Armstrong & Getty On Demand: The A&G Replay Thursday Hour Four

Date: August 28, 2025
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Episode Theme:
A rich and provocative episode in which Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty examine the pitfalls of unchecked religious pluralism, the dangers of failing to defend liberal values, contemporary pop culture crazes and economic behavior, polarization in America, recent developments in education and DEI controversies, and some humorously illuminating social trends. The episode is marked by thoughtful analysis, notable tangents, and the trademark Armstrong & Getty banter.

Sectarianism & Religious Intolerance: The Main Segment

[00:33–12:35]

Key Points & Discussion

• Sectarian Violence in Syria:
  Joe kicks off with news about worsening sectarian violence in southern Syria, where Sunni Bedouins and the Druze minority are in bloody conflict.

  • Joe Getty: “Isn't sectarian politics grand?” [00:50]
  • Jack asks about the Druze religious background and Joe explains it's “kind of a universal Abrahamist religion…absolutely horrifying” what's happening to ordinary people who “have armed gunmen storming their houses and shooting them all dead in the streets because of their religion.” [01:12]

• Epic City in Texas: Rise of Religious Enclaves
  Joe reads a story about Epic City, a proposed Muslim-only, Sharia-governed city in Texas.

  • Notes growing tension and political concern over religious enclaves, referencing Josh Hawley's calls for the U.S. to condemn persecution of Christians abroad.

• Hypocrisy in Western Foreign Policy

  • Jack critiques the lack of U.S. condemnation regarding persecution: “If my main thing politically is standing up for Christianity around the world…better stories to latch onto than Putin trying to help Christianity out by taking over Ukraine or something.” [03:08]

• Paul Friesen’s Essay on Liberalism and Pluralism

  • Joe discusses an essay warning that unchecked pluralism can threaten liberal societies, using the Maldives as a case study: idyllic on the surface but a harsh Sunni theocracy in practice.
  • Quote from Friesen: “A theocracy with a customer service department. …The word Islamic Republic does not mean Muslim majority democracy. It means what it says on the label, a legal architecture erected not to protect freedoms but to restrict them.” [04:59]

• Popper’s Paradox: Tolerance Must Reject Intolerance

  • Joe summarizes Friesen’s use of Karl Popper: “A tolerant society must be intolerant of intolerance or it would cease to be tolerant at all.” [07:37]
  • Jack riffs on the “coexist” bumper sticker: “A couple of those symbols on there want to dominate the other symbols. So you can't coexist with somebody who wants to take over.” [07:44]

• Multiculturalism vs. Masochism

  • Friesen’s argument (and Joe’s agreement): Western societies too often tolerate intolerant ideologies for fear of appearing racist, especially in Europe.
  • Joe Getty: “We have enshrined the right of the theocrat while criminalizing the instincts of the secularist. The result is not harmony, it is humiliation.” [09:52]

Notable Quotes

• Joe Getty (reading Friesen): “To mock Christianity is edgy. To mock Islam is hate speech…This is not diversity. It is double think.” [11:01]
• Joe Getty, summarizing: “If you take away nothing from this, take this away. A tolerant society must be intolerant of intolerance. Or it would cease to be tolerant at all.” [12:18]

Pop Culture & Economic Behavior: The Labubu Craze

[12:49–16:05]

Key Points & Discussion

• Discussion on the “Labubu” doll craze, a collectible blind-box toy from a Hong Kong artist, which has become an “affordable luxury” and status symbol (e.g., hanging from designer handbags).
• “Lipstick Index”: Jack introduces the economic phenomenon that during downturns, consumers seek small, mood-boosting luxuries instead of big-ticket items.
  • Jack Armstrong: “The creepy but cute mischievous dolls could be its latest iteration…That’s the lipstick index.” [15:19]
  • Joe is intrigued: “This is more interesting than I anticipated.” [15:21]

Political Polarization & "Purple States"

[16:05–17:34]

Key Points

• Brief reflection on how America is “gerrymandering itself into like two different countries.”
• Jack recounts meeting people completely detached from the political/cultural conversation: “That must be fantastic…they just don't know about any of the…scandals, just any of those things. They're completely unaware of them.” [16:56]
• Joe: “Do they have Labubus?” [17:28]

Educational Trauma, “Trigger Warnings” & Neo-Marxist Ideology

[17:56–31:55]

Key Points & Discussion

• Children’s Literature: "Emotional Tofu" vs. Older Trauma

  • A guest/caller humorously contrasts the soft, affirmational books kids read today with the traumatic children’s literature (“Where the Red Fern Grows,” “Old Yeller”) of past generations.
    • Guest/caller: “I read that in the fourth grade. I came out of that book Vietnam vet and aged 10 years and 200 pages.” [18:39]
  • Jack reflects: “All the old Disney movies we'd watch, the parents die. All your old Disney classics, the parents die.” [19:08]

• Trigger Warnings & Neo-Marxist Influence

  • Joe connects the idea of pervasive trigger warnings in schools/universities to “the whole Neo Marxist thing,” arguing it fosters a culture of fear and tiptoeing.

• Victories Against Secrecy in Public Education

  • Joe highlights a Pennsylvania court ruling forbidding a school district from hiding DEI materials behind claims of "trade secret".
    • Joe Getty: “The judge said, you're out of your mind.” [22:04]
  • Jack: “No, no, no, no, no. You don't get to have any secrets. You work for us.” [21:32]

• Suspension for Saying “Illegal Aliens”

  • North Carolina school district made to pay settlement after suspending a student for using the phrase “illegal aliens.”
    • Jack Armstrong: “I realize it's easier said than done. You got to pull your kid out of that school. Good lord.” [25:09]

• Angry White Male Studies

  • University of Kansas is launching an "Angry White Male Studies" course.
    • Jack Armstrong (tongue-in-cheek): “I've gone out into the world and done a half-assed job of being a business person.” [26:21]

• Academic “Stoner Logic” & Critical Theory

  • Joe reads from an essay criticizing the Foucauldian/critical theory approach that sees “systems of power” in innocuous things (classroom seating, etc.).
    • Essay: “This was exactly the kind of simple, fact-free, intuitive analysis…arrived at many times while sitting around a bong.” [29:25]
    • Discussion of the absurdity of seeing all power structures as inherently oppressive.

Relationship “Shreking” and Social Commentary

[32:07–35:45]

Key Points

• “Shreking”: The (allegedly trendy) act of dating “down” for security or ego.
  • Jack Armstrong, wryly: “I feel like anybody uses the term date down should be pushed off a cliff.” [32:15]
  • Joe reads listener texts: “Shreking—I thought I was just charming.” [32:47]
• The topic veers into “rent-a-hottie” culture, shallow attitudes toward looks, and the pitfalls of transactional dating.
  • Joe Getty: “You’re doomed to misery. Let's go ahead and bottom line it.” [34:57]
  • Jack: “If you're picking somebody only on looks…how long does that last?” [35:33]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “A tolerant society must be intolerant of intolerance or it would cease to be tolerant at all.”
  — Joe Getty quoting Karl Popper and Paul Friesen [07:37, 12:18]

• “We have enshrined the right of the theocrat while criminalizing the instincts of the secularist. The result is not harmony, it is humiliation.”
  — Joe Getty reading Paul Friesen [09:52]

• “You don't get to have any secrets. You work for us.”
  — Jack Armstrong [21:32]

• “This was…fact-free, intuitive analysis arrived at many times while sitting around a bong.”
  — Essay read by Joe Getty [29:25]

Episode Highlights by Timestamp

• [00:33–12:35]: Main segment—religious violence overseas, pluralism, intolerance, and Western failings
• [12:49–16:05]: The Labubu craze and “lipstick index” economics
• [16:05–17:34]: Political disengagement and “purple states” musings
• [17:56–21:22]: Traumatic vs. sanitized children's lit, trigger warnings
• [21:22–31:55]: DEI transparency, academic absurdities, critical theory
• [32:07–35:45]: Shreking, transactional attitudes toward dating

Tone & Takeaways

The episode is unapologetically opinionated, weaving together concerns about the erosion of liberal norms, a defense of Western values, critiques of contemporary academic fads, and humorous observations about pop culture and social life. Armstrong and Getty’s style remains energetic and irreverent, with a clear preference for frank skepticism and a disdain for “fashionable nonsense” in politics, education, and social trends.

For more: Visit armstrongandgetty.com for podcasts and links.