The A&G Replay Friday Hour Four

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: The A&G Replay Friday Hour Four – July 4, 2025

Host: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Released: July 4, 2025
Platform: iHeartPodcasts

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1. The Paradox of Pursuing Happiness

Duration: 00:53 – 04:39

Jack Armstrong and Michael delve into the contemporary obsession with happiness, referencing a study by researchers from the University of Toronto Scarborough and the University of Sydney. The discussion highlights a counterintuitive finding: the active pursuit of happiness may lead to decreased well-being.

Key Points:

• Happiness Obsession: Society is saturated with self-help gurus, Instagram influencers, and corporate campaigns promoting happiness.
• Research Findings: Actively seeking happiness can drain mental energy necessary for self-control and meaningful activities, potentially making individuals less happy overall.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael (02:07): “Trying too hard to be happy might make you miserable.”
• Jack Armstrong (02:31): “Actually make you happier is the key right there.”

2. Defining True Happiness Beyond Pleasure

Duration: 03:35 – 06:22

The hosts differentiate between fleeting pleasures and genuine happiness. They emphasize that activities like eating unhealthy food or excessive social media use provide temporary satisfaction but do not contribute to long-term happiness. Instead, purposeful living and meaningful accomplishments are identified as true sources of happiness.

Key Points:

• Pleasure vs. Happiness: Pleasure and fun are transient, whereas happiness is deeper and more enduring.
• Purpose and Accomplishment: Engaging in purposeful activities and achieving personal goals foster lasting happiness.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael (03:35): “Pleasure is not happiness.”
• Jack Armstrong (04:22): “Self control… actually make you happy is the key right there.”

3. The Impact of Social Media on Well-Being

Duration: 06:24 – 13:35

Jack and Michael discuss the addictive nature of social media platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok. They express concern over how these platforms manipulate user behavior through sophisticated algorithms, leading to excessive screen time at the expense of more fulfilling activities.

Key Points:

• Addictive Algorithms: Modern social media platforms are designed to maximize user engagement, often leading to time wastage.
• Mental Drain: The constant consumption of tailored content can sap the mental energy needed for pursuing meaningful goals.
• Personal Struggles: Both hosts share personal experiences of battling with excessive social media use and its negative effects.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael (08:05): “We as a species don't stand a chance against that sort of neurological manipulation.”
• Jack Armstrong (08:56): “It kills a freaking hour where I should either been sleeping or exercising or whatever.”

4. Balancing Responsibilities and Mental Health

Duration: 14:06 – 22:10

The conversation shifts to the challenges of managing daily responsibilities while maintaining mental health. Topics include handling work stress, family obligations, and the struggle to make healthy choices amidst a busy lifestyle.

Key Points:

• Work and Stress: Navigating work-related stress, especially with complicated systems like benefits administration.
• Family Dynamics: Balancing parental responsibilities with personal well-being.
• Healthy Choices: The difficulty of maintaining a healthy lifestyle when overwhelmed by daily tasks.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael (15:14): “It's not easy, you know.”
• Jack Armstrong (14:53): “All the day stuff makes me happy.”

5. Health and Common Cold Remedies

Duration: 19:03 – 23:23

Jack, Michael, and Katie discuss their approaches to managing common colds. They critique the effectiveness of over-the-counter medications, particularly phenylephrine, and share personal preferences for remedies like Theraflu and Nyquil.

Key Points:

• Effectiveness of Medications: Skepticism about the efficacy of certain cold medicines, referencing FDA findings on phenylephrine.
• Personal Remedies: Preference for remedies that provide comfort, even if their effectiveness is questionable.
• Awareness: Highlighting the general lack of public knowledge about the inefficacy of some widely used medications.

Notable Quotes:

• Katie (21:30): “I'm afraid of it [Nyquil].”
• Jack Armstrong (22:23): “Every cold medicine in every aisle of every store has drugs full of that.”

6. The Joy and Challenges of Homemade Bread and Butter

Duration: 25:12 – 33:19

The hosts enthusiastically discuss the pleasures of making homemade bread and butter. They share personal anecdotes about family traditions, the superior taste of homemade products, and the satisfaction derived from crafting something from scratch.

Key Points:

• Homemade Excellence: Superiority of homemade bread and butter over store-bought versions.
• Family Traditions: Passing down recipes and the joy associated with homemade goods.
• Craftsmanship: The satisfaction and happiness that comes from engaging in culinary crafts.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael (28:35): “Homemade bread with homemade butter. Oh, so good.”
• Jack Armstrong (30:00): “Homemade bread with homemade butter. Oh, so good.”

7. Reflections on High School Dynamics and Growth

Duration: 33:16 – 37:21

Jack Armstrong reflects on observing his son's experience at a high school basketball game, drawing parallels to his own high school years. The conversation touches on the unchanged nature of high school social dynamics and the discomfort it brings.

Key Points:

• Unchanged Social Dynamics: High school environments remain similar over the years, with cliques and social pressures.
• Parental Observations: Watching his son's activities evokes memories and feelings akin to his own experiences.
• Social Behavior: Insights into how individuals navigate social hierarchies from adolescence into adulthood.

Notable Quotes:

• Jack Armstrong (35:05): “How should I walk? How should I sit? How should I… whatever.”
• Michael (36:07): “Life is a zero sum game. Their happiness is your unhappiness.”

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Conclusion

In this episode of "The Armstrong & Getty On Demand" podcast, the hosts explore the intricate relationship between the pursuit of happiness and societal influences, such as social media and consumer culture. They advocate for a deeper understanding of what truly contributes to lasting happiness, emphasizing purpose, meaningful accomplishments, and the joys of simple, homemade pleasures. Personal anecdotes and humor weave through the discussion, making complex psychological concepts accessible and relatable to listeners.

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Notable Mention: While the episode includes advertisements for Annabe's machine-washable sofas, these segments have been excluded from the summary to focus on the core content as per guidelines.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[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's Armstrong and Getty. Happy Independence day. It's the 4th of July and it's.

[Michael]

The Armstrong and Getty Replay, featuring bits and pieces of our podcast. Armstrong and Getty. One More thing. Don't miss a single moment.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get every episode on the iHeart app and wherever you get your podcasts.

[Michael]

Don't happy be worried. It's one more thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. One more thing. What?

[Michael]

I was reminded of the Bobby McFerrin classic don't worry story Be Happy the other day as it was listed on the the Worst songs of the 90s. It's very popular. It was a cute little ditty. It's fine. I don't know. It's fine. People love, you know, slamming other people's choices in music too much.

[Jack Armstrong]

Why you gotta hate on being happy?

[Michael]

Yeah, right, exactly. But don't happy be worried is the theme. Kind of, sort of a really interesting study that's out. Researchers from the University of Toronto Scarborough and University of Sydney, the Canuckers joining up with the Australians. Trump will be, you know, annexing them both soon. But anyway, for now we'll let them have their cute little universities. But they, they write, we live in a happiness obsessed world. Self help gurus promise paths to bliss, Instagram influencers pedal happiness as a lifestyle, and corporations build marketing campaigns around the pursuit of positive emotions. But new research suggests a surprising twist. I doubt I'm surprising if you're not familiar.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael]

Trying too hard to be happy might make you miserable. Researchers at the aforementioned universities found that actively pursuing happiness drains our mental energy, the same energy we need for self control. Among other things, says the researcher, the pursuit of happiness is a bit like a snowball effect. You decide to try making yourself happier, but then that effort depletes your ability to do the kinds of things that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Actually make you happier is the key right there. What kind of things actually make you happy? So, among my favorite books I've ever read in my life, the Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama. What? Which he says, your goal every morning when you wake up should be to make yourself happy. You should spend all your time trying to make yourself happy. That's what you should do. But it gets down to the data on what makes you happy and what doesn't. And many, many of the things we all do every single day don't make us happy. They've never made Us happy. We have ample evidence from our own experience, let alone other people's experience, that it doesn't make us happy. Yet we continue doing it, like eating bad food or buying stuff or promiscuous sex or whatever it is. It has never made us happy. It doesn't make other people happy. Yet we keep thinking that's what's going to make us happy. So pursuing happiness every day is okay. You just need to define what makes people actually makes people happy.

[Michael]

Maybe this is the key. Pleasure is not happiness.

[Jack Armstrong]

Fun is not happiness.

[Michael]

Right. It can be part of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Very seldom though, life of purpose is what makes people happy.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah. Happy, happy. You wake up determined to have a great day. You plan mood boosting activities and work hard to stay positive. But by evening you're ordering takeout instead of cooking. Mindlessly scrolling social media and snapping at your partner. Why? Your pursuit of happiness might be the problem. The scientist marketing professor puts it bluntly, quote, the more mentally rundown we are, the more tempted we'll be to skip cleaning the house and instead scroll social media.

[Jack Armstrong]

They're saying the same thing as the Dalai Lama says. I just, I like the way he words it. It's a little more positive. Pursue happiness all day, every day. That should be your goal in life. That should be everybody's goal. But now let's break down what actually makes people happy as opposed to saying don't pursue happiness. Because then it seems like it's a gotta eat my vegetables, gotta, you know, all negative stuff and maybe there'll be a payoff in the end.

[Michael]

Right. It's like the difference between pursuing money and pursuing the skills that will make you money in a way. Katie, do you have something you want to jump in with? You look thoughtful.

[Katie]

I. I'm kind of overthinking this, I think.

[Michael]

Okay.

[Katie]

Be honest.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it's, it's amazing that human beings do things that make themselves unhappy all the time. All the time. It's just, it's just like one of the most common things we do is make do things that make us unhappy. Eat stuff that's going to make us either feel bad in the moment or make us feel bad long term or, you know, pursue relationships that we know aren't good. But there's either sex, prestige, whatever that makes you do it. Just, we regularly chase things that we know are bad for us.

[Michael]

Right, right.

[Katie]

My brain was going with like things you don't want to do, but the payoff in the end is good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, the simplest one is the staring at your phone. Nobody Ever at the end of the day, says, I'm sure glad I spent that much time scrolling on my phone. Nobody ever, not even for one day, right? Right.

[Michael]

I was just going to contrast doom scrolling on Twitter, which I have the compulsion to do and I resist pretty well most times, versus the other day. I mean, this is as mundane as can be. I cleaned out my closet. I went through it, thinned the herd of clothing, you know, shoes I don't wear, etc. It's neater, it's better organized. It's just. It's better. And that made me happy.

[Katie]

Right?

[Michael]

Like happy.

[Katie]

Yeah. Like today it was not pleasurable. I would love to lay on my couch all day, but I know I have laundry to do and when I get it done, I'm going to be happy that it's done.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Katie]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

I was just reading an obituary of a fella that I barely knew, and it was post retirement, I'm pretty sure. But he filled his life with the boys and girls club of the area where he lived and was really pivotal in guiding them through difficult financial times and growing the programs and stuff like that. I'll bet there was very little of that that was pleasurable. Some of it was because watching kids learn and grow is immensely satisfying. But there's a hell of a lot of work there, and I guarantee that made him happy to his soul.

[Listener]

I think the best happiness comes from accomplishments. It could be like mowing the grass, like you're pushing the mower and you look back and you see what you've done. And then when you're all finished, you look and you think, hey, I'm really feeling happy.

[Jack Armstrong]

So why, why, why then evolutionary speaking, why are we. Is our body screaming out to now mow the lawn tomorrow. Lay on. On the couch watching this football games. What? It's going to make me happy. Even though you're absolutely right afterwards, I think, why do I watch? I don't even care about these two teams. As opposed to, you'll feel happy after you move along.

[Michael]

Well, the greatest minds of our time are devoted toward getting you to do things for pleasure, for their profit in a way that didn't exist. I mean, even 200 years ago there was advertisement, but it was not nearly as effective, manipulative, and scientifically based as modern, you know, like. Like Facebook. Tick tock. My God. We. We as a species don't stand a chance against that sort of neurological manipulation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I've noticed recently. I don't know if my. Well, I just. I guess I just started Doing the Instagram reels thing, I'd never done it in fourth. It's kind of the American version of TikTok, I guess. Anyway, what's disappointing to me is it's not like doom scrolling or something where I think why did I do that? Or it's pretty good, it's pretty enjoyable. It feeds me lots of stuff I really like. I mean like really like here's some rare concert footage that it figured out I'd be into that I've never seen before and stuff like that. But it kills a freaking hour where I should either been sleeping or exercising or whatever. So it's actually, it's actually enjoyable, like really enjoyable in the time. So that's what I gotta fight now is not even start.

[Michael]

I am going to further parse language. You got pleasure, you got happiness. And Michael, to your point, you have satisfaction. Maybe that's another word to think about. Happiness and satisfaction as opposed to pleasure.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you don't, let's say you're retired and you don't really need to accomplish anything.

[Michael]

That's when it's the most important, according to everybody I've talked to, to have some purpose.

[Jack Armstrong]

You don't think you could just look at Instagram reels feeding you stuff that you actually enjoy and be okay, or would you be miserable?

[Michael]

You'll be dead soon? I don't know. I can't state that, you know, with confidence, but that's. I. I've read a fair amount about retirement, which is funny because I don't know, probably like my job too much. But yeah, if. If you're the sort of person who just retires and you have nothing to do, it makes people miserable.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you do.

[Michael]

I mean, even if you have things to do, you have tick tock you.

[Jack Armstrong]

To have, you have something to do.

[Michael]

And the golf course, I just play golf. I look at TikTok, I wake up in the morning, I go play golf again. Then I look at TikTok. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've since I started on Instagram reels. It's the TikTok algorithm scares me if it's substantially better. Like I was listening to Sarah Isger of the Dispatch saying if you think Instagram reels is addictive, you have no idea. Because she got sucked into TikTok and then got it off her phone. She says just so good. It's just every day stuff. I love that I'm super into.

[Michael]

My daughter did the same thing.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's why I feel with Instagram, real psych, man. Is it good with coming up stuff That I like SNL clips, concert videos.

[Michael]

Stuff that I just love. But you can't.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, who wants to live their life doing that?

[Michael]

Yeah, it's. You know, Lord knows I've lived a checkered life, but one gift that I got somehow or other. And this may shock you folks, I used to take walks on the wild side now and again. Not in the Lou Reed sense, not gender bending madness, but, you know, occasionally in the rock and roll world of the 80s and 90s, there were substances about. And there are a couple of experiences I had where I thought, nope, I like this too much.

[Katie]

Yeah.

[Michael]

And so it is with the tickety talk. From what I've heard, you realize I am powerless against this.

[Katie]

Yeah, it is like an endless. They provide you endless entertainment on there, especially when they figure out what you like. I mean, you could do that for hours.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's that. I wonder if that's what happened. I wonder if I spent enough time on Instagram that it was able to. Okay, now we know we got him figured out because it just seems like in the last week or so, it's like really grabbed me.

[Katie]

Well, and what, what sucks about that is because I thought I. I'm a dumbass. I thought I could outsmart the algorithm because I thought maybe if I don't interact with any posts, you know, I don't like anything.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't interact with any of them. But it picks up your eyeballs or what?

[Katie]

No, it picks up your watch time. So if you sp. So like, let's say you're scrolling, you stop on a video and you spend the time to watch that video, the algorithm goes, okay, we kept him here for such and such a second.

[Jack Armstrong]

So he's into that because I didn't click on it. I didn't do anything. It was just part of a stream.

[Katie]

It's just because you watched it.

[Michael]

I am going to re. Watch on YouTube the Social Dilemma, the famous so good documentary. Jack, you gotta watch that. You gotta. You just gotta.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can they put it in 20 second chunks on a Instagram reel?

[Michael]

Jeez, we can't save him.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was like, I say I had one more thing to say about that. It's just. I don't know how good it is at figuring out stuff that you really, really like. It's. It's troubling, actually. And there's stuff that it would have been hard for me to find, like on my own. Oh, I was, I was thinking about. They fixed what used to be. I don't know if you're old enough for this or not, Katie, you probably are back when you used to you want something, you sit down, you think, how do I have 120 channels and there's nothing I like here you click through and there's nothing you like. They fix that. It's the opposite now. You like every single thing on every channel. They, they, they know exactly what you're into. They got your sports thing, your music thing, your kids thing. You're just every, every channel is something you love as you click through. It's the exact opposite of what he used to be. Right?

[Michael]

Leggy blonde guitar players playing golf, constant videos, sexy golfing guitarists giving me lessons.

[Jack Armstrong]

With a dog doing something funny and a kid doing something cute.

[Michael]

Yes. Yes.

[Listener]

See if you guys agree with this. False happiness comes immediately. Real happiness comes later. You have to wait for real happiness.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pretty much always is the case. Yep.

[Joe Getty]

The Armstrong and Getty Show. Get more Jack more Joe podcasts our hot links at armstrong and getty.com.

[Jack Armstrong]

The.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm thinking of doing a feature. Maybe I'll do it on Twitter or someplace called did you eat worse than me today?

[Michael]

Wow. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Actually my brother might be even better at that, to put up against that. Like take at the end of the day, take a look at what he ate and see if anybody ate worse than that. But like yesterday, here's what I ate yesterday. I had first, I had like through almost four hours of zoom calls with various doctors and therapists after working and a variety of other things. So it's just constant running around, stressful, pain in the ass stuff.

[Michael]

And that is enough to make a person completely insane.

[Jack Armstrong]

But anyway, so I just running from one thing to another thing to another thing and having to make major decisions, all sorts of. But. So I went through drive thru, got four cheeseburgers at McDonald's and then I went home and washed that down with some chocolate birthday cake. So that was like the major portion of my eating yesterday.

[Michael]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I just, I thought, does anybody, especially my age, eating as poorly as me? And how is my body just not stopped? Just said, all right, if you don't care, we don't care. Drop dead.

[Michael]

You know, there's probably somebody out there that can best you, but you know, I'm guessing they're like a 600 pound trucker or something like that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I can't be.

[Michael]

You know, I tell you what, I was thinking of you yesterday. I was fighting through one of those miserable situations where the tax guy says you've got to have this form. Had to do With a health savings account. Oh and the benefits people at the one of the fabulous and patriotic American corporations that were associated with. Theoretically they have this form. Theoretically. But you gotta get signed in. I sign in to accounts that have that same user ID every day. Every day. But apparently for this sub account that user that password does not count. So it was a back and forth with benefits and HR with various double authenticated sign in codes and the rest of it. And it was my brilliant wife, myself, my iPhone, my iPad and my MacBook all involved in it all fronts. It's like a Mike Lyons is always talking about how you have to have the infantry and air support and artillery and tanks and logistics to win the war of getting this effing form. And I thought there you are trying to deal with the fellas and I salute you, you scrambling parents everywhere. It's not easy, you know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. God dang it. Like I mentioned the other day about trying to get my son on the hot lunch. He finally wants to eat the hot lunch. And it's a different website that uses a different login that has a different password that is a course it has.

[Michael]

A different login because you can't have the Russians stealing the secrets of our fish stack.

[Jack Armstrong]

But I'm surprised nobody's made the argument maybe I'll do this because maybe it would help that this has got to be especially tough on people with lesser education and lesser resources. People that don't have iPads and iPhones and college degrees and everything like that. How are they supposed to navigate this crap? To take advantage of, you know, your various things that you can do in.

[Michael]

The modern world, you gotta throw in people of color. If you don't, you're a fool.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever it would take to try to streamline this stuff, our native peoples have.

[Michael]

Been shown to have 78% more trouble finding their password.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Michael]

Than white people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Throw that in.

[Michael]

Nobody will check it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nobody checks any of this crap.

[Michael]

There's no data behind it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I love that angle. I'm gonna start working that angle to see if I can get things fixed.

[Michael]

Armstrong and Getty. You, you, you. What the hell are you talking about?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, true Internet stuff.

[Joe Getty]

This is the Armstrong and Getty Show.

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[Joe Getty]

The Armstrong and Getty show what do you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you know, I've got a pretty good immune system for stuff like normal diseases that go around. I usually don't get them. What would it be like if I ate better? I might be impenetrable.

[Michael]

You're just at the tail end of raising little kids now. You have teenagers. So you have been enrolled in the marine boot camp of immune systems raising children.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I've got a number of people in my orbit who take nothing when they get a cold. They don't. They believe it's all BS and they don't take anything. I take a few things. Do you take anything? Do you think anything works? Katie's nodding her head. We'll start with you.

[Katie]

I take Theraflu.

[Jack Armstrong]

You take theraflu. I have found that to work. I don't care if it's placebo. If I suffer from placebo, doesn't matter to me. As long as I feel better, I don't need anybody to tell me it doesn't. Actually, I don't care. I feel better.

[Michael]

Tylenol or ibuprofen? At one point I was down with the zinc. Yeah. But I couldn't figure out what form. And I just kind of remember when nobody got a cold during COVID Yeah, I've fallen out of. I don't remember what to do anymore.

[Jack Armstrong]

I got a bottle of. It's immuno something or other. They say take one a cold first. You first start to get the symptoms of a cold and it's zinc and a couple other things and I don't know if they do anything, but I feel like if I take that, if I do get the cold, it's much milder again, might be in my head. I don't care.

[Katie]

I also use Zycam.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Which is awesome.

[Katie]

I've heard people recommend sinuses and stuff.

[Michael]

Yeah, Yeah. I tend not to trust my own experience because the data set isn't big enough, but I don't. I don't know. I have no information that there's anything wrong with taking that stuff. And what the hell, at worst is harmless.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you're not a take nothing guy or.

[Michael]

No, I am pretty much. Although I'm thinking now that you mentioned it, maybe I'll take some Tylenol or something.

[Jack Armstrong]

I actually.

[Michael]

My symptoms aren't that bad other than just overwhelming fatigue at this point.

[Listener]

Do you guys take Nyquil? That's what I do.

[Katie]

Go to sleep. I'm afraid of it.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're afraid of nighttime nyquil?

[Katie]

Yeah. Well, with our hours, I don't. If I wake up groggy or oversleep, that's not. Not good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I can't. Alcoholics are not supposed to take Nyquil because it's basically taking a shot of alcohol to help you get to sleep.

[Michael]

Yeah, I don't for the reason Katie cited. I just. It's hard enough to get up in the morning and be semi sharp.

[Katie]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Listeners of the first hour of the radio show are saying not very sharp.

[Jack Armstrong]

One thing with giving your kids stuff, you kind of have a better gauge of whether it's actually doing anything or not. Especially when they're little, they're too young to like. And most stuff I don't think does much.

[Michael]

Right? Oh, yeah, absolutely. You remember when that one thing that was ubiquitous on the still drugstore shelves of America?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's still in every freaking drug I buy. Every cold medicine you buy still has that phenylalnerin or whatever it's called in it. And the government announced it does nothing.

[Michael]

100% were completely different.

[Jack Armstrong]

The FDA said it does zero, zero. It's a nothing. And it's in every cold medicine still.

[Michael]

You're wasting your time on the phenyla.

[Katie]

Melamel right in here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, how do you say it, Katie? You're looking at it, but so it's on yours. What are you looking at? Right there.

[Katie]

This is Dayquil. When I had this flu last time around, I took everything under the sun.

[Jack Armstrong]

That I could get my hands on.

[Katie]

Because I was trying to get rid of that crap. Yeah, it's in here too. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Every cold medicine in every aisle of every store that sells cold medicine has drugs full of that. And the government announced it doesn't do anything. I just think that's weird. They just counting on that. People don't know because it's fun to say.

[Michael]

Oh, yeah? Yeah. Well, the percentage of people. You know, honestly, we've posed this question in many contexts in recent days and through the years. What percentage of Americans, one of us will ask the other, do you think knows that doesn't do anything story or. Or anything. Yeah. And in this case, what percentage do you think could tell you? Oh, yeah, Fennel Elephant. Here is. It's. It's. It was worthless. I remember that news story. Be a very, very small number.

[Jack Armstrong]

I suppose you're right.

[Katie]

Okay. This says fedna leftrine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Phenyla freene. That's the way you said. Okay.

[Michael]

Phenylephrine. Phenylephrine.

[Katie]

I like your guys's better. Fena elephant.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, since it doesn't do anything, I'll call it whatever I want to call it. It's a bunch of.

[Michael]

Wow. Oh, man. Unfortunately, necessary guys ever use leeches? Hilarious. What?

[Jack Armstrong]

You got too much blood in your body is your problem.

[Michael]

Right. You got to bleed your feet. You don't have the stomach to actually slice open your own feet.

[Jack Armstrong]

Isn't that what killed George Washington?

[Michael]

You. Yeah, well, it hastened his death, certainly. Yeah. I don't know. Why. Well, I'm a bit of a history freak and a bit of a medical history hobbyist and a great admirer of George Washington, that was. I listened with rapt attention and like, committed it all to memory there in his bedroom where he died as you're there by his bedside. Probably a recreation, but. And they explained that, yeah, he had. What do they think he had? I can't remember the disease. I didn't memorize it that effectively, obviously, but aids, the doctors, he probably did not have aids. He was an honorable and elderly man anyway, that the doctors, in treating him for what was probably whatever the hell, just kept saying, yeah, we got to bleed the feet and let out the bad humors and he'd like rally a little bit and they'd think, yeah, we probably ought to bleed his feet more until he died of like, what if you don't have enough red blood cells? Anemia. He pretty much died of anemia.

[Katie]

And it was all. All that for a throat infection is what the interwebs.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you got too much blood is your problem.

[Michael]

Yeah, streptococcal infection or something. He should have taken some phenahel. Amen A little bit. Elephant. So I started out the podcast. I figure I might as well pay it off. And this is. This is pleasant and delightful. Making craze has begun in my extended family.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, cool. Yeah, I Remember during the pandemic when people started doing that? And so, yeah, groovy.

[Michael]

Oddly enough, it began with a relative who has some sensory issues. Jack. Something you know about. And certainly I do, having raised an autistic daughter. But anyway, a certain homemade bread seemed to be great, and it happens to be unfreaking, believably delicious.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, homemade bread is good.

[Michael]

I'm going to keep things vague to protect the innocent, but say my. It was my uncle Morty. And we would make reference to Morty bread and how good it was. And Morty, when he would come for a visit, would always leave a loaf. And when I was through with Morty bread, I was very, very sad because it was so good.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm gonna leave a loaf before I leave work today. Oh, God.

[Michael]

Jesus. Boy, you know, Jack, you know what, Katie?

[Katie]

I just.

[Michael]

Do you want to go off and do our own thing?

[Katie]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Could we. Would you take me? Wouldn't ever. Yeah. Michael, you're hired.

[Katie]

You can watch Jack. We're out of here.

[Jack Armstrong]

You can, you can.

[Michael]

This is going to be like. And this. This is. This happened to me at least once in my youth. It was explained to me, hey, the band has got to break up. We just. We can't do this. And it's too much trouble to do that. And so we're breaking up. And then a week later, I hear, yeah, they're playing. They just got a different dude playing your instrument.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, my God.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow.

[Michael]

So that's what we're doing to Jack right now. Yeah, we. I'm really not going to do a radio anymore.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's like the. They break up with you. Because I just. I just don't think I should be in a relationship right now. And then you see him walking down the street holding hands with somebody. Yeah. The next weekend. Oh, okay.

[Katie]

Well, I'm going into bread making. You guys have fun.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. The bread making. I am. That's something. I would like to actually learn how to do one because I love homemade bread and it just seems like it'd be a cool craft.

[Michael]

And I pronounced having enjoyed some morti bread and then switched back to the regular stuff. Oh, my God. It's just so much better. And so Judy got a new mixer because our old mixer's motor was kind of funky. And so now she's got this big, like, industrial looking mixer and she made a couple of loafs of what's known as the Morty bread. And my law student daughter made herself some bread, although one of her two cats stepped on the Bread as it was proofing. Which I guess means rising or something.

[Katie]

Yeah.

[Michael]

And so one of the loaves is robust and very healthy looking. And the other loaf is really just. Excuse me, loaf. Because the cat ruined it.

[Katie]

Damn cats.

[Jack Armstrong]

The cat stepped on the bread. But you're going to go ahead and make it anyway. Doesn't that.

[Michael]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you put it in the oven at 350 degrees for half an hour or whatever it is fine.

[Katie]

I don't know that I want litter box bread.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, this tastes a little like whatever a cat walks through.

[Michael]

Well, now I will tell you this. Having babysat my daughter's cats for three weeks over Christmas, she does occasionally get ready the bleeper. She does occasionally refer to their mittens because they, you know, they. They poo. They poo in the box, then they walk out of the box.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a. That's. See, that's not a tasty term.

[Michael]

That's a. Like they.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Michael]

Dip their toes in some paws in some sort of disinfectant on their way. Must clean the paws after one poos, you know? No, they don't do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a great term. It is. And discuss. We've got cats, Michael, They're.

[Listener]

Yeah, I'm gonna use that term.

[Jack Armstrong]

Padding around and mittens all over your house.

[Katie]

I'm gonna start calling people mittens. This is great.

[Michael]

Oh my goodness. This is meant to be charming. Folks, I apologize.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gotta work. This guy at work, Mitten told me the other day.

[Michael]

Listen here, but a bunch of mittens around here. Why do I put up with it? I know. Anyway, where was I? Oh, I was going to talk about the various things that are so far superior in their homemade versions. Right. But we've kind of drifted so far away from it. Like I. I brewed beer for a while. My brother brews beer and it's so good. He's actually got the cooler with two taps. And anytime we visit his house, he has home brewed beer in kegs on tap.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Michael]

Icy cold on his patio. It's ridiculous. Oh, it's. Although if I lived like that, I would be a flaming alcoholic and £375.

[Jack Armstrong]

And if there's a downside.

[Michael]

But I'd be happy and I wouldn't be thinking about my problems and people would be more interesting. But bread might be at the top of the list. Beer is close. I say cookies and I'm. I'm a bit of a purist. Maybe a bit of a pain in the ass. I know that's hard to Imagine. I will not eat store bought cookies.

[Jack Armstrong]

I just.

[Michael]

I won't. Because the calories and the taste.

[Jack Armstrong]

No. Yeah.

[Katie]

Oh, those cookies that I sent you guys, the picture of, of her break that I made. Oh, they were so.

[Michael]

I know. It's, it's. It's just. It's like sex. It's so good.

[Jack Armstrong]

I grew up in Wisconsin with a lot of homemade butter, and homemade butter is just so much better. What do you get in the store? It's like a different thing. You put.

[Michael]

Brother. I wouldn't know if you put homemade.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I had forgotten how good it was. So this field trip my son went on to a couple years ago, they churned butter. They. I spent more time churning than the kids did, but as I was one of the chaperons, but I churned up exactly their weedy little arms. I churned up the butter and I'd forgotten how good it is. You put homemade butter on homemade bread and you have a flipping treat right there.

[Katie]

That sounds wonderful.

[Michael]

Go ahead, Katie.

[Katie]

Oh, no, I'm just. I'm in the process of trying to make sourdough bread because that's my favorite of life. And I haven't, I haven't gotten it down yet because it's complicated.

[Jack Armstrong]

But.

[Michael]

Yeah, we missed the whole butter getting a starter going during COVID thing. I wish we had, but. Jack, I'm sure there are semi overpriced, like, electric butter churns you can get from, you know, Sharper Image or whatever, wherever you buy that stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

We did it the old timey way with a. Well, look like the thing you've seen in old timey movies with a stick and a cylinder with a hole in the top. Kind of looks a little sexual, but I mean, you're. You're doing this thing.

[Michael]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[Jack Armstrong]

Dr. Freud, he's fair enough, but yeah, homemade butter. But that's what you got to add. You have homemade bread with homemade butter. Oh, so good.

[Michael]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Gotta do it.

[Katie]

I'm looking at how to make homemade butter and it doesn't look that difficult.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not hard at all.

[Katie]

I'm gonna try it today.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do it. Yeah. And then report back.

[Katie]

Oh, so good.

[Michael]

Get me a tub.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not that sort of stuff that Mittens sell over there at the store.

[Michael]

Oh, I know it. I know it.

[Listener]

My mom bakes bread and she's the sweetest woman ever. But when her yeast doesn't rise. F bombs.

[Michael]

Stay out of the kitchen, man. Danger. Danger.

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[Joe Getty]

And Getty Show.

[Jack Armstrong]

My son was playing the drums at the high school basketball game the first time I've watched him do it at the basketball game and I hadn't been to Situation Drum Line.

[Michael]

So it's all drums.

[Jack Armstrong]

But first time I've been inside a small high school gym watching a game with all that goes on with that in many, many decades. Hasn't changed a bit really. It was a lot more people staring at their phones than the last time. Nobody was staring at some piece of equipment in their hand back when last time I was in a gym, but other than that it was all the same. And I wish this weren't true. I know this makes me a crazy person, but I get just as uncomfortable. I was just as uncomfortable last night being in that gym as I was when I was in high school myself. And all the dynamics of high school and everything that goes on with it and everything and how much I hated it and how it just freaked me out. I feel exactly the same way now. And it's just. It's some sort of ptsd, right? It's gotta be because obviously I don't need to know if the cool group thinks I've got the right shoes on or anything now, right?

[Michael]

Your shoes are lovely, by the way. We're all just commenting on what nice shoes you have.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever the stupid moronic dynamics of high.

[Michael]

School are, you know, it's absolutely anthropological. It's at the point that you're really becoming in charge of keeping your DNA alive. You take in data about what's a danger, what's good, what's bad, and it burns permanent pathways in your head so you don't have to be reminded of it again just to survive. It's like, you know, I wouldn't call being in the same room with your. Your first love ptsd.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good point.

[Michael]

Does that bring on a flood of emotions?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a good one. That's. That's a pretty good. That's pretty good. This per. Charitable and pretty good. And it's so easy, I feel like, to spot as I'm sitting there in the gym. I can say, okay, there's the cool group. They just walked in. Look at the, like the. The waters part as they walk through.

[Michael]

And everybody hated them a little, didn't you? I don'.

[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't. I don't think I hated them. I don't think I ever hated them. I was scared of them, but I didn't hate them. Then there's. There's the group that wants to be them but not quite is. And there's the outliers. They're kind of standing alone over there. And they wish they could be part of any group and you could just see all the dynamics of high school just right there in front of you.

[Michael]

You're freaking everyone out. This is making me really uncomfortable. Which proves your point.

[Listener]

Now's your chance, Jack. You see that cool group? You can tell them off.

[Michael]

Listen, you think you're so cool.

[Jack Armstrong]

See, I don't. I never. I don't. I didn't have that feeling then. I don't have that feeling now. Tell them off for what? How dare you be attractive and have good personalities and good at something. How? Screw you. I mean, I don't feel that way then. I don't feel that way.

[Michael]

That's healthy.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's right.

[Michael]

You gotta tear them down. Life is a zero sum game. Their happiness is your unhappiness. Look at your DEI training. If they have something, it's because they stole it.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's no such thing as merit. There's a certain amount of happiness. Happiness to go around. There were.

[Michael]

There was.

[Jack Armstrong]

There was a particular guy and girl that walked in high school. Guy and girl. And he was. He looked like a. Like something from a. A TV show. And she was stunning. And it was just like the attention they got when they came over to the bleachers and kind of just sat wherever they wanted. Everybody moved out of the way. It was just something to see.

[Michael]

What is it with human beings?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know, do bears do the same thing?

[Michael]

I mean, they're sitting there eating their berries or overturning trash cans or something. Then a really hot looking bear and big bear mate come along. Oh my God, look at them. Yeah, they. He could be a movie star. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And they looked so comfortable and in.

[Michael]

Charge of the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like things could never be better. And then all the other people, you could see the angst on their face. So not all of them, but certain groups of people are just like, you know, looking around and trying to. How should I walk? How should I sit? How should I. Whatever, you know, that goes on when you're that ages. Oh my God. I wouldn't go through that again for any amount of money.

[Michael]

Like a. Observing a band of chimps in the forest. Less poo chucking, thank goodness. And I don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

And one other thing. Before we got to get to Katie's headlines. I don't know, my, my brother was telling me about how like his daughter is a super stud high school girls basketball player. And he said girl. Girls basketball is so much better now than it was like when we were younger. It's different thing, but so is the boys. I thought this boy's high school team. I don't know if my high school team could score a basket on these guys. Has everything just gotten that much better because of sports or emphasis on sports or something?

[Michael]

But yeah, more professionalized. Everything's more professionalized. Games are not to be played for fun. They're to be excelled at to gain a scholarship.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe that's it. But it was a completely different level than the last time I was in a high school gym, which was a very, very long time. It was in black and white.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.