Once You Get Past The Vomiting, It's Liberating!

Summary

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Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "Once You Get Past The Vomiting, It's Liberating!"

Date: December 9, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Episode Overview

This insightful episode dives deep into the educational crises facing America, the impact of digital technology on learning and socialization, and the profound societal shift toward screen time over human connection. The hosts, with their trademark humor and candor, dissect recent headlines (Louvre damage, Hollywood mergers) before dedicating the bulk of the episode to a critical analysis of declining academic standards, the failures of modern education policy, and how technology is reshaping our personal and collective lives—culminating in a sobering look at how Americans spend their time.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Louvre Water Leak & Media Spin

[02:57 - 03:43]

• The Louvre in Paris reportedly had hundreds of Egyptian books damaged in a water leak.
• Contradictory statements emerged; officials claimed “none of the books were damaged.”
• Armstrong and Getty mock the incident and the PR spin:

  "Very French thing to say, huh?" — Jack Armstrong [03:43]

2. UC San Diego’s Math Crisis & America’s Educational Decline

[04:08 - 12:37]

• UC San Diego’s new remedial math courses:

  • One in eight freshmen lack basic high school math skills; most perform at the level of 5th graders.
  • Even students with top high school math grades (A’s in pre-calc/stats) fail at basic arithmetic at college entry.
  • “Only about 40% could correctly round the number blankety blank to the nearest 100, which is a third grade skill.” — Jack Armstrong [05:11]

• Diagnosing the Crisis:

  • Abandonment of standardized tests (to promote ‘equity’) has failed to ensure incoming students are sufficiently prepared.
  • Rampant grade inflation in K-12 schools: high school grades no longer reflect true proficiency.
  • Poor teacher preparation; many new teachers possess weak math skills themselves.

• Critical Quotes:

  “This was a fraud. High schools have clearly been inflating grades beyond what many students earned or observed. And let’s keep in mind that anybody who suggests any significant reform will be beaten to death politically by the teachers unions.” — Jack Armstrong [11:57]

• Personal Anecdote:

  • Joe recounts how one of his children was given exaggerated grades, underlining the disconnect between reported achievement and real skills. [12:12]

3. Technology in Schools: "We Gave Students Laptops and Took Away Their Brains"

[12:37 - 22:58]

• Discusses research by Jared Horvath and others on the negative impact of classroom digitization:
  • Tech use in classrooms has exploded into a "$400 billion juggernaut" now woven into every facet of schooling.
  • More than half of students use screens 1–4 hours daily; 25% use screens for over four hours per school day.
  • “Researchers estimate that less than half of this time is actually spent learning, with students drifting off task up to 38 minutes of every hour...” — Jack Armstrong [20:17]
  • Strong correlation between increased screen time and declining test scores.
• Root Causes & Blame:
  • Global tech corporations (e.g. Google) have normalized data-mining and digital engagement in schools, creating “customers for life.”
  • “How did Google manage to get into schools to the point that it’s just de facto that’s the way we do things?” — Joe Getty [21:31]
• The “dopamine hits” and addictive design of ed-tech mirrors social media’s effects on diminished attention spans.

4. Societal Shifts: How Americans Spend Their Time (1930–2024)

[37:17 - 47:03]

Data Chart Review

• Animated graph tracks Americans’ time allocation from 1930 to 2024.
• 1932:
  • Family & school: ~22% each
  • Friends: 19%
  • Neighbors: 11%
  • Church: 10%
  • Online: 0%
• 1950s–1990s:
  • Gradual increase in social time with friends, coworkers, and outside entertainment; church and neighbors begin slow decline.
• The “Punchline”:
  • 2002: Online jumps to 6.5% (“not a significant factor before; then the internet arrives”)
  • 2012: Online use leaps to 26%; becomes top activity, surpassing all in-person interaction.
  • 2024: Online = 61%; Friends = 14%; Family/school combined = a mere fraction; church/neighbors nearly vanish.
• Memorable Moment:

  “Online, 61% [...] four and a half times the number that friends is. Coworkers has declined. Bars and restaurants has declined steeply ... Family is a tiny fraction of what it was. School has declined significantly. Church has been cut in half... It’s all online.” — Jack Armstrong [42:20]

• Sobering Perspective:

  “The drop off in time with family and friends towards staring at your phone ... What is there to say about that?” — Joe Getty [46:41]

Observed Consequences

• Epidemic loneliness, a boom in therapy, fewer close relationships.
• Google search volumes for “how to meet people,” “how to make friends,” and “feel lonely” have skyrocketed, particularly since COVID (2019–2024).

  “People are aware of how they feel, which, you think, I hope they’ll live to be a ripe old age. ... I’d love to see where the world is.” — Joe Getty [45:34]

Philosophical Wrap-Up

• Armstrong: Can’t change society (“it’s never going back”) but you can decide to change your own habits.

  “To be entertained is not to be nourished. ... You’re not getting nourishment. And then I’d realize they’re not listening—they’re staring at TikTok.” — Jack Armstrong [47:37]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Once you get past the vomiting, it’s just liberating to see the truth.” – Jack Armstrong [15:30]
• “Society is a collection of individuals. The idea of ‘I’m going to change society’—no, change yourself. Change the people you care about. That’s the only thing you as a human being should be worried about.” — Jack Armstrong [44:07]
• “Those of us who remember the before times are aging ... and there won’t be anybody that remembers what life was like before online.” — Joe Getty [44:25]
• “Everyone’s miserable. Loneliness is epidemic. Therapists are printing money. Interesting people don’t have babies. No babies.” — Jack Armstrong [44:38]

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Major Transitions & Timestamps

• Louvre Leak & Media Reactions: [02:57–03:43]
• UCSD Math Crisis & K–12 Failures: [04:08–12:37]
• Grade Inflation & Teacher Deficits: [05:47–09:03]
• We Gave Students Laptops & Took Away Their Brains: [12:37–22:58]
• Digitization, Tech in Schools, Google’s Influence: [19:19–22:01]
• How We Spend Our Time — Historical Shift Analysis: [37:17–47:03]
• The Loneliness Epidemic, “How to Meet People”: [44:38–45:34]
• Final Reflections / Society Won’t Go Back: [47:17–47:53]

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Tone & Style

Armstrong & Getty’s signature conversational, irreverent, and sometimes sardonic style pervades, lending humor to serious topics. The laments over societal decline are heartfelt, yet sprinkled with wit (“We’d beat it into them. Metaphorically speaking, of course.” [23:02]) and a sense of resigned amusement in the face of overwhelming trends.

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Takeaway

The episode is a blunt, data-driven, yet highly relatable indictment of the rapid, technology-driven changes in how Americans interact, learn, and live—asking if, after the discomfort of recognizing these truths, there is a path back to deeper connections and a more nourishing life.

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For more, visit: armstrongandgetty.com

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Transcript

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[Jack Armstrong]

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Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Listen to this, guys. The Louvre just announced that hundreds of Egyptian books were damaged in a recent water leak.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Egyptians are like, well, they would have been fine if you just left them here in the desert.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right now the director of the Louvre.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Is like, I'm ready for 2025 to be over.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. That was a. Another black eye for one of the world's most famous museums.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I was watching, I think it was ABC News last night. And they mentioned that a bunch of the books got wet, but the museum has said none of the books were damaged.

[Joe Getty]

I know, I heard that too.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I thought wet a lot.

[Joe Getty]

And they were damaged books from the 19th century. So 150 year old books got wet. And that's nothing to. Okay, whatever. Nice pr.

[Jack Armstrong]

Very French thing to say, huh? Oh, hey, just dawned on me what you're so excited about hearing about how Americans spend their time.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, yes, that's what I want to know.

[Jack Armstrong]

We will get to that in a bit. I also want to get to the piece entitled We Gave Students Laptops and Took Away Their Brains. But before we get there, wanted to touch on. Do you remember the University of San Diego.

University of California at San Diego put out a report that they have to have remedial math for lots and lots of their enrolled students at a university.

[Joe Getty]

You're in theory, talented enough, elite enough to get into a UC school, but need a remedial math class.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, Right. And I came across commentary on this and I've been holding onto it and edited and the rest of it. But let's see, this first one is the fabulous Alicia Finley, and she mentions that kids learn how to add fractions and round numbers in elementary school, but many students at UC San Diego can't do it. Roughly one in eight freshmen lack rudimentary high school math skills. And it gets worse. Students who've been placed in the remedial high school Math class in 2023 had roughly 5th grade level abilities. Only about 40% could correctly round the number blankety blank to the nearest 100, which is a third grade skill.

[Commercial Voice 1]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And because so many incoming students were numerically illiterate, the university added a remedial class for middle and elementary school math. Elementary school math.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I remember the numbers, the number of people. There were percentages of people that like, couldn't do first grade or second grade, third grade math.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, right. And here's one more Shocking thing that I hadn't remembered. Remarkably, among students placed into that math course, 94% had completed an advanced math class in high school, pre calc, calculus or stats, and received an average of A in their math courses.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, so this is a ability to hang on to information problem, then.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe. Maybe. Are you assuming those A minuses were legitimate? If so.

I'm gonna out. Ho ho, Santa Claus.

[Joe Getty]

That's a good point.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, Alicia asks, is this an indictment A, of the University of California's admissions, B, public K through 12 schools, C, US News and World Reports college rankings, or D, all of the above? If you chose D, you're correct.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. UC San Diego could say, what are we supposed to do? We took in a whole bunch of straight A students from high school.

[Jack Armstrong]

If we took in only Asians, you guys would yell at us anyway. So let's start with A. The University of California, UC Board of Regents, in 2020, scrapped standardized tests as an admission requirement under the guise of Promoting Equity 2020, which will go down in infamy as perhaps the crappiest year in American history. No doubt between the utterly ridiculous race riots and the Marxist Black Lives Matter and pushing the postmodern critical theory stuff and the unforgivable unconstitutional Covid shutdowns anyway. So they were trying to promote equity, the likely real reason blacks and Hispanics score lower on average on the sat. And requiring applicants to submit standardized test scores could make it easier for critics to prove the university is providing racial preferences, which were prohibited in Cal Unicornia in 1996 by a voter referendum. Referendum. And the math proficiency analysis suggests that's what they're doing on the slide. They're trying desperately to figure out how to get equity going anyway. So in an effort to boost diversity and overall enrollment and thus rake in more government student aid, UC San Diego increasingly admitted huge numbers of unqualified applicants from low income high schools because they get more government money. But the report says in order to holistically admit a diverse and representative class, we need to admit students who may be at a higher risk of not succeeding. And they do. They drop out in droves. Uh, anyway, uh, and so they put more of an emphasis on gpa, but those don't reliably reflect student preparation because grades are inflated and they're just. They're a bad measure. So let's get on to B, because the colleges are utterly corrupt. B, elementary school education or, you know, not advanced education. The report says students, quote, have been underserved by their prior schooling. No kidding. Only 22% of 12th graders scored proficient in math on the National Assessment of Education Progress last year, the lowest on record. Once the UC San Diego remedial math teacher observed that some teachers would teach life skills in high school math class just using calculators, the Internet and prescribed forms formulas. Classes don't teach mathematical thinking.

Meanwhile, some of the profession's best teachers, highly capable women who'd entered the profession when their sex had fewer career options, had been retiring. Many of their replacements are lacking. Teacher credential programs typically require only a C average in undergrad. With the pervasive grade inflation in colleges, many young teachers may themselves have only fifth grade math skills.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I have because I got one kid in high school and a kid in junior high. I have a lot of questions about what we teach kids, what I was taught, is it necessary for everyone? Is this stuff that's going to benefit me in life? I have a lot of questions that. The problem though is a lot of the stuff they've done away with has been replaced by stuff that's even.

Way further down the road of not necessary education to help prepare you for life. You know, all kinds of wokeism and hating your country.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I know it's horrible. So one more, one more fact that the college board has dumbed down. The sea sat in an effort to encourage more students to take it. It's now two hours instead of three. Students get more time to complete each question. Gone are long reading passages that might strain tick tock attention spans. Analogies were eliminated in 2005 after academ claim they were culturally biased. All sorts of different stuff. Wow. And then I wanted to get to this from Ben Sasse who was writing about the same situation. And he goes through the facts that college students were struggling with. Questions such as seven plus two equals six plus blank.

Or Sarah had nine pennies and nine dimes. How many coins did she have in all? Wow. Good lord. He starts off by crediting the University of California San Diego work group for telling the truth.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, good point, good point.

[Jack Armstrong]

He said, sure, that's a low bar, but it's one that many other universities have lacked courage to clear.

[Joe Getty]

Or high schools, all kinds of schools aren't honest at all about the real education level of their students.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then he says, and I love Ben Sasse. This mass failure is the result of three intersecting crises. The first and furthest downstream cris is that a highly selective college could admit so many young adults who are so tragically unprepared. And then he says, you've got to reverse the trend of dumbing down admissions to get certain numbers they need to reverse course, ignore the screaming DEI dead enders and reinstate the SAT act or whatever requirements to enable quality control, blah blah. Second, for already admitted students, further assessment should be required to ensure that those who need remedial courses receive them. Okay, let's admit we have a problem then. He says the other two root crises are scarier. The US the UCSD revelation likely means the US has millions of recent high school grads and 20 somethings who are unprepared to navigate modern work in life and lack the logical problem solving schools which with algebra has traditionally armed adolescents. But it gets worse. The students admitted to UCSD were on average receiving A grades in high school math classes that supposedly built multiple years beyond algebraic and erith arithmetic foundations. This was a fraud. High schools have clearly been inflating grades beyond what many students earned or observed. And let's keep in mind that anybody who suggests any significant reform will be beaten to death politically by the teachers unions.

[Joe Getty]

Well I, I had this own experience in a public school with my own kid with a really really really nice teacher but just absolutely exaggerated one of my kids abilities in a certain class. And then when I became aware that not even close to the kind of grade you're giving them, it was just so disappointing to me. Like what are we doing here? What are we doing here?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. And then you've got this really interesting think piece in the Free Press. We gave students laptops and took away their brains. Decades of data show a clear pattern. The more schools digitize, the worse students perform.

[Joe Getty]

I'm kind of interested in that one and the why, why, why is that? Is there something about typing into a computer? I hate typing into a computer more than writing personally.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's. Well, yeah, there are some answers, some explanations. There's also a fair amount of disagreement as you might guess on you know, this type of topic. But we can get to that in a couple of minutes after a word from our friends at Webroot. I remember when we gave my mom her first iPad and what a wonderful thing that was for her. She had Parkinson's and wasn't super mobile, but she had access to the world again. It was great. But the folks at Webroot point out that when mom or grandma gets that access all the time to the Internet, they make the mistakes like clicking on one of those your packages delayed links. That's why Webroot total protection is so important. It blocks risks before mom can even click.

[Joe Getty]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

What's that gruesome Christmas movie my kids are always wanting to watch? Violent Night. Is that what it was? God, yes. Dang it. That thing is bloody.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, really? You gave in? Oh. Oh, it's funny. I just. I. Well. But neither one of us is into bloody movies. I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

We started to watch it, and I said, we're not watching this. I'm not watching this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's a good title.

[Joe Getty]

It is a pretty good title. I think maybe that drove the whole project. Great title, Jim.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? We need to make something.

[Joe Getty]

We need to build a movie around that.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, so some of our favorite researchers say, yeah, the digital thing has been terrible for kids in learning.

We can touch on that and then move on to other fair.

[Joe Getty]

I love the fact that you've got a breakdown of how we all spend our time.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, boy. Well, you know what? Yeah, I'm sorry. It's not oh, boy. It is Elvis Costello. One of my favorite songs of his is entitled the Deep Dark, Truthful Mirror. That's a. That's a hell of a phrase. It's. It's the moment when you really see yourself.

[Commercial Voice 1]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Too much effing perspective.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah, but it's liberating. Once you get past the vomiting, it's just liberating to see the truth.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we'll see if we all feel liberated or not together.

[Jack Armstrong]

Excellent. I may not get past the vomiting.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, exactly. That's all coming up. Stay here.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Armstrong and Getty, this is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out odoo@o d o o.com that's o d o o.com want to sell.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Who wouldn't?

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[Commercial Voice 1]

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[Joe Getty]

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[Joe Getty]

See mintmobile.com There will be a notable first this year the Globes will hand out an award for best podcast.

[Jack Armstrong]

They'll be broadcast on January 11th.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, Golden Globes added the best podcast to their categories, which seems like a good idea. I mentioned the other day Apple Music's podcast of the year was the Rest of History. Rest is History, which I absolutely love, featuring Tom Holland, who we're going to feature a little bit later, talking about the difference between Islam and Christianity.

[Jack Armstrong]

Point of order. There are no other podcasts. This is the only one. So yeah, I can't wait for that discussion. I'm fascinated by it. Back to the topic of we gave students laptops and took away their brains. And a great deal has been written by some fabulous researchers. Some of our favorite people, from Gene Twenge to Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff, Abigail Schreier, about all sorts of digital and other trends that are hurting kids. But this writer, Jared Horvath.

He'S talking about There it is. Today, kids are spending more hours than ever in classrooms, yet they're developing more slowly. The culprit lies in the meteoric rise of educational technology. And he says to essentially you older people, you're picturing a few dusty desktops in the library or maybe a weekly typing lesson or whatever. That image is now dangerously outdated. The idea that the tech is peripheral to education or just a tool. Over the past two decades, educational technology has exploded from a niche supplement into a $400 billion juggernaut woven into nearly every corner of schooling. More than half of all students, more than half now use a computer at school for one to four hours each day, and a full quarter spend more than four hours on screens during the typical seven hour school day.

[Joe Getty]

I'm surprised it's that low. Actually, I'm surprised it's not way more than half that are doing it.

[Jack Armstrong]

One more sentence for you to chew on. Researchers estimate that less than half of this time is actually spent learning, with students drifting off task up to 38 minutes of every hour when on classroom devices on average. So that hour looking at a screen, only about 22 minutes of it is actually on task.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, let me point out the obvious, then I will get some credit for a clever thought. Even though it's the obvious.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

This rise in technology or using computers in school obviously coincided with the staring at phones and everything like that at the same time and our attention span going away. So you know what caused what? My attention span is a hell of a lot shorter too.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah. Interrelated causes and multiple causes. Yeah, absolutely true. Absolutely. Yeah. No, that's, that's a good thought. It's not that.

[Joe Getty]

Don't Give me a cookie.

[Jack Armstrong]

Golf clap. But listen, here you go. Here. You're looking for a bad guy. Well, you got the teachers union, certainly. But driving this digital surge are global tech firms that have perfected the art of harvesting data and maximizing screen time.

[Joe Getty]

Can I start with Google and how horrifying it was to me to find out, because I had avoided Google my whole life. I didn't have Gmail, I didn't have anything to do with Google. I hate the way they take your information. Your kid goes to school, you have to fully bare your soul to the world of Google because everything is Google classroom at that point and you got to get on board with all of it. And I thought, what? How did Google manage to get into schools to the point that it's just de facto that's the way we do things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. Well, perfect time to say this. Many educational platforms openly track behavior, build long profiles, and use the same engagement driven designs that keep adults endlessly scrolling on TikTok or Instagram. The business model is to hook kids early and create customers for life.

[Joe Getty]

Not to mention that you're constantly fighting the freaking computer, just like you are at work with a update or password. Doesn't work. Or this or that. The sign of stuff that doesn't sidetrack you if you got a paper and.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pen boy in this graph of standardized test scores falling with screen time, it is a almost perfect correlation. Of course it's. Yeah, it's unbelievable. I swear. I want to win an enormous lottery prize and I am. Well, I'll buy a yacht, a big yacht, a really nice yacht. But then I want to start fundamental schools. I know they exist out there, but I want to grow that movement. I think it's incredibly important.

[Joe Getty]

Man, if kids showed up with no attention span, would that work, I wonder?

[Jack Armstrong]

We'd beat it into them. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Is that your slogan?

[Jack Armstrong]

Gently over time. Armstrong and Getty.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? Business software is expensive. And when you buy software from lots of different companies, it's not only expensive, it gets confusing. Slow to use, hard to integrate. Odoo solves that, because all Odoo software is connected on a single affordable platform. Save money without missing out on the features you need to. Odoo has no hidden costs and no limit on features or data. Odoo has over 60 apps available for any needs your business might have, all at no additional charge. Everything from websites to sales to inventory to accounting, all linked and talking to each other. Check out Odoo at o d o o.com that's o d o o.com Want.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

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Want to talk to person or chat online? Either works. Want to take your time and compare all the makes and models? No problem. Then make up some time by filling out the paperwork at home and schedule express pickup or home delivery. Done. When it comes to how you buy, CarMax puts you in the driver's seat. Want to drive? CarMax delivery restrictions apply. See CarMax.com for details.

[Commercial Voice 1]

Stay cozy, stay home and save big online during Lowe's December deal drops because, honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from dewalt, Craftsman or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus rewards members get free standard shipping all month long. Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, let the savings roll in. Shop new December deal drops on Lowes.com every week this month. Fresh deals, cozy vibes, zero effort the.

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[Story Dream Machine Advertiser]

If you're searching for a gift that creates lasting memories, the story Dream Machine is a wonderful choice. It's perfect for birthdays, milestones, or holidays, and each machine comes with three enchanting stories to start the journey. There's even a white noise nightlight mode, making it a cozy companion for bedtime. Want to make it even more special? Add story collections sold separately and share the tales you cherished from your own childhood. It's a heartfelt way to connect across generations and spark imagination. Get your little one the gift to make their bedtime magical with enchanting stories and even a white noise night light mode to keep them covered cozy while they sleep. The story Dream Machine is perfect for birthdays, milestones, or holidays, and each comes with three stories, with more story collections available to share your favorite tales to make it even more special. Sold separately, you'll find the story Dream Machine at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Costco, and LittleTikes.com bring story time to life with the Story Dream Machine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Paramount has now launched a $108 billion hostile bid of Warner Brothers it comes just days after Warner Brothers agreed to an $82 billion bid from Netflix. President Trump signaling his concern about the potential Netflix deal. His son in law Jared Kushner's private equity firm is now helping to finance Paramount's new hostile takeover bid. Take our bid or I'll punch you in the face. That's a hostile takeover bid.

[Joe Getty]

Hostile bid. You'd like, drop paratroopers on the roof of the building and they rappel down.

[Jack Armstrong]

The side, shoot your way in. That's right.

[Joe Getty]

As I heard one business person say On CNBC today, $108 billion offer is not that hostile.

But what it means to the movie business or TV business or whatever, I haven't wrapped my head around. People keep saying it's going to be a really, really big deal. Here's David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's bad for the consumer, it's bad for the creative community. This deal, if it is allowed to move forward, will actually be the death of the theatrical movie business in Hollywood. We're sitting here today trying to save it.

[Joe Getty]

Why? Why would that be the death of movies?

[Jack Armstrong]

I, I'm very uncomfortable with, and Trump has been super into this. Yeah, let me decide whether we like this merger or not. Just let it play out. You know, there will be creativity tomorrow no matter what happens. There will be people making films tomorrow no matter what happens.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we all, we learned that from Netflix and everything. And there's lots of really talented people out there. You give them a little bit of money, they get their friends to act in a camera and they can put together a freaking fantastic movie. Yeah, play this that next clip on there. Michael, this is Kara Swisher on the cnn, the lead explaining that threat from Paramount. That'll be the death of the theatrical movie business.

[Kara Swisher]

I think that theatrical movie experience has been dying and it has nothing to do with Netflix. It has to do with $12 popcorn. Bad experiences, bad screens, not giving customers what they want. I mean, I think it' to blame a company like Netflix. And by the way, what's fascinating here is in any other kind of situation, the villain would be Netflix because of the way it's changed the economics of Hollywood. But that has a lot to do with how Hollywood has behaved over the past 20 years, ignoring all these changes. Now consumers seem to like Netflix.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Kara Swisher]

Or else it wouldn't be doing so well. And the question is, how do we change the economics of Hollywood to make theatrical. Make money or make it be promising?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm with her. I mean, we all know plenty of People who are just obsessed with some certain show on Netflix and have no freaking interest whatsoever in the latest GD Marvel movie that Hollywood pushes on us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not make something compelling.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't go to theaters mostly because of my fellow human beings, not the price of the popcorn. But she did make some really good points in there. And I became aware a number of years ago that Hollywood has has hollowed out the middle budget film. It's either super high budget superhero extravaganzas or very small art films. And so I've been kind of put off by the movie business anyway. So I'm sorry, I just. I'm not gonna stay up tonight worried that it will change. It's fine.

[Joe Getty]

It always interesting that he's using the language theatrical movie business. So that particularly means seeing it in a movie theater. There's all kinds of reasons why that's never going to come back. Including my 80 inch television that is 4K.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's how long was that a significant part of American life? Like exactly a century. Right. I mean from the 1920s or so 19 teens maybe through now and now something different. Maybe not that worried about it.

[Joe Getty]

I'll have to ask my dad. I don't know if he probably saw three movies in his life before he was 20 years old in a lot of America. So it had like a 50 year run of being a big deal which is the way a lot of stuff works.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever.

[Joe Getty]

Got a couple of breaking news things for you we'll tell you about right after this. I don't know how many interceptions you're expecting out of a quarterback hurt for the Eagles last night. I don't know what the number was. He ended up with four.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good lord. Jalen hurts his team that says his name. Anyway, Prize Picks is the best, most fun way to put play fantasy sports. Is your fantasy season all over? Virtually over at this point because you picked a crappy team and now the other guys are at crappy team but you don't care. Well with Price Picks you don't have to wait until next year's draft. Price Picks lets you play fantasy football every week, pick your favorite players and win when they hit their projections. Every week, no draft required and people are digging this.

[Joe Getty]

Price Picks now has early payouts. If your lineup gets off to a hot start, maybe like Justin did for the Chargers last night, may now have the option to cash out those winnings before the game even finishes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Prize Picks puts their users first. All withdrawals are fast and secure. Download the Prize Picks app today. Use the Code Armstrong to get 50 bucks in lineups. Play around with after you play just a five dollar lineup. That's the code ARMSTRONG. They'll give you $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It's good to be right.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, here's two of your breaking news stories for you. And then we're. They're in a break because Joe is going to tell us how we're spending our time based on data. And I can't wait to hear this Hard data. First of all, a federal judge has ordered the release of voluminous records in the Ghislaine Maxwell case.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh.

Whatever.

[Joe Getty]

All right, we'll see if there's anything there.

But anyway, they're going to come out. Those are going to come out. I don't know if that is the Epstein list, using my finger quotes that people are talking about or these are different records. But anyway, that's going to come out. Um, and I'm, I'm really interested in this story. Some people are upset about this. I'm not smart enough to really understand it, but President Trump announced yesterday that he had told. I have informed President Xi of China that the United States will allow Nvidia to ship its H200 products, that's its very best AI chips, to approved customers in China and other countries.

And at least one of my favorite thinkers said, this is a really big deal. It's essentially a reversal of the U.S. export control policy on advanced chips, possibly decisive in the AI race. China has more power engineers in the entire edge layer. So by giving this up, the best chips, we increase the odds that the world will be running on China's AI. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but it sounds very scary.

[Jack Armstrong]

I haven't heard, excuse me, anybody dispute that? Well, and Trump said, yeah, we'll let you sell to the Chinese these incredibly advanced chips if you cut us in for 25%.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever that means. So the government is now a 25% partner in that particular private industry venture. That's one of several of that sort of relationship that's been forged. I don't even know what that is. I mean, if socialism is the people control the means of production, we're certainly moving in that direction.

[Joe Getty]

The idea of China having access to the very best AI chips just on its face sounds horrible to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, if I need more of them. Well, if we could trade that for a stake. What's going on here? National security wise, if they cut us in for 35%. Would we send like just a fleet of F35s to China?

[Joe Getty]

Good. Good question.

[Jack Armstrong]

Where's it end? I do not get this Trump policy at all. Completely mystified.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, so how we're spending our time? Can't wait to hear this among other things on the way. Stay here.

[Jacob Goldstein]

Armstrong and Getty this is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odoo at o d o o.com that's o d o o.com want.

[CarMax Advertiser]

To sell your car your way?

[Jack Armstrong]

Who wouldn't?

[CarMax Advertiser]

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[Commercial Voice 1]

Stay cozy, stay home and save big online during Lowe's December deal drops because, honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from dewalt, Craftsman or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus, rewards members get free standard shipping all month long. Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, let the savings roll in. Shop new December deal drops on Lowe's.com every week this month. Fresh deals, cozy vibes. Zero effort.

[Starbucks Advertiser]

It's the season to come together over your holiday favorites at Starbucks. Warm up with a creamy caramel brulee latte. Get festive with an iced gingerbread chai or share a velvety peppermint mocha together is the best place to be at Starbucks.

[Story Dream Machine Advertiser]

If you're searching for a gift that creates lasting memories, the story Dream Machine is a wonderful choice. It's perfect for birthdays, milestones, or holidays. And each machine comes with three enchanting stories to start the journey. There's even a white noise nightlight mode, making it a cozy companion for bedtime. Want to make it even more special? Add story collections sold separately and share the tales you cherished from your own childhood. It's a heartfelt way to connect across generations and spark imagination. Get your little one the gift to make their bedtime magical with enchanting stories and even a white noise nightlight mode to keep them cozy while while they sleep. The Story Dream Machine is perfect for birthdays, milestones, or holidays, and each comes with three stories with more story collections available to share your favorite tales to make it even more special. Sold separately, you'll find the Story Dream Machine at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Costco and LittleTikes.com bring story time to life with the Story Dream Machine.

[Joe Getty]

Gavin Newsom's favorability rating in California Way up since he became the face of the Resistance. We can talk about that later.

[Jack Armstrong]

There will be vomiting. Anything that improves his standing makes me sick. Anyway, so I'm looking at a. A graph. It's a. An animated graph. It moves.

[Jacob Goldstein]

I love.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those are so cool. I love them. As the years go by, the bar graph changes. You're not going to see that, although we've posted [e-mail] I retweeted it. If you follow us on X formerly known as Twitter, I will There are a lot of numbers here. I will attempt to help make sense of them. It's better to see it, but how people spent their time from 1930 through 2024. And the punchline being of course. And we wonder why society's in decline. But in 1932, family and school were virtually tied at 22% and change. Then you had friends at 19% with neighbors 11.3% church, 10% bars, restaurants, etc, 8% college. You know, down the line, obviously online was 0%. Very few people online in 1932. They just didn't enjoy it as much back then. Okay, so let's, let's just go ahead and jump like 10 years.

Let's see. See, let me silence that.

[Joe Getty]

There we go.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, so 1942, you still have family and friends virtually tied. School has fallen back a tiny bit. Neighbors is right there where it always was, in fourth place. Church has declined a little bit. Time with co workers, by the way, has gone up slightly. It's now around 5%.

[Joe Getty]

How much time online in 1942?

[Jack Armstrong]

Still zero. Jack, an excellent, incisive question. Let's go ahead and roll up. Oh, I see people categories switching places. There we are. In 1952, Friends has now surpassed Family by about 3%. School is still big. Bars, restaurants and entertainment is now significantly higher than it was once. From the 30s to the 50s.

[Joe Getty]

Hanging out with the bar at the bars with the friends, family dropping a little bit. Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, but you know, it's bars, restaurants, etc. But it's definitely. You're out more. Neighbors fallen back a little bit. Co workers now has gone from 4% way up to 7%. It's almost doubled how much time we spend. And church continues to decline a little bit. Let's jump to 1962.

[Joe Getty]

We're getting close to the hippies. Yeah, not quite there yet.

[Jack Armstrong]

Friends is now clearly outstripped family by 6 or 7%. School has fallen slightly. Entertainment is now grown. Time with co workers is now almost at 10%. It's now doubled from the original. Neighbors is in decline. And church continues to fall.

[Joe Getty]

Part of it is not. Well, it's all cultural, I guess, but it's not like attitudes. I mean, your co worker was your mule in 1902.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really not that great a conversationalist. Right, Right. Okay. And now I'm gonna skip ahead a few decades as various. You're so stubborn, Jim. I would say various, you know, forces in our lives are jockeying for position. 1992, we're definitely spending the most time with our friends, co workers and bars, restaurants, et cetera, have both passed. Family. Church has continued to decline only slightly from the 60s to the 90s, but much more time at work and much more time out being entertained. Which is interesting, but the punchline is coming up and some of you are ahead of us. We're gonna pause right at 2002 because there's about to be a gigantic change.

Online has gone from not to about six and a half percent of our.

[Joe Getty]

Time online, even already by 2002, probably at work mostly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I'm going to back up just a little bit. Yeah. Online, 4% in 2000 and then 6 and 3/4% in 2002, which is a significant change. But most of our time is still with friends, 27% and co workers and then out and energy getting entertained. Now let's introduce the smartphone folks. I'm just going to go to 2012. 10 years from then. Online is now number one. It's gone from 6. 7% to 26%, surpassing friends. Coworkers is still in third. Bars and restaurants 10%. And then you get to family and school. And church continues to decline slightly. Online went from a non factor to how most people spent most of their time in the Span of a decade. That's 2012. Let's go ahead up to 2024. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the modern world. Online, 61% of their time.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Two, 30 days, 14% friends, which had always been number one since like the 19, late 1930s.

[Joe Getty]

And I'm only pretending to listen to my friends so I can get back to my phone. Or you're sitting with your friends and you're all staring at your phones together.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. In fact, online is now four and a half times the number that friends is. Coworkers has declined. Bars and restaurants has declined steeply. And that includes bowling alleys and whatever else, probably sports games and that sort of thing too.

Family is a tiny fraction of what it was. School has declined significantly. Church has been cut in half from 15 years prior. College neighbors practically don't exist. It's all online.

Has anybody got any questions?

[Joe Getty]

Well, I have a statement. That ain't gonna change.

It's never going back.

[Jack Armstrong]

As I always say, it can change in your life if you decide to do it. Societally, not so much.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm talking about society. It ain't going to change for society. It ain't going back. Which is amazing. I mean, it's the biggest, it's the biggest.

Revolution in what human beings are probably that's ever happened.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. As a anthropologist, you've got to look at society. Sure. As, as a human. I look at society as a collection of individuals and I'm, I. The idea of I'm going to change society is now it's no, change yourself. Change the people you care about. That's the only thing you as a human being should be worried about. Honestly, the immediately local.

[Joe Getty]

And as I always say, those of us who remember the before times are aging right. And we'll be gone in a blink of an eye. And there won't be anybody that remembers any of what life was like before online, which was everything. It was everything.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Every day. You know, prior to whatever 1998 was. Not online. Every single thing. And then it gets obliterated and there won't be anybody left who remembers what life was.

[Jack Armstrong]

On the other hand, the upside is everybody's happy. Oh, wait, no, actually, everybody's miserable. Loneliness is epidemic. Therapists are printing money. Etc, you know, interesting people don't have babies. No babies.

Google search volume for the following things. How to meet people has skyrocketed from what is this? Millions of people? From 25 million to 100 million. From 2009 to 224, it's quadrupled how to meet people, how to meet new people. Similar where to make friends has gone from that looks like 15 million to over 100 million. The Google search feel lonely has gone from 45 million or so up to it peaked during COVID not surprisingly at around 90 million.

So people are aware of how they feel which you think I hope they'll.

[Joe Getty]

Live to be a ripe old age. I really do because I'd like, I'd like, like if I can hang around tell them 140 years from now I'd love to see where the world is is where things are. I'm not optimistic but you know, probably your average 60 year old through history has been not optimistic. Thinks that you know, things have changed and young people today and blah blah, blah. But this time we're right.

[Jack Armstrong]

This time we're right. Yeah. The, the only thing that really shakes up that thought in my head, that rabbit hole is that there will be gigantic unforeseen cataclysmic changes.

That will derail the whole, you know, A, B, C, D, E all of a sudden will be at S or you know, or in a completely different order counting backward like it's a sobriety test. I can't even do that sober officer.

The as for me and mine, I'm, I'm absorbing this. I am going to send this to everybody I care about.

[Joe Getty]

The, the drop off in time with family and friends towards staring at your phone. I mean.

What, you know, what is there to say about that?

[Jack Armstrong]

Family, schooling and friends went from.

61% of the time to.

Now I silenced you earlier. Went from 61% to.

Family, school and friends down to there it is 20%.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. So I think one of the problems also is if you, if you told, tell young people that, I think most of them would say yeah, that sounds really boring.

Family, friends and school kill me now. Yeah, it's not like they would look at that and think wow, that seems like that would have been a great age to be alive.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. To be entertained is not to be nourished. I would say to them you're not getting nourishment. And then I would realize they're not listening. They're staring at TikTok.

[Joe Getty]

Well, you need to argue with the human brain. Dopamine hits seem to be pretty popular. We like our dopamine.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've been arguing with my brain since the day I was born.

[Joe Getty]

That dopamine hit gets a lot of people to do a lot of things all day today and every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

And there are trillions of dollars being made through it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, no doubt.

[Jack Armstrong]

But they've got your best interests in mind. Take their word for it.

[Joe Getty]

Sure they do. If you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odoo at o d o o.com that's o d o o.com stay.

[Commercial Voice 1]

Cozy, stay home and save big online during Lowe's December deal drops because honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from dewalt, Craftsman or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus, rewards members get free standard shipping all month long. Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, let the savings roll in. Shop new December deal drops on Lowe's.com every week this month. Fresh deals, cozy vibes, zero effort.

[Starbucks Advertiser]

It's the season to come together over your holiday favorites at Starbucks. Warm up with a creamy caramel brulee latte, get festive with an iced gingerbread chai, or share a velvety peppermint mocha. Together is the best place to be at Starbucks.

[Greenlight Advertiser]

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