The A&G Replay Wednesday Hour Four

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: The A&G Replay Wednesday Hour Four
Date: August 27, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Podcast by: iHeartPodcasts

---

Episode Overview

This hour of Armstrong & Getty features the hosts’ signature mix of satire, social commentary, and personal stories. The main themes include skepticism about health advice (focusing on sleep studies), reflections on media relevance (cable news), generational divides, and the hosts' personal experiences, including New York chess hustlers and the impact of screens and technology on mental health and culture.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Fake Health Stats & Misinterpreted Science

• Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty open with a skeptical look at widely touted health stats (like the "10,000 steps per day" guideline), arguing that much of what the public hears about nutrition, sleep, and other wellness metrics is based on small or poorly interpreted studies.
  • Quote: “The original 10,000 step thing was completely made up. The problem with a lot of health stats… they're misinterpreted regularly.” – Jack Armstrong [01:15]
• They criticize the media for sensationalizing preliminary or corporate-sponsored research, leading to widespread misinformation.

The Irrelevance of Cable News

• The hosts vow to stop treating cable news as if it still holds cultural sway, backed up by viewership statistics drastically favoring Fox News over CNN and MSNBC.
  • Quote: “Anytime you talk about Jake Tapper said this or whatever… nobody is watching that show. Nobody.” – Jack Armstrong [02:21]
  • Insight: Media's reputation lags behind its actual relevance, especially for younger audiences.
• Brief digression on CNN's continued presence in airports and whether this is due to longstanding deals or inertia.

Clarification on New York Shooting Context

• Address listener feedback about a New York shooting and clarify that there was no NFL link.
  • Quote: “I thought I said he was a high school star and that's where his career ended.” – Jack Armstrong [03:43]
  • Also discuss the shooter's claim of football-related brain injury—not to excuse his actions, but as context.

Sleep Studies: Myth-Busting & New Research

• The hosts discuss new sleep research debunking much of what previous self-reported studies have shown.
  • Quote: “There are way too many fake long sleepers in all studies we've ever heard.” – Jack Armstrong [04:42]
  • Fitness trackers in studies reveal people overestimate their sleep, skewing decades of research.
  • Stat: 22% of those who claimed to get 8+ hours per night actually got six or fewer [06:23]
• Discussion turns to the larger health implications of sleep rhythms vs. duration.
  • New research (from China) claims inconsistent sleep patterns tie into up to 37% of Parkinson’s risk, 36% of type 2 diabetes, and over 83 other diseases.
  • The hosts express skepticism about both the scope and causation implied by such numbers.
  • Quote: “That means nothing. Sorry. I hate to be killjoy.” – Joe Getty [10:24]
• Both agree modern problems may be tied to chronic poor sleep, especially with screens and irregular schedules, but caution about overblown claims.

The Power of Ritual, Reflection, and Disconnection

• The conversation turns to the value of unplugging and daily rituals.
  • Jack describes his nightly sunset bike ride & contemplation at a wheat field as a source of “nourishment.”
    • Quote: “There's clearly some like, nourishment I'm getting from that, that I look forward to it.” – Jack Armstrong [11:39]
  • Joe counters humorously with his less healthy “ritual.”
    • Quote: “I drink myself incoherent and fall asleep muttering angrily… You do you, man.” – Joe Getty [12:32]
• Both agree on the mental health value of meditation or simply space away from screens, regardless of form.

Freedom-Loving Quote & Listener Mailbag

• Tribute to Thomas Sowell (his 95th birthday); discuss his famous quip:
  • Quote: “Elections should be held on April 16, the day after we pay our income taxes.” – Thomas Sowell [13:25]
• Listener mailbag covers:
  • The unchanging nature of human nature and historical cycles.
  • Critiques of left-wing policy failures (reading instruction, border policy) and the cost of “proving” bad ideas through real-world implementation.
    • Quote: “The best way to discredit lefty ideas is to implement them, but only if they can be confined to being implemented against lefties and only lefties.” – JT, read by Jack [16:40]
  • Observations about political gridlock and missed opportunities for bipartisanship.

Personal Stories: Florida, Key West, and NY Chess Parks

• Jack recounts his recent vacation to Florida (during the COVID era) and how open policies drew people and benefited local service workers.
  • Notes the contrast in local COVID policies and their impacts.
• He then tells a detailed, colorful story of his son Henry’s experience with a New York City chess “hustler”—a charismatic, drunken, and brilliant street player in Washington Square Park.
  • Time: [20:46 – 26:39]
  • The “gorilla and two dogs” analogy for chess strategy—a wild, memorable lesson for his son.
    • Quote: “Henry, let me ask you a question. You're home by yourself, and outside the door, there was a gorilla and two dogs… What is the biggest threat, Henry? The gorilla. That's right…” – Impersonating the chess instructor [25:18]
  • Joe and Jack discuss the odd intersection of genius and dysfunction in some people ("incredible level of capability at one thing, but not so much on life skills") [26:39]
  • Jack highlights how this real-life, unpredictable experience was “like out of a movie” and his son called it "the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life." [26:57]

Social Trends & Generational Divides

• Discussion on a recent article by Democrats Mark Penn and Andrew Stein titled "Gen Z, the Useful Idiot Generation."
  • High education rates among Gen Z, with concerns that college environments indoctrinate rather than educate.
  • Quote: “College is where many young people learn that socialism means free stuff. They're indoctrinated to blame capitalism for racism, inequality and climate change.” – Mark Penn & Andrew Stein, summarized by Joe Getty [30:11]
  • Gen Z’s lack of historical context for socialism, delayed adulthood, and heavy screen/social media use reduces exposure to dissenting ideas and complexity.
    • Quote: “They largely live communally, often work from home, and are connected primarily through the four plus hours they spend each day on their phones.” – [31:32]
  • With a decline in religious participation, traditional sources of moral grounding and social ballast are weaker, possibly fueling radicalism.
  • The hosts reflect critically, but with some empathy, observing that older generations played a role in shaping these trends.
  • Quote: “The older generations are not blameless here. We created the environment that produced this unmoored generation.” – Mark Penn & Andrew Stein, as read by Joe Getty [35:22]
• Joe reiterates his belief: the need to reform (or rebuild) the American education system is the most crucial issue for the next 50 years.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On health studies:
  • “Everything you’ve ever heard about sleep studies is fake because of what do they call them? Lying bastards. That’s not what they call them. Fake long sleepers.” – Armstrong [06:54]
• Satirizing cable news:
  • “It’s on in airports, inexplicably.” – Getty [03:18]
• On sleep tracking and disease:
  • “Inconsistent or weak daily sleep rhythms were linked to 83 diseases… Comparable to smoking or obesity.” – Armstrong [06:54]
• On unplugged ritual:
  • “At sunset, I ride my bike to the edge of town… looking at a wheat field with the sunset… a combination of prayer and affirmations…” – Armstrong [11:39]
• On street chess:
  • “Henry, let me ask you a question… the gorilla is your biggest threat… Get rid of the gorilla, Henry.” – Armstrong, channeling the chess hustler [25:18]
• On Gen Z radicalism:
  • “Their primary sources of information are TikTok and Facebook, whose algorithms lead them to material that reinforces their preconceptions rather than challenges them.” – Joe Getty [31:32]
  • “By and large, these young adults aren't hardcore ideologues, they're merely ignorant. About half of young Hamas supporters say they don't want to wipe out Israel, they prefer a two-state solution. Call them the useful idiot generation, mouthing slogans and causes they don't understand and from which they would recoil if they did.” – Penn & Stein, discussed by Getty [34:40]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Health Advice Skepticism & Sleep Stats: [00:40 – 06:48]
• Cable News’s Loss of Relevance: [01:14 – 03:36]
• Clarifying News Story Details (NFL/non-NFL): [03:43 – 04:16]
• Sleep Study Details & Skepticism: [04:44 – 10:13]
• Disconnection & Personal Rituals: [11:00 – 13:13]
• Freedom-Loving Quote & Listener Mailbag: [13:25 – 17:17]
• Florida Trip, COVID Policies, Key West Jet Ski Mishap: [17:45 – 20:46]
• Chess in the Park Story: [20:46 – 26:57]
• Chess Hustlers & Genius/Dysfunction: [26:39 – 27:13]
• Gen Z, Education, and Radicalism: [27:44 – 35:53]

---

Tone & Style

The hosts maintain their trademark blend of humor, irreverence, and serious social critique, veering easily from dry sarcasm to pathos-laced personal stories. The language is conversational, quick, and loaded with asides and pop culture references.

---

Closing Note

This hour spotlights Armstrong & Getty’s ability to turn everyday experiences and headline news into an unpredictable, insightful, and entertaining ride—moving fluidly from satirical health advice to existential questions about generational change and the future of American culture.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live.

[Jack Armstrong]

From the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. Not live from studio C. Armstrong and Getty. We're off for taking a break. Come on.

[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. You probably heard that you're supposed to get like 10, 000 steps a day, but according to new research, just 7,000 steps a day could be enough to improve your health. Do I hear sex? It really sounds like scientists have lowered their expectations for us. Explains why the new surgeon General warning on cigarettes says do not smoke during pregnancy. Unless it's your second kid. Then what else?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I like the jokes, but the problem is the original 10,000 step thing was completely made up. The problem with a lot of health stats, and we're about to get into some here, is they're misinterpreted regularly. Oftentimes they're very, very small preliminary studies that the researchers themselves would never put out there as a national story to talk about. But it's something exciting about something that can cause cancer or eliminate cancer or whatever. And so the media goes crazy with it. And then there's studies that are paid for by like, you know, mattress companies or candy bars or whatever. And lo and behold, the study says eating more chocolate leads to better sex life or whatever, you know. So, sure, you got to watch out for that. Before we get to that stuff, couple of things real quick. First of all, can we make a vow? We need to make a vow. I don't think we can keep it, but we should try. We should make a vow every day and work toward this goal to stop talking about cable news as if anybody's watching it, because nobody is.

[Joe Getty]

So that's fine with me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I agree. But anytime you talk about Jake Tapper said this or whatever, it might be interesting for some reason, but nobody is watching that show. Nobody. I'm just, I'm looking at this stats that Byron York just put out from Fox. It's more likely you're watching a Fox show, certainly. But CNN's total audience during their 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11pm.

[Joe Getty]

Hours, you're cherry picking added together, don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Beat one showing of the five, which is not even one of Fox's highly rated Shows. Oh, so talking about anything on CNN or MSNBC really is. Who are you talking to?

[Joe Getty]

Boy, it is the ultimate example of something holding on to just any reputation based entirely on its gloried past and.

[Jack Armstrong]

By people who are old enough to remember when it mattered. If you're younger, you don't even know what it is, so.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Well, it's on in. In airports, inexplicably.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got this.

[Joe Getty]

CNN have a picture of the head of the FAA with a mule or something. How is CNN on in airports all over America?

[Jack Armstrong]

That is almost. That is almost certainly the explanation.

[Joe Getty]

Well, there you go. Anyway, moving along.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, we got this text about that horrible story in New York, the shooting. I just wanted to deal with it real quick in case I did use sloppy language. You're putting out fake news again. The shooter in New York never played in the NFL. I didn't mean to imply that he did. I thought I said he was a high school star and that's where his career ended.

[Joe Getty]

You never stated anything that could be taken to indicate that he played in the NFL. Well, I guess you made reference to other. Okay, yeah, whatever. That's fine. Okay, fine. He didn't play in the NFL, but heighing in there.

[Jack Armstrong]

He did seem to be blaming that brain malfunction that you can get from playing football though, as he had a note about that and shot himself in the chest and wants his brain to be studied, which doesn't make him some sort of anybody to look up to because he killed a bunch of innocent people like a scumbag.

[Joe Getty]

Right?

[Jack Armstrong]

If you didn't get enough sleep last night, you've doubled your chance of gangrene. I hope you're happy.

[Joe Getty]

Oh no, not another bout of gangrene.

[Jack Armstrong]

Another bout.

[Joe Getty]

It ruined my summer vacation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, wow. It certainly ruined my beach. Look, my beach body. Getting to big studies. This is pretty damned interesting and a bit of a breakthrough. I think we've been talking about sleep stuff a lot. Everybody that I know deals with sleep issues or if you're getting enough sleep, they found a way pretty simple with having. Instead of self reporting about sleep, which is all you had to really go on up until fairly recently. Now you can have everybody wear these little devices that report on how much sleep you're actually getting. And there are way too many fake long sleepers in all studies we've ever heard. They actually. That's what they actually call them, fake long sleepers. In studies that we've heard about through our whole lives. It's people maybe like me who report a certain number of hours of sleep, but actually get much less if you actually wear a device that measures how much you're sleeping. Just because you're in bed and semi unconscious that amount of time doesn't mean you're actually sleep sleeping. And so they had people wear these devices trying to track how much like actually you were asleep. Sleepy. God. The numbers are a lot lower. And so those other numbers skewed everything we've ever had about sleep. Because you got a whole bunch of people in there claiming they sleep eight hours a night and they're actually sleeping six.

[Joe Getty]

Is anybody struck, Anybody else struck by the hilarious irony of self reporting sleeping habits? I mean, if there's one one period of my life I can't really account for, it's when I'm asleep.

[Jack Armstrong]

True. It's the largest study of its kind ever. Researchers strapped fitness Trackers on nearly 90,000 adults for a week. Followed their health for almost seven years. Among people who claimed to sleep more than eight hours nightly, nearly of 22%. So a fifth were actually getting six or less. That's a big chunk of people who thought they were getting eight hours of sleep and are getting six or less.

[Joe Getty]

That's. That's enormous. Yes. Statistically. That's like. Why are you even talking about the previous numbers? They're ridiculous. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

But let me jump to the headlines from it. Other than the headline that everything you've ever heard about sleep studies is fake because of. What do they call them? Lying bastards. That's not what they call them. Fake long sleepers. Bastards would be too harsh and be appropriate. Sleep rhythm matters more than sleep duration. Inconsistent or weak. Daily sleep rhythms were linked to 83 diseases and then they list them. And we could get into that later with the sleep rhythm being when you're going in and out of REM like happens. If you've ever learned anything about sleep disease burden is comparable to smoking or obesity. Up to 37% of Parkinson's. These numbers can't be true, can they? Up to 37% of Parkinson's and 36% of type 2 diabetes could be attributed to disrupted sleep patterns. That's a lot.

[Joe Getty]

That. That's an extraordinary claim. I am. I got my fur up.

[Jack Armstrong]

Me too.

[Joe Getty]

I'm very free. Wow. What's. What's our source here? What's our publication? Is this.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's a dirty Chinese research led by Dr. Quinn Chen Army Medical University and Chang Wang Pek Peking University. Okay. Are you concerned that the Chinese are trying to infiltrate our sleep devices? Don't trust China?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm. Yeah, I'm highly skeptical about all of this. The idea that. That bad sleep rhythms are more serious a problem than we understand, that that's perfectly reasonable. But a bunch of commies there at Peking. I thought we were supposed to say Beijing these days. Maybe they kept the name for the university.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a good question. The study linked various sleep problems to 172 different diseases across virtually every system in the human body. Some diseases showed dramatic associations. For example, people with the most disrupted sleep rhythms face more than triple the risk of age related physical debility. I don't really doubt that. Well, yeah, but triple. But I don't doubt that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, your previous sentence about Parkinson's caught my ear. Partly because both my mom and my grandfather died of complications from Parkinson's. But so little is known about what causes Parkinson's. I mean, could there be some correlation without causation or half and a half? That's utterly unclear to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

But my guess would be that whoever wrote this article took the numbers and presented it as if it's causation when it could just be those two things to go together for unknown reasons. But I wanted to get back this because I thought it was funny. Well, it could be.

[Joe Getty]

You've got a gene mutation that causes poor sleep rhythms in Parkinson's, for instance. Parkinson's, for instance.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure. So people with bad sleep triple the risk of age related physical debility. Also, you doubled the risk of gangrene compared to those with the robust sleep patterns. Yeah, again, don't I eliminate the any chance of gangrene by getting a tetanus shot?

[Joe Getty]

Ruined my beach vacation. It's. It's. It's hurt my golf game, the gangrene. It's terrible.

[Jack Armstrong]

How many people have you ever known who gotten gangrene? Unless you're 180 years old, my dating.

[Joe Getty]

Life has been poorer for it. Listen, you're a great guy, but you're. You're gangrenous. Well, I saw you said to me.

[Jack Armstrong]

I saw your hinge profile. And you mentioned the gangrene right up toward top. So it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my goodness.

[Jack Armstrong]

So this sentence, this is the one you're having trouble with. And I don't blame you. Researchers estimated that up to 37% of Parkinson's. Parkinson's disease risk. Exactly. Sure what that means?

[Joe Getty]

That means nothing. Sorry. I hate to be killjoy you end.

[Jack Armstrong]

Up killing anything for me. I didn't write this study. I have no investment in this.

[Joe Getty]

You and Katie Brought it to us. We need a meeting, a long meeting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, well, questions.

[Joe Getty]

Long meeting, prolonging questions.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would not be surprised if a lot of the problems we have though in the modern world is people not getting decent sleep.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. And I've become re, re. Re. Re re convinced about the omnipresence of screens and smartphones being a reason for people's mental problems recently.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I heard it presented in a religious context by a man of the cloth who was repeating what I think man has known for. For thousands of years. But. Well, I'll just say what he said. Leave time in your life for God. Leave time in your life for prayer and meditation and contemplation. Put down your damn screen.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, I didn't even do this on purpose. It has just kind of happened for a variety of reasons. But I've been on this kick all summer long of at sunset. I schedule my evening around this. At sunset, I ride my bike to the edge of town. It's about two and a half miles. And then I'm looking at a wheat field. I'm from Kansas, so I like seeing the sunset over wheat fields. So I'm there, I'm looking at this wheat field with the sunset and I do this combination of prayer and affirmations and just kind of talking to myself or whatever. I don't bring my phone. And I do it every night. And it has become like my favorite part of the day. Like I just say, oh boy, I got to get this done because the sunset's coming. Because it's just. There's clearly some like, nourishment I'm getting from that, that I look forward to it. And I really go out of my way to make sure I've arranged so that I can do it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just organically making me want to do it every night.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I. I have a similar ritual. I drink myself incoherent and fall asleep muttering angrily about the people who've wronged me with fox on really loud some nights. Yes, you do you man.

[Jack Armstrong]

You do you. I've actually been lately thinking, how am I going to keep this going when the days are shorter and the Sun's sitting at 5:30 and dinner and blah blah, blah. It's rain, I don't know. But I'm going to miss it. I got to come up with a. With a substitute for when the beautiful weather is over because it has become super important to me.

[Joe Getty]

It's not as good. Videotape it then. Watch it on your screen.

[Jack Armstrong]

Carry it around on my phone.

[Joe Getty]

But don't like say wow, that was really good. That was really soothing. Now that I have my screen open though, let's do a little doom scrolling. No, no.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. The Armstrong and Getty. The Armstrong and Getty Show. Here's your freedom loving quote of the day from the great Thomas Sowell, still celebrating his 95th birthday. My favorite thinker. Certainly in your top five. Elections should be held on April 16, the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, he probably said that long before we reached the point that half of people don't pay taxes.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah, it's a good point. So insidious but successful political strategy. Mailbag. Drop us a Note [e-mail] if you like.

[Jack Armstrong]

Keep it as short as you can.

[Joe Getty]

Let's see, on the topic of conspiracy theories, John says we talked about that a great deal in the fourth hour of yesterday's show. If you missed it, grab it by podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand. You should follow us or subscribe. The one thing every human has to understand is that human nature never changes. Slavery, wars of conquest. It's been happening for thousands of years everywhere. It's really that simple. Hug your kids, live your life. Especially if you're born American. I feel sorry for and have compassion for people in many countries that don't have the protections and constitution that we have here. That's all. I'm gonna grab my last beer for the night, spend tomorrow running around from job to job trying to get crap done. Fortunately, my wife and kids and I will go to bed feeling safe.

[Jack Armstrong]

I say that all the time. You should think every day. You live in the United States where there's zero chance a rocket is going to rein in to your house today. Zero.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. That's not lots of places. One of the most interesting things I have ever learned about psychology is that human beings seem to have a set point for how much they need to worry. And if they have little or nothing to worry about, the invent things to worry about because they have to have that. It's part of our animal psychology. Let's see. How about this? J.T. and Livermore. I agree with Joe that the best way to discredit lefty ideas is to implement them. Unless it isn't. Take the teacher. For the record, I don't advocate implementing them. I'm just saying if they are implemented, they will be the most, you know, scathing indictment possible of those policies. But anyway, Take the teachers unions. They implemented their policy of getting rid of phonics, the most successful reading program in the history of the world, and replaced it with an unproven whole word concept that created worse outcomes for many, many children.

[Jack Armstrong]

Man, my kids lived through that era.

[Joe Getty]

They were betrayed. They were seriously betrayed. While it did expose the left's willingness to experiment with children's educations, absent any proof that their new and improved concept was better than phonics, the price for exposing their stupidity was way too high. Emily A generation of children that have lower and worse reading outcomes. Or take Biden's open border policy. It exposed the stupidity of the left's love affair with illegal immigration, but at the cost education, healthcare, culture, to say nothing of the financial cost. Voting in Mamdami in New York would be like those examples. Sure, it would once again discredit the ideas of the left, but at a cost that is simply too high. So I'd like to amend your philosophy. The best way to discredit lefty ideas is to implement them, but only if they can be confined to being implemented against lefties and only lefties. Let liberals opt in for the whole world reading and new math and restorative justice, but don't expect me to fund their failures. Amen to that, brother.

[Jack Armstrong]

Booyah.

[Joe Getty]

Truth for the win, as they say. Truth. Bob that's right, Jay writes. The first Democrat that crosses the line and works with Trump will be embraced enthusiastically. Trump would probably give that official more than expected just to prove that he can make the deal. Maybe daca, who knows. Sadly, Dems appear to prefer the sidelines squawking in their own mess.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, generally about fundraising to stay in office.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, who did I just read wrote a great piece that the Democrats have just absolutely tied themselves to 30, 70 issues. Oh, it's Victor Davis Hansen. Cross the aisle. Do stuff that people believe in anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

The Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Joe Getty]

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

[Jack Armstrong]

Getty the Armstrong and Getty Show I went to Florida, south beach for a couple of days, then went down to Key west, rented a house. We were down there for a couple of days. Interesting. I talked to a number of people who worked at restaurants and whatnot while I was in Florida, and they were talking about how awesome it was during COVID in Florida to be in their industry because people were coming from all over the country because they didn't shut down. They shut down for a couple of weeks total. Then we're up and running like it was normal.

[Joe Getty]

While the Iran death sentence. I remember that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. While the rest of the country was acting like, you can't do that. Everyone will die. They're talking about how awesome it was down there. And I doubt that these servers were like conservatives. I mean, they could have been, but they. They looked like liberals. I mean, they're island hippies with, you know, things through their nose and. And, you know, the usual. But really interesting that that happened. Part of the country said, yeah, we're going to pretend it's not happening, and everything was fine. It's just. It's crazy sometimes.

[Joe Getty]

Counties that are practically side by side took wildly different approaches. And when one worked way better than the other, the people who went with the bad approach said nothing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Drove or flew back up to New York because it was too hot. We just got too hot with too much beach sun. Sam and I flipped our Jet Ski, rented a Jet Skis, a double jet Ski, and I was somehow. We flipped it. He was driving. And that ended up costing me a lot of money because if you flip it and ruin the motor, then you got to pay for it. Part of the deal, you sign. And so that cost me a lot. But so we flipped it, and I was panicked about trying to get it turned back up, forgetting the warning they had made about all the barnacles in the bottom and stay away from it, and sliced my knee open so bad and was bleeding all over the place. And I'm glad a shark didn't come eat us, because that would have sucked anyhow.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, agreed. Yeah, that would be a terrible thing to happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

We just getting eaten by a shark.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we.

[Joe Getty]

How does it look, by the way? How's your knee look? Is it healing okay?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, it's the same knee I hurt on my motorcycle wreck, so I have no feeling in it because it damaged it so much. And so I couldn't even tell that I got myself. I was just bleeding all over.

[Joe Getty]

Well, I was gonna say, because reef rash is a thing. And I don't know if barnacles are similar, but if you, like, scrape yourself on a ree.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

There's so much microbial life in there. My brother, healthy, strong naval officer, he got refreshed and it was horrible to get rid of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, they told us about that. Some trip we took out to see a reef in Key West. I don't remember they're telling us about that. Anywho. So we fly up to New York because it was too hot and decided to do something else. And we Go. And we spend several days in New York, and we're at this park where all the people are playing chess, just like I'd seen in movies. Do they do that in cities all across the country, or is that local to New York? Did they do that in Chicago? You're a Chicago guy.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, gosh. I. It's. I. When I picture it, I picture it in New York.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I think it's a New York thing, and I need to do some research because I don't really know what it is or how it works. Like, do they make. How do they make money or do they make money or what. What's exactly going on there? I've just seen in movies where all the people are playing chess in these parks. Well, my son is obsessed by chess, as I've talked about several times, although he's still a beginner. And the whole time on the trip, he said, I want to play chess in the park with one of the. One of those guys. I want to play chess. So he really wanted to do that. So we're walking through Washington Square park after we watched the weird hippie chick do her art that I talked about earlier. Get the podcast if you didn't hear that. And. And he said, there's a guy, he's not doing anything. I want to go play chess with him. I said, okay. So we go over there, and it's. I very quickly figure out that this guy, he's probably 60. Old black guy. He sounds exactly like Tracy Morgan from Saturday Night Live. So when I'm doing my impersonation, if it sounds like that, that's why. Because that's what the guy sound like. He's hammered drunk. Just hammer drunk, sitting there at the chess table. And he said, what's your. What's your name? Henry. What's your rating, Henry? And Henry told him, I don't know, whatever his number is on his rating, because you get a chess rating when you're on chess.com. oh, yo, beginner. Okay, Henry. Well, then I won't play you. I will give you a lesson. Five, Dad. $5 for a lesson. Okay, fine. And. And he's just down there. And it was just one of the most amazing, interesting things I've ever witnessed. Henry walked away from it saying, this is the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. But it was so straight. The guy was so drunk, for one thing. He had the really drunk guy eyes, you know, where they're like, really. Yes. And watery. And he kept shovering, shoveling these. He had A paper bag with him. He had brought sandwiches from home. This gets to the. I don't know what these people are doing. If they make money doing this, or is this your job? I mean, I guess you play them for money. I. I don't even know.

[Joe Getty]

A good friend of the shows, A. A friend of mine just texted. The New York chess hustlers usually play for a few bucks. They're usually very good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was unbelievable. As drunk as this guy was, he started. I'm going to give you a lesson, Henry. You'll remember this the rest of your life. First of all, on number one, get 1,001 chess moves. Get the book. And he names the guy dad. Buy him that book. Okay? And they set up the chess pieces and they start to play. Let me see how good you are, Henry. So they play for a little bit. And Henry would go to make a movie. Henry, put it back. Henry. Henry, put it back. No, Henry, think about it. Henry. And so. So then we do that. So, okay, so let me give you a lesson. And so then he gives him a lesson and. And he's sitting back and he's shoveling this sandwich that he made into his mouth. And parts of it are getting in his mouth, but most of it's not. And the rest of it's just, like, falling on his shirt and onto the chessboard. And he'd have to wipe the chunks of sandwich away as he's moving the chessboard around. At one point, he kicks over his half a bottle of Miller Light and it sits over and rolls between my legs. I mean, he's just. He's a. He's a drunk. Like, he seems like a homeless guy.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't even know what's going on there, Henry. I'm gonna give you a lesson now. The best guy in the park, that guy over there with the sunglasses on, he's the best player in the park right now. Nobody will play him well again. Which gets to my. If nobody will play you because you're so good, how do you make any money? I'm not sure how this works.

[Joe Getty]

You gotta wait for somebody strong. My chess playing friend also pointed out that it's a thing among ch enthusiast. There are pic. There are videos of grand masters going undercover and playing these guys and appreciating how good someone.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, this dude was amazing. When Henry was actually playing him, how fast he would move and how he saw the whole board was. To be as drunk as he was in the hot sun was really quite amazing. Was he really Drunk?

[Joe Getty]

Or do you think this was part of the hustle?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, he was drunk. I know. I know. A drunk guy. When I said, he's just. He was very drunk. And there weren't many people playing chess. It was mostly dudes sitting at empty chess tables waiting for somebody to come play him or whatever. Anyway, so his lesson was. Henry, let me ask you a question. You're home by yourself, and outside the door, there was a gorilla and two dogs. Okay, a gorilla and two dogs. Wow. They knock down the door and they come in the house. What do you do, Henry?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

I call my dad. You don't have a phone. Henry, what do you do when the gorilla and the two dogs come in your home? And it was just like this the whole time? So wild.

[Joe Getty]

Take the dogs and punch the gorilla.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I guess I worry about the dogs because I can't fight a gorilla. No, Henry. Henry, that is wrong. What is the biggest threat, Henry? The gorilla. That's right. The gorilla is the biggest threat. So do you see where my queen is right now? That is your biggest threat. Get rid of the gorilla, Henry. And so Henry moved and got rid of the queen. Now you don't have to worry about the gorilla. Do you see where my two dogs are, Henry? And it was just like that through the whole thing. This went on for, like, 45 minutes. It was incredibly entertaining and really interesting imagery to try to figure out some chess strategy.

[Joe Getty]

For a few bucks. For five bucks, please. That's the best money you've ever spent in your life.

[Jack Armstrong]

The entertainment alone, let alone the chess lesson, it was really so. It was like, out of a freaking movie. And I thought, what are you. I mean, his clothes. He looked like a homeless person. I mean, his shoes had holes in them. He smelled bad. He's spitting his sandwich all over. He's hammered drunk, but. But brilliant at chess. I just. So I don't know what's going on there.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I think we've all known people like that, whether they're musicians or. Or writers or what have you. That they have an incredible level of capability at one thing, but not so much on life skills or hanging out of a job, for instance. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or don't want to.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

For whatever reason. God dang it. That was interesting. Like I said, Henry walked away from saying, that was the greatest thing I've ever done in my life. He really, really liked it. Both the chess lesson and just the entertaining flair of the whole thing was so, again, like, straight out of a flipping movie.

[Joe Getty]

Well, the downside Was you didn't get a chance to talk about the big beautiful bill on the air since you were on the. On your vacation. On our vacation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Didn't come up in conversation with anyone, I'll tell you that.

[Joe Getty]

A roundup of different people, many of them conservatives and their takes on that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Henry, a gorilla is in your home. You're going to worry about the dogs first. Think about it. Henry. I don't know to try to imagine that's. Anyway, so you keep spitting sandwich all over. I don't know what to say.

[Joe Getty]

The dogs are happy with the sandwich. Leaving Armstrong and Getty. The Armstrong and Getty Show. Well, I found this very interesting. I was considering trying to cram these two things together. The incredible radicalization of young women around the world as their male companions. They don't have companions, but as the males of their generation are swinging to the right. Not. Not a lot, but some. And how weird and interesting that is. But we'll do that another time. I'm just going to go with this. It was a piece written by Mark Penn and Andrew Stein and they're both Democrats. Penn, you may recognize recognize his name. He's a pollster and Advisor to the CL in the 90s and 2000s. And. And this other guy was a New York City Council president for a number of years in the 80s and 90s. But the title is Gen Z, the Useful Idiot Generation. Young people usually become less radical with time. Are we seeing an exception? And they go into describing, you know, hippie Vietnam War protesters who got jobs, got married and had children.

[Jack Armstrong]

Got a haircut.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. Wash your damn dirty hippie feet. Now their grandchildren see them tethered to Fox News. Today's young Americans are following the first part of that pattern. Ask a group of them to choose between capitalism and socialism, they'll split right down the middle. And he goes into nominating horrifying Zoron Mandami. Yeah. Who says he wants to capture the means of production.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've heard that phrase.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You know what? Oh, I ought to get into the PolitiFact thing someday. PolitiFact rated as false the idea that Mandami is a communist. And then when it came out that he said we need to seize the means of production, which is straight out of the Communist Manifesto, they said incomplete data anyway. But will the young people outgrow their radicalism? And this is the part that really intrigued me. There's reason to doubt it. Record numbers of Gen Z are pursuing higher education with 53% of those 18 to 24 having completed at least some college. That's a troubling sign given how left wing ideology has come to dominate higher education. And again, these are two mainstream democrats writing. College is where many young people learn that socialism means free stuff. They're indoctrinated to blame capitalism for racism, inequality and climate change. Unlike the older generations, they grew up after the end of the Cold War and have no memory of the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union, Maoist China and other socialist regimes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Have no memories is an interesting way to put it. I didn't live through most of that stuff. My memories are because somebody taught them to me.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's an excellent point. And they say maybe they'll see socialism in action in New York. But here's the really intriguing part. Meanwhile, the process of growing up is slowing down. They're talking about what I mean. It's not automatic that a young idealistic way left person becomes a conservative. It happens through processes, experience.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mugged by reality.

[Joe Getty]

Exactly. The process of growing. That's actually a great phrase. The process of growing up is slowing down. The median age of first marriage is 30, almost five years later than it was in 1985. And that means that young people settle down and take on responsibilities later, if they ever do. Nearly half of Gen Z adults aren't, are not in a committed romantic relationship. They largely live communally, often work from home, and are connected primarily through the four plus hours they spend each day on their phones. Their primary sources of information are TikTok and Facebook, whose algorithms lead them to material that reinforces their preconceptions rather than challenges them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Four hours a day on their phones. What would they have been doing before? Because I mean that's the whole opportunity cost thing. There are only so many hours in a day. There would have been more television watching back in the day, but all four hours wouldn't have been taken up with that.

[Joe Getty]

No, but lots and lots and lots of relating to real human beings who don't feed you agreement based on their algorithm. In my experience, my friends, my girlfriends, my wife, my family, they all feel free to disagree with me semi regularly in a way that Facebook and TikTok never will. They will. With all due respect to your, your, your sister in law who constantly posts garbage that you hate. Those algorithms again lead them to material that reinforces their preconceptions.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think even more than that, your real life. Maybe that's not true anymore. I was about to say your real life. You don't talk about politics nearly at all as opposed to being bombarded with it. On your whatever device you're looking at.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, but I think in general, because I actually do agree with that, but in general real life, quote unquote, is much more messy and much less catering to you in a hundred different ways than virtual life is, which tends to lead people toward less dewy eyed idealistic progressives.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm going to tell people I know from now on I want you to, I'm going to use an algorithm and I want you to feed me things I only want to hear, only say things I want to hear or I'm interested in.

[Joe Getty]

They would make a squinty face and say no, I'm not doing that. And there's more. Another traditional source of ballast, religion has been become lighter as well. More than one third of Gen Z reports zero religious affiliation. Roughly 60% did not participate in religious services growing up. That produces a lack of moral grounding. We've had a really interesting couple of conversations about that. Let's not get off on that.

[Jack Armstrong]

But yeah, I don't, I don't know if you can make a blanket statement of lack of moral grounding because you didn't participate in organized religion.

[Joe Getty]

Right. But their greater argument is the things, the inputs, the influences in life that tended to make you more realistic and therefore more conservative are missing, including religion. Put this all together and it's little wonder that about half of 18 to 20 year olds, 24 year olds tell pollsters that they support Hamas over Israel. Hamas specifically, not the Palestinian people effing Hamas. By and large, these young adults aren't hardcore ideologues, they're merely ignorant. About half of young Hamas supporters say they don't want to wipe out Israel. They prefer a two state solution. Call them the useful idiot generation, mouthing slogans and causes they don't understand and from which they would recoil if they did.

[Jack Armstrong]

Again, this was written by Democrats.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, and that's, you know, the queers for Palestine thing is the perfect example of that. It's the useful idiot generation mouthing slogans and causes they don't understand and from which they would recoil if they did.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, a guy like Mark Penn who worked for the Clintons, he realizes Democrats are never going to another major election unless they get this under control. So he's trying to figure out why do our young people, why are they so crazy? That's what he's trying to figure out.

[Joe Getty]

Final couple of sentences. The older generations are not blameless here. We created the environment that produced this unmoored generation. Socialism and anti Semitism will continue to fester and grow if we don't stand up and reform our universities, reinforce our basic values and balance our social media. I agree completely. I am sticking with the idea that but reforming our education systems or tearing them down and building substitutes is the most important issue for America for the next 50 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg this is an I Heart podcast.