Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: The A&G Replay Monday Hour One
Date: October 13, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Production: iHeartPodcasts

Overview

This episode is a "best of" replay, featuring curated segments from previous Armstrong & Getty shows. The hour is packed with insightful, often irreverent commentary on politics, culture, literacy, and societal change. The hosts spend much of the episode discussing recent political book tours, the decline of reading, the importance of culture and language, and the effects of immigration on national identity. The tone is candid, conversational, and sprinkled with signature Armstrong & Getty wit.

Main Topics & Key Discussion Points

1. Kamala Harris' Book Tour and Media Struggles (01:29–15:28)

Summary:
Armstrong & Getty analyze Vice President Kamala Harris's recent book tour, focusing on her ineffective interviews, backpedaling on statements, and overall lack of conviction or clarity.

Key Segments:

• Harris's Phone Call with Biden Before the Debate

  • Kamala claims Biden called before her Trump debate to ostensibly "wish her luck," but the call focused on his grievances instead of supporting her.
  • Getty: "She would have made a horrible president... Her brain don’t work." (02:03)
  • Armstrong: "I found myself being lulled into this weird hypnosis by her droning nonsense." (02:23)

• Book Tour Missteps and Media Critique

  • Mark Halperin's analysis: Harris avoids backing up claims in her book when questioned (02:50).
  • Halperin: "It's like she's being confronted with her journal that leaked out, and she's trying to explain away the passages." (03:58)

• Backing Away from Controversial Claims

  • Armstrong quips that Harris "hasn't even read" her own book (04:39).
  • Harris's evasiveness on Biden's fitness for a second term:
    • Harris: "It is one thing to have the capacity to govern. It is another thing to go through an election." (05:17, 07:23)
  • Getty criticizes her argument that running is harder than governing: "Some of those tomatoes might be bombs if you make the wrong decision. What a moronic thing to say." (08:09)
  • Armstrong adds: "So a couple more points in her unreadable and unread book." (08:30)

• Transgender Sports Issue

  • Harris's vague statement about biological factors is deemed incoherent and illogical.
  • Armstrong sarcastically compares the writing to H.L. Mencken’s critique of Warren G. Harding:
    • Reads: "He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered... It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle." (10:01)

• Identity Politics and Pete Buttigieg

  • Scott Bessent: "It shows her emphasis on identity politics... She was just a terrible candidate... Let's look on merit, and on merit, he's a failure. And on merit, she's a failure." (12:07)
  • Armstrong summarizes: "She's obsessed with identity politics. She has contempt for the American people." (13:03)

• Electoral Claims

  • Getty disputes Harris’s claim about the 'closest presidential election.'
    • "It's not true by any measure anybody can come up with." (15:04)
  • Armstrong: "She lost all seven swing states." (15:25)

2. Decline in Reading and Literary Culture (20:32–30:52)

Summary:
A sobering look at the collapse of reading habits, the impact of smartphones, and potential cultural implications.

Key Segments:

• The Reading Revolution and Its End

  • Getty shares stats: "In America, reading for pleasure has fallen by 40% in the last 20 years." (22:35)
  • Armstrong: "That's incomprehensible and stunning." (22:35)

• College Literacy Crisis

  • Reference to "The Elite College Students Who Can't Read":
    • Getty: "Most of our students... are functionally illiterate." (24:10)

• Root Causes and The Smartphone

  • Getty: "The freaking smartphone. Of course. I mean, it’s made it hard for me to read." (25:50)

• Why It Matters

  • Getty reflects: "I feel like there’s zero possibility that you can have progress with humankind if reading disappears." (27:29)
  • Armstrong (sarcastically): "I'm going to dedicate the rest of my life to deceiving and taking the money of the ignorant." (27:37)

• Generational Shift

  • Getty: "75% of young people read nearly daily back in the 80s... Now it's down to like 10% of people under 18." (29:15, 29:24)
  • Armstrong: "One of the themes of Brave New World is that you don't have to work very hard to oppress people. You just keep them high and amused." (29:37)

3. Cultural Identity, Language, and Immigration (32:02–39:37)

Summary:
The hosts explore how language and culture are intertwined, concern about Western cultural preservation, and critique progressive immigration stances.

Key Segments:

• Living and Preserving Culture

  • Armstrong, quoting musician Jordan Thibodeau: "You either live your culture or you kill your culture." (32:10)
  • Reflections on language as core to cultural identity:
    • Getty: "Language is culture... If a language dies out, that culture's died out." (33:49)

• Immigration & Cultural Change Critique

  • Armstrong: "We have the one culture that not only is... not beautiful... but it’s evil and we deserve to have it stamped out." (34:37)
  • Critique of Hillary Clinton's reported comments that US prosperity relies on immigrant birth rates as American birth rates fall, and higher immigrant birthrates are taken for granted by the political class (36:44–39:12).

• Disconnect of Elites from Everyday Americans

  • Getty: "Any neighborhood you ever lived in, Hillary, become primarily a different language? The restaurant you used to go to become a food and language that you don’t know? No, it doesn’t happen to you." (39:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Getty on Kamala Harris as President:

  • "She would have made a horrible president. I mean, absolutely horrible... Her brain don't work." (02:03)

• Armstrong Satirizing Political Memoirs:

  • "Not only did she not write the book, Mark, she hasn't even read it." (04:39)

• Getty, on Public Discourse:

  • "Instead of selling her book, it's like she's being confronted with her journal that leaked out, and she's trying to explain away the passages that have leaked out." (03:58)

• Armstrong Reading Mencken:

  • "He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered... It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish and crawls insanely up the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle...” (10:01)

• Scott Bessent on Harris and Buttigieg:

  • "Let's look on merit, and on merit, he's a failure. And on merit, she's a failure." (12:19)

• On Reading Trends:

  • Getty: “In America, reading for pleasure has fallen by 40% in the last 20 years.” (22:35)
  • Armstrong: "That's incomprehensible and stunning." (22:35)

• On Smartphones and Decline in Reading:

  • Getty: "The freaking smartphone. Of course. I mean, it's made it hard for me to read." (25:50)

• On Culture and Language:

  • Armstrong (via Thibodeau): "You either live your culture or you kill your culture." (32:10)
  • Getty: "Language is culture… If a language dies out, that culture's died out." (33:49)
  • Armstrong: “We have the one culture that... is not beautiful and worth preserving... It's evil and we deserve to have it stamped out.” (34:37)

Segment Timestamps

• Kamala Harris Book Tour Analysis: 01:29–15:28
• Dunkin Donuts Fire Incident & Generational Commentary: 17:36–19:20
• Decline in Reading and Culture: 20:32–30:52
• Culture, Language, Immigration, and Elites: 32:02–39:37

Tone and Language

• Candid, often sarcastic
• Critical of political figures and societal trends
• Wry cultural observations
• Frequent references to historical context and literature
• Occasional use of satire and dark humor

Summary

This "replay" hour showcases Armstrong & Getty's ability to mix sharp political critique, cultural commentary, concern for societal trends (like the collapse of reading), and humorous asides. The hosts question the competence and motives of political leaders, lament the shallow, distracted modern world, and warn about losing cultural and linguistic heritage. If you want a thought-provoking, at times scathing, yet entertaining snapshot of conservative cultural commentary, this episode fits the bill.