The A&G Replay Thursday Hour Two

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: The A&G Replay Thursday Hour Two
Release Date: January 2, 2025
Host: Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty
Producer: iHeartPodcasts

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1. Economic Struggles Among Young Men

Timestamp: 02:11 - 05:54

Discussion Overview:
Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve into the pressing economic challenges faced by young men in the United States. They explore the decline in workforce participation, lower college enrollment rates, and shifting perceptions of gender discrimination.

Key Points:

• Declining Workforce Participation: The hosts highlight that the percentage of working-age males not in the workforce has reached levels comparable to the Great Depression. This alarming trend points to broader societal and economic issues affecting young men.

• Risky Financial Behaviors: An article from the Wall Street Journal is discussed, revealing that many young men are resorting to high-risk investments in cryptocurrencies and "meme stocks" like Bitcoin, GameStop, and DraftKings. These investments, while potentially lucrative, reflect a sense of desperation and limited opportunities.

  Notable Quote:

  "Some men say they have little choice but to roll the dice in a world they believe is stacked against them."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [02:48]

• Gender Discrimination Perceptions: There has been a significant increase in young men feeling they face gender discrimination—from 17% in 2019 to nearly 45% in 2023. This shift underscores changing societal dynamics and the need for dialogue around gender roles.

  Notable Quote:

  "Only a third of men said that in 2019. It is now almost half. That's how much it's grown in just a few years."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [04:15]

• Impact on Family Structures: The conversation touches on the diminishing value placed on traditional nuclear families and the resultant effects on men's self-identity and societal roles.

  Notable Quote:

  "The value of the nuclear family being diminished in society and just all of the things that all of the like most fundamental and primal things that drive men, I will provide and I will protect have been taken away."
  — Joe Getty [05:00]

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2. Media Landscape and Its Influence

Timestamp: 25:54 - 40:59

Discussion Overview:
Armstrong and Getty analyze the declining traffic to traditional media outlets due to algorithm changes by tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. This shift is impacting both liberal and conservative platforms, threatening the sustainability of independent journalism.

Key Points:

• Decline in Media Traffic: Major news organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Time, BuzzFeed, and NPR, are experiencing significant drops in web traffic and ad revenue as algorithms prioritize keeping users on the platforms longer.

  Notable Quote:

  "They're not sending you to news organizations. They're producing the content and trying to keep your eyeballs all day long."
  — Joe Getty [38:10]

• Impact on Conservative Media: Even conservative outlets like Breitbart and The Blaze are seeing substantial decreases in readership, with Breitbart experiencing a 76% drop in traffic and The Blaze a 67% decline since February 2020.

  Notable Quote:

  "Breitbart does a really good job, I think."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [39:12]

• Consequences of Reduced Ad Revenue: The diminishing ad revenue threatens the viability of independent media, potentially leading to a media landscape dominated by tech giants with their own content agendas.

  Notable Quote:

  "Anything that powerful has got to be watched really, really carefully."
  — Joe Getty [39:35]

• Public Consumption of News: The hosts express concern that regular people, who aren't avid news consumers, are primarily receiving information through social media feeds, which may lack depth and reliability.

  Notable Quote:

  "It just kind of gets to them from. It's not the New York Times or CNN or Armstrong."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [39:45]

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3. Political Climate: Biden's Health and Immigration Policies

Timestamp: 05:54 - 19:57

Discussion Overview:
The conversation shifts to the political arena, focusing on President Joe Biden's health concerns as reported by major publications and the administration's handling of immigration.

Key Points:

• Biden's Cognitive Health: Armstrong and Getty discuss recent reports from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post alleging that President Biden's brain health has been compromised, leading to frequent cancellations of meetings. The duo criticizes the administration's denial of these claims.

  Notable Quote:

  "The lie of the year is they're eating the dogs, are eating the cats from Donald Trump."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [24:36]

• Impact on Governance: The alleged decline in Biden's cognitive abilities is posited to affect decision-making processes and the administration's effectiveness in tackling key issues like immigration and inflation.

  Notable Quote:

  "President Biden seriously diminished. No, he's not. You need to keep meetings short and simple with him."
  — Joe Getty [25:10]

• Immigration Challenges: The hosts highlight that over half of immigrants in the U.S. are unemployed, contradicting the narrative that immigrants predominantly take jobs Americans won't do. They critique the current administration's immigration policies and the financial burden on taxpayers.

  Notable Quote:

  "More than half of immigrants in the US Are unemployed. So much for the whole. Well, they're a boon to the economy."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [14:59]

• Debt Ceiling and Government Shutdowns: The discussion touches on ongoing debates around the debt ceiling, with President Trump advocating for its elimination. The hosts argue that the debt ceiling serves little practical purpose and only fuels political conflicts without substantial benefits.

  Notable Quote:

  "It's Emperor's New Clothes ish."
  — Joe Getty [26:34]

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4. Technological Advancements: The Rise of AI Deepfakes in Politics

Timestamp: 29:06 - 33:15

Discussion Overview:
Armstrong and Getty explore the emerging issue of AI deepfakes in political campaigns, referencing a purported incident involving South Korea's President Yoon.

Key Points:

• AI Deepfakes in Elections: The hosts discuss a report by Ian Bremmer about South Korean President Yoon allegedly using AI-generated deepfake videos to present a more likable and engaging persona during his campaign. The reveal of his authentic, less favorable demeanor led to public backlash and his subsequent impeachment.

  Notable Quote:

  "Yoon's presidential campaign relied heavily on AI deep fake version of him that was much more engaging and sociable than the real him and got him elected."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [29:28]

• Challenges in Detecting Deepfakes: They examine the technical difficulties in differentiating between genuine human behavior and AI-manipulated personas, emphasizing the need for advancements in detection methods.

  Notable Quote:

  "Nobody looks like that. Nobody's perfectly symmetrical. Even really good looking people aren't perfectly symmetrical. But the AI people are. They're obviously fake."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [31:06]

• Implications for Future Elections: The potential for AI to influence voter perceptions poses significant risks to the integrity of democratic processes, as manipulated images and behaviors can deceive the electorate.

  Notable Quote:

  "They have to figure out the AI. Some scientist needs to figure out what percentage of perfect faces can the brain handle and still think it's real or not."
  — Unnamed Speaker 1 [31:04]

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5. Personal Anecdotes and Light-Hearted Moments

Timestamp: 33:15 - 35:53

Discussion Overview:
In a lighter segment, Joe Getty shares a personal story about a recent medical experience, blending humor with self-deprecation.

Key Points:

• Health Check Humor: Joe Getty recounts undergoing an MRI, using the opportunity to humorously downplay the significance of his results.

  Notable Quote:

  "I just thought, wow, that's pretty much confirmed by the trajectory of my life. Nothing Exceptional the Joe Getty Story."
  — Joe Getty [35:45]

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Conclusion

Throughout this episode of the Armstrong & Getty Show, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty tackle a range of critical issues from the economic disenfranchisement of young men to the evolving challenges within the media landscape and the political implications of AI technology. Their candid discussions, underscored by insightful commentary and timely observations, provide listeners with a comprehensive analysis of contemporary societal dynamics.

Final Notable Quote:

"If everything isn't okay, don't go looking at a blank GPA grade or an A-sided relationship. There's a real catastrophe going on here, and it's not just about money. It's about identity and purpose."
— Unnamed Speaker 1 [38:10]

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This summary encapsulates the core discussions and insights from "The A&G Replay Thursday Hour Two" episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand. For a deeper dive into these topics, tuning into the full episode is recommended.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Joe Getty]

It can be pretty stressful.

[Jack Armstrong]

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[Unnamed Speaker 1]

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[Unnamed Speaker 2]

There's joy in every journey this message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely and invest. With your guardrails in place with Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk [e-mail] iheart.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

Broadcasting live.

[Joe Getty]

From the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

The George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Not live from Studio C. Armstrong and Getty. We're off for taking a break. Come on. You get a break, we get a break. We'll be back live for 25.

[Joe Getty]

Enjoy this carefully curated Armstrong and Getty replay. And as long as we're off, perhaps you'd like to catch up on podcasts. Subscribe to Armstrong and Getty on Demand. Or one more thing. We think you'll enjoy it. Sir. I do want to talk more about the assassination of that healthcare guy in the reaction to it online, but also in terms of how much ignorance is being displayed. And I excuse people for this because the media never writes about this or very, very rarely does. The unholy, horrific interaction between government and specifically Obamacare and Congress and private health care and insurance. It is an unholy relationship which forces the private insurance companies to do things that they would not normally do. So if you think, you know, I got denied or whatever and it sucks and I'm angry. Well, yeah, you've got to look at Congress and people don't understand that. So maybe we'll get Craig Gotwell's on to talk about that later this week or talk about ourselves.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

But anyway, we are going to talk to a couple of our favorite military analysts about what's going on in the Middle east because the United States is involved. Absolutely. We have troops there and did a lot of bombing yesterday in Syria, for instance. So that'll be at least an hour too. Hope you can catch that. An economic thing that I find interesting. Last week I was bemoaning the fact that I did not buy bitcoin. Even, even if I had bought bitcoin after the first time I bemoaned bitcoin after the election, I still would have done well. And then it hit $100,000 last week and whatever. But this article in the Wall Street Journal, young men are making risky bets on crypto and politics and raking it in right now, I thought was an more interesting sociological story than financial story about the way young men feel in this country. And as a guy who's raising a couple of young men, it worries me a lot. Did you know this? If you had a hypothetical portfolio, of course nobody would have this, so it's a little unfair. But if you had a hypothetical portfolio holding equal amounts of bitcoin gold, the meme stock GameStop and the sports betting stock DraftKings, you would return 62% so far this year. That is triple the returns of a traditional portfolio that most of us have. 60% stocks, 40% bonds, that sort of thing. 62%. That'd be a pretty good year if you had those. Yeah, but it's mostly young men that are doing this thing, these things, these kind of stocks. Some 42% of men's age ages 18 to 29 invested in or used crypto, versus only 17% of women in that age group. A Pew research center said almost 11% of men say they are. Well, I'll skip that. I'll get to this because I don't want to. I want to use up our time. I want to get to the part that I think is actually most important. Some men say they have little choice but to roll the dice in a world they believe is stacked against them. Their participation in the labor force is falling while it's growing for women their age. Young men are less likely to enroll in college. Men out earn women in the workplace and are more likely to reach executive level positions. But some 45% of young men said in 2023 they face gender discrimination. Only a third of men said that in 2019. It's now almost half. That's how much it's grown in just a few years, according to recent surveys. And then it goes through how many women are in college campuses and are this percentage of that and that percentage of this. I, I think the view that younger men have of themselves in their role in society, wow, that's an underappreciated problem we have in the country. And I don't know what we do to fix it.

[Joe Getty]

I agree completely. Absolutely. You combine, you know, the things you mentioned with people are not coupling partly because so many women are radical leftists who won't couple with anybody who's not a radical leftist. You got to just the value of the nuclear family being diminished in society and just all of the things that all of the like most fundamental and primal things that drive men, I will provide and I will protect have been taken away.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

We've talked about this for a couple of years about how the percentage of working age males that are not in the workforce is as high as it was during the Great Depression. That's horrifying.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it is. And, and strange.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yes, it is very strange. And a society that's not like really focused on what's going on there is gonna pay a price for it at some point.

[Joe Getty]

No, because of the utterly moronic, whatever they say it was the second phase of feminism or something, where to be pro woman meant to be anti man, which is just an idiotic notion, but that doesn't mean it wasn't really popular.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

But does this surprise anybody that more women come out of high school thinking, oh, yeah, here are the many opportunities for me in America of ways to make a living and make a go of it in the world. And it's much, much less so for young men to feel like, you know, college is for me, welcoming for me or this career path or whatever.

[Joe Getty]

I have no data to prove this point, but I suspect that it's true. I think a lot of young men also emerge from their schooling beaten down because they have been systematically given the message, there is something wrong with you merely because you male. But also because, like, as a little boy, you acted like a male. Masculinity of any sort, including boyish energy, is pathologized in our sick, sick communist.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Government schools, combined with an attitude that is changing thanks to Mike Rowe and lots of people. But an attitude of the kind of jobs that a lot of men would like to do are belittled and, you know, paper pushing jobs that more women would be more interested in are seen as fantastic.

[Joe Getty]

Well, in just the whole Obama era smugness about. Of course, everything he did had smugness about it, but the idea that college is the only route for the respectable and those unwashed idiot brutes who don't go to college and work their menial jobs building H vac companies and being carpenters and whatever, that's just sad.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Sad.

[Joe Getty]

Do they even have the power of speech, those brutes? I mean, that was the attitude.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So if the takeaway from that article in the Wall Street Journal was supposed to be that men feel like they either do or just feel like they have no route to success in America, they're going to take these higher risk bets on crypto and some of these other stocks, the Wall Street Journal of all publications shouldn't go with if you had this imaginary portfolio. Well, nobody does, so. And, and even if you had that imaginary portfolio, you'd have to get in at the right time and get out at the right time to take advantage of that. So, I mean, again, the Wall Street Journal, of all places, shouldn't, shouldn't play that kind of game.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right, exactly. Yeah, I, well, I've had more to say on that, but that's probably enough for now.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

What would you say? Am I right or wrong about this? Maybe I'm just trying to soothe my hurt feelings over the fact that I don't understand cryptocurrency. Is it just a very small percentage of people that are actually getting in and getting out at the right times too?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, every time it goes up, it goes down again and those people take a bath, but that's not very exciting to write or read about. So it's like people who lose at Vegas, they don't, they don't come home and tell their friends the other part of it. And this is the part that I decided not to say, but I'll go ahead.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

I lost $4,000 and I got chlamydia. Nobody ever tells me that.

[Joe Getty]

So I used to play a fair amount of poker. I play less now. And I think it's interesting that what is one of the big financial places has all of their new associates take 100 hours of poker training and playing and all, so they start to understand risk and levels of risk and that sort of thing. And I don't get frustrated about missing these meme stocks and stuff like that. More than a little, because, and I hope this makes sense to you, if you play poker, it certainly does. You have a policy, depending on where you are in the game, how many chips you have, whatever. If I have, like, a decent hand, I will roll the dice and pay some to see, like in Texas hold'em, the flop. Those are the three community cards that come out first. But if I have a crap hand, I have a three and a seven, for instance. I'm not going to pay anything to see that flop because it's just unlikely as a percentage. It's not likely enough that it would bear out for me. And sometimes. So you fold your hand, then sometimes the, the flop is three threes. I'd have had quad threes and taken everybody's money. But that doesn't matter. My policy is I, I do the math in my head, and I don't gamble on things not worth gambling on. So as long as you have, like, a method to the madness of your investing and your financial moves and don't be. And maybe it is. Maybe you're young and untethered and you chase meme stocks and bitcoin and stuff like that. Good for you. It's fun. I'm kind of jealous, but why does.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

The Wall Street Journal crowd talk up crypto like it is? Solid, sound investment strategy. They don't believe that. There's no way. Most of the people in the Wall Street Journal believe that.

[Joe Getty]

No. It's almost just purely speculation. So is it just exciting? It gets clicks.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah. So it's just like any other newspaper. It's just.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I see those articles. I read them too.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker 2]

And.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah. And I kick myself right in the ass.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I try not to because that, that whole foma thing. Oh, it comes on strong, doesn't it? It's like you run into a guy who says, yeah, I bought Apple in 1991 at $4. Shut up. Nobody wants to hear that. Shut up.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

You're right. Nobody ever says, I got into bitcoin late, thought I would jump on it. I lost a bunch of money and I got chlamydia. Once again, I don't know how this guy got chlamydia. And my story is everybody gets chlamydia.

[Joe Getty]

Well, it's everywhere. Be careful. The Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

Get more Jack, more Joe podcasts and our hot [e-mail].

[Joe Getty]

The Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

One question I, I, I don't know the answer to because, because we're in this business, so we are really not in touch with the average person is how much regular people are paying attention to this. I've heard a number of people punditing around how normal people aren't paying attention to anything that's going on politically right now. They kind of hear about it and think, Trump won't actually be the candidate, will he? Or Biden's too old, isn't he? But they aren't paying any attention at all to any of this stuff. And this will be their first introduction to the thing where. And that might be part of Biden's strategy. Hey, Trump's the candidate. Did you all realize that he's running again? That a lot of people haven't really grasped this yet. So I don't know. I don't know if that's true or not. Like I said, because I'm in this business. That seems crazy to me, but.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Yeah. It's difficult to put yourself in the place of the non news junkie.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah. I look back to my earlier life though, and I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have been aware of any of this stuff that we talk about every day. None of it.

[Joe Getty]

I think the vast majority of Americans know it's Biden v. Trump. I'll bet it's 80 plus.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Any more on any of the issues? I doubt it.

[Joe Getty]

Oh no, not really. Well, depends what issue. I mean, I'm looking at an immigration story here that's actually quite interesting. More than half of immigrants in the US Are unemployed. So much for the whole. Well, they're a boon to the economy. They take jobs Americans won't do.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

I was switching around and I was on Fox this morning and they, they had a live camera at the border with a bunch of people running across. And Brian Kilmeade said, hey look, some future lifeguards.

[Joe Getty]

Has anybody explained that bizarre and inexplicable Eric Adams quote that why do we have all these migrants who are so skilled at swimming and we need lifeguards. So as long as I brought it up, more than half of the foreign born immigrant population in the United States under President Joe Biden's administration is unemployed, according to a recent report. Center for Immigration Studies released report Monday that showed just 40, 46% of migrants who arrived in the US in the last two and a half years were employed as the beginning of 24. Well, they're eating. Some activists would argue they need permits. What?

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

They're eating something. Who's paying for the food?

[Joe Getty]

Taxpayers, the government and then the NGOs. Yeah. Report found that also found that since Biden took office in January 21st. The migrant population. Why are we using the term migrant? Breitbart. The immigrant population in the United States increased by roughly 6.6 million over the course of 39 months. 6.6 million in less than four years.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

See, I ended up in the shower last night. This is what I do for fun. It makes me a crazy person. And the shower last night, I was like, talking out loud as if I were Donald Trump in the debate with Joe Biden on how I would handle this whole thing. I guess because. Because I'd just taken in so much information about it, but make some sort of speech about. I agreed to all your rules. You wanted all these different rules. You picked the moderators, you picked the place, you said no audience. You want the mics, fine. Nothing is going to get you to cover up the fact that the three main issues, according to every poll in America for months and months and months, the economy, immigration and inflation, you have failed on, like nobody has ever failed before. Then you lay out some statistics and you just hit that like five times.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, I would love to see that. I get the idea Trump is listening a bit more to his advisors, a bit more disciplined than he's been in the past. But whether he will go in loaded for bear in that way, I do not know. You never know with him.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

He's got to have the stats at hand on the immigration stuff. The numbers, percentages are the raw numbers to let people know. I mean, getting back to the. Of course, immigration is been the number one or two issue in all the polling. So people are paying attention enough to know that.

[Joe Getty]

Right? I would agree. That's actually why I brought it up. I think people are acutely aware of that. Even if they're not terribly politically active, they're seeing it around them, their local towns and schools and emergency rooms and the rest of it. My frustration with Trump is that he'll probably come to the debate with like one statistic on immigration. Seven million immigrants, Joe. And then somebody will fact check it and cast a little doubt on whether 7 is an accurate number or not. And since that's all he leans on, it'll be easy to dismiss it. But I don't know, we'll all find out together.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

The inflation thing again, the news coverage of it yesterday, good news for consumers is they'll notice inflation slowing. Good news. When you go to the grocery store that, no, no, that's not the way inflation works. You don't notice the inflation rate slowing. That's not something you feel people are going to continue to, for a long time to feel shocked by prices when we go and buy stuff and the fact that the, the, the, the, the Democrats don't get that. So that he needs, he needs to have some answer for that. I don't know if Joe Biden is going to go with the. It's the corporations sticking it to you gouging you, but he's got to have some answer for inflation.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, right.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Please. At the very least, I'm putting my hands together in traditional prayer style praying to Donald Trump.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, a cultist. The Bible.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

One fact to at least be ready to rebut Donald is if Joe Biden comes out there and once again says, hey, when I came into office, inflation was 9%, thanks to you. Because he said that in two interviews in two weeks now. And it's just as wrong as wrong could be. Please, Donald, be ready to rebut that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they hit little KJP with that yesterday in the press room and it was. That job will cost you a bit of your soul. She had to say, what the President is seeking to emphasize is that the American people are feeling the effects of inflation.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So she didn't go there, huh?

[Joe Getty]

No, she just dodged it. Of course. What's she gonna say? Well, he lied, he made it up. Or he's senile and doesn't know fact from fiction anymore.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Or you repeat the easily checked lying number again and embarrass yourself even more.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So, yeah, it's a tough situation to be in.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Imagine relying on a dozen different software programs to run your business, none of which are connected, and each one more expensive and more complicated than the last.

[Joe Getty]

It can be pretty stressful.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now imagine Odoo. Odoo has all the programs you'll ever need and they're all connected on one platform. Odoo sound amazing. Let Odoo harmonize your business with simple, efficient software that can handle everything for a fraction of the price. Sign up [e-mail] that's o d o.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

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[Unnamed Speaker 2]

This message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely and invest. With your guardrails in place with Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores automate allowance, and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk [e-mail] iheart Jack Armstrong.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

And Joe Getty the Armstrong and Getty show.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Welcome to a replay of the Armstrong and Getty Show. We are on vacation, but boy do we have some good stuff for you.

[Joe Getty]

Now on with the infotainment. Starbucks announced this week it's doubled its paid parental leave policy for baristas while.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Duncan employees are still insisting they're not the father. Oh wow. What is that?

[Joe Getty]

What is that?

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

That's some sort of east coast thing. I don't get wow, what sort of.

[Joe Getty]

Odd snobbery the elite Elite is. Oh, speaking of the elite, you know, I know you wanted to talk about something and we will, by God we will. But you know, I'm a big Bret Baer fan. There's an article in the Wall Street Journal. The incoming Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick just bought Brett Baer's home in D.C. for $29 million.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Bret Baer of Fox is selling a home for $29 million?

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's because he bought one in Palm Springs a couple years ago where he lives now apparently for 37 do million.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So he owned Brett doing pretty well. So he's been owning a 37 million dollar home while owning another 30 million dollar home at least for a little.

[Joe Getty]

While, waiting for that to clear the market. Yeah. Wow. There aren't that many buyers at that level.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

No. Yeah, wouldn't that. That's got to be something. There's got to be like five people in the entire country, maybe not even that many because you'd have to be conceivably able to afford it and then have any interest in buying a home at that moment. So it might be like Two at any given moment that could and want to buy a home at the price range.

[Joe Getty]

I realize if you have to ask, you can't afford it, but what the hell are the property taxes on a house like that?

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Hi, Caramba.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah, Bear. Bear, thanks for that. Michael, a couple things for you. You can't oversell. I don't think what a big deal it is. The Wall Street Journal has this big piece on Joe Biden's brain and how they've been hiding it forever. Here's an interesting thing. Just teasing it because we're going to talk about it to kick off hour two. We got to talk about it every hour, the whole show today because it's a big deal. A couple of things that I've come across in terms of just teasing the story for later is Matt Welch pointing out politifact said the lie of the year is they're eating the dogs, are eating the cats from Donald Trump. That's the lie of the year. And links the Wall Street Journal story saying White House meetings were frequently canceled because Joe Biden's brain didn't work. Yeah, yeah, the dogs and cats thing, bigger lie than the hiding the fact that they had to cancel meetings all the time because the president's brain didn't act. And where, where am I seeing most of the stuff, the, the little snippets of the Wall Street Journal piece from James Homan of the Washington Post who's retweeting all the most juicy stuff from the Wall Street Journal story, probably because he didn't like being lied to all this time. He, he, his initial tweet being. And again, we're going to kick off hour two with this blockbuster reporting this morning from and he lists all the reporters. They have 50 sources detailing various ways that Biden's inner circle was hiding his decline going back to 2019.

[Joe Getty]

And that's very beginning.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

But that's a Washington Post guy saying that about the Wall Street Journal article. I think that's notable. And Nate Silver also retweeting that story and saying if you said any of this before June 2024, you'd get accused of peddling misinformation. Like there was literally an entirely new category of misinformation invented cheap fakes concerning videos of Biden's decline that they would accuse you of. Now it's out in the open and it's interesting that all these other people are retweeting this stuff. I find that unique.

[Joe Getty]

Indeed. I will point out at the risk of self congratulations, if you've been listening to this show. You knew. I mean we didn't even, I didn't even take seriously the denials. I thought they were hilarious. Just idiotic. And it's all been borne out again, you know, final punchline then we'll, we'll get to the story next hour in full. Cuz it's, it's well worth hearing. There are still those within the White House who are responding to this story and the various accusations, observations Joe Biden seriously diminished. No, he's not. You need to keep meetings short and simple with him. No, you don't. He's very old man. No, he's not. They're still 100% denying him.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So again, we'll kick off hour two with that. And there's a lot of interesting stuff in that. I can't believe I'm talking about government shutdown, debt ceiling stuff, but there are a couple of interesting things happening. As we've already mentioned, Trump has come out and said he wants to fully get rid of the debt ceiling, which we have said many times before. Trump saying today the Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge. It's a fake thing. There's no real value in terms of debt control. And we've been saying that for years. It doesn't actually do anything. It just puts us in this weird bickering back and forth, weird political handcuff situation every once in a while. But so far it's never accomplished anything.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Yeah, it's, it's hilarious. You could, it's Emperor's New Clothes ish.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

You could make the argument that at least once a year, twice a year, it makes you have the conversation about debt and without it we won't, I don't know. But so far it's never, it's never helped. And it is completely made up. It's a man made thing.

[Joe Getty]

For what it's worth, Newt Gingrich just tweeted President Trump and Republicans should not be afraid of a government shutdown. The next election is two years away. We had two shutdowns in 1995 and became the first reelected GOP House majority since 1928. It may take shock therapy for Schumer and Democrats to learn President Trump is serious about draining the swamp. And a number of people pointed out that during that time when Bill Clinton was the president, that was our last budget surpluses as a country. They had a balanced budget multiple years.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So in 95, I was barely following politics at all. I Don't remember. I remember hearing stuff about Newt and the shutdown. I said, but I didn't think about it ever. So how much of the population would even be aware DC goes nuts over this stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Oh. If you didn't have the media acting like it's akin to nationwide wide wildfire or something, screeching about it constantly. No, you'd never notice.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Right. And it's always the thing of this. Many government employees will miss a check. Yeah. And then they'll get the rest of it like three days later.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. They go with veterans. It'll be veterans. Disabled veterans. Blind disabled veterans will not get their checks.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Oh, my God.

[Joe Getty]

And the old, the very old. The, the. The soul. They can't even lift their hand to feed themselves.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Trying to figure out what sort of thing I want to talk about today. Am I in the mood for various things. Oh, by the way, you mentioned Fox News and Brett Baer. How much money he makes.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Or not how much money he makes. But he's selling one $30 million house since he moved into a $35 million.

[Joe Getty]

Roughly. Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Which means you have both at the same time, which is crazy. Fox News dominated 2024 so much it beat easily. CNN and MSNBC added together for the end of the year ratings. That is something.

[Joe Getty]

I'd like to know what News Nation and OAN and some of the other ones are. Are what sort of traction they're getting.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah. So that. I don't want to bring that up. I can't. I find it interesting. Maybe I'll bring it up later. I just can't make myself talk about this.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. All right.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

It's a downer.

[Joe Getty]

It's a conflicted man. We're listening to, folks.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So do you know anything about this Yoon, the president of South Korea who's now gone because he pulled that whole I'm going to become emperor thing and martial law and all that. Luckily they suck. Luckily they were able to get back in there and vote him down and open the streets back up and then impeach him. Ian Bremmer tweeted this out yesterday and I know nothing about this. Yoon's presidential campaign relied heavily on AI deep fake version of him that was much more engaging and sociable than the real him and got him elected. The real humans capability turned out to be a rude awakening to people.

[Joe Getty]

How did.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

How did the world miss this story? Did. Did a guy get elected in a major economically powerful country? Ian is implying through deep fake videos portraying him in a way he's not at all.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

And misled people. And then when he became president, people like, who are you? You're a. You're a weird off putting angry. Exactly. Did that actually happen?

[Joe Getty]

Think if Kamala had the videos out of her gliding around the room merrily throwing out clever Bon Mo after Bon Mo making perfect sense. Not giggling like a. Yeah. It could have changed things, huh? But they don't have Hillary now. Hillary. If they'd had deep fakes of Hillary seeming youthful and likable and whatever, that could have turned the tide of history.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

They didn't have. They don't have a media there in South Korea where there are sources that could come out and say that that never happened. Look, I was in the room that night. That is not what happened or something.

[Joe Getty]

I have no idea. This is. This story is brand new to me. It's fascinating.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

I saw it late last night and I thought I got to dig into that. Because if that happened, that's a major turning point in world history, I think.

[Joe Getty]

Sure. Yeah.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

They do have to figure out the AI Some scientist needs to figure out what percentage of perfect faces can the brain handle and still think it's real or not. Because the perfect symmetry. I feel like I can look at the AI created people. To me that's AI they're too perfect. Nobody looks like that. Nobody's perfectly symmetrical. Even really good looking people aren't perfectly symmetrical. But the AI people are. The chicks usually. Because they got them everywhere and it's just, they're. They're obviously fake.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. What's interesting is, I know in digital recording, like music recording, you can fix something to a grid so it's perfectly in rhythm and then you can instruct it to insert 15% variation.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Interesting.

[Joe Getty]

And I'll bet that sort of thing's coming to visual. And you would.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

And you would do that to what, Mimic real humans?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Essentially it's like you fix something and then you unfix it a little bit so it sounds more human.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Interesting. So I was a club DJ briefly when I was younger. I didn't like that. Gladys. Huh.

[Joe Getty]

And it was 1977. Disco was king.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Many decades after that. But so I would have to mix songs together and like your, your, your rap music or hop music or whatever, they use what they call a click track. I mean it's a computer drum. It's perfect. And so you can mix beats together. But any rock and roll song, if you try to mix it there, like you know, back in Black, ACDC or whatever, you can't because the tempo varies. Rolling Stones anymore.

[Joe Getty]

The.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

The beat varies. They get a little faster toward the end or slow down in the middle or whatever because it's human beings involved. And I always thought that was really interesting. Some of the most popular songs of all time, they didn't keep a perfectly steady beat through it. Of course you wouldn't.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. And I. I kind of regret being mostly recording during the year of click tracks because when you listen to those songs and it's pointed out to you, you think that's why the last chorus sounds more exciting.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

They picked up the space, sped up a little. They got excited or they slowed down.

[Joe Getty]

Before it just because they were all looking at each other and.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah, there was human emotion involved.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. They got excited. Now I'm excited.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Everybody's excited. That'll be the difficult thing for AI to mimic. Although they'll figure it out soon enough. Also, looking at some of the Elon headlines, he is a guy who is not concerned what other people think about him. No, I don't think it ever crosses his mind. I mean, he is, he is the all time king of I have no Fs to give.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Ego, wealth and autism. I think there's plenty of people positioned.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Plenty of people with ego and wealth, but they seem to be very concerned what other people think. Think he's not one. I said it yesterday. You were gone somewhere that I wonder how much of his ability. Oh, it was the conversation we had about. So, Katie, you. You got the name for me? Some big business leader, gazillionaire. Also who worked with Steve Jobs and Elon Musk was talking about the signal to noise ratio thing that I'm kind of fascinated with. And he was, he was talking about how Steve Jobs was 90% signal, 10% noise, as in 90% of everything he did was focused on getting something accomplished with very little extraneous whatever. And he worked 20 hours a day. He said, Elon is a hundred percent signal.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Just the way he is, like 20 hours a day. And I wondered how much of that is his Asperger's. Just his ability to stay focused without like, screw this, I'm gonna do something else. I'm gonna drink margaritas and flip through, you know, porn or something.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know what I wish you could step on a scale or get a scan or something and they could say, well, Joe, you're 22% signal. I'd.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

What? Yeah, no kidding. Do you remember who that was, Katie?

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

Yeah, Kevin O'Leary.

[Joe Getty]

Also big on Shark Tank.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, you know, it's funny on that topic. I, I've got just a minor health thing going on. Everything's fine. But they wanted to do an MRI of my brain to make sure it wasn't a brain tumor. And how do you, how do you.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Say I got a health thing? It's no big deal. They did an MRI to see if I got a brain tumor. Humor. That seems like a big deal.

[Joe Getty]

I just, the details of it aren't interesting and we're up against a break. It's, it's a hearing thing, but it's, it's. I think I know what it is. It's going to be fine. But anyway, I thought it was hilarious that I got the results. I actually saw them at getting ready with the show for the show today, and it said, please assure the patient that his MRI looks normal and his, his brain showed nothing exceptional. And I thought, wow, that's pretty much confirmed by the trajectory of my life. Nothing Exceptional the Joe Getty Story. Yeah, that could be the.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

The title of your book. We see Nothing Exceptional. The Jo Getty Story.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Armstrong and Getty Show Imagine relying on a dozen different software programs to run your business, none of which are connected, and each one more expensive and more complicated than the last.

[Joe Getty]

It can be pretty stressful.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now imagine Odoo. Odoo has all the programs you'll ever need, and they're all connected on one platform. Doesn't Odoo sound amazing? Let Odoo harmonize your business with simple, efficient software that can handle everything for a fraction of the price. Sign up [e-mail] that's O-O-O.com the holidays.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

Are here, and so is the IKEA Winter Sale. Now's your chance to make the holidays a little more magical and less expensive. Save up to 50% off on select items in store and online now through January 7th. Plus, IKEA loyalty members get an extra 10% off on sale items. Need help managing the clutter of decorations? IKEA Storage solutions will keep your home tidy from toys and tinsel. Having extra guests over. Checkout offers on select dining furniture to make more room for the people who matter most this time of year. Don't wait to finish your winter wish list. Shop the IKEA Winter Sale in store or online now until January 7th. Visit ikea-usa.com wintersale for more details. Terms Applied Offer validates may vary us only while supplies last selection may vary by store and online. See store at ikea-usa.com wintersale for complete terms, restrictions apply.

[Joe Getty]

The Armstrong and Getty Show I dove into this article in the New York Post by Joe Concha. Democracy dies in Bias. Blame the Washington Post's woes on its blatant political slant. And of course, I lap that up like a hungry dog because I hate wildly biased progressive journalism. And I'm glad the New York or the Washington Post is getting kicked and it's heiny and that they're changing course as well. But I'm glad I stuck with the article because this was even more interesting. Multiple media outlets are struggling like crazy as Google, Facebook, and to lesser extent X Twitter tweak their algorithms to reduce the amount of news users view in their feeds while keeping eyeballs and clicks for the tech behemoths themselves. They're not sending you to news organizations. They're producing the content and trying to keep your eyeballs all day long. Which just, you know, one more reminder that big tech man, anything that powerful has got to be watched really, really carefully. But he makes the point that a steady flow of traffic come to a halt, diminishing a critical stream of ad revenue not only for the WaPo, which has had a catastrophic, catastrophic loss in, you know, clickers, readers, ad sales, all of it, but also for NBC, abc, cbs, cnn, Time, buzzfeed, npr, and many others. Some conservative publications are seeing a big drop in readership for the same reason. Breitbart, for example, has tallied a 76% decrease in traffic comparing February 24 to February 2020.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

And February 2020, the pandemic shutdowns hadn't really geared up yet, so it's a pretty decent apples to apples. Breitbart does a really good job, by the way. I think.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah, that is amazing.

[Joe Getty]

At the Blaze, the drop is 67%. Yeah. I don't know if I have any point. I just thought. I had not realized that even your really popular conservative websites, your liberal websites, just everything's down as the voracious appetite of Zuckerberg P And and their ilk just consume everything.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Right. And I feel like, like regular people that I talk to that aren't super news junkies, they just kind of get it from the air. I mean, it just kind of comes to them from. It's not the New York Times or CNN or Armstrong.

[Joe Getty]

No, it's their feed on social media.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Yeah, it just kind of gets to them.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and the problem with that, obviously, is from time immemorial, independent media could support itself through ad sales. And that's becoming harder and harder and harder. And I mean at the point that can you imagine Breitbart, the Blaze, the Daily Caller, the Washington Times, you know, all of the great conservative the National Review. If all that stuff goes away and it's just Mark Zuckerberg giving you your news, Ooh boy.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

And his only interest in the news really is what gets you to stay on Facebook longer or Instagram longer.

[Joe Getty]

Well, and to the extent that he has a news philosophy, it is progressive. Man, I hate that idea. If I was a would be dictator of some sort, I'd be licking my.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Chops at that idea, man. No philosophy, but a philosophy of clicks might be worse than a liberal or conservative bent Armstrong and Gettysburg Odoo is.

[Joe Getty]

Business management made so simple a kid could explain it.

[Unnamed Speaker 2]

Sometimes business software can't talk to other programs, but Odoo, funny word, has every program from CRM to HR to accounting in one platform. It should cost a lot, but it doesn't.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

So you should use Odoo because they save you money.

[Joe Getty]

Odoo makes a lot of sense, but doesn't cost a lot of sense. Sign up [e-mail] that's o d o o.com Good job.

[Unnamed Speaker 1]

Thanks.

[Unnamed Speaker 3]

The holidays are here, and so is the Ikea Winter Sale. Now's your chance to make the holidays a little more magical and less expensive. Save up to 50% off on select items in store and online now through January 7th. Plus IKEA loyalty members get an extra 10% off on sale items offer valid in the US through 17 mall supplies. Last selection may vary by store and online. See store in ikea-usa.com wintersale for complete terms. Restrictions apply.