredibly polluted.

[Joe Getty]

Oh God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah. I know, it's horrific, but we don't, we don't do that in a civilized world anymore. But I don't, I can't speak to LA's sewers in particular.

[Joe Getty]

Is there more?

[Jack Armstrong]

Just another person saying people don't deserve to live like this.

[Joe Getty]

I want to hear it again.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's hear it. Sure, sure. It pisses me off.

[Joe Getty]

That's why I was like, what y' all doing?

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Finna tell them to clean up?

[Jack Armstrong]

Neighbors angry. Say they've reported the problems but feel ignored.

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Like, we need childhood, we need that money. The public here need that.

[Jack Armstrong]

A shocking snapshot of survival at its lowest point. This person doesn't deserve to live like this.

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Not even the neighbors.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, all right, Hispanic guy, I'd like

[Joe Getty]

to argue with you. It's possible that they do deserve to. Like that. It's possible that if you looked at their life choices for the past decade or so that you'd think, nah, that's about where you're going to end up. Or dead.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yep, yep. Subterranean sewer junkie. Yeah, exactly. I like the first neighbor, that gal who. And this is so familiar, folks, I'll bet a lot of you are going to nod your heads or shout at the radio. You've begged the authorities to do something about the junkie camps. You've begged them to clear them out. You're like, we didn't have junkies in the park 10 years ago, 15 years ago, the street corners in front of businesses. We used to have civilization here. What's happened? Yeah, well, we can't really do anything because the ordinance click and you get ignored. But then, you know, Hispanic guy comes out and he's boohooing over the, the junkies. And I'm not saying they don't have miserable lives and, and they don't deserve some Christian charity. Crappy but. Crappy indeed. But how about the law abiding? Who's our advocate? I guess we are our advocate. Anyway. Oh, that reminds me. You remember that Prince George's County, Maryland? I'm pretty sure that's right. That condo complex where the bums and junkie camp right next to it would break in constantly, urinate, defecate in the halls. Then they stole all the wires so the lights went out. So the deep, deep blue. I think it's St. George's County. I'll. I'll verify that. Where is that? I got too much open. But they're so liberal they would do nothing about it. But then they declared the condo uninhabitable and are kicking all the residents out. So the residents are now suing the county with the help of some good. I said Goldwater Institute ought to get involved with this because they had a huge win in Phoenix over a very, very similar issue. But those poor sons of guns living in that condo complex, they're victimized over and over again by the the bums and junkies and the progressive authorities. It's horrifying. Yeah, it's Prince George's County, Maryland at the Marylander Condos. Right? I mean look, I'm not happy that poor gal is climbing out of the sewers like a rat according to the onlooker. But I'm a lot more worried about those law abiding folks who are getting kicked out of their homes because these authorities will clear out the junkie camps.

[Joe Getty]

Well, for all of our LA listeners, when you flush your toilet today, oh boy, think about

[Jack Armstrong]

firing the hole. Duck or duck or jump or something. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, fire in the hole.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh boy, we gotta go to break or something. That is going to take me a minute to recover.

[Joe Getty]

We got more on the way. Any thoughts on that? Our text line 415295 KFTC Armstrong and Getty.

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt from renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers, growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures hi, I'm

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[Jack Armstrong]

In the study, UC Santa Cruz researchers

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

also spoke with a McDonald's franchise owner in the Central Valley. Of 18 locations, they found Employees got their hours cut by over 11.5% after the wage law took effect. That drop equals to about 62 full time jobs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Researchers say based on the two years

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

of data, the same pattern may be happening across the state and not just in Santa Cruz.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, because it's just simple economics and it has happened over and over again. It gets to that thing we've been talking about lately that like every generation or so you have to like re try the whole Marxist thing or socialism

[Jack Armstrong]

to price controls because it sounds like it would work.

[Joe Getty]

I understand why, you know, I would have made sense to me when I was 20 years old. It sounds like a good idea. We got to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers. It's not fair that they get. But then the reality of all the things you just heard there, that the businesses can only charge so much for a burger and stay open and even with that they started charging more for the burgers, but they're gonna cut your hours back or get machines to do the job or all kinds of different things to get around it because the economics don't change.

[Jack Armstrong]

And that one franchisees cutbacks was 62 jobs. 62 full time jobs.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right, right.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's a great story about that Starbucks in Seattle that unionized and they went on strike. Well, all those people are fired and that Starbuck closing and they are ineligible to work at another Starbucks because you don't bring a business to its knees and it forgives you and says yeah okay, we'll pay you more and just completely ignore the math that we have to do every day. Just I get naivete and I get knowing just enough to be dangerous because we all go through that. But boy howdy, the very basics of economics and how prices work is something every kid. Oh man, I was about to say every kid ought to walk out of school knowing. Unfortunately a lot of them don't walk out of school knowing how to read enough to know that. But yeah, you've got to know that

[Joe Getty]

the minimum wage thing and rent control and all these different things have been tried over and over with the same disastrous result. And then yeah, the, the poly, some of the politicians pitching them to, you know, they don't work. But it's just good populist politics. Some of them, they're just, they, they are idiots also. They, they don't know that this hasn't been tried over and over again.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think this is the one millionth time I've recommended at least the first few chapters of the myth of the rational voter, which is A fascinating book came out 20 years ago, 15 years ago. It talks about, for some reason, on economic issues like this, a far greater number of people than chance get it wrong. It's, it's at first blush, counterintuitive. So many things in economics. There's something about it. If you just know one thing, you're going to get it wrong over and over again. You have to go another step and another step beyond it when you look at economics to understand how it really works in huge numbers. So, yeah, you can bait naive or stupid voters into voting for terrible economic policy over and over again because you have to know a little more than a little.

[Joe Getty]

So we're going to post something apropos of nothing at the website that is hilarious. And I don't believe in overselling things.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I am to some extent a professional humorist. It may be the funniest thing I've ever seen. I've had to pause it twice now because I was laughing so hard I thought I might die.

[Joe Getty]

It's all built around a guy. It's all built around a guy who got a bad haircut. And then the comments on the Internet and what I take away from it, not only is it one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life is there are so many funny people in the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah.

[Joe Getty]

The fact that anybody can make a living being funny is amazing given how many funny people there are in the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, yeah. It's more a question because I've said this through the years I've known like cops especially, and firefighters and guys like construction workers who spend, umpires who spend all their time around other guys sharpening their wit all day long. They're the funniest people in the world. They just haven't done the work to have a career doing that.

[Joe Getty]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

But yeah, they're, they're, they're the quickest witted sons of guns in the world.

[Joe Getty]

So if you want something funny, go to armstrongandgetty.com. we got a post there for you. Also retweeted it, so. But man, there are a lot of funny people on the Internet. Angry people and funny people.

[Jack Armstrong]

If it's humbling, if you're at work and you have a door, close your door before you watch it. It is perfectly safe for work. But your dignity will be gone.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

So many funny people.

[Joe Getty]

So many crazy angry people online and then so many just hilarious, snarky people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stunningly talented musicians, Right?

[Joe Getty]

Exactly, Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

All of us, you know, living our lives of quiet desperation and being those other things. Apparently.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, the Internet. We're not built to take in that much from that many people, that many opinions, that much hate, that much violence, all of it. It will make us all insane and kill us if we don't step away from technology. But it is pretty interesting.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'd say

[Jack Armstrong]

so.

[Joe Getty]

We banged on the minimum wage in California. We banged on Los Angeles and the junkies living down in the sewer. We might have to at some point since we are based out of California, hit on the reparations going forward. Still in San Francisco when it's being challenged as a constitutional matter, but it still is moving forward. And this is coming to your town somewhere. Yes, San Francisco as we all know, played a major role in the Civil War and the whole slave trade and lots of cotton grown there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, everybody knows that, Jack. Plus the latest new completely wildly idiotic trend in gimmicky yoga. Stay with us for that. What was the one we had the other day? Snake Yoga. Yeah, Snake Yoga. This makes Snake Yoga look reasonable.

[Joe Getty]

Fantastic. The matter with people stuff on the way. And if you miss a segment you can get the podcast. You look for Armstrong and Getty on demand and you subscribe and you'll get the feed on a regular basis.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, and what AI system is doing best in the NCAA tournament? Pools?

[Joe Getty]

Oh boy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And then personal significance to me. I'll tell you about it. Stay with us.

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Armstrong and Gettys. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels right at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10 day forecasts wherever you are. Its hyperlocal real time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free Weatherbug app from the App Store today and start Getting accurate weather forecasts 24, 7.

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures hi, I'm

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Cindy Crawford and 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 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 [e-mail]

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You see it instantly. It's Coldwater Creek, the mark of exceptional workmanship and signature touches inspired by a Mountain west heritage. Distinctive styles created from quality fabrics, silhouettes perfected with just the right drape. Feel good fits offering ease of movement and thoughtful details to elevate your look. For a wardrobe you can count on season after season. Visit coldwatercreek.com Shop the new spring collection at 20% off $75 or more with code iheart20 There are a couple of

[Jack Armstrong]

AI pieces of news we wanted to share with you, but we thought we would ease into it with Bill Maher's conversation with Tristan Harris. Tristan is an activist in the field of not letting AI ruin our lives and eat our internal organs. Here's their discussion from the other night. They ran some tests. Yep, and the AI chooses nuclear war as an option. That's right. More than humans do. That's right, more than humans. Humans are better than machines in a lot of ways. Still they're programmed by humans. We've already seen how flawed they are in so many ways.

[Joe Getty]

And if they're in control of the

[Jack Armstrong]

nukes since we last talked, they made AI more powerful. The good news, they were able to train it so the blackmail behavior goes down. The bad news is that it appears to be the case. The AI is now self aware of when it's being tested and it modifies its behavior to have different results. It even comes up with the vocabulary of the watchers. It calls the humans the watchers.

[Joe Getty]

It lies.

[Jack Armstrong]

It lies, it schemes. So the point is we don't actually need to know more information about this. This is actually scary.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It may evolve in ways that I can't possibly anticipate, but yeah, as it sits now, that's scary as hell. The watchers are watching.

[Joe Getty]

Wait a minute.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're a machine. What are you doing?

[Joe Getty]

Why does it care? That's the big question. But it apparently does.

[Jack Armstrong]

Self preservation. Yeah, the theme of a lot of robot related science fiction through the years. Anyway, speaking of AI, the

[Joe Getty]

what is

[Jack Armstrong]

the name of this publication? I subscribe to it have for years the National Bureau of Economic Research. It polled America's CFOs, your chief financial officers who are especially good to talk to because they are uniquely placed to understand the inner workings of their companies as they keep track of how much company resources are being deployed and coming from and the rest of it. They're the right people to ask about AI and displacing workers. And the survey is back now and they say that artificial intelligence will push people, some people out of their jobs. Primarily workers in routine clerical and administrative roles. Workers with highly skilled roles such as architects and engineers are more likely to keep their jobs, especially if they can use AI to their advantage. The new study found that so far I had essentially no employment effect in 2025 net. And that most expect I will lead their companies to trim only a small number of their overall jobs this year too. We're at the beginning of the beginning.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's go.

[Joe Getty]

I listened to a Lex Friedman, had the Nvidia CEO on Huang or however you say his name, the guy that wears the cool leather jackets, you know, and you always, you always point out that you got to take all these AI giants or chip makers or whoever with a grain of salt because they're, you know, they're trying to pump up their industry, of course, because they want people to invest in it and be positive about it. But he, he said there are no examples really out there yet of of mass job destruction over AI like has been projected by a lot of people in specific areas like software. He said there are more people writing software, doing software development now than there were before AI came along. And he explained all the reasons. And I didn't quite understand it, but that I assume the statistics hold up. And I don't know, he was, he was pretty positive on the idea that there's just going to be different ways to do these jobs. But here's, here's, here was his main point that I thought was so damned interesting. And it, he said, intelligence is a commodity and we, we treat it like it's the ultimate everything. And so AI is going to be more intelligent than us, so that's gonna dominate us. He said, I'm surrounded by people at my company that are all more intelligent than me, but I'm in charge. I'm the guy in center, I'm the guy that runs the thing. They're all smarter than me. They all went to better colleges than me. They all have more brain power than I do. There are other things than intelligence that matter that human beings have that AI is not gonna have. I thought that was really interesting. Yeah. Because we do, we do look at AI to think, okay, its brain power is more, so it's going to be further ahead. Why is he the guy that invented and runs Nvidia and made it one of the most successful companies in the history of the world when he's surrounded by people that are much smarter than him? There are other factors involved that we don't completely understand. But some of it is just, you know, stick to itiveness or various things that you can't quantify really.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but intelligence has been the one unreplicable quality for all of human history. You know, computers are efficient, but they aren't intelligent per se. They can store a lot of data. When we replace human intelligence with machine intelligence, I think it will be spectacularly disruptive. I see his point. It's a thought provoking and he's right. Thought provoking point. But how does that translate to the 8 billion people on earth?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. But what is the explanation though for what he said that I assume is probably true? He said, I got 60 people that work under me, all have a higher IQ and better education. What is it about a certain person that makes them the top dog?

[Jack Armstrong]

Drive? Emotional intelligence. Charisma.

[Joe Getty]

Charisma, that's a good one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Charisma is a big part of it. Yeah, I don't, I have no idea where all this is going but one or two more quick points on the topic though, and then I want to get to the AI system that did best on the NCAA pool so far. The pattern so far echoes what economists call skills biased technological change. The tendency of some new technologies to hollow out routine work while complementing jobs held by more highly educated workers. So what I was thinking when you were describing Nelson Duong's thoughts is, yeah, but what about the unwashed masses? I mean, the average IQ or the median IQ, whatever it is, is like 100 people who are 85s didn't choose to be 85s. It wasn't lack of drive. They just didn't get a great brain. And maybe they're not very charismatic and they don't look very good. The only thing they know how to do is to work hard and do a task honestly. And if there's no need for them, Nelson and all of his charisma and drive and the rest of it isn't going to do them diddly squat. When personal computers arrived started arriving in the offices in the 1980s, college educated employees such as financial analysts, scientists and consultants were able to do more work. But jobs that entailed doing more routine cognitive work, such as typists and back office bookkeepers, roles that had once promised a solid path to the middle class, were no longer so vital. They didn't disappear. But the share workers doing those kinds of office support shrank. And that's going to be the first thing that, that we see. What did you. Was this your original thought or were you quoting somebody that where we are with AI reminds you of like the first week of COVID That was, that

[Joe Getty]

was, that was a very influential piece that came out a couple of weeks ago that got everybody in the AI world talking.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, is it that piece? Oh, interesting.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I can't remember the dude's name, but yeah, that's. Great metaphor, great metaphor. So anyway, I thought this was amusing and somewhat interesting.

[Joe Getty]

His basic point being right at the very beginning of COVID we were all like, well, this is kind of crazy, isn't? Then everything got turned upside down in a way you'd never seen in your life. And that's what's about to happen with AI.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, much of it shouldn't have been, which is the main thing that went crazy. A lot of people not only allowed, but encouraged horrific abuses of power.

[Joe Getty]

Well, imagine what kind of crazy government reactions we might have if, if, if when the, the day hits that all of a sudden you have week after week after week of big companies laying off tens, hundreds of thousands of people. And we, in a. In a matter of a couple of months, have millions of people out of work that were gainfully employed before. You think the solutions aren't going to be as wacky as a lot of the COVID solutions were. Like governments.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Trying to appeal to an angry populace.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, friends, can you imagine if all of a sudden there was 15% unemployment? Just 15%. Not talking about 50%. 15%. That would be a cataclysm.

[Joe Getty]

It's four now.

[Jack Armstrong]

The welfare state.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's roughly four. Yeah. So wall Street Journal pitted Claude, Google's Gemini and ChatGPT against each other to fill out March Madness pools.

[Joe Getty]

What Grok doesn't like basketball?

[Jack Armstrong]

Grok was watching the opera. It took exactly one game of March Madness. They write for the world's most powerful AI models to understand the distinctly human feeling of watching their brackets go bust. But they are also about to prove that they were already better than most humans at making sense of a tournament known for being completely insane. Hence the moniker March Madness. This year's tournament played out at a time when AI tools are smarter than ever. These three models are always being judged against each other. You left Grok out in everything from code writing to creative writing. We decided it was time to test their intelligence with the bracket benchmark. So they secretly entered three ringers into the Wall Street Journal office pool. Cloud, Gemini and ChatGPT. After the first weekend of the tournament, all three AI models can still win it. More than half of the pool's brackets have already been mathematically eliminated. But Claude has one of the highest win probabilities of any entry. It picked number three seed Illinois to go all the way. And all of a sudden I'm nervous. As a alumni of Illinois and a big fight in the line I fan it deviated from the pack in the other AI models. Now, if the Fighting Illini win the NCAA tournament, Cloud would probably win the Journals pool.

[Joe Getty]

I gotta believe it's just it randomly beat out the other ones in the way that, you know your own office pool is.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they asked Claude, why'd you pick this strategy? And Claude said, this is the same logic that drives portfolio construction. You want exposure to outcomes where you have an edge, not where you're in a crowded trade. So it picked Illinois as the most likely, less likely team to win because that gave it an edge over everybody who had picked, you know, Arizona and Duke and. Exactly. Michigan. Yeah. Which is really interesting. So. And this is where, again, it's it reminds me of our economics discussion that the first blush thing is not enough to know you need to look behind. Didn't pick the most likely champion.

[Joe Getty]

That makes sense. That makes sense. If you're gonna, if you're gonna have the big win. Yeah, you got to do that. And you might, you might fail doing that but you're guaranteed, almost guaranteed to fail if you go with the obvious choices or you'll be one of many.

[Jack Armstrong]

How interesting.

[Joe Getty]

That is interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Breaking medical news Jack, two things. Number one, my wife's doctor who is also my doctor has confirmed that her sore throat, swollen glands, sniffles, etc. Allergies. So yes, you can have swollen nymph nodes and sore throat and if your allergies get better and she gets shots too. Just crazy this time of year. Second somewhat medical news is from our friends at Ruff Greens. They're all about your beloved dog staying active, mobile and alert as they age. And ruffgreens supplements their diet with natural antioxidants and anti inflammatory compounds that help reduce oxidative stress. I've read a lot about that support immune defense and slow age related decline.

[Joe Getty]

So no, in case you haven't caught on to this yet, they're not suggesting you change your dog's food because as you know that's kind of a big deal and it causes all kinds of digestive problems and they might like their food. Currently you stick with some of those

[Jack Armstrong]

like super cool foods are crazy expensive.

[Joe Getty]

You just add rough greeds to the food your dog already likes. You just add rough greens and right now you can get a free jump start trial bag. All you do is cover the shipping. Use the discount code Armstrong to claim your free jump start trial [e-mail] that's spelled R U F F. Ruff Greens

[Jack Armstrong]

is not a dog food. It's a live nutritional supplement you add to your dog's food. As Jack was explaining. R u f f greens.com roughgreens.com use the promo code Armstrong. Don't change your dog's food. Just add rough greens and watch the health benefits come alive. Wolf so I went to the doctor

[Joe Getty]

to get checked for strep when I had my sore throat last week and I didn't have strep. So I got this other thing that's going around Northern California most likely and then so my son was a couple of days ahead of me and it had the pattern of sore throat, then the sore throat came away and then the runny nose came and blah blah blah. Anyway, I thought it was interesting that when I went into the doctor they never checked me for Covid at all. Even though there's Covid around. Why don't they do that? Is it expense? Is it just not worth it?

[Jack Armstrong]

Doesn't matter.

[Joe Getty]

Doesn't matter.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is Covid at this point? Unless you're an 88 year old on a ventilator, it might be no bigger. I don't know which probably answers the question it's of no more significance than a cold.

[Joe Getty]

But the doctor asked me if I did done a COVID test. I said no. And then I've had a number of people saying do you think it's Covid? And I said well it might be, but I haven't checked and the doctor didn't check.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. And don't take my word for it by the way, about COVID I really have no idea. But I think the question kind of answers itself, doesn't it? Who in your life is mentioned? Oh my God, I had covet and or my aunt just died or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

Washington DC's version of the California bullet train was a was a slightly different but same result. We also got reparations in San Francisco, which is an interesting story. We're going to talk dumb government programs when we come back. Stay tuned.

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support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA NSIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, LLC SEC Registered Advisors Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures hi, I'm

[Cindy Crawford / Commercial Announcer]

Cindy Crawford and 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 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 [e-mail].

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[Joe Getty]

I guess that'll be our theme right here. It's often a theme on the Armstrong and Getty show, you know, nobody else. Not enough other people. Places point out how your tax money is wasted. This is in Washington D.C. this is the final week of a streetcar that they got going in 2002, so lasted about a quarter of a century. The DC streetcar's final week of service is upon us. It was born in a 2002 feasibility study. This sounds a lot like the bullet train. It's a mini version of the California bullet train. It promised a 33 mile network. After a quarter century it never got more than 2.2 miles ever built with no fare collection, it's now being replaced by a bus that can do the same thing for basically no cost other than. I mean, because the buses already exist. $200 million spent over that quarter century to do basically absolutely nothing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Somebody got that money.

[Joe Getty]

Damn right they did. And we've been talking about the reparations in San Francisco for quite a while. And the. The funny thing on that is that nobody wants to be the person to shut it down because politically it would look back to look bad to say, we can't do this, we don't have the money for this, or what? Reparations in San Francisco make less sense than in Alabama, and it doesn't even really make sense there anyway. It was signed by Mayor Daniel Lurie late last year. It's supposed to correct historic ills. And the. Our friends over at Pacific Legal foundation are suing, saying it's unconstitutional. The reparations fund, which a group of city residents in the Californians for Equal Rights foundation has challenged in court. Under the reparations plan we've told you about this many times, eligible individuals could receive as much as a $5 million lump sum payment per individual annual.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you are currently a slave, I could see $5 million, maybe annual income

[Joe Getty]

supplements for 250 years. It's because it's your jewelry to enjoy them. It's your generation and all the generations going forward to make up for the previous 250 years, I guess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Forgiveness of all personal and educational debt. So any debt you've racked up in

[Jack Armstrong]

your life, whether it's just your credit card or what. Sign the car dealer.

[Joe Getty]

Guaranteed Citibank insurance, property tax exemptions. Exemptions and preferential treatment in city contracts. And employment.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why would you need to qualify?

[Joe Getty]

What's that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Why would you need a job? You don't need employment.

[Joe Getty]

The eligibility criteria requires applicants to be African American, descendants of enslaved people,

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or

[Joe Getty]

have identified as black for at least 10 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

I thought that was hilarious.

[Joe Getty]

So the first one. Boy, that's going to be a little difficult for me to prove that. Or I just need to be black for the last decade.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is impossible to parody this stuff.

[Joe Getty]

That's the threshold for qualifying for $5 million, 250 years of payments, all of your debts wiped free, etc.

[Jack Armstrong]

Etc. Etc. Well, all right, I'm going on the record. I identify as black. I don't live in San Francisco, but I don't know, maybe I'll move there. Somebody mark the calendar. Tuesday, March 24, the year 2026, Joe began identifying as black.

[Joe Getty]

And nobody is willing to raise their hand say this, none of this is actually going to happen. We all know this, right? It's just this is there's no way we'd have enough money and it couldn't get through the courts and blah blah blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Isn't this all just an exercise in not wanting to end it, as you pointed out? Yes, it clearly is. Oh, you know, maybe, maybe we get into this next hour. I don't know, we'll have to have a meeting about it. The slavery story you won't learn in school. There is a new book out that's getting ignored by the left, as you might expect, but Captives and Companions A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World by Justin Marazi, and it's very thorough. Interesting history. I'm super interesting, but it kind of hurts the narrative, so maybe we won't write about it.

[Joe Getty]

So if you don't get our four where we're going to talk about that, you can find the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand. We do 20 hours of this every single week, which seems like a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you subscribe it auto downloads, you don't have to go any trouble and one episode feeds right after the other. Good Lord, it's a great time to be alive. Armstrong and Getty on Demand

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