There's No Such Thing As a Recession in My Business!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand
Episode: "There's No Such Thing As a Recession in My Business!"
Date: October 16, 2025
Host: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty's "One More Thing" dives into a lighthearted discussion about walk-up music, the quirks of AI-generated creativity, the peculiarities of podcast music licensing, and transitions into a darker (but still humorous) examination of morticians’ work, dead bodies, and the origins of "saved by the bell." The crew balances fun, curiosity, and irreverence, maintaining their signature tone.

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Walk-Up Music & AI-Generated Soundtracks (00:00–05:31)

Main Theme

• Joe Getty muses on having personal "walk-up" music like baseball players (00:13).
• Hansen uses AI to create custom walk-up tracks for Joe, leading to an exploration of AI’s musical potential and the hurdles with music licensing in podcasts.

Key Points

• Music Licensing Challenges:

  • Joe explains why they can’t use recognizable songs in the podcast due to intricate music licensing laws—a sharp shift from traditional radio (00:44).

    "We can't play like recognizable songs anymore...the radio industries had decades long agreements with the licensing services...the world of podcasting is new and they just, they don't have an agreement that works."
    — Joe Getty (00:44)

• AI-Generated Music Reactions:

  • The crew samples three AI-generated walk-up themes:

    • The first track evokes “shirtless Viking” imagery; Joe and Armstrong riff on entering rooms dramatically (02:12).
    • The second track makes Joe feel like “hosting a morning TV show with Kelly Ripa” (03:20).
    • The third is likened to an ‘80s sitcom or an award show theme (04:02).

    "That sounds like something some Oscar winning music composer for a motion picture got paid a million dollars for."
    — Armstrong (02:44)

    "It is amazing. And scary and discouraging and fun all at once."
    — Joe Getty (03:05)

• Roleplay & Banter:

  • Armstrong and Joe humorously extend the Viking/fantasy theme, joking about entering their homes to swelling music and familial adoration (05:01).

    "Father, how have your journeys treated you?"
    — Joe Getty (05:01)

    "And she needs me. Oh. Badly now. Or certainly within the next hour or so."
    — Armstrong and Joe Getty (05:19, 05:25)

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Morticians, Dead Bodies, and the "Saved by the Bell" Origins (06:39–14:43)

[Advertisement break skipped (05:37–06:39).]

Mortuary Work & Tradition

• Joe laments missing a guest appearance by Katie's dad, Judge Larry, a former judge and embalmer/mortician (06:39).
• The conversation pivots to an article about the noble calling of morticians and the nature of dealing with death professionally.

Key Insights

• Getting Used to Death:

  • Katie recounts her family's medical background and her dad’s gradual acclimation to working with corpses (08:01).

  • Joe and Armstrong debate whether comfort around dead bodies is inherent or can be acquired.

    "I think you get past that pretty quickly."
    — Joe Getty (07:44)

    "I'm not sure everybody does. I think you're either built for it or you're not."
    — Armstrong (07:47)

• Handling the Deceased:

  • Katie recalls her dad dressing a deceased man whose legs kept re-crossing—a quirky, humanizing detail (09:32).

    "He talked about dressing one guy whose legs kept recrossing...after twice, relax that way."
    — Katie (09:32)

• Strange Phenomena & Fears:

  • Joe raises the unnerving topic of post-mortem body noises (09:46). Armstrong jokes about accidentally encountering a still-living person in the morgue, poking fun at their own fears (10:10).

    "Is that a dead grown, or is that an I'm still here growing?"
    — Katie (10:25)

• "Saved by the Bell" Etymology:

  • Joe explains the term’s true roots: bells placed above graves with strings tied to bodies, meant to prevent premature burial during earlier centuries' plagues (10:52).

  • The group riffs on the grim logistics and psychology of such systems, admiring the peace of mind they provided (12:00).

    "They would see those bells and think, if they get me wrong, I'll have a bell. And you'd be slightly less freaked out about being ill."
    — Joe Getty (12:00)

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Vocation versus Job

• Armstrong describes roles like mortician or hospice worker as “callings” rather than jobs, citing friends and acquaintances who felt destined for such work (13:26).

  "Maybe you have a calling for that. Like, you know, like I've got a friend who does hospice work. That's not for everybody."
  — Armstrong (13:26)

  "What my mom did, hospice chaplain."
  — Joe Getty (14:00)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Podcast Music Licensing:

  "I don't understand why people hold to that in the modern world. If I'm a band, I want people playing my music..."
  — Armstrong (01:31)

• On AI's Music-Generating Power:

  "That's amazing."
  — Armstrong (03:04)

  "And scary and discouraging and fun all at once."
  — Joe Getty (03:05)

• On Mortuary Work:

  "I live in the middle ground, handling the bodies of the dead with enough grace to touch the souls of the living."
  — Joe Getty, quoting article (13:04)

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:00–00:44 — Show opens, talk of walk-up music and licensing
• 00:44–05:31 — AI music demo and comedic analysis
• 06:39–14:43 — Mortuary and embalming work; origin of "saved by the bell"; philosophical wrap-up

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Episode Tone

The episode retains Armstrong & Getty’s typical blend of wit, irreverence, and curiosity. Even as they discuss serious topics like death and vocation, the mood remains light, with plenty of laughter and vivid comedic imagery.

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Useful for New Listeners?

Absolutely. This summary covers the full arc of the conversation, from quirky tech talk about AI music to deeply human (and humorous) discussions about death, work, and what it means to have a calling. It preserves the show's banter while providing context for key jokes and insights.

Transcript

[Joe Getty]

This is an I heart podcast. There's no such thing as a recession in my business. It's one more thing.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

One more thing.

[Armstrong]

Before we get to that, Joe was out for a little bit during the radio show today, and when he came back, he was talking about having walk up music like, like the baseball players have.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that'd be really cool. I mean, just this psych up like that and get pumped up and the whole crowds with you and everything. Walk up music for real life. I like that idea.

[Armstrong]

So Hansen came up with. He asked AI to come up with walk up music for Joe. And he's got three different examples, I guess, which are all terrible, I'm told. Anyway, let's hear them.

[Joe Getty]

Well, before you hit that, I think that the good folks might find this at least mildly interesting. We can't play like recognizable songs anymore. At least not much of like a song, you know, a song that's been on the radio, a song that's been published. Because the radio industries had decades long agreements with the licensing services about playing music on the radio. But the world of podcasting is new and they just, they don't have an agreement that works. And so, you know, the various companies that we do business with could be on the receiving end of some unpleasant legal action. And so if we're going to come up with music like this, I mean, I could mention some existing songs. That'd be great walkout music for me.

[Armstrong]

I don't understand why people hold to that in the modern world. If I'm a band, I want people playing. My music is often as much, I don't care if I don't get a scent, I want it out there. People thinking about it, thinking, oh yeah, that song, I want to hear that.

[Joe Getty]

But yeah, I don't know exactly what the dynamics are there. It could be the licensing companies themselves that are struggling for relevance in the 21st century, I don't know. But anyway, AI, which is the new frontier. Jack, Katie, Michael, this is going to lead us into the brave new world. AI has come up with some for me specifically. Yeah, Joe Getty walk up, he's. Oh, this is exciting. Wow.

[Armstrong]

I can picture this. I can picture you walking into a room with this music playing.

[Joe Getty]

I feel like I'm a shirtless Viking.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, you're clearly sure.

[Joe Getty]

The fan blowing my long hair.

[Armstrong]

It's funny, I was picturing shirtless, also oily, shiny. And you walk into a room and I see you looking around, gazing around the room.

[Joe Getty]

See, I'm not in a room. In this, I feel like I'm up on the top of a cliff across the scene.

[Katie]

I'm picturing the golem picture we AI'd not too far, not too long ago.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Oh, my biblical prophet.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. Okay, so there's one. But to get away from the. The theme of what we're talking about here, how about the fact that AI created that? That sounds like something some Oscar winning music composer for a motion picture got paid a million dollars for.

[Joe Getty]

Right? And we all know his name because he wins Oscars. Yeah.

[Armstrong]

That's amazing.

[Joe Getty]

It is amazing. And scary and discouraging and fun all at once.

[Armstrong]

Anyway, here's her another one.

[Joe Getty]

Apparently I'm hosting a morning TV show with Kelly Ripa in this scenario.

[Armstrong]

I feel like you're pointing to a lot of people in the crowd in this one.

[Joe Getty]

Hu. Huh?

[Armstrong]

There you are.

[Joe Getty]

And there's a shot of me with my head thrown back laughing. There's a shot of me rubbing my chin, looking thoughtful.

[Armstrong]

Yes, yes. This is exactly eyewitness Snooze at 7 with Joe Getty. It's got you, you know, with your sleeves rolled up at a fire.

[Joe Getty]

That sounds like more like morning tv. For house. For house.

[Armstrong]

Oh, boy. Okay, that was two. Let's hear number three now.

[Katie]

I feel like you're hosting a pageant.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Or an awards show. Yeah.

[Armstrong]

I certainly picture you with your jacket off, slung over your shoulder with this music.

[Joe Getty]

Yes, yes. Hanson said he was trying to get like the theme from Rocky Ish feel going. But this feels more awards show to me.

[Armstrong]

This could be the music for a sitcom in the 80s. Their dad comes home, there's the kids, there's mom in the kitchen.

[Joe Getty]

Why Is Dad Mad? Starring Joe Getty.

[Armstrong]

Right. Why Is Dad.

[Joe Getty]

Patricia Heaton.

[Armstrong]

What a good name for a show. Why Is Dad Mad? I like that first one, though. Give me the first one again, just briefly, because I want.

[Joe Getty]

I'm not.

[Armstrong]

I want that played when I have.

[Joe Getty]

To take my shirt off again when I home.

[Armstrong]

Walk through the door at home. I want my kids to play this.

[Joe Getty]

Go ahead, play. Yes.

[Armstrong]

First one. That is home. Father.

[Joe Getty]

Father, how have your journeys treated you?

[Armstrong]

Father?

[Joe Getty]

Took about a half an hour to get home.

[Armstrong]

Thanks for asking. Yeah. This is some swelling music. Yep. Your shirt.

[Joe Getty]

And then your woman appears at the other end of the field with her hair.

[Armstrong]

Her hair also blowing. Yes. In the wind. And she needs me. Oh. Badly now.

[Joe Getty]

Or certainly within the next hour or so.

[Armstrong]

Okay, that's enough of those hijinks.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Wow. Viking or Scotsman maybe. I'm wearing A kilt in that one? I don't know.

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[Joe Getty]

All right, so my only complaint about when I have to take a little time off is Jack always has our our favorite guests on I cheat. Selfishly hoarding them to himself, even though I would be delighted to talk to them. And I missed not only a chat with the great Tim Santa for today, although he. We got an email. I saw that he is against originalism in Scott constitutional analysis.

[Armstrong]

Well, you're getting in. You're slicing it thin now. He's a textualist, not an originalist. I mean it's. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta look into that stuff and understand it.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Okay, fair enough. But always love talking to Tim and listening to him. But also Judge Larry, you got to talk to Katie's dad, Judge Larry.

[Katie]

He was Larry today.

[Joe Getty]

Well, right. But not only was he a judge, he was an embalmer. About that trade, how'd that chat go? Oh, I'm sorry. The reason I ask is I just came across this article in the Free Press. I'm a mortician, I love my job. And he explains why and it's really quite eloquent and beautiful.

[Armstrong]

What about the creepy factor? They're dead. Dead bodies.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I just. I think you get past that pretty quickly.

[Armstrong]

I'm not sure everybody does. I think you're either built for it or you're not.

[Katie]

That was one of the things that my dad mentioned is that my. My grandfather was a surgeon and my grandmother was a nurse. So he was, you know, kind of used to the Medical world and ended up becoming an emt.

[Armstrong]

And not the first time he's been around a dead body. That would help because he talked about he got the job at the funeral home or whatever, and. And then he kind of jumped to. So I was down there with the dead bodies. Well, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Joe Getty]

How do you.

[Armstrong]

How do you end up. I mean. Because I never been around a dead body when I was 18 years old and I certainly wasn't like feeling one, manipulating one, dressing it, that sort of stuff. So, yeah, you have to ease into that whole thing.

[Joe Getty]

I'd imagine it only takes a little while, though. I mean, you seem to suggest that you just. Some people couldn't ever. And that's probably true, but I think for a lot of us, you just. You get come to terms with the reality. I toured a morgue, a county morgue, and I went from. I was never freaked out. I was concerned that I might be freaked out, but then I don't. Surrounded by all those poor deceased people. Pretty well pretty. You pretty quickly get used to the idea and accept the reality of it.

[Armstrong]

Well, I don't mind being around dead people. I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that, so that doesn't bother me. I don't want to be touching them, though. I don't want to be like undressing them and putting pants on them and stuff like that. I wouldn't really enjoy. Enjoy that. I'm sure you could get. Anybody can get used to anything, but it's more of a. Do you want to get used to it? Is the question. When. When, you know, when your boss says, how would you like to start dressing the corpses? You think, I think there's other things I'd rather do.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I guess. What's it the gig. If he tells you, hey, I need you to do that, you do it.

[Armstrong]

That's exactly what he said. That's exactly what Katie's dad said. The boss told me I had to do it, so I just did it.

[Katie]

And he talked about dressing one guy whose legs kept re. Crossing. He would uncross them to put the socks on and then go around and.

[Armstrong]

They'D be crossed again and then they'd.

[Katie]

Cross and he said after twice, relax that way.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Did he. Did he get to the body noises?

[Katie]

No, we didn't.

[Armstrong]

We didn't talk about that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I think that's probably the more recently passed that there are various expulsions and often they will result in like, groans. Oh, now that would freak me. The out. Sorry, Hanson. Sorry for the Bleeping.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, If I'm at the Morgan, they're in the. In that shelf thing there you are. Like the sock drawer. You push them in there.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

And I hear a moan out of there. I think I got to at least do my due diligence and check and.

[Joe Getty]

See if this person's alive.

[Armstrong]

I mean, I can't.

[Joe Getty]

Please.

[Katie]

Is that a dead grown, or is that an I'm still here growing?

[Armstrong]

Is that a let me out of here.

[Joe Getty]

What the hell am I doing in a drawer growing?

[Armstrong]

Is this merely the contraction of the human body passing wind past your vocal cords, making a noise, or is this person fine and wants out?

[Katie]

Well, you see those stories of people that, you know, they go get to the funeral home and then all of a sudden they wake up or whatever.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, it does happen now and then they're. They're hauling you to the Morgan. That turns out, hey, I'm. I'm okay. Good.

[Joe Getty]

In the modern world. But yeah, that's. You know the expression saved by the bell? I always thought that was a boxing thing, but no, it's a. I can't remember. What was the plague in, like, the 1700s? Gosh, what was that disease that you would be so sick that it seemed like you were dead? It was hard to detect any pulse or breathing, but sometimes people would not be dead. And so they installed a system where there was a string from, like, on top of your grave down into the grave into your coffin.

[Armstrong]

What I've never heard, pull on the.

[Joe Getty]

String and ring the bell. That's the, hey, do me a. Do me a solid and dig me up bell.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, that's what saved by the bell means.

[Joe Getty]

That's what I'm told. Nobody.

[Katie]

No, you're totally right. You're absolutely right. Because I. I've. I remember looking this up.

[Armstrong]

Nobody knows that when they say saved by the bell, but you're pretty far along in the process if you're in a casket in the ground.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Armstrong]

You're really down to the end here.

[Joe Getty]

You know, honestly, I think most of that was to reassure people. They would see those bells and think, if they get me wrong, I'll have a bell. And you'd be slightly less freaked out about being ill. Wow. Again, the reasons, as we discussed during the show, reasons to be glad you live in the 21st century.

[Armstrong]

So the bell's ringing. He's. Hey. Jeez. Oh, my God. Jim, grab a shovel. We gotta. You start digging. You get down there, you open up, and then you say, I am really sorry about that our bad.

[Katie]

Little hasty.

[Joe Getty]

My bad.

[Armstrong]

I take full responsibility.

[Joe Getty]

Look, you died. Well, you didn't die. But we thought you died. It was already 5 o'.

[Armstrong]

Clock.

[Joe Getty]

I was. I was about to punch out. So was I a little hasty? Maybe.

[Armstrong]

Maybe you could have said something. I mean, I'm not making it on you, but. Right.

[Joe Getty]

Well, in the 1700s, a brain scan was.

[Armstrong]

Hey, hey.

[Joe Getty]

All right. And if he didn't respond to that and he's dead. Let's put the string in his hand, just in case. Tied around his finger.

[Armstrong]

That's interesting. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Grimm's fairy tales, huh? Anyway, this guy, he says, I'm a mortician. I love my job. I live in the middle ground, handling the bodies of the dead with enough grace to touch the souls of the living.

[Armstrong]

That's nice.

[Joe Getty]

That's some nice, nice writing. I think I'll keep doing this, but it's honorable work and God bless you if you do it with sensitivity.

[Armstrong]

I guess one of the reasons I think it's a calling or a vocation as opposed to just, you know, you ended up in this job is there was a kid I knew in high school that wanted to do that. His whole plan was to go to. Of course, he might be in prison now with 50 devs. I don't know. Maybe I should have looked into that. Maybe that's the reason. But he just. That was his. He wanted to do that. It was his family business and he wanted to stay in the family business. And so maybe you have a calling for that. Like, you know, like I've got a friend who does hospice work. That's not for everybody. That's what he always says. This is not for everybody. Right.

[Joe Getty]

So what my mom did hospice chaplain. Right.

[Armstrong]

Sort of a calling. So maybe that's it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

And then if. If you're okay, go ahead and ring the bell. I'll be right in.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it won't take more than an hour or so. You know, as long as, you know, as long as somebody hears it. But don't worry about. So I'll bet somebody will hear it.

[Katie]

Probably.

[Joe Getty]

Unless it's at night. But just if it is, just keep ringing it.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, if you ring maybe, I don't.

[Joe Getty]

Know, once every 15 minutes.

[Armstrong]

If you ring the bell, 5:30pm it's going to be 9am Earliest before we can get to.

[Joe Getty]

But hey, relax for a while. You've been sick. You need the rest anyway. Well, that was something.

[Armstrong]

Well, I guess that's it. The lighter side of being buried alive.

[Joe Getty]

This is an Iheart podcast.