Loading summary
Jack Armstrong
This is an iheart Podcast.
Commercial Announcer
This Labor Day say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Anabe, the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's pet friendly stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life. Now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site wide@washablesofas.com Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees, every penny back. Shop now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Welcome to the W Where legends are made and history is written under the brightest lights. The WNBA delivers non stop action and world class talent every single game. And now it all comes down to will the New York Liberty defend their crown or will another team take the chip? This is where champions rise and legacies are defined. Watch the WNBA post season starting Sunday, September 14th on ABC and ESPN.
Jack Armstrong
Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
Emily Maitlis
The Newsagents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me Jon Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the Newsagents Dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.
Jack Armstrong
And the newsagents USA listening to the.
Emily Maitlis
Newsagents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free Iheart app and search the newsagents to start listening.
Jack Armstrong
Ah come on.
Commercial Announcer
Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.
Lenovo Advertiser
Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight, ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance that keeps up with your business, not the other way around.
Commercial Announcer
Whoa, this thing moves.
Lenovo Advertiser
Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech search@lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.
Commercial Announcer
This message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest. With your guardrails in place, with Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores automate allowance and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on greenlight. Get started risk free@greenlight.com iheart.
Jack Armstrong
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at.
Commercial Announcer
The George Washington Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty.
Joe Getty
And now he.
Jack Armstrong
All right, stop the music. Michael, stop the music. This is. It's. It's. Summer's over. Labor Day. Summer's over. The fun, the frivolity, the joking around, the hot dogs, the parades, the laying in the sun, being on a boat, all that crap's over. We understand that now. Summer's over.
Joe Getty
Music. What are you, in the tally band?
Jack Armstrong
It's time for the serious part of life. Life gets serious now.
Joe Getty
Wow.
Jack Armstrong
Congress is back in session. Kids are back in school. Taxes will be here. The fun is over. Time to grow up. Is everybody ready to grow up? Put on your big boy pants. Show up.
Joe Getty
This is a.
Jack Armstrong
Put on a helmet. Grab a paintbrush.
Joe Getty
Take off my Hawaiian shirt.
Jack Armstrong
Take off your Hawaiian shirt? Yeah. What are you doing in a Hawaiian shirt? This is the serious part of the year after Labor Day.
Joe Getty
Certainly not Hawaii.
Jack Armstrong
And you're not in Hawaii.
Joe Getty
I was going to announce my attention to smoke dope and not pay attention to any of this crap ever again as long as I live. Maybe during the summer. We're out of step.
Jack Armstrong
Maybe during the summer, but not now. Now, because it is post Labor Day.
Joe Getty
Oh.
Jack Armstrong
And today we are under the tutelage of our general manager.
Joe Getty
Who cares? Nothing matters. And so what if it did? Or Chuck, my good friend Chuck made a new friend in Britain. Chuck. You know him as King Charles. But we really hit it off.
Jack Armstrong
Okay.
Joe Getty
And, you know, sat around having a pint at the end of the day and comparing notes and a couple of chuckles. Good stuff. Really enjoyed it.
Jack Armstrong
You said that, Diana. Long day, huh? What?
Joe Getty
Oh, come on. God rest her soul. Of course. He said, oh, yes. Now it's general manager. I don't know. I don't know. The mess. The mess. Back to the mess.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. We have this revelation every time we go on vacations. Joe was on a full vacation in England. I took half the week off, went to The Midwest, went to Iowa, saw a lot of my family history with my son Henry, who he really loved that I look forward to talking.
Joe Getty
Lovely.
Jack Armstrong
Look forward to talking about that later. But I, I barely paid attention to the news. I paid attention to the news less than I usually do on vacation. But I was aware enough of. There were like six one day Trump firestorm stories that I don't even know what they were. And I'd have to work to look them up now, but because one week later, nobody cares, let alone did it not change the face of history. One week later nobody even remembers they happened. But they were everything everybody was talking about for a day. And I think I'm glad I missed that. I don't mind that I didn't have to talk about that. Why was anybody talking about it if one week later it doesn't matter to anyone?
Joe Getty
Yeah, I would agree, I would agree there's a lot of big stuff going on, a lot of important stuff. Always during stuff, certainly, but that's interesting, amusing, etc.
Jack Armstrong
The big important stuff is usually not what's being talked about though, at least on cable news and talk radio and the front pages of newspapers.
Joe Getty
Right. You know, it's, it's funny you should bring that up. I was getting ready for the show and flipping through various news sources and my wife was across the table, couldn't see the screen. I was watching and, and people were yelling at each other and she said, what are you watching? I said, it's just a city council meeting somewhere where they're disagreeing about something that they don't really explain because there's probably two sides to the story, but it's conflict. And so they're showing it to.
Jack Armstrong
Right.
Joe Getty
And it's just tiresome, particularly when you back off for a little bit and you get a little perspective. And I know a lot of you good people, you know, you drop us notes and say, you know, the constant just stress and anger and I don't know that I can take it. Well, I can't. I don't intend to.
Jack Armstrong
Well, it doesn't do anybody any good. Learning more information about a non important story is of no benefit to anyone. Added division and angst is of course of no benefit to society.
Joe Getty
In what weird way? And I'm sure some neuropsychologists could explain this to us. You know, the whole endorphin phenomenon where we've gone from a world of reading and watching long things and thinking to, you know, just quick hitters to now tick tock videos and just endorphins it's endorphins society. We're not even entertained anymore. We're just hit with little doses of endorphins. There, there's got to. Well, obviously there's a dark side of that. The. The negative. The endorphins you get from negative stuff what I'm babbling my way toward of conflict and anger and that person sucks and I hate them. But you'd get an endorphin shot out of that. People love to hate things.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. We've talked over the years about people who have that family dynamic where being mad about something or someone is part of the deal. Your family. And it kind of keeps everyone. And you know, people who like chaos. But yeah, we've expanded that from like our families to for our workplaces or whatever to just. The whole country got a. Angry every day about something. And if there's not something to be angry about, let's exaggerate one or make one up.
Joe Getty
Right, Right. What's important is the constant state of agitation.
Jack Armstrong
Right.
Joe Getty
Whether there's good reason because like you're.
Jack Armstrong
Saying it must feel good on some level or makes you feel alive.
Joe Getty
Yeah, yeah. And it's funny because I'm part of a large, large organization slash community that's.
Jack Armstrong
Are you a sir now? We have to call you sir when you're England. Did you get.
Joe Getty
Please don't. Please don't. I did, yeah, but don't bother Sir Elton. That might be okay for him. To me, it's highfalutin.
Jack Armstrong
Okay.
Joe Getty
I'm just. I'm just old Joe Sergio. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, I'm part of a community that. It's got the negativity poison growing within and. And the whole. People bond more quickly over what they don't like and more like deeply over what they hate than what they love. It's a weird and corrosive aspect to human beings, but that negative energy is growing to the point that the glass being 88.4% full is practically ignored. And everybody's hyper focused on the negativity. And I wonder if that's just the human condition or that's part of the modern world or what. But it's absolutely a temptation in these roiled, confusing, fast changing days to be obsessed with the negative stuff.
Jack Armstrong
I came so close for having to be or getting to be. Depends on how you look at it. A viral video of fighting a guy on an airplane. Like, so close.
Joe Getty
Oh, what's your big chance?
Jack Armstrong
It was.
Joe Getty
Yeah.
Jack Armstrong
It was so close. And the great thing of course is I would have been 100% justified with lots of witnesses. So I would have had. No, I would. Had all of the hero stops, lunatic coverage.
Joe Getty
Yes, the. The good, good guy gone.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, exactly.
Joe Getty
Right, exactly. So they dox you anyway. But let's not think about that.
Jack Armstrong
Right, of course. And I actually was thinking about how when they interviewed me, when I. Because I'm sure they would have had to like take us both off the plane as we were rolling around on the floor. I would have worked in a mention of. I will tell more of the story on the Armstrong and Getty show tomorrow.
Joe Getty
It would have been brilliant.
Jack Armstrong
I know. But I'll have to tell the near fight story, which parents particularly will really enjoy. I'm sure Joe's got plenty of stories. I'll tell you. I'll tell you. I'll tell you the biggest thing that happened and I'm not going to go on in it. I just. The sentence. The biggest thing that happened over the weekend for the whole world for the next thousand years or 100 years anyway, is that meeting with Putin and Modi and Xi, China, India, Russia getting together and their summit is huge. That is a. That's a major thing going on right there. But we won't go on to it right now.
Joe Getty
No, that's fine. With whole. I will. I will hold back my thoughts on how that came to be. That unfortunate trident. Um, Fred of Are you serious? Came to be.
Jack Armstrong
All right, let's start the show officially. I'm Jack Armstrong. I got a cold. That's exciting too. I caught a cold. Started yesterday. Started yesterday morning. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Jo Getty on this. It is Tuesday, September 2nd, the year 2025. Oh, brand new month. Rent is due. Dang it. We are Armstrong and Getty and we approve this program.
Joe Getty
Any opinions on the relative size of the rent to anybody I on your radar screen at all? Yes or no, Michael?
Jack Armstrong
The rent is too damn high. There we go. There he is.
Joe Getty
All right, let's begin the show officially now, according to FCC rules, regulations tend rested and read it. Ready? Here we go at mark. Football player Travis Kelce is expected to retire after the 2026 NFL season. So he marries Rich, then stops working.
Jack Armstrong
Who does he think he is, a woman? Hey now.
Joe Getty
Groans A friend of mine who's a big Gutfeld fan explained to me that his snarky, like, mean teenager punch lines are a running joke on the show and he makes fun of himself.
Jack Armstrong
Okay, okay. So it's supposed to be over the top. That's part of the bit right here.
Joe Getty
I am doing that again.
Jack Armstrong
Gotcha. Okay. Yeah, I can see that in context with a bunch of them in a row. How that would be a thing. Yes, I like right that is one of the big stories that we missed over the time we were off was Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey getting engaged.
Joe Getty
Which that's an utterly insignificant story. I almost as meaningless as Trump's latest argument with whomever.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, we all tried to call you to have some sort of phone call, but we couldn't figure out how to die dial internationally so we didn't get you.
Joe Getty
I think there's a plus involved or an 11 or so. I don't know.
Jack Armstrong
Anyway, we've got Katie's headlines on the way and so much. Here's the text line in case you want to join in. Text line is 415295KFTC Armstrong and Getty.
Commercial Announcer
This Labor Day say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Annabe the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets its budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's pet friendly stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic, high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site wide@washablesofas.com Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees. Every penny back. Shop now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Welcome to the W where legends are made and history is written. Under the brightest lights. The WNBA delivers non stop action and world class talent every single game. And now it all comes down to will the New York Liberty defend their crown or will another team take the chip? This is where champions rise and legacies are defined. Watch the WNBA Postseason starting Sunday, September 14th on ABC and ESPN.
Jack Armstrong
Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
Emily Maitlis
The news agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the Newsagents Dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.
Jack Armstrong
And the newsagents USA.
Emily Maitlis
Listening to the newsagents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the newsagents to start listening.
Jack Armstrong
Ah, come on.
Commercial Announcer
Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.
Lenovo Advertiser
Still using yesterday's tech Upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultra Ultra light, ultra powerful and built for serious productivity. With Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance. It keeps up with your business, not the other way around.
Commercial Announcer
Whoa, this thing moves.
Lenovo Advertiser
Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech search@lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.
Trust and Will Advertiser
Life moves fast. A new home, a new baby, a new chapter. But without an estate plan, your future's still vulnerable. With trust and will, you can name guardians, start a trust, create health care directives and more. All online in about an hour. It's attorney designed, state specific and built to protect what you love. Plans start at just $199 and every plan is safe, secure and kept completely private. From families with young kids to adults caring for aging parents. Trust and will makes it simple to take control without a law office, paperwork, stress or court delays. Go to trustandwill.com and use code RADIO to save 20%. Start your plan today. Don't wait for life to force your hand. Estate planning is one of the smartest, most loving things you can do. Trust and Will is an online estate planning service. See website for details.
Jack Armstrong
Hey, thanks for joining us. We were off for a week basically and now we're back and Congress comes back in session and I heard several places that Epstein is going to be one of the main focuses. Oh my God.
Joe Getty
I know that hurt I, you everybody had the same reaction. It's going to come from several different directions. Several different like sub Epstein strategies and, and, and you know, priorities within the whole Epstein universe. Oh, I was quite shocked. I, I shared this. Was it on Twitter?
Jack Armstrong
I think so.
Joe Getty
The headline of the Sunday Times of London as I was kicking around at the airport reading British newspapers. Front page story. Front page story. Prince Andrew in touch with Epstein up to five years later than he'd claimed.
Jack Armstrong
Oh really?
Joe Getty
Front page. Stuff people into it.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, well it brought down a big royal and I guess they care about that. I don't know. Did you get a sense of that in England, how much they care about the Royal family.
Joe Getty
Yeah, actually I did. I talked to a number of people about it. That in immigration were two topics I found very interesting. Engaging Brits in conversation about.
Jack Armstrong
Okay.
Joe Getty
But having read the story, it was just very gossipy and of no greater significance than somebody caught being bad.
Jack Armstrong
I feel like your teeth are crookeder even after a week. That's interesting.
Joe Getty
That is interesting. I hadn't noticed.
Jack Armstrong
I don't think that would happen so fast.
Joe Getty
You know, one thing I learned on vacation is if you walk five to seven miles every single day, you can eat and drink whatever you want.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, I've done that. I've done that on many vacations. I did not do that on this one where I was either sitting on a plane or in a car pretty much the entire time. Ate like I was in a contest and. And practically broke my scale this morning, so. Wow.
Joe Getty
Wow.
Jack Armstrong
A hog. Yeah. Well done. I lost all sense of decency and control for like five days. I mean, just like all sense, like, like I forgot that eating, caring about what you eat was a thing. Like I was an eight year old.
Joe Getty
Right.
Jack Armstrong
You just eat whatever's in front of you and you don't even think about it. That's what happened to me.
Joe Getty
Reason?
Jack Armstrong
I don't know if I. I don't know what happened.
Joe Getty
But when you say you lost all sense of decency, I mean, you didn't commit sex crimes and you know, horrors or anything like that? No, just eating and drinking.
Jack Armstrong
Eating wise. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did a bang bang one day.
Joe Getty
Assaulting elderly people, defecating in public. I lost all sense of decency.
Jack Armstrong
I had robbed a school. I don't know what happened. So many desserts. Like I had a pie at a restaurant and then Henry and I got get to the hotel and there's a McDonald's across the street. You want to go to get a McFlurry? Sure. I say and we go after eating, you know, just again. So.
Joe Getty
Wow.
Jack Armstrong
I don't know what happened to me. Something happened. I do want to get into the big meeting that's happening on the other side of the world between Xi and Putin and the things that are saying it is absolutely horrifying. And if you don't care about that sort of thing, fine, you should. It's going to re. Change the way the entire world structures. We got the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the official signing of the document, I think tomorrow. And the global order since then pretty much has been dominated by us. That is coming to an end, I believe.
Joe Getty
And they're working as hard as they can to accomplish that very thing. In a closely related story, you probably heard on Friday that the U.S. court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 7 of 4 that Trump's whole tariff thing overstepped the bounds of presidential power. The emergency authority IEEPA thing was abused. Now, that's all been put on hold in the till the Supreme Court can take a serious look at it. This is going to be one of the blockbusters of court versus executive power history.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. I was reading Mark Halperin's take on it, and according to the smart people he is interviewing one, the Supreme Court is really, really going to take their time on this. So it will, it's not like we're going to get a snap judgment. It could be quite a while. And he said all indications from the smart people he talks to are the Supreme Court's going to say, sure, you can do what you were doing.
Joe Getty
Really?
Jack Armstrong
Yeah. Which surprised me.
Joe Getty
Huh? Yeah. I would be surprised if that is correct. But it is intriguing indeed that Mr. Halperin believes so. I would be shocked. And the reason it's closely, you know, related, unless you're not, in case you're not familiar with this, is because Trump, partly to punish Russia and punish India for doing business with Russia and buying oil, has leveled these devastating tariffs against India just when India was really cozying up to the United States. And essentially, perhaps you believe, rightfully I don't, but maybe you do. He has essentially driven Modi and the Indians into the arms of Xi Jinping and by extension, the war criminal of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin.
Jack Armstrong
But they were already buying oil anyway, so are already kind of in the arms.
Joe Getty
Yeah, yeah. But you could, you could lure them away. They were moving toward the United States. It was never going to be, you know, easy nor quick. But two, I don't know, you know.
Jack Armstrong
Close to 3 billion of the population of the Earth gathering together there with their three world leaders. It's, it's, it's a major deal. And smiling and shaking hands and pretty much agreeing. The one thing we gotta do is screw the United States. It's, it's, it's not a minor story.
Joe Getty
Right.
Jack Armstrong
And then a little fathead in North Korea is gonna join him here soon. So that's the first time that's ever happened.
Joe Getty
You know what I just read? He's taken his super secure, super luxurious train, partly because they don't have a plane good enough to ride on. All they have is like crappy Soviet era planes and they're not safe enough for him to be on. It's one of the reasons he always takes the train.
Jack Armstrong
He travels by train because they don't really have air travel right.
Joe Getty
They have ICBMs but not reliable airplanes. Wow.
Jack Armstrong
I do have to tell the story about the near fight on the airplane among a whole bunch of other things we gotta get to Newswise. I hope you can stick around Armstrong.
Joe Getty
And Gettysburg.
Commercial Announcer
This Labor Day. Say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Anabe the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's Pet friendly, stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life. Now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site wide@washablesofas.com Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees. Every penny back. Shop now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Welcome to the W Where legends are made and history is written under the brightest lights. The WNBA delivers non stop action and world class talent every single game. And now it all comes down to will the New York Liberty defend their crown or will another team take the chip? This is where champions rise and legacies are defined. Watch the WNBA Postseason starting Sunday, September 14th on ABC and ESPN.
Jack Armstrong
Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
Emily Maitlis
The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me John Sopel with global award winning podcast the News Agents Dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.
Jack Armstrong
Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.
Emily Maitlis
To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the newsagents to start listening.
Jack Armstrong
Ah come on.
Commercial Announcer
Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.
Lenovo Advertiser
Still using yesterday's tech Upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 car Ultra Light Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors. Blazing speed and AI powered performance that keeps up with your business, not the other way around.
Commercial Announcer
Whoa, this thing moves.
Lenovo Advertiser
Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech search@lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.
Trust and Will Advertiser
Life moves fast. A new home, a new baby, a new chapter. But without an estate plan, your future's still vulnerable. With trust and will, you can name guardians, start a trust, create health care directives and more. All online in about an hour. It's attorney designed, state specific and built to protect what you love. Plans start at just $199 and every plan is safe, secure and kept completely private. From families with young kids to adults caring for aging parents, trust in will makes it simple to take control without a law office, paperwork, stress or court delays. Go to trustinwill.com and use code RADIO to save 20%. Start your plan today. Don't wait for life to force your hand. Estate planning is one of the smartest, most loving things you can do. Trust and Will is an online estate planning service. See website for details.
Joe Getty
My brother and his wife Kayla, this.
Commercial Announcer
Was their first time to Burning Man.
Joe Getty
Kayla woke up, wasn't feeling great. My brother Casey ran out and said, I need help. Within minutes they had like an OB GYN in there in his underwear helping. There were no signs of pregnancy. We were at the lake the weekend before.
Commercial Announcer
She was in a swimming suit.
Joe Getty
She did not look pregnant.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, that's a woman talking about how her niece, I guess because that's the aunt, had a baby at Burning man and didn't know she was pregnant. So that's a good story for the kid when the kid grows up. Yeah, I had you at Burning Man. Thank God there happened to be a doctor there. I didn't even know I was pregnant while I was partying at Burning Man. That's a good story right there. That's awesome.
Joe Getty
That's for 99.9% of women on earth, that story is just a head scratch.
Jack Armstrong
No kidding.
Joe Getty
You didn't know.
Jack Armstrong
From women to men. This is going to lead me into my nearly getting in a fight on a plane story. Front page USA Today cover story. Male anger finds a new home online. Here's a thing to be afraid of, all right. And it's about how the online focus on masculinity comes at a time when study after study shows men in America are experiencing unprecedented levels of loneliness, fatigue, depression and suicide. That is all true and probably should be discussed more. Wonder if that has anything to do with the 55 shootings in Chicago over the weekend. Eight deaths so far. They're still counting because haven't got all the numbers in yet.
Joe Getty
I don't know how it is at the end of the summer. You're just yelling at us yourself earlier on how it's time to get down to business and do you get serious in the rest of it? And you know, you get to the end of the summer, you realize, God, there's like five, six people I meant to shoot this summer and I haven't yet. I've gotta get this done.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, you say to yourself, gonna be snowing soon. You say to yourself, where did summer go? So many rivals I haven't shot. And here it is.
Joe Getty
So many minor conflicts I meant to settle with deadly force. I better get to it.
Jack Armstrong
Anyway, back to the USA Today and all those awful statistics about men coming to their apparent rescue are groomed muscular men in polished videos smoking cigars, sitting in a private jet, doing push ups and whispering that men's pain is because of women. Women are greedy, untrustworthy, weak and inferior, these influencers say. And then they get into how this is affecting young men. I don't, I don't have any idea, I know that exists. I don't have any idea how big an influence that is on the men of the world. I really don't know. I personally don't know any that are into that. But.
Joe Getty
Oh, I have a great, great story about the whole online influencer thing that I want to get to later. But yeah, I mean that sort of thing does exist and some of these guys have followings. Absolutely true. But the number of men who are demonized merely for being men and told that their masculinity is by definition in itself toxic. It doesn't have to be toxic just to be masculine is ugly. And they're given that message as little boys at school that they need to sit down and shut up and act like the little girls, blah, blah, blah. The number of guys who have to deal with that crap, as opposed to the vanishingly small number that want to go all Tate brothers on womankind, just please, please. It's an, it's an elephant and an ant.
Jack Armstrong
So that's an odd lead in to this. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but there was an angry man on a plane I got on yesterday. So flying domestically over the Weekend. One charming thing that I learned with a couple of different airports was nobody has any idea what the new rules are for what you put on, what you take off, what you take out of your bag, what you can leave any bag. Nobody has any idea, apparently, including the TSA agents, because it just, it varies from person to person. Even had one TSA agent say to me, you can leave that on. Then the next TSA agency said, you got. Agent said, you got to take that off. And the guy behind me rolled his eyes. Okay, there he goes again. Like, so.
Joe Getty
If y' all can't get together on this anyway, what do you.
Jack Armstrong
Want out of us Anyway? So I get on this plane and I'm walking down the aisle, headed back to my proletariat seats. I don't sit up in the first class section. I'm back with the rest of us, and I'm walking back to my seat, and there is a mom who I had seen in the waiting line in the airport. She's got, like a one and a half year old, and she's, you know, doing the bouncing up and down, trying to keep the one and a half year old calm and all that sort of stuff. And she's sitting there, and then there's this guy, and I see the whole thing. I end up seeing the whole thing because I'm just standing right there waiting to get back. She says, my husband's not booked to be sitting with us. Would you mind trading seats with him? And he said, plan better. And she said, I'm sorry, what? He said, plan better. And she said, you don't need to be, so plan better. Oh, all I did was that plan better. What is wrong with you, sir? I'm just. Plan better. I mean, he's screaming, and he is right next to my elbow. I mean, his head is right next to my elbow because I'm standing in the aisle and he's about, like, mid, late 30s, skinny guy, shaved head, dressed like he's, you know, not a crazy person, but with the look of a crazy. His expression of a crazy person. Anyway, I. Everybody was, like, immediately on edge because this guy was clearly unhinged. And, and I thought, if he touches that woman holding that baby, I am going to choke this guy out. I mean, because I was right there. I mean, I put, I put my bag in my other arm. I'm. I. It would have taken nothing to do this. But then, then her husband, who's two rows further up, same exact seat. So it would have changed this guy's life. Not at all he doesn't have to change seats. He could have said, no, thank you. Or. Or he could have done what I would have done is said, sure, it's exactly the same seat. Two wars for what do I care? But the husband said, hey, you don't need to. You don't need to talk to my wife like that. Plan better. I flown with my kid before. I plan better. Wow.
Joe Getty
Wow. This guy's some sort of a motivational speaker, evidently with a very narrow focus to his presentation. It can be summed up in two words.
Jack Armstrong
And so he was so over the top so quick. I think everybody was stunned. Like, what do you even. Where do you even go with this conversation? My favorite part of the whole thing was, though, coming from behind me is a British accent. You're the reason that society is breaking down. It's people like you and acting like this that is a problem with society.
Joe Getty
It's like what he said.
Jack Armstrong
Yes. And it sounded like we had a narrator. It was like David Attenborough from the wilderness shows. Here we see the young man in his natural habitat angry at a woman who has a kid or whatever.
Joe Getty
Right, exactly. That is so funny that it was a Brit, because while I was in England, then you can get on with the story. While I was in England, I thought I was meant to be British. I'm more comfortable here.
Jack Armstrong
Oh, wow.
Joe Getty
Everybody's a bit more restrained and considerate.
Jack Armstrong
Everything I want to hear about that. So the only thing left of the story is so the guy. It makes it pretty clear that he is not going to do anything physically. And the line's moving, so I got to move. So I get back to my seat, I sit down, and I say to the two seatmates I've got, including this one guy who turns out to be wound up so flipping tight. I mean, this guy, he was chomping his gun the whole time, tapping his fingers on his keyboard. I don't know if he, like, did cocaine before he got on the plane or if that's just the way he rolls all the time. Big, tall, strong young dude. And I'm telling him the story, and he says, oh, where is he? Where is he? Oh, man, he's. I don't care if I get on cnn. I'm ready to take this guy out. This is fantastic. There's like five people on this plane ready to fight right now. Wow.
Joe Getty
So you've got the Brit who's kind of functioning as a. As a very restrained, dignified, intelligent commentator on the Good and the Bad that is laid arrayed before us, there's a mother and a baby.
Jack Armstrong
A mother and a baby. She needs to protect from the wild man. Let's see how it goes.
Joe Getty
Well, and then the young man's like, you know, you make a good point, Granddad. Let's whoop some ass. Which, you know, also standing up for decency.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know what happened. It looked like a whole bunch of people moved their row. Like, all of them. Like, two entire rows moved to accommodate the mom, kid, and husband. Because it didn't make any difference. They're. They were in that section where all.
Joe Getty
The seats are the same.
Jack Armstrong
And. And then.
Joe Getty
I hope they all stared at Baldy McRage the rest of the flight.
Jack Armstrong
The guy next to me, though, he just. He spent all his time looking down the aisle like, come on, do something, guy. Do something. I don't know. I don't know why he had so much energy. He needed to work out.
Joe Getty
Wow.
Jack Armstrong
Who.
Joe Getty
Who he got on the plane angry at.
Jack Armstrong
It's funny how I. We hear these stories, we talk about them all the time, where somebody's acting out on a plane, and I think, how is there not some young guy to take care of this on my plane for whatever reason? Just luck of the draw. There seemed to be a whole bunch of people that were looking forward to the opportunity to take care of Waffle House Airlines. Exactly. Exactly. Waffle House has an airline now. Yeah. We fly at 2 in the morning. Soon as the Waffle House closes, everybody goes straight from the Waffle House, the bar to the Waffle House onto the plane. That's the way the Waffle House Airlines works.
Joe Getty
And there's a lot of fighting.
Jack Armstrong
Waffle House Air.
Joe Getty
Oh. Oh, no, no. Oh. Why?
Jack Armstrong
Anywho, you know, I got to remember that line, though.
Joe Getty
My wife says, you know, I really should have brought some heels.
Jack Armstrong
Plan better. Yeah, just. And immediately go to 11. Exactly.
Joe Getty
Yeah. Shriek that at people more often.
Jack Armstrong
Hey, the NFL season starts on Thursday, so I'm kind of excited about that. And USA Today has got the rankings as we head into the season, the power rankings. Who's at the top? Who's at the bottom? We'll hit you with that in a little bit. But you also got to get involved with prize Picks. If you haven't downloaded the Prize picks app to get ready for all the football action, you definitely should.
Joe Getty
Yeah, it is fun. It is easy. You just pick at least two players and say more or less on the stat projections. You can combine guys from different teams. Heck, you can do different sports if you like, but it's super easy. They're crazy. Crazy. Careful with your money. They pay off very, very quickly. Prize picks One of the biggest and the best. Great reputation.
Jack Armstrong
Download the app today and use the Code Armstrong to get $50 in lineups after you play your first five dollar lineup. That code is ARMSTRONG to get $50 in lineups AFTER you play your first $5 lineup. Price picks it's good to be right. Boy, I'll tell you, that's a good feeling being right.
Joe Getty
Oh, I'm usually so you play five bucks. Doesn't matter if you win or lose. They give you 50 to play around with. Love that. Prize picks use the Code Armstrong.
Jack Armstrong
Here's the here's the For USA Today, I'll count up from. I'll count up from six Just because we're on our beloved Los Angeles station, they have the LA Rams at number six as the six best team in the NFL headed into the season. Number five, your Buffalo Bills who can't ever seem to get past the Chiefs. Number four, Green Bay packers this year. That's okay.
Joe Getty
Storied franchise.
Jack Armstrong
Number three. They've been to the super bowl five years in a row or something like that. Your Kansas City Chiefs are the third best team team. Although it does talk about the distraction that may be the whole wedding Travis Kelsey, Taylor Swift thing. Who knows? Everybody's older. Number two Baltimore Ravens and number one defending champ Tush. Push Philadelphia Eagles season starts Thursday with your Thursday night games. Then you got Chargers, Chiefs in Brazil. A 10,000 mile road trip for those two.
Joe Getty
James wow. Quoth the Ravens, never more Eagles. There were ravens at the Tower of London, which we visited in Britain. Man, that's a scary bird. It's like a a crow was, you know, too close to a nuclear leak. It is just gigantic. I mean it's like the world's biggest crows. They're terrified. They watch you with their beady black eyes.
Jack Armstrong
We have so many more vacation stories. We got Mailbag. We got some news of the day. We got lots to get to stay with us.
Joe Getty
Armstrong and get.
Commercial Announcer
This Labor Day. Say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Anabe the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly pricing. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's Pet Friendly Stain resistant and interchangeable slipcover are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life. Now through Labor Day. Get up to 60% off site wide@washablesofas.com Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees. Every penny back shop now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Welcome to the W Where legends are made and history is written under the brightest lights. The WNBA delivers non stop action and world class talent every single game. And now it all comes down to this. Will the New Year York Liberty defend their crown or will another team take the chip? This is where champions rise and legacies are defined. Watch the WNBA Postseason starting Sunday, September 14th on ABC and ESPN.
Jack Armstrong
Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
Emily Maitlis
The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.
Jack Armstrong
Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.
Emily Maitlis
To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the News agents to start listening.
Jack Armstrong
Ah, come on.
Commercial Announcer
Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.
Lenovo Advertiser
Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 core ultralight. Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance that keeps up with your business, not the other way around.
Commercial Announcer
Whoa, this thing moves.
Lenovo Advertiser
Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech search@lenovo.com Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.
Trust and Will Advertiser
Life moves fast. A new home, a new baby, a new chapter. But without an estate plan, your future's still vulnerable. With trust and will, you can name guardians, start a trust, create health care directives and more. All online in about an hour. It's attorney designed, state specific and built to protect what you love. Plans start at just $199 and every plan is safe, secure and kept completely private. From families with young kids to adults caring for aging parents. Trust in will makes it simple to take control without a law office, paperwork, stress or court delays. Go to trustinwill.com and use code RADIO to save 20%. Start your plan today. Don't wait for life to force your hand. Estate planning is one of the smartest, most loving things you can do. Trust and Will is an online estate planning service. See website for details.
Jack Armstrong
And a federal judge said it was illegal for Trump to send troops to la. That story is breaking and that will either get overturned or not. And wake me when that's over. That's all I got to say about that.
Joe Getty
Yeah, fair enough. You can get a federal judge to declare about anything. Here's your freedom loving Quote of the Day in honor of my recent trip to the uk, going with quotes from English authors this week.
Jack Armstrong
Okay.
Joe Getty
And. And other well, I guess Winston Churchill was an author. Indeed. Quick aside. Holy cow. Everybody said go to the Winston Churchill War Rooms Display and Museum and how great it was. You were absolutely right. It was. It was absolutely fantastic.
Jack Armstrong
Pretty cool.
Joe Getty
Oh yeah, yeah. Whether you're a Churchill file or not, just as a preservation of history in a museum is wonderful. But from Churchill and I've I've quoted this. I paraphrase this several times, talking about several different topics that frequently come up. Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.
Jack Armstrong
He lost before World War II, was even older. He got booted out as Prime Minister.
Joe Getty
Oh yeah, yeah. And then was brought back several years later and had a miserable, unsuccessful time of it. Life's like that sometimes, Mailbag. Save the world. They fire you. Oh, let's see. Like this note from Lee. As outrageous as it is, I popped into my first grade daughter's classroom the day before school to introduce ourselves to the new teacher. Was immediately shocked by the sight of the latest intersex Inclusive Progress Pride flag in place of the American flag. No American flag in sight, I wrote the principal immediately, met him in the morning with a flag. Just in case the answer was, oh, we just have a shortage of American flags, I brought my own. I'm gratified to report that the principal had already handled it, returned the American flag to its rightful place after finding it under the teacher's desk. Dead context. This teacher's actually a very nice person, just young and misled. Is from another country. Can you imagine taking down the country of the flag in which you are a guest and replacing it with one of your ideology? No. Unless you're a complete lunatic.
Jack Armstrong
I have to tell you what they did on the first day of history class in my son's school. It is something.
Joe Getty
Oh boy, oh boy. And then she goes on to mention that parent teaching, teacher conferences, as we do every year, we'll be respectfully letting the teacher know that we are not, not at all okay with gender ideology being introduced and discussed in the classroom. I hope everyone listening does the same. This message needs to be coming from every sane, reasonable, regular parent among us. We need to become the majority. If schools are flooded with this message, it'll be harder to ignore. And is her husband is referring to her as the new Captain Freedom. What an honor.
Jack Armstrong
I would agree.
Joe Getty
It's funny. Having discussed it before vacation, now I see it everywhere. The idea of a. What's the preference? Distortion. Maybe the right term. Close enough. Where so many people sit silently thinking, yeah, I better not say anything because I hate this. But nobody else is saying anything. I must be in a minority or a small minority. And then when somebody finally speaks up a preference cascade where you realize, wait a minute, we were all thinking this was insane and we were just sitting there taking it. Well, I agree with her completely, respectfully, with kindness. But every single damn person needs to say, by the way, I don't approve of this. I think it's wrong and I don't think you should be doing it.
Jack Armstrong
I have crossed over to the side where I think we need to just get rid of the public school system. We need to start over, do away with it. Give people money to go to private schools or hire private tutors. The whole thing just needs to go.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I want to hear more about that. That I. Absolutely. I. I don't know that the body can be saved because the infection has gone so far.
Jack Armstrong
That's what I mean. Yeah.
Joe Getty
Yeah. Speaking of things that have gone very, very far. Anna Louisa and very, very hot. La Mesa, California writes. Welcome back. We missed you. Thanks, it's sweet. Joe, we're curious how much you heard from locals about the immigration issue in England. There seemed to have been a lot of anti immigration protests in the last couple of weeks. Yeah. In all sorts of countries including there are a bunch of them in Australia. Also there came that shocking news about a 14 year old girl who was arrested for carrying a knife to try to protect her 12 year old sister from adult Pakistani men. Sadly, it seems like one part of the British government spends more time punishing legal citizens for expressing their opinions and prosecuting illegal immigrants for actual violent crimes. Yeah, that's absolutely true. It was striking. The first three Brits who I talked to at length all brought up the immigration situation. One I kind of nudged to bring it up. And they were all very polite about it and very British about it, but all of them said way too much. It's changing our society way too quickly. And these people believe things that are abhorrent to us and they find our beliefs abhorrent. It was not a mild ha ha, why can't they speak English over there? It was absolutely a feeling of being threatened.
Jack Armstrong
But the, you know, the cow is out of the barn or whatever metaphor you would use. What could happen now?
Joe Getty
Well, that's, that's a great question. It relates to a great piece I came across about how the French government and this was not supposed to get out, but it got out is explaining how the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to take over France through peaceful, mostly political, social maneuvers. And so at this point, I think all that's left is to resist that as hard as you can. Unless you want to live under Sharia law.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, you'll have to talk more about that. We got a bunch of stuff to get to. If you miss an hour or a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand. A lot on the way.
Commercial Announcer
Armstrong and Getty this Labor Day say goodbye to spills, stains and overpriced furniture with washablesofas.com featuring Annabe, the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly prices. Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibe's pet friendly stain resistant and interchangeable slipcovers are made with high performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud like comfort of hypoallergenic high resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time with modular pieces you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your lips. Life now through Labor Day get up to 60% off site wide@washablesofas.com Every order comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees. Every penny back. Shop now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Welcome to the W where legends are made and history is written under the brightest light. The WNBA delivers nonstop action and world class talent every single game. And now it all comes down to will the New York Liberty defend their crown or will another team take the chip? This is where champions rise and legacies are defined. Watch the WNBA post season starting Sunday, September 14th on ABC and ESPN.
Jack Armstrong
Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
Emily Maitlis
The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.
Jack Armstrong
Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.
Emily Maitlis
To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the newsagents to start listening.
Jack Armstrong
Ah, come on.
Commercial Announcer
Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.
Lenovo Advertiser
Still using yesterday's tech Upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultra Light Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance that keeps up with your business, not the other way around.
Commercial Announcer
Whoa, this thing moves.
Lenovo Advertiser
Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech search@lenovo.com Lenovo Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.
Jack Armstrong
Song stands about an obsessed fan who's taking me too literal from Eminem and.
Commercial Announcer
The producers of 8 Mile.
Jack Armstrong
Never seen anything like Eminem fans.
Commercial Announcer
This is the story of a fan base.
Joe Getty
I had to look in the mirror.
Commercial Announcer
And be like, am I one of these crazy Stans that created a culture? I do have an addiction to Eminem.
Jack Armstrong
I travel the world for him. Without Eminem, I wouldn't have the life.
Joe Getty
I have right now.
Jack Armstrong
What's your first question?
Commercial Announcer
Stans new documentary now streaming on Paramount plus this is an iHeart podcast.
Episode: Plan Better!
Date: September 2, 2025
Podcast Host: iHeartPodcasts
On this post-Labor Day episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty return from vacation to reflect on a world seemingly more agitated and divided. With summer "officially over," the hosts dig into why anger, conflict, and negativity have become normalized in public discourse and personal interactions. Highlights include their takes on current news cycles, the rise of endorphin-chasing outrage culture, international politics (with a focus on the emerging alliances challenging U.S. power), personal anecdotes about travel woes (including Jack almost getting into a fight on a plane), and updates about masculinity and societal expectations. The episode balances humor and cultural commentary with concern over deeper social and global trends.
“Summer’s over…Life gets serious now...Time to grow up. Is everybody ready to grow up? Put on your big boy pants.”
— Jack Armstrong (03:49)
“What’s important is the constant state of agitation.”
— Joe Getty (09:07)
“We’ve gone from a world of reading and watching long things…and thinking to, you know, just quick hitters…now TikTok videos…It's endorphins society.”
— Joe Getty (07:50)
“The biggest thing that happened over the weekend…is that meeting with Putin and Modi and Xi, China, India, Russia getting together…That is a…major thing going on right there.”
— Jack Armstrong (11:29)
“Plan better!”
— Random agitated passenger, recounted by Jack Armstrong (32:20)
“You're the reason that society is breaking down. It's people like you and acting like this that is a problem with society.”
— British passenger (34:55)
“The number of men who are demonized merely for being men…it's an elephant and an ant.”
— Joe Getty (30:50)
“I have crossed over to the side where I think we need to just get rid of the public school system. We need to start over…”
— Jack Armstrong (48:27)
The “Plan Better!” episode uses personal stories, cultural critique, and international events to reflect a society in turmoil, often distracted by superficial drama and addicted to outrage. Armstrong & Getty highlight the need to step back, regain perspective, and—perhaps—reconsider how we engage with negativity, both online and in person. Yet, as always, they can’t help but crack jokes and keep the tone lively even as they urge listeners to take stock of what truly matters as the serious part of the year begins.