That's Right. You'll Lose A Foot If You Eat A Brownie.

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Episode: That's Right. You'll Lose A Foot If You Eat A Brownie
Release Date: March 5, 2025
Host: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Platform: iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive deep into a myriad of pressing topics, blending political analysis, personal anecdotes, and contemporary societal issues. From dissecting President Trump's congressional address to exploring the rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Armstrong and Getty provide listeners with insightful commentary and lively discussions.

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The Unfolding of Trump’s Congressional Speech

The episode kicks off with Armstrong and Getty reflecting on President Donald Trump's recent address to Congress, which they describe as a pivotal moment in the current political landscape.

Key Points:

• Partisan Nature of the Speech: The hosts highlight the unprecedented partisanship in Trump’s speech, with Armstrong quoting Brit Hume’s observation: “In 40 years of covering, this is the most partisan one I’ve ever seen” [04:43]. Both agree this trend has been escalating over the years, leading to an erosion of bipartisan dialogue.
• Symbolism and Public Reaction: Trump’s portrayal of Democrats, including a scene with an elderly man aggressively shaking his cane, was a focal point. Getty remarks, “Rich Lowry of the National Review tweeted, Democrats are the party of the future and if you don't believe them, they have a 77-year-old man shaking his cane to prove it. Well said, Rich” [06:39].
• Impact on Media and Public Perception: The hosts discuss how mainstream media struggles to adapt to the new level of partisanship, contrasting traditional broadcasts with platforms like Joe Rogan’s podcast, which attract vastly larger audiences by avoiding such divisive content [03:21].

Notable Quote: Jack Armstrong reflects on the speech's length and Trump’s television instincts: “It's the longest one of these anybody has ever given... It's interesting that Trump being such a good TV sort of guy... doesn’t fit together” [10:05].

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Economic Policies and Tariffs

Armstrong and Getty transition to a detailed analysis of the current tariff situation, emphasizing Trump's frustration with existing trade agreements and the impact on various industries.

Key Points:

• Tariffs on Canada and Mexico: Tugging at longstanding trade tensions, the hosts discuss the new tariffs imposed by Trump, with Armstrong questioning the reciprocity as Canada has maintained high tariffs on US goods for decades [14:20].
• Impact on Industries: A humorous yet pointed remark about the curling broom industry underscores the unpredictable repercussions of tariff policies: “Trump's Canadian tariffs expected to have devastating impact on curling broom industry” [16:56].
• Public and Market Reaction: Joe Getty expresses skepticism about the efficacy of these tariffs, noting, “As a student of economics since I was a wee lad, I'm really curious to see how this plays out” [14:20].

Notable Quote: Jack Armstrong emphasizes the personal impact of tariffs: “This is going to affect every one of our lives” [34:14].

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Artificial Intelligence: The Coming Revolution

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the rapid advancements in AI and their potential implications for society, the labor market, and national security.

Key Points:

• AI’s Role in Modern Life: Armstrong references Ezra Klein’s NYT opinion piece, highlighting how AI can outperform human teams in complex tasks within minutes. “I asked AI... it produced in a matter of minutes, I would say, was at least the median of what any of the teams I've ever hired could produce within days” [20:28].
• Implications for Employment: The hosts express concern over AI replacing jobs, particularly in coding. Armstrong warns, “Learn to code... that's going to be a worthless skill by the end of the year” [22:05].
• National Security and AGI: They delve into the dangers of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) falling into adversarial hands, especially China’s potential dominance. “Whoever gets there first is going to have such a dominant role on the planet on hacking or stopping hacking” [25:01].
• Economic Investments in AI: Discussing massive investments, they cite a $2 billion bank loan for an AI data center in Utah, underscoring the booming demand and uncertainty surrounding AI’s trajectory [30:25].

Notable Quote: Jack Armstrong shares a profound insight from JFK’s moon speech: “Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man... Only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new and terrifying theater of war” [24:20].

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Party Politics and Media Representation

The conversation shifts to the current state of party politics, emphasizing the Democratic Party’s challenges and strategic shortcomings.

Key Points:

• Democratic Party’s Direction: Getty critiques the Democrats as “utterly sapped, clueless and directionless” [04:43], reflecting on the party’s inability to present a cohesive vision.
• Media’s Role in Political Narrative: The hosts discuss how media outlets, including CNN and former personalities like Brit Hume, are grappling with the heightened partisanship, often struggling to present balanced coverage [05:00].

Notable Quote: Getty highlights the artificial nature of Democratic responses: “Everything is premeditated. Everything is top down. And nothing reflects like real people and how they behave” [09:43].

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Current Events and Tragic News

Armstrong and Getty touch upon recent tragic events, including the discovery of dismembered bodies of students in Mexico, highlighting ongoing issues with safety and governance in the region.

Key Points:

• Violence in Mexico: They discuss the grim news of nine students found dismembered by a Mexican highway, underscoring the persistent dangers posed by cartels and governmental inadequacies [16:26].
• Comparison to Historical Events: Getty references historical incidents to contextualize current violence, such as the Brooks-Sumner affair of 1856, contemplating the potential for future conflicts [12:36].

Notable Quote: Getty poignantly comments on personal safety concerns in a world with rampant cyber threats: “The number one target of any cyber attack would be the banking systems... my accumulated wealth, such as it is, is not in gold bars nor cash buried in my backyard” [27:56].

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Personal Anecdotes and Reflections

The hosts share personal stories, adding a relatable human element to the episode.

Key Points:

• Jack’s Processing Disorder: Armstrong reveals his struggle with a processing disorder that affects his ability to read certain names correctly, such as mistakenly saying “Urza” instead of “Ezra” [17:54].
• Importance of Silence and Meditation: Reflecting on a homily about silence, Armstrong and Getty discuss the necessity of introspection amidst a noisy, media-saturated world. Getty quotes St. Jose Maria Escriva: “Silence is the doorkeeper of the interior life” [34:17].

Notable Quote: Jack Armstrong muses on his newfound awareness: “I've learned that with my son, that everybody knows about dyslexia, but there's all kinds of different things, minor or major, and lots of people have some of them, and you might not even know you have them” [19:08].

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Conclusion and Future Topics

As the episode winds down, Armstrong and Getty tease upcoming segments, including more in-depth analysis of Trump’s address and listener interactions through the mailbag segment.

Key Points:

• Upcoming Discussions: They hint at expanded coverage on AI advancements and more clips from Trump’s speech, promising listeners a comprehensive exploration in future segments [17:41].
• Engagement with Listeners: Encouraging audience participation, they direct listeners to submit questions and comments via their mailbag portal [35:59].

Notable Quote: Getty wraps up with a reflective thought on the complexity of AI and its unpredictable future: “Whatever you've got planned for you or your kids, it probably ain't going to happen that way” [29:33].

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Final Thoughts

In this episode, Armstrong and Getty adeptly navigate through complex and multifaceted issues, offering listeners a blend of critical analysis, personal insights, and candid humor. Their discussion on the implications of AI development, the polarized state of American politics, and the socio-economic impact of current policies provides a thorough examination of the challenges facing contemporary society. With their characteristic blend of wit and wisdom, Armstrong and Getty deliver a podcast episode that is both informative and thought-provoking, making it a valuable listen for anyone seeking to understand the intricacies of today's world.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "You don't want to do that, Michael. Yeah, I try to avoid them with the diabetes, so I will not eat one either." – Jack Armstrong [00:41]
• "It's the most partisan one of these he's ever seen." – Brit Hume, quoted by Jack Armstrong [04:43]
• "Silence is the doorkeeper of the interior life." – St. Jose Maria Escriva, quoted by Joe Getty [35:35]
• "Educate a man in mind and not morals is to educate a menace to society." – Trump, quoted by Joe Getty [31:11]

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For More Information:

• Mailbag Submissions: mailbagarmstrongandgetty.com
• Prize Picks Advertisement Mentioned: Listeners are encouraged to join and benefit from promotional offers, though detailed information was skipped in this summary.

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Note: This summary excludes advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to focus solely on the substantive discussions presented in the episode.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

Foreign.

[Joe Getty]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

And now here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

Somebody. Brownies, Michael. Did you see that? Yeah, I'm avoiding them big plate of brownies out there.

[Joe Getty]

The regular kind or the pot kind? Because I need to mellow out, man.

[Jack Armstrong]

The regular kind. Although I hear they're quite addictive. I've not had one yet, but you'll lose a foot if you eat a brownie though, right? You don't want to do that, Michael. Yeah, I try to avoid them with the diabetes, so I will not eat one either.

[Joe Getty]

I will.

[Jack Armstrong]

I will help. I will help help you shore up against that. I will not eat one in front of you.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live from Studio C. It has nothing to do with the fact that the scale laughed at today. I got on the scale that didn't give me a number. Just please, please just get off. If you don't care. I don't care. That's what the scale said to me.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. It gave up on you. Tough love.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's exactly.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm one to Talk.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, live, etc. Studio C, our bunker, under the tutelage of our general manager, the SO tac. What's the sotec?

[Joe Getty]

The sotak. The big speech last night. The state of the ass kicking address. Booyah. Mega. How you like me now?

[Jack Armstrong]

I want you to define big for me. Oh, huge again, define big.

[Joe Getty]

That was immense. I mean, just really big in terms of my definition, in terms of, you know what, in terms of entertainment, in terms of, like, enduring significance. Please. But as politics is our national pastime now, surpassing even the mighty NFL, I tuned in to be entertained. And by God, I was entertained.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I could only watch like 10 minutes before I had to take my son to Scouts and I then I watched Echo Chamber afterwards. But I remember you saying, my priorities, you had it nailed down many years ago. And this was before the Internet, the way it is now and everything like that. It's just back in the day, I can understand why these were a big deal. You never heard from the President. Really? And so when they gave a big speech, everybody gathered around the TV to see what does this gentleman think about? Various things. But ever since cable news and then certainly since the Internet and everything else, Good God. You hear from whoever's president all day, every day. You know exactly what they think about everything. You've heard all the phrases about everything. Why would you need to ever gather around for one more instance of that? Why, it's. It's a relic of. It's an anachronism to get a clearer.

[Joe Getty]

Picture of the president's policy priorities.

[Jack Armstrong]

All right, if you say so.

[Joe Getty]

No, I'm just, I'm trying to come up with an answer. I think it mostly exists because it's so pomp and circumstancy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Which is the part that I, the.

[Joe Getty]

Washington power folks, absolutely crave.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're right. That's what keeps it going. Old media that, like, doesn't know how to break out of this old stuff and cover news the way, you know, faster, smarter, younger, you know, Joe Rogan's not going to talk about the freaking this address on his show. And he gets gazillions more viewers than any of the CNN shows that will talk endlessly, endlessly about it. So dominant media is stuck in it. And then you're right, the powerful in Washington, D.C. this is their look how important we are fest that they get to do a couple of years and they're never going to want to let go of that.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. Well, with all due respect to your fathering your children stuff last night, I'm approaching it strictly from a point of view of entertainment. And as I pointed out, it was fine entertainment indeed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really?

[Joe Getty]

Certainly as a snapshot of the current state of party politics in the United States, there was some significance to just it was a glimpse of the lay of the land and it was extremely favorable to Republicans. I know better than to think that will last permanently or anything close to permanently. But as a snapshot, it was further evidence of an utterly sapped, clueless and directionless Democratic Party.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Well, Brit Hume. Well, for one thing, Brit Hume said last night it was in 40 years of covering, this is the most partisan one of these he's ever seen. But that's just the direction. I'm guessing the second most partisan was the last one. I mean, we just been going that direction for years and years and years.

[Joe Getty]

It was a step in that direction virtually exactly the same as the last four steps in that direction.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Just not surprising at all.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which, yeah, my, my main takeaway from almost everything these days is enough norm breaking. Can we stop norm breaking for a while? Maybe not. Brit Hume also said if you ever doubted that Donald Trump is the political colossus of our time and our nation, this night in this speech should have put that to rest.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. I can't imagine still doubting that, honestly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Who did doubt that? That's a good question.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, Brad, nobody drove it home. Yeah, there were a number of moments that we'll talk about that. Were fun and interesting and revealing. Not about the President's policy priority because again, you hear those 27 times a day. But the, the big moment. Being a senile old, he wishes it was still the civil rights movement. Half non compos mentis joke of a man shaking his cane angrily at the President. I mean, as symbols go, that was a really good one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Richard Hal Green. And not the brilliant vocalist.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ye. If you didn't see it and good for you if you didn't and you fit in with most Americans. I'm sure when ratings come out that you didn't see it. But an old Democrat shook his cane and wouldn't stop yelling and they actually, you know, got the cops and ushered him out. But Rich Lowry of the National Review tweeted, democrats are the party of the future and if you don't believe them, they have a 77 year old man shaking his cane to prove it. Well said, Rich.

[Joe Getty]

Well said. And then the other visual aspect of it that, that I think was telling was the Democrats who'd been ordered to have a dignified presence by Hakeem Jeffries, mostly did. There was heckling and shouting in a crazed old man shaking his cane, representing the future. But the other thing that they decided on was they were gonna sit there stone faced with these little signs that said elon steals or not true or a couple other things. And it looked just like Wile E. Coyote on the old cartoons, holding up a little sign that says oops. Right, exactly. Before a rock falls on his head or he plummets off a cliff or something like that. And so as, as, as protests go, as the resistance goes, it was beyond silly, just, just terrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you know, and they're refusing to stand for anything, no matter what it was. Here's a kid that, that didn't die of cancer. We're not going to stand for that.

[Joe Getty]

Which Trump indicted with great skill. And again, the significance of the speech, very little. The snapshot of where we are politically though, where they are stone faced over curing cancer and he says, you know, you people won't clap over anything. Good that happens. You're just, you're completely phony. That's a Trumpian calling them out for exactly what's going on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I, I took in Mark Halperin's video cast that he did after the speech last night. And he has his panel of Democrats and Republicans and the mainstream Democrats he had on his show were horrified that the Democratic Party sat for some of that stuff. Just horrified. The Democrat pundits were. They're like, this is just not a good look. No, average American tuning in, you know, was happy about that. I mean, if you're tuning in, you know, to hate on Trump, you'd be fine with it. But if you're just kind of an average middle of the road American, you tune in, you're like, what is that? You can't clap for anything.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. I'm reminded of the clip of the day yesterday, which surely you're aware of if you're into politics more than you should be, which was a couple of dozen Democrats all giving the same. Sounded like hip, and I'm gonna drop an S bomb and tell you what's really going on, man, about Trump. But they're reading all from precisely the same script, and people were mocking that. And it's of, you know, it's of a set of a piece with what Jack was just describing. And that is everything is premeditated. Everything is top down. And nothing reflects like real people and how they behave. It's just so nakedly strategic. It just, it doesn't reflect Americans and how they feel in the way they live.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, I got one more question about that, but we should start the show officially first before the guy who runs the fcc. One of his five things that he has to tell Elon he does every week is make sure the Armstrong and Getty show starts on time. So we need to start. I'm Jack Armstrong, he's Joe Getty on this. It is Wednesday, March 5, the year 2025, or Armstrong and Getty and we approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

Let's begin then, officially, according to FCC rules and regulations. Here we go at Mark.

[Katie Green]

This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do. It's very sad and it's just. Shouldn't be this way.

[Jack Armstrong]

Longest one of these anybody has ever given. Even longer than Bill Clinton's many decades mocked hour and a half long address from back in 95 or 2000 or whenever it was. It's interesting that Trump being such a. This will make good TV sort of guy. Understanding TV and everything like that.

[Joe Getty]

Drones on for so long, isn't it? Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Doesn't fit together.

[Joe Getty]

Strikes me as a guy who's past the point where anybody who can. Anybody can tell him anything.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm just surprised.

[Joe Getty]

It's a terrible idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'M just surprised that his own natural instincts as a guy who put on TV shows isn't. No, we can't, we can't talk for 90 minutes. Nobody will stick around.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or, or maybe it's because he understands people aren't going to watch this. They're going to get clips and I'm going to go on and on and on. So there are lots of clips floating around out there that, that match up with everybody's needs and they see it. Maybe that's his thinking, I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. So he views it as like a production session.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's seven dimensional chess. Well, that's why, that's the way the late night hosts do their shows now. Like Jimmy Fallon, they know not that many people tune in. It's the, it's the different segments on YouTube that, that keep them afloat. So maybe that's what Trump's.

[Joe Getty]

But, but it's not four hours long.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

You know, they, they still fashion it like you show the normal performer of any sort can feel when they're losing the room and it feels like your life is being sucke like some alien death ray.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's the worst feeling in the world.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

My one question though is where do we go in terms of divisive norm breaking? So you got the Trump giving the most divisive speech ever. Again, they've been going that direction. President after president. He didn't invent this, but. And then you got the other party not standing up for anything. You know, we've been talking about that for decades. It's always been kind of funny that whichever party's out of power doesn't stand for various policy proposals. But now you don't stand for anything. What's the next step? I mean, how far does this go before we've reached the end of the pendulum swing? Or is there an end before we just become a monarchy?

[Joe Getty]

Well, when I saw the senile old feller shaking his cane, I thought we might be heading for a rerun of the Brooks Sumner affair. Back in 1856, when pro slavery Democrat Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with his cane and beat him into unconsciousness.

[Jack Armstrong]

That can't happen.

[Joe Getty]

I think it's got to go that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That way it can't happen now. You'd have to have someone under 75 to do the beating. And everybody's so old. I don't think anybody could hurt anybody else.

[Joe Getty]

Slow motion beating. You're right. We should take a break.

[Jack Armstrong]

We've got Katie's headlines coming up. And a bunch of other stuff. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're into day two of the whole tariff thing. That's the biggest story economically, maybe in the world.

[Joe Getty]

I canceled my guacamole and Modelo party. Just can't afford it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I understand.

[Joe Getty]

It's incredibly disappointing too. We're gonna eat guac and drink. Well, I guess that's self evident. Let's figure out who's reporting what. It's lead story with the Doge hat wearing Katie Green.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie, you have a hat that says Doge?

[Michael]

I do.

[Jack Armstrong]

Where'd you get that?

[Michael]

It's from a website called Next Level Goods. It's got a whole bunch of Trump and America stuff on it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cool.

[Joe Getty]

Thank you. Little maga nut, you.

[Michael]

I am proud of it. NBC quote, we are just getting started. Trump touts his agenda to reshape America.

[Jack Armstrong]

There you go.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Michael]

The Wall Street.

[Joe Getty]

Yes. Huge speech. Thank you.

[Michael]

From the Wall Street Journal. Trump's Canada, Mexico tariffs take effect.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Wall Street Journal with another editorial board. Are you really going to do this? What the hell? Editorial today.

[Joe Getty]

As a student of economics since I was a wee lad, I'm really curious to see how this plays out and to what extent the fears of price bumps manifest themselves and you know, on a more political level, whether Trump's going to hang in there on this and for how long. But it's a complicated topic. Topic, no doubt.

[Michael]

From the New York Times. Drones now rule the battlefield in the Ukraine, Russia war.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I was talking about that last week. Remember some special forces dude saying the introduction of cheap anybody can get them drones onto the battlefield is the biggest change since Genghis Khan put stirrups on a horse in warfare.

[Joe Getty]

And as I mentioned at the time, I was heartened to hear that Pete Hegseth is making startups and innovative companies relationships with the Pentagon a real priority going forward and not just relying on the big, heavy arms guys, as usual.

[Michael]

From Reuters. Israeli forces kill West Bank Hamas commander.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good.

[Michael]

CNN. A 40 day target boycott starts today and it couldn't come for a worse time for the company.

[Joe Getty]

Is that like woke numbskulls because they ditched dei? Okay, who's getting boycotted? Yeah, I'm gonna go. I. I almost never go to Target. It's just, it's big and it's crowded and plus my kids are grown, so I just don't buy much. But I'm gonna go and I'm gonna find stuff to buy. Whatever it takes. You just. You let me know how much revenue they're losing and I will match it on the positive side every day.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the woke side thinks they're going to attack Target. Target's more on their side than practically any other major retailer in America. Maybe they just think they're more susceptible to their pressure because they are woke.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, perhaps. And having gained way more than is good and decent toward their progressive neo Marxist goals, they're they're loathe to get back any ground. Bring it on.

[Michael]

Says I from the New York Post. Nine students found dismembered by side of Mexico highway after disappearing on vacation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, that's the sort of thing that happens in Mexico. They found nine dismembered bodies and a bag of hands for these college kids that were on vacation.

[Joe Getty]

D'oh. I want to talk more about the Mexican government and the cartels and their recent to PR campaigns, but we don't have the time.

[Michael]

Poh.

[Joe Getty]

No, keep moving from the Babylon B.

[Michael]

Trump's Canadian tariffs expected to have devastating impact on curling broom industry.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

They get me every time. Seth Dillon and his crew. You guys are great.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got some more news of the day. Came across some damned interesting AI stuff yesterday I definitely want to get to on the show. Frightens the hell out of me as a guy who's sending a couple of kids into the world someday.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty, Trump's first presidential address to Congress. It was quite a night. There were about 400 people in attendance, 300 were members of Congress, and 100 were Elon's kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

We'll be talking more about the address and have some clips for you in hour two. So, and we just covered in the first half of this hour and if you didn't hear it, you should get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Joe Getty]

Excellent advice.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, an interesting thing I've learned just in the last like two months about myself is I have some sort of processing disorder in my brain that I've never known I've had my entire life. That it's because I'm about to read from a Columbi and I can't look at it or I will say it wrong. Ezra Klein in the New York Times. If I look at the word and read it, I'll say Urza.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that's got to be something.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I have no idea. And now I know why there's so many names, particularly that I. If I read them, I get them wrong.

[Joe Getty]

You know, that's funny. We've worked together for ages and ages and yeah, I noticed that many years ago that for some reason names just perplex you completely Is it because you can't. I mean, you. Somebody reads a ton. I mean, obviously, if you come across a word that's jumbled from context, your brain can sort that out again. Maybe.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't have any idea.

[Joe Getty]

There's no context for Ezra.

[Jack Armstrong]

No.

[Joe Getty]

I wonder. Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. But now that I know it, it explains a lot of things that I've had trouble with in my life. There's all kinds of weird processing disorders you can have in your brain. I've learned that with my son, that everybody knows about dyslexia, but there's all kinds of different things, minor or major, and lots of people have some of them, and you might not even know you have them.

[Joe Getty]

Really? Yeah. I was, for instance, comforted somewhat to learn probably six months ago, that there's like a. What do they call it, a continuum of a range of abilities to recognize faces, from the spectacular to the. It's actually an aphasia problem or whatever they call it. And most people are in between. And I've always thought, why? Why do I not recognize people? Well, I talked to him for, like, two hours three weeks ago, and now I'm like, I've met that person somewhere, but I have no context. And that's just. I'm not good at that, apparently.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Ezra Klein has an article, opinion piece in the New York Times about AI that I started reading last night and found very fascinating. The headline out of it, Nate Silver tweeted this out, Actually, really, the headline out of it is, the lack of attention to AI progress will look foolish in the future in that this is going to be so big and hit us all so fast and change so many things. The fact that we're not all, like, really talking about it all the time is really quite amazing. But on the other hand, they kind of make the point, as I'm about to read, that nobody exactly knows how you would prepare for it anyway.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I don't know what to say.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you've been telling yourself this isn't coming, I really think you need to question that. He writes, and this is after talking to a number of AI experts, including Biden's AI expert, who's currently working somewhat with Trump's AI expert to try to get us all prepared for that. That and try to stay ahead of China, which we're about to get to. I think we're on the cusp of an era in human history that is unlike any of the eras we have ever experienced before. And we're not prepared in part because it's not clear what it would mean to prepare. We don't know what this will look like, what it will feel like. We don't know how labor markets will respond. We don't know which country is going to get there first. We don't know what it'll mean for war. We don't know what it'll mean for peace. Well, okay. And while there is so much else going on in the world to cover, there's a good chance when we look back on this era, we'll realize that this was the only thing that mattered. He uses the example Klein does in the New York Times. I work with producers on the show. I hire incredibly talented people to do very demanding research work to help me prepare for books and columns. I asked AI, one of the AIs, I don't know which one he was using to do a report on the tensions between the Madisonian constitutional system and the highly polarized nationalized parties we have now. And what it produced in a matter of minutes, I would say was at least the median of what any of the teams I've ever hired could have produced within days.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a pretty complex topic.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

To spit out in minutes and do as good a job as the, you know, I'm sure highly educated, as he says, very talented people that he hires to do that sort of thing.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Complex and at least a medium on the scale of subtlety. I mean, it's not like asking what vitamins are there in pineapple, where that's a very straightforward query. And you would find many references to that. That would be unmistakable, unmistakably references to that. But you. Yeah, there's much more subtlety in the question he asked. That's, that's weirdly chilling.

[Jack Armstrong]

He goes on. I've talked to a number of people at FIR that do high amounts of coding, and they tell me by the end of this year, certainly by the end of next year, they expect most code will not be written by human beings. I don't, I do not see how this cannot have a major impact on the labor market. I would say since for the past 10 years at least, the, you know, teacher, have your kids, learn to code. Learn to code. You know, if you're not a coal miner anymore, go to college. Learn to code. That's going to be a worthless skill by the end of the year, certainly by the end of next year, because it'll all be done by AI. Yeah, that's troubling. And also this AI researcher made this point which I thought was really Good. He referenced John F. Kennedy's famous speech in 1962, his moon speech. And everybody remembers the part where he talked about, we're going to go to the moon by the end of the decade, not because it's. Not because it's easy, but because it's hard. And everybody remembers that part of the speech, but people don't remember the ending of the speech where this guy writes, I think he gives the better line for space science, nuclear science, and all technology that has no conscience of its own, whether it will become a force for good or ill. This is Kennedy writing about space, but it's true about AI. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man. And only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new and terrifying theater of war. We need to make sure we're the ones that get there first. So, yeah, I didn't even know that was in the moon speech, even though I knew what drove the space program was, you know, trying to steady ahead of the Soviets. And that guy gets to the point that us beating the Chinese is of the utmost importance. He gets into the idea of cyber warfare. Whoever. Whoever gets to what they call general artificial intelligence, AGI, Artificial general intelligence, Whoever gets there first is going to have such a dominant role on the planet on hacking or stopping hacking. And if, for instance, China gets there first, they can hack into everything we have, and we probably won't be able to stop it, like, everything. And that could. I mean, imagine. Just try to imagine how disruptive that would be.

[Joe Getty]

You can't.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, you know, you absolutely can't.

[Joe Getty]

The greatest cyber experts on Earth could probably give you a lovely speech about it, but no, the average person can't even.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he extrapolates it from not only the ability to hack in, but the fact that you don't need a thousand Chinese experts in a room doing the hacking. The AI will figure that out and get into every tire shop or school or hospital or, you know, radio show website or whatever it wants to get.

[Joe Getty]

Into in the blink of an eye.

[Jack Armstrong]

In a blink of an eye.

[Joe Getty]

Don't mess with our hot links, China. I'm coming in. I'm coming in. It strikes me, first of all, that part of the Kennedy speech you featured is really terrific and underappreciated. But it strikes me, given the current state of things with China and other countries sending probes to the moon, that that was from settled. We got there first, but we haven't really defended it. Remember, I have been in favor of serious moon defense, blowing anybody else's astronauts out of the sky. It's our moon. Secondly, the other thing that the obvious parallel is that if the AI dominance AGI were first in, but that's going to be a never ending battlefield.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. For some reason, the couple experts he interviewed seem to think that getting there first keeps you ahead semi permanently.

[Joe Getty]

I'd rather try that than the other one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Than the ketchup. Yeah, right. The, the main thrust of the article at the beginning was this guy who was advising the Biden White House and, and is working with Trump's AI person also thinks this whole artificial general intelligence thing is way overblown. We don't need to get there to completely disrupt everything. I will get there someday where it is as smart as any human being on Earth and can learn on its own. But it doesn't need to get all the way there to be incredibly disruptive to the labor market or hacking or everything like that. And he says we're going to be there in a couple of years. We're going to be at the part that can disrupt everything. Everybody's talking about. We won't get to, you know, artificial general intelligence for 10 years, 15 years, a dozen or 20 years, whatever. We don't need to get there. It can disrupt the entire world by getting 80, 90% of the way there, which we're going to get in the next couple of years.

[Joe Getty]

As a guy toward the end of a mediocre career, I am not as personally invested in fear of the upset of the labor market, even though I fear for my children. But something just occurred to me that made me sick to my stomach. And that is number one target of any cyber attack would be the banking systems. And I don't know about y'all. My accumulated wealth, such as it is, is. Is not in gold bars nor cash buried in my backyard.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, mine's all in NFTs, which I hope will hold their value.

[Joe Getty]

That's it. That's brilliant. Yeah. A quick word from our friends at Prize Picks. I actually have some more information about AI that I found very, very interesting. Oh, my gosh. It just knocked something over in the studio. Is anybody hurt?

[Jack Armstrong]

Did your coffee fall over?

[Joe Getty]

Everybody's fine. No, it's this big board thing I've got over here. Anyway, you can now win up to a thousand times your money on Prize Picks. Prize Picks is the best place to get real money sports action. Join over 10 million users and sign up today.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. For Instance this basketball season you can turn your sports opinions into into money. Yeah, that's pretty cool, man. Sign up today get the Price pick app. Get $50 instantly when you play five. You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed.

[Joe Getty]

Yep. And I tell you what, they have specials every week like Taco Tuesday where they discount projections up to 25% to provide even more value for your lineups. Prize Picks is the app and again that code is Armstrong. They give you $50 instantly to play around with after you play your first $5 lineup again you don't have to win. It is automatic. It's fun no matter your favorite sport and it's simple, super easy. The player stat projections. You can understand them instantly and and place your your picks. Dakota's Armstrong Prize picks Run your game.

[Jack Armstrong]

The good news out of that AI article I guess is since it's so un. Unpredictable, there's nothing you can do to prepare. So what is the point of that? Just be afraid. Be very afraid or just right or just realize whatever you've got planned for you or your kids, it probably ain't going to happen that way. Maybe that's the.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, be like just a couple of quick notes and then we'll. We'll go to break because we have Mailbag and couple other things coming up. But the Wall Street Journal featured this dude who left open AI last year and said I'm going to start my own company. His company is worth $30 billion because he's one of the leaders. And that is where the smart money quote unquote in Silicon Valley, venture capital, et cetera, thinks wow is best to go again. One year less than one year later. It's worth $30 billion. Second story bank loans $2 billion to build a 100 acre AI data center in Utah. It is one of the biggest construction loans in human history and it is for a data center. It highlights the booming demand for artificial intelligence.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. And everybody, including me, understands so little about in what way it's actually going to unfold in our lives.

[Joe Getty]

And there are a couple of voices saying this reminds me of the dot com bubble. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

But truly I don't know. So we'll just bring you the information as we come across it.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's.

[Joe Getty]

I.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever. The only thing I think every time I read about is I think is there any way we can not. Is there any way we can not. Can we just.

[Joe Getty]

Is there an opt out button?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Is there just. Can. Can anybody decide? Let's just not go down this road. We do need to get the mailbag next. Our text line is 415295KFTC.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty if there was any.

[Jack Armstrong]

News out of last night's speech, it was him reading Zelensky's latest letter. So I guess we can talk about that now. Or two maybe.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And as I said earlier in the hour, perhaps you missed it. It was entertaining as heck. I want to talk more about that and play you some clips next hour. Here's your freedom lo Quote of the Day Man, I'm enjoying the series from Teddy Roosevelt. He is. He's a quote machine like the late great Abraham Lincoln. As Trump once put it. Today's quote to educate a man in mind and not morals is to educate a menace to society.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. That's pretty good.

[Joe Getty]

That is pretty good.

[Jack Armstrong]

We do none of that in or the opposite. Yeah, yeah, you're right.

[Joe Getty]

Educate them in perverse philosophies. Sick mailbag. Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongandgetty.com Fellas, as someone who's initially not a Trump guy, sat back and applauded his persuasion skill set during the speech last night. The speech was short on the roadmap forward, long on curb stomping the Dems unfortunate term. Some underestimate how important it is to keep them on the ground. They were left with shaking canes like like old man yells at cloud style. True. Truly lame high school level protest signs dressing in colors and steeped in their sour disposition to the point that they couldn't show any heart for the victims of violence in a 13 year old cancer survivor to emphasize the emphasize the absurdity. The fake Indian folkahanus laughed at Hitler's joke. How can he be the hit the H Man and Buddy Hackett at the same time? I wasn't planning to watch, but OMG Trump owns them. That's Joe and way more Plymouth, Mass. JT in Livermore, the other end of the country on the topic of friends versus Allies. To put it bluntly. Bluntly, this is on the topic of tariffs. Trump is sick and tired of America giving so many friends discounts to our allies. That's a great way to put it, jt. This is consistent with his first term in which he badmouthed NAFTA during his campaign, negotiating a modded. I'm sorry, a modified version before ending his first term. It isn't just trade. Trump is also tired of the US footing a disproportionate share of costs for NATO wto the who and the UN to say nothing of being the world's policeman, particularly on the open seas. Uh, yeah, there's more, and it's very good, but I think we'll leave it there. For the longest time, the U. S. Led world order included. Hey, we will give you a friend's discount for, you know, cooperating and because we're way richer and mightier than you are, and that'll lift you up and blah, blah, blah. And Trump's point of view is that era needs to end. You know, you might debate it, but it's not crazy. Moving along. Tariffs go both ways. Nate points out nowhere in the tariff discussion from y'all did I hear anything about tariffs on goods from the USA that countries like Canada and Mexico have. Canada has insane tariffs on US Items for decades. That's what needs to go away. Level the playing field on tariffs. That's the next step. Reciprocal tariffs that Trump's talking about. Nothing more interesting than tariff talk. You know, I'm going to do this one.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is going to affect every one of our lives.

[Joe Getty]

Got a great note on the gender versus sex thing coming up, but Charlotte sent along part of a homily that's like a sermon for Catholics. It's Ash Wednesday during Lent, and his homily was about silence. And she included some of the quotes, which I am going to read you now. I mean, just pause in this one for a second. How can I ever know what I think if I'm always putting someone else's thoughts in my mind? If I always have to listen to a podcast, well, just listen to ours and, you know, call it good. Always have to listen to someone else's song, someone else's music, someone else's thoughts. How can I ever know what I think if I'm constantly listening to someone else's thoughts? If I can't be alone with my own thoughts, then how will I ever know what I actually think again? The furnace reveals and the furnace trains. That's a reference to something earlier. The tribulation reveals and the tribulation trains. The speech reveals, but the silence reveals too, and the silence trains. So here's the invitation. St. Jose Maria Escriva, in the book, the way he said it like that, he said, quote, silence is the doorkeeper of the interior life, which means I have to actually walk through this doorway if I'm ever going to know, if I'm ever going to become the person I am.

[Jack Armstrong]

I wonder if that's why meditation is so important to me.

[Joe Getty]

Makes sense, because I've thought, how did.

[Jack Armstrong]

I live my whole life without it? Because now if I skip it it's just I can absolutely tell. Well I didn't used to occupy my brain with a podcast or a screen every moment of the day so maybe I didn't need it as bad. Now I at least get that 20 minutes where I in silence.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I believe in being quote unquote bored for a chunk of every day. I think it's really important. Again if you were enjoying a three screen experience and didn't quite catch it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Blah blah blah blah blah.

[Joe Getty]

Here's your takeaway. Silence is the doorkeeper of the interior life.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you had your TV on while you were listening to us and you were checking your phone. Exactly so you might have missed that.

[Joe Getty]

Highlights from the speech last night. Oh, significant maybe entertaining indefinitely.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can you believe a bear got in? How did they let that happen? It's amazing.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.