Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Episode Summary

Release Date: April 1, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Provider: iHeartPodcasts

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1. U.S. Foreign Policy: Trump's Stance on Russia and Iran

The episode opens with Jack Armstrong highlighting President Donald Trump's strong stance against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has publicly stated his anger towards Putin’s criticisms of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and has threatened to impose significant tariffs on Russian oil—ranging from 25% to 50%—if Putin obstructs any potential peace deal.

Jack Armstrong (00:11): "President Trump tells NBC News that he is, quote, very angry at Putin for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky now threatening to impose additional tariffs. He says 25 to 50% on Russian oil if Putin stands in the way of a deal."

Joe Getty comments on the potential economic impact of these sanctions and expresses surprise at the limited media coverage despite major news outlets like The New York Times extensively reporting on U.S. involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

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2. Deep U.S. Involvement in the Ukraine Conflict

Jack and Joe delve into the intricate details revealed by The New York Times about the United States' profound involvement in the Ukraine war. They discuss how U.S. support extended beyond superficial aid, with direct coordination from U.S. military bases in Germany.

Joe Getty (01:47): "Ukraine's dependence on US Support was far deeper than anyone had realized... we were running the war."

They critique the Biden administration's incremental support and question the coherence of Biden’s policy towards Russia and Ukraine, referencing insights from Woodward and Sanger’s books.

Jack Armstrong (05:13): "The incoherence of his policy will fascinate me for the rest of my days."

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3. Potential Escalation: Iran and Hostage Situations

The conversation shifts to President Trump's threats of a military strike on Iran, noting the minimal media attention this has received. They reference a harrowing story from 60 Minutes, where a recently released hostage credits Trump for his release and believes Trump is the only one capable of negotiating a ceasefire.

Unnamed Guest (06:53): "Please stop. Stop this war and help. Help bring all the hostages back."

Unnamed Guest (07:09): "I think he's the only one who can stop this war again."

Joe Getty expresses skepticism about the media’s portrayal, pointing out the brutality faced by the hostage and criticizing the narrative that elevates Trump's role beyond his actual influence.

Joe Getty (07:22): "He's here because of Trump... he thinks he can bring about another ceasefire."

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4. Higher Education and Cultural Critique: Introducing "Woke Watch"

A significant portion of the episode critiques the current state of higher education in America. The hosts introduce their new feature, "Woke Watch," which scrutinizes universities' adherence to progressive ideologies and the Trump administration's efforts to curtail federal funding to institutions like Harvard.

Jack Armstrong (13:32): "Woke Watch. Because the battle is far, far, far from over."

They discuss the Trump administration targeting Harvard with a review of $9 billion in federal funding, arguing that such actions threaten the independence of higher education and stifle free exchange of ideas.

Jack Armstrong (14:14): "They make statements to combat anti-Semitism... we fear this will chill the free and open exchange of ideas and scholarship on America's campuses."

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5. The Forbes Billionaires List: Celebrating Self-Made Successes

In a shift from policy discussions, Armstrong and Getty explore the latest Forbes Billionaires List, celebrating the surge of self-made billionaires worldwide. They emphasize that 70% of the new billionaires amassed their wealth independently, hailing from 33 countries with the United States leading the count.

Joe Getty (29:30): "70% of the new billionaires that have showed up made their money themselves. They did not inherit it."

Notable mentions include:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger: Now a billionaire following his divorce from Maria Shriver.

  Joe Getty (34:32): "Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is on the list for the first time at $1.1 billion, benefiting from a 500 million deal for Netflix."

• Jerry Seinfeld: Achieved billionaire status through lucrative deals with Netflix for his iconic sitcom.

• Johann von Bombach: The youngest billionaire at 19, inheriting a pharmaceutical fortune alongside 14 heirs.

  Joe Getty (30:21): "The youngest billionaire is a 19-year-old German named Johann von Bombach."

The hosts laud the entrepreneurial spirit but also critique the handful of inherited fortunes, particularly highlighting gender and geopolitical disparities among new billionaires.

Jack Armstrong (32:22): "I would love to know more about some of those individual cases again."

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6. Critique of Modern Education and Career Paths

Returning to the topic of education, Armstrong and Getty debate the value of traditional college education. They argue that many contemporary students do not benefit from college, citing the high costs and the rise of lucrative alternative career paths without degrees.

Joe Getty (21:21): "I have to still show up and work. What's the point?"

They share anecdotes about young professionals excelling in fields like automotive sales and retail management without holding degrees, challenging the societal notion that college is the only path to success.

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7. Conclusion and Future Segments

The episode wraps up with a teaser for upcoming segments, including their new "Woke Watch" feature and discussions on various socio-political topics affecting modern America. The hosts encourage listeners to engage with their content to stay informed and entertained.

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Notable Quotes

• Jack Armstrong (05:04): "The incoherence of his policy will fascinate me for the rest of my days."
• Joe Getty (07:22): "He's here because of Trump... he thinks he can bring about another ceasefire."
• Joe Getty (29:30): "70% of the new billionaires that have showed up made their money themselves. They did not inherit it."

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Key Takeaways

• Trump’s Foreign Policy: A more aggressive stance against Russia and potential escalation with Iran marks Trump's approach.
• Media Scrutiny: The hosts are critical of how mainstream media covers U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, emphasizing deeper government roles.
• Higher Education Critique: Concerns over ideological indoctrination in colleges and the impact of federal funding reviews on academic freedom.
• Celebration of Self-Made Billionaires: Recognition of entrepreneurial achievements while critiquing inherited wealth dynamics.
• Alternative Success Paths: Highlighting financial success without traditional college education, advocating for diverse career trajectories.

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This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand offers a blend of political analysis, cultural critique, and commentary on economic trends, providing listeners with a comprehensive look at current events and societal issues through the hosts' distinctive perspectives.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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. President Trump tells NBC News that he is, quote, very angry at Putin for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky now threatening to impose additional tariffs. He says 25 to 50% on Russian oil if Putin stands in the way of a deal.

[Joe Getty]

So we're gonna get the two wars we are kind of involved in out of the way here. This segment, at least for now. First, Russia, Ukraine. Trump saying he's really pissed off at Putin is the first negative ish thing he said about Putin maybe ever, certainly in this attempt to broker a piece.

[Jack Armstrong]

And attach some pretty serious economic sanctions to his anger.

[Joe Getty]

And we'll see where that goes. But I was surprised how little talk, as in I didn't hear it anywhere. The giant Sunday New York Times front page piece about our involvement from the beginning of helping the Ukrainians being so much more than it had ever been reported. Now the why that was in there at that time is kind of interesting. I don't know if that's just when they got the reporting together or if this is some sort of effort to let people know how involved we are so we need to continue or I don't know, maybe there's no political thing to it at all. It might, it might just be journalism. But did you read that? It is quite amazing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I read significant.

[Joe Getty]

It's like four parts. It's like one of those. We're going to win a Pulitzer Prize over this incredibly long pieces that they wrote. But one of the lead paragraphs about it, New York Times reporting that Ukrainian high Mars, when we gave them those super fancy missiles and that sort of stuff. The strikes on Russia were directly coordinated from a US Military base in Germany. We were in charge of the coordinates and the. We gave them this stuff according to everything. Really, really the whole thing, right?

[Jack Armstrong]

Just we're across the border, your fingers on the triggers, that's it.

[Joe Getty]

Revealing that Ukraine's dependence on US Support was far deeper than anyone had realized. And they go into from the very beginning, like day two, a truck pulls up in Kyiv, picks up a couple of Ukrainian generals, all under secret, you know, protected by British Secret Service. All this sort of stuff gets them to the border. They go to our military base that we've got in Germany and we immediately start the instructing, planning, coordinating at a very, very deep level. Like we're running the war.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Which I always assumed I've Said many times. And I've always assumed that there's no way they're doing this without our help, but.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, that's funny. I had the same reaction that it was very, very thorough and interesting, but not surprising. And by the way, a lot of folks on the. What do you call it? The new right, the isolationist. Right. Is there a name? The woke. Right. The jd Vance. Ish. Right. And I love JD in a lot of ways, but not so much in others. If you're making the argument that that was a bad policy and unjustified and we provoked Russia, that's fine. But you gotta stop just calling people neocons. That's not an argument. It's like the left calls everybody fascists. You're just, you're not advancing the football. But maybe that's not what you wanna do ideologically. You're not convincing anybody of anything.

[Joe Getty]

There were also the New York Times reports, SMEs some months earlier at the very beginning of the war. And they mentioned this general had been allowed to send a small team, about a dozen officers to Kiev, easing the prohibition on American boots on Ukrainian ground by calling them SMEs so as not to evoke memories of the American military advisors sent to South Vietnam. That ended up being. Because it was advisors. They called them advisors. They called them advisors all through the Kennedy administration. Pretty soon you're in a full on war, Right? Yeah, kind of what we were doing then. Same thing, except this time instead of advisors, they called them SMEs. Subject matter experts. Oh, so we sent in a dozen subject matter experts. That's weird.

[Jack Armstrong]

The government using obscure terms to obscure what they're doing.

[Joe Getty]

American military advisors that were right in Kyiv, a dozen of them, right at the beginning of the war, and coordinating all kinds of their response. This is what you should do. Where, when, and this is what our intelligence shows. I mean, if you remember the very beginning of the war, it was just stunning the way Ukraine was able to halt that invasion and the tanks and all that sort of stuff. That's because we were as involved as you could get without us actually just, you know, dropping the airborne rangers there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, yeah. Yeah. And yet there was that very halting incremental increase in support by the Biden administration.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which is interesting. You know, I. The books will be written, I suppose, and they'll disagree with each other, but the incoherence of his policy will fascinate me for the rest of my days.

[Joe Getty]

Well, according to both the Woodward and the Sanger book, it was all about Biden really worrying that he could trigger Putin wanting to use nuclear weapons. And Secretary of State Blinken was further on the other side of, we got to push harder. We got to push harder. We don't need to be so scared. But that was Biden's decision, for better or worse.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Those of you who think, you know, we're close to World War III and it's none of our business, you're probably.

[Jack Armstrong]

Happy about that, right? Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Okay. So the other war, I thought that if you're interested in that stuff from Ukraine, read that New York Times piece. I thought it was interesting. The other war we're involved in and might be getting way more involved in as Trump threatened a military strike on Iran Sunday. And that didn't get that much attention either. It's funny how running for third term panel discussions. We're going to bomb the bejesus out of a major military power and get involved in a war in the Middle east with the biggest dog in the neighborhood barely makes the news.

[Jack Armstrong]

Technically, we're going to bomb the Biala out of them.

[Joe Getty]

Excellent point.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thank you.

[Joe Getty]

I shouldn't use that term. It makes no sense. This is from 60 Minutes on Sunday night. One of the hostages that has, that got released by Hamas. He'll tell his story and what's not in here, I'll fill in the rest.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you could say something to President Trump, what would you say?

[Unnamed Guest]

Please stop. Stop this war and help. Help bring all the hostages back.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you think he can help? I know he can help.

[Unnamed Guest]

I'm here because of Trump. I'm here only because of him. I think he's the only one who can stop this war again.

[Jack Armstrong]

So you think he can bring about another ceasefire?

[Unnamed Guest]

He has to convince Netanyahu to convince Hamas. Yeah, I think he can do it.

[Joe Getty]

You know, from a media politics side, I just thought it was interesting for the second week in a row they had, they lead with a story that's pretty Trump friendly. But this guy's story, if you didn't see it, is frigging brutal.

[Jack Armstrong]

I did not.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, my God. It's, it's, you know, ruin your day sort of story.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

His wife and his whole family massacred and him thinking he was going to be killed. He already, his wife and kids had already been killed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

And, and, and, and him thinking every single day when they came to get him, they would, you know, they would act like they were going to kill him and then not like they did.

[Jack Armstrong]

To a number of. He might not, not have been aware of it, but they did that plenty of times. It was not an unrealistic expectation.

[Joe Getty]

I am interested that he both thinks, thanks, Trump, for getting him out, but thinks that they need to stop the war so Hamas can continue to exist.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. There's a presumption in the media, the mainstream, which is to say lefty media, that somebody like him has greater moral weight and special insight into really complicated political policy. And a guy like me, I have full empathy for the horrors he has endured. I can't even imagine it. But I don't grant him any special intellectual or any other sort of power.

[Joe Getty]

To dictate policy or even insight just because.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, right, yeah, yeah. I don't understand that assumption. It's unspoken, but it's there.

[Joe Getty]

We had the news story that there were Hamas protests against Hamas in Gaza over the weekend, and we had the story yesterday that one of the voices that spoke up against Hamas had been killed. Well, more details came out yesterday. Hamas found this guy, tortured him for hours, and then dropped him on the doorstep near death at his family's house with the message that don't be protesting us.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

To send to everyone else.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

So, you freaking moron college kids. What? What? How do you square that with your opinion? This is a Palestinian dude who was protesting with a number of other young Palestinian people against Hamas and they tortured him for four hours and killed him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yes. An organization that is against every single principle you claim to have. He was against them, too. But, you know, I'm rereading James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose's brilliant book, Cynical Theories about the Origin of the Postmodernist Neo Marxist, whatever you want to call it, woke thing and how it works, how it functions and the ideology itself. And it is. It's difficult to convince people that college students who've been thoroughly indoctrinated, some of them since they were in kindergarten, but certainly once they get to college, are so captured by the idea that the world is quickly and easily divided into the oppressor and the oppressed, you'd think, no, no, no. Nobody could buy an argument that oversimplified and have that as their worldview and just be able to, for instance, because they perceive the Palestinians being oppressed, not see any fault in Hamas, not see any sin or hatred or evil in Hamas. None. Because they are oppressed. Simple. That's the end of it. Don't tell me anything. I don't want to hear anything else.

[Joe Getty]

You think.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, no, no. An adult, even a very young adult, couldn't possibly be that cultized, that indoctrinate.

[Joe Getty]

But it's true, man. This is a brave.

[Jack Armstrong]

You just have to accept it.

[Joe Getty]

This is a Brave young man, 22 years old, who stood up and led a protest against Hamas. I mean, that is a true patriot right there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And he knew this was coming.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good Lord.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. That's brutal.

[Jack Armstrong]

I find myself wondering, will we have to, as a nation, or as, you know, parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and neighbors and friends, have to borrow a number of pages from the Deprogramming Cultists Handbook for Dealing with our Young people because they were stolen away by a cult. We just didn't know it.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was at your local schools.

[Joe Getty]

This young guy didn't cover his face, by the way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my Lord.

[Joe Getty]

He's there with his face, showing his name, available, protesting Hamas because they're evil, and he wants his little strip of land to have a shot, a chance, and he is tortured to death for it. And you freaking morons in college campus.

[Jack Armstrong]

Getting your gendered studies master's degree from.

[Joe Getty]

Poetry faces brave, brave revolutionaries. Nut jobs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, no, I'm telling you, it's. It's sad.

[Joe Getty]

All right, that's enough of that. I want to get to that Forbes billionaire list. We got a bunch of stuff to get to today, boy. A Maria Shriver with a piece about her divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yeah. Oh, Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the new billionaires on the list, by the way. Just added this year.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

All fits together. See? It's all coming together. A bunch of stuff on the way. Stay here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

Do you think these little elections they have mean anything? I just never have. Am I wrong about that? Anyway, talk about that later. Not talking about that now.

[Jack Armstrong]

What little elections? What about what?

[Joe Getty]

When they have these little special elections somewhere like Florida, Wisconsin. Oh, it's a bellwether for the midterms. I've never believed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God, he's hitting me. Stop hitting me.

[Joe Getty]

I've never believed that. It seems so dumb to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. You know, I'd meant to throw this in the last discussion because it occurred to me when you're describing Trump's turning maybe on Putin and now threatening and the rest of it, Trump is his own good cop and bad cop. That's his negotiating style. He comes on with the handshakes and the smiles and everything. And if you defy him, he turns around snarling like some sort of horror movie. Then you got a mess on your hands, and you come around to his side and you're his buddy again. He's his own good cop and bad cop.

[Joe Getty]

Did I talk about this on the air? How I was showing my son how the car salesman tried to shine me on the other day to get something?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think so.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe I'll talk about that on the air later. Because he was doing the kind of good cop and I was like, you see what he did there? What was going on there?

[Jack Armstrong]

Coming up, a brand new feature I've entitled Woke Watch. Because the battle is far, far, far from over. But I was ranting about colleges and schools. And so I thought an example of the evildoers and the people who are getting it right. Very quickly. The Trump administration is now targeting Harvard with a review of $9 billion in federal funding that's on the way to the school. Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Not the 400 million of Columbia.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now it's 256 million in current contracts and 8.7 billion in grants spread over multiple years. And that money is spread among Harvard and a couple of affiliates, including Boston area hospitals. But it places Harvard alongside Columbia University and the Trump administration crosshairs as they're fighting the future of higher education in America.

[Joe Getty]

Well, let me present it from the left. This should send a chill down the spine of anybody that cares about independence in higher education.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's very good. It's as if you're quoting the guy later in the article I was going to mention Harvard was one of 60 schools the Education Department contacted earlier this month warning them of potential enforcement actions if they didn't quit letting Jews get beat up and kept out of class. So. And they made statements to that effect.

[Joe Getty]

I definitely have to talk about the whole car salesman experience because the guy who was doing the financial stuff, talking about his career path, didn't go to college. None of the guys that I was dealing with early 20s went to college. They're making lots of money and it's just interesting. But that kind of fits into this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Right. And let's see the person, the spokeshole from Harvard. The president said if the federal government removes its funding, that would halt life saving research. We fully embrace the important goal of combating anti Semitism, one of the most insidious forms of bigotry. Appreciate him saying that, but he. And where's that other professor made a study that I fear that this will chill the free and open exchange of ideas and scholarship on America's campuses. And the rest of America is saying to this guy, I'm sorry, I don't have his name in front of me, but Brother, that's exactly what you're not doing.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

You literally make your hirees, your hires, your high res. Write a statement of loyalty and adherence to a single philosophy and a single school of scholarship that most of the.

[Joe Getty]

Country doesn't agree with.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. That most of us find abhorrent. You don't hire them unless they swear on their mother's soul they won't participate in the free exchange of ideas. And that's why we're here. That's why we're here with Trump and his checkbook and the rest of it. Well, we fear this will really send a chill through a good Lord. You people are insane. I didn't get to the good college because I ran in too long.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, dang.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dang it.

[Joe Getty]

Who's on the billionaires list this year? Among other things on the way, what Joe just mentioned. If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Lots of fun stuff today.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed News Contributor]

There is a new must have accessory in Major League Baseball, the torpedo bat. It's all the rage after multiple New York Yankees players used these bats to contribute to tying an MLB record hitting 15 home runs in three games. A Torpedo bat, which is actually customized for each hitter individually, moving more wood to their specific sweet spot where they most often hit the ball.

[Joe Getty]

That's interesting. So is this a big deal? The baseball season has just started, I think.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is. Definitely. Yeah. The Yankees are hitting home runs at a prodigious rate. It makes perfect sense. It reminds me of some of the technology in golf clubs these days. But the idea that, yeah, you almost always catch the ball, you know, here on the bat. Let's move a little more mass there. You never hit squibs off the end. Or even if you do, there's no point in having that much mass at the very end of the bat, which is why they're cupped out sometimes. But so now they're making it. They're bulgy in the sweet spot. There's more wood there. It's not like a. Just a cylindrical barrel anymore.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we had our little conversation yesterday about if Babe Ruth played today, he just had a regular stick. If he'd have had the modern technology, I wonder, would have been. Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah. So was writing and raving, as I'm wanting to do, about how perverse and culty our colleges were. Last segment wanted to highlight once again one that is doing it right. The University of Austin, Texas. The brand new Re Embracing the old principles University. A free exchange of ideas and scholarship and dissent is welcome. And the rest of it, which seems weird, you have to defend, but anyway, they tweeted, college admissions are unjust. Not just biased, not just broken unjust. Students spend high school anxiously stacking their resumes with hollow activities, then collect generic recommendation letters and outsource their essays to tutors or AI. Admissions at elite colleges now come down to who you know, your identity group, or how well you play the game. This system rewards manipulation, not merit. It selects for conformity, not character. That's why we're introducing the University of Austin's new admissions policy. If you score 1460 on the SAT, 33 on the ACT or 105 on the CLT, you will be automatically admitted pending basic eligibility and an integrity check. Below that threshold, you'll be evaluated on your test scores, AP IB results and three verifiable achievements, each described in a single sentence. That's it. We care about two Intelligence and courage. Intelligence to succeed in a rigorous intellectual environment. We don't inflate grades. Courage to join the first ranks of our truth oriented university. College admissions should be earned, not inherited, bought or gamed at uatx. Your merit earns you a place in full end at full tuition scholarship. Apply here.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hallelujah.

[Joe Getty]

So I'm not anti college, but I am anti the idea that everybody should go to college and if you don't, you've failed at life or something. I am very anti that and I think, well, polls show a growing number of people feel the same way. But anyway, I ran into a couple of young people. I was buying a vehicle at a car dealership the other day. The car salesman who I was dealing with was probably 24, something like that. The guy just, you know, sells cars and he had started working at a dealership when he was 17 and he was like washing cars and he worked his way up and now he's doing sales and, and he said he's making really good money. So then I go to the finance guy and you know, you go in the room and you sit down, they do that whole thing and that guy's got the sign all the papers and everything like that. And he's a step up. You work your way up to that from car salesman. And he was 24, I think he said he was, he worked at Walmart straight out of high school and worked himself up to a management position in Walmart. He must only been 22 and he was making $150,000 a year at the Walmart as a 22 year old. And he said, all my friends went to college they owe $150,000.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Have a degree and they can't get a job doing anything. And he's making $150,000 and then he got hired with that Walmart did some things he didn't like. So he went and work at the car dealership and I assume he's making more money there or he probably wouldn't have taken the job.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And. And I just thought that was interesting that, that that story's not told more often that there are people doing that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And I say this as a guy who got a liberal arts education and enjoyed the hell out of it and benefited from it enormously. And I'm not sure I've just concocted this thought in my head. I'm not sure I agree with it completely. But I'll toss it out there anyway. If one of those two guys, either one of them is curious enough to want to learn the things you would learn at a liberal arts education, they will seek that knowledge out. They will read about history and the arts and stuff which I think is important. And if they're not curious enough about that stuff to pursue it in their lives at all, in spite of the Internet and just the availability of all the wisdom of mankind at the tip of your finger, they wouldn't have benefited much from college anyway.

[Joe Getty]

Correct. Although most people, I think most, I think it's fair to say most, most people don't benefit from college now. They don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't think they do. Or they pay so dearly for it. It's a net loss. You know the only contradiction to myself I want to make is that sometimes you don't know what you're interested in until it's put in front of you.

[Joe Getty]

True.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I'd say it's not without value, but it's because such a rip off.

[Joe Getty]

But at the high, very top, toward the top of the list, your interest should be making a living and supporting yourself.

[Jack Armstrong]

That should be very high on the list. Nancy Pelosi said we're going to make it. So if you want to be a poet or a guitar player, you can. I'll never forget that the Obamacare discussion.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know, I just, I wonder if that's gonna. I think it's turning around this idea that obviously you should go to college and if you don't go to college your life is gonna be a waste and a disaster. And the whole circular thing of Elon is talking about doing away with the you got to have a college degree for practically every Job in the federal government and it's just not necessary at all. It makes no sense. The private sector has started to go that direction because they've figured it out. But in the government you still have to. So the government, who lends money for people to go to college so that college can raise the prices and then requires that you have this worthless freaking degree.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

To get a job in government. I mean, it's pretty obvious what's going on there. It's almost like the company store.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, it's very much like that. It's a circle circular profit racket. And then you add in the fact that you're being indoctrinated with truly perverse ideas. Yeah. That. To the stew of your decision making. Yeah, it's. Man, it's so off track.

[Joe Getty]

Like I said, I'm not anti college. I'm glad I went to college. There's a bunch of stuff that I enjoyed. But I have known some people that. One, were not interested in a bunch of the things that Joe was just talking about. And two, they were just so go getters and wanted to get started out in the world and do their thing. They could not sit in a class for four years wondering what the hell is this gonna do me any good?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. That's why I abandoned my original career plans of going to grad school. I couldn't stand it anymore. Anywho, those, those of you can, including my beloved daughter. I admire your pluck. If you have, you know, specific goals in mind. The never ending pursuit of another meaningless degree racket.

[Joe Getty]

On the other hand, a lot of that, A lot of that for some people is just putting off.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what I'm saying.

[Joe Getty]

They, they don't. The thing I was talking about, the kind of person that wants to get out there in the world and get into it and to get started. There's people that are the opposite. The last thing I want to do is get out there in the world and get started. And have to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. So many of the degrees, the advanced degrees these days are what I would call decoration masquerading as achievement.

[Joe Getty]

My dad, when I was a kid used to talk about the perpetual college students that he'd run into. And that had to be a tiny slice.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Back in the late 50s of people. Now it's a lot of people. It seems like everybody I know gets a graduate degree of some sort.

[Jack Armstrong]

You almost have to. Because undergrad degrees are so meaningless at this point. They taught you nothing, you learned nothing.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, no more than the day you enrolled, you're 150 grand in debt.

[Joe Getty]

So the college keeps you around for.

[Jack Armstrong]

Another year with unlimited federal loans. Yes. Wow. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

What a racket.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it is.

[Joe Getty]

It's got to be torn down to the studs.

[Jack Armstrong]

If they were doing God's own job of teaching what they claim to be teaching, the core stuff, it would still be fraudulent because it's such a ripoff, right? Yeah. Just amazing. Prize picks. No rip off friends. It is the best way to get real money in sports action. You got the baseball season officially underway. The basketball playoffs are coming up.

[Joe Getty]

And don't miss you have more or less on the A's getting their asses hand to them in front of my eyes last night.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't miss your chance to add your favorite players from the diamond to your prize picks lineups, whether it's strikeouts, RBAs, first inning runs, plenty of them. Take your pick of more or less for your shot to win up to a thousand times your cash today.

[Joe Getty]

Turn your strong sports opinions into cash with prize picks. Yeah. Download the prize picks app. That's pretty cool. And you have a shot to win up to $1,000 of cash today, as Joe said. And it's a lot of fun. It's really growing. Millions and millions of people are doing this.

[Jack Armstrong]

All you do is pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win a big money. And you can combine sports. You got a theory on a basketball game and a theory on a baseball game. Do it. Download the prize picks app today. Use the Code Armstrong to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. That's right. You play five to give you 50 just to mess around with prize picks. Run your game.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I know it's. It's not for everybody to go any of these directions, but I was talking to the finance guy and we got into a discussion about home interest rates and what they are. Now he's buying a home. He's like 24 years old and buying a home with his job and everything. But interest rates, what they were for my parents and his parents and this and that and car loans and the advantage of paying it off. And if you're. If you can get a car loan that's lower than inflation and blah, blah, blah. And my son said, I want to learn about that stuff you guys were talking about, not the stuff they're teaching me right now in high school. So, you know, it depends on what you're into. Depends on what you're into some.

[Jack Armstrong]

How do you apply to the university of Texas at Austin or what do they call it? What's the actual name? University of Austin.

[Joe Getty]

How's their basketball team? That's what matters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh Lord.

[Joe Getty]

Your college Sunday, Saturdays if they're not.

[Jack Armstrong]

A number one seed. Oh my gosh. That's right. I was chatting with some fellas who were very, very up on college sports. Your top high school quarterback prospects. High schoolers now haven't played it down down in college. The major college programs are offering them $6 million to come play for your college football. Six million. Whoa. And more. Wow. Same in basketball.

[Joe Getty]

So in what sense?

[Jack Armstrong]

None. Is it amateur sports?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Or you're not. You haven't gone pro.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you're on the golf team it is. Or the, you know, whatever. Or you're a non hot female athlete or you're a swimmer or something.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, that's interesting. Well, maybe some of them will end up on the billionaires list, which Forbes is out with today, which is kind of interesting. Look at, you know, how people make their money in the world in a variety of things. Stick around. That's coming up next.

[Unnamed News Contributor]

Armstrong and Getty, a New Jersey resident who won more than a million dollars in the lottery said they were inspired to buy a ticket by a dream. The dream of finally leaving New Jersey.

[Joe Getty]

I thought that'd be a lead in series. One way to become a billionaire is win the lottery. Another way is to. Well, another way is to inherit it. But most of the new billionaires on the Forbes list of billionaires are self made. And I love that 70% of the new billionaires that have showed up made their money themselves. They did not inherit it. With a record 3,028 new billionaires on the Forbes list for 2025.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a lot.

[Joe Getty]

Actually. That's the total number of billionaires. The new ones There are only 288 newcomers, but 70% of them did it themselves, which I love. Hailing from 33 countries and territories collectively worth nearly 680 billion. And some communists will claim that that's somehow taking money from you. I don't get a check.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I still have my money.

[Joe Getty]

The United States has the most new billionaires once again with 103Americans added to the ranks this year.

[Jack Armstrong]

USA. USA.

[Joe Getty]

And again for, you know, Bernie Sanders or that crowd, that's just proof that we're an evil country that is set up for billionaires or something. Or we're the biggest economy in the world and we have the most innovative people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Here's my favorite name on the list. The Youngest billionaire is a 19 year old German named Johann von Bombach. How would you like to be a billionaire? You're 19 and your name is Johan von Bombach.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's pretty good.

[Joe Getty]

Pretty good life. But he is, he inherited his. It's actually split between him and 14 other heirs to the boring pharmaceutical fortune.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, they do good work.

[Joe Getty]

But I'm not really that interested in the people that inherited their money.

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Joe Getty]

Germany had the second most newcomers behind the United States with 37. China and Hong Kong ranked third. It's interesting countries like China and then Russia was. India was fourth but Russia was fifth. Countries like China and Russia. What's that mean? Becoming a billionaire? You must, you, you must be, you know, a favored son. It's almost all men in these countries of the Communist party or the dictator or. They wouldn't allow you to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right, Right. Yeah. I would love to know more about some of those individual cases again.

[Joe Getty]

About 70% of the world's newest billionaires are self made. Meaning they establish their fortunes rather than inheriting them. The richest self made newcomer, 73 year old dude from Saudi Arabia and I love this one. The youngest self made billionaire. Scale AI. I don't know that AI company scale AI. Anyway, the co founder and CEO Alexander Wang. He's worth $2 billion and he's the youngest self made. Good for him.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. The guy from Saudi Arabia. That falls under the China and Russia rubric.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. You wouldn't have unless they wanted to allow you to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. You know I've known a fair number of very successful people especially in the last decade or so of my life. Build a, build a business and sell it. If it has something to do with tech, all the better. That's how you get rich. You build a business and you sell it.

[Joe Getty]

The most famous new billionaires we stupidly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Designed a business we have to show.

[Joe Getty]

Up and work at every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[Joe Getty]

The most famous new billionaires became household names by finding success in their various art forms. Blue collar worker Bruce Springsteen, who's never actually had a real job is now worth $1.2 billion and is on the billionaire list.

[Jack Armstrong]

Congratulations Bruce.

[Joe Getty]

His 21 studio albums, 10 live albums and seven EPs have sold a combined 140 million copies across the globe. It would be interesting to me if he arrived now where you make no money off of. You can't sell albums. There's no money in that. How much will there be Billionaire? Outside of Taylor Swift, like really rare occurrences, your concert circuit favorites.

[Jack Armstrong]

I happen to watch Saturday Night Live with Morgan Wallen the other night and I know he does really well. I'd love to know, you know what his financial situation.

[Joe Getty]

It'd be a lot less though.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah, Yeah. I look at bands of the 80s and 90s who are like crazy rich, who now would be touring relentlessly to make their mortgage, right. And think, boy, you know, you're lucky.

[Joe Getty]

You got in when you did. Yeah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Springsteen. The reason he showed up on the billionaire list, he sold his music catalog to Sony last year for 500 million. So that'll pretty big jump. Movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger now on the list. $1.1 billion.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm willing to sell my song catalog for 5 million. And that's a starting point. I'm a reasonable man.

[Joe Getty]

So Schwarzenegger's a billionaire?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

His ex wife is out with how devastating the divorce was to her. Maybe we'll talk about that later. I thought it was interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Stop whining.

[Joe Getty]

Comedian Jerry.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is on the list for the first time at $1.1 billion, benefiting from a 500 million deal for Netflix to show their sitcom for the next five years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow.

[Joe Getty]

So Seinfeld, the TV show is now, and he sold it for what? 300 million that he split with Larry David.

[Jack Armstrong]

That must be a limited time.

[Joe Getty]

And now he's getting a 500 million dollar deal from Netflix.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, wow, wow. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Most of the billionaires on the list are men, or practically all of them. And about 2/3 of them inherited their wealth. So that's where you are.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. We really need to do a sitcom. Is that still a thing? Can you still. It'll be a Netflix streaming special. It's, I don't know, a couple of guys with a wacky technical director and a wisecracking newswoman. Just off the top of my head, I haven't gotten much farther than that.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we could sell the show. No, but we don't want to. So yeah, I have to still show up and work. What's the point? We'll sell it, but we won't be on it. What is that worth? So then what are you buying? The microphones?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know the name. You can have that. Buy me a nice lunch. Coming up next hour, brand new feature. The fight is far from over. It's Woke Watch. Speaking of which, we have a guest who's been following the doings in the calunicornia State House to bring us the latest madness.

[Joe Getty]

You've got a new feature called Woke Watch.

[Jack Armstrong]

Woke Watch. It's like Baywatch, but less Jiggle Armstrong and Gettysburg.