We Probably Won't Have A Bearded Lady President

Summary

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Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "We Probably Won't Have A Bearded Lady President"

Date: September 16, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive into the rising tension and violence in American society, the consequences of online discourse and social fragmentation, the cultural symbolism of beards as a bearded president enters the mainstream, vaccination hesitancy and herd immunity, political maneuvering in California, and assorted oddball news. The hosts discuss these themes with wry humor, sharp skepticism, and their trademark conversational tone.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rising Political and Public Violence (03:36–06:24)

• The show opens with a sober discussion about the increase in public violence: terrorist attacks, school shootings, and politicians being targeted.
• Joe Getty notes, “Our public discourse has now become a discourse that is spoken in violent acts as opposed to discussions.” (04:03)
• Jack Armstrong references John Miller, former FBI, saying the frequency of these events is accelerating.
• They connect the rising anger in society to a general lack of shared responsibility and kinship, intensified by social media and online interactions.

2. The Cultural Temperature & Social Media’s Impact (05:45–06:24, 07:31–08:16)

• Jack Armstrong: “Everybody can feel that the overall temperature is just higher. There’s no denying that.” (04:53)
• The hosts link the ubiquity of anger to online echo chambers, saying that some people have become “100% off the rails because of Twitter and Facebook.” (06:21)
• Joe Getty argues that America’s cultural fragmentation, partly due to “rampant immigration” and competing cultural subgroups, has eroded the old social compact.

3. The Social Compact and Its Erosion (07:31–08:16)

• The hosts lament the fading of basic, polite social conventions.
• Jack Armstrong: “Just like, holding the door open… There’s no meaning there, really, other than we’re both distributing that we’re part of polite society and playing by the rules.” (07:52)

4. Reaction to Political Violence & Bill Maher's Take (09:03–13:08)

• The conversation pivots to the assassination of Charlie Kirk and Bill Maher’s response.
• Bill Maher criticizes both sides for demonizing each other and highlights how the left's intolerance for dialogue fuels division.
• Bill Maher: “You know, the right wingers… they're not into this leftist think. The left really has… an ‘I don’t talk to you, I don’t want to deal with you, you’re deplorable’ attitude.” (11:13)
• Maher and the hosts agree that both sides must acknowledge their role in the escalation.

5. The “Bearded President” Phenomenon and Beard Culture (14:34–21:36)

• The episode’s title is addressed when Jack predicts, “We’re gonna have our first bearded president in a very long time soon... Probably won’t have a bearded lady as president. Our first female president will not have a beard." (14:54)
• They riff on beards as cultural signifiers; reference J.D. Vance’s presidential run and beard trends through history.
• Joe Getty: “If you care what the New York Times thinks of your beard or lack of beard, we can’t be friends.” (21:28)

6. Media Accountability and the Kirk Misinformation Incident (21:40–23:38)

• Discussion of the New York Times misquoting Charlie Kirk in the wake of his death and running a correction hours later.
• Joe Getty: “And I didn’t see their correction many hours later… He was quoting a statement that on social media and went on to critique it and refute it. It was not his own statement. Wow.” (22:09)
• The hosts criticize confirmation bias and poor journalistic standards.

7. Vaccination, Herd Immunity, and Public Health Concerns (27:05–33:41)

• NBC’s investigation into waning vaccination rates is discussed with skepticism toward the media’s framing.
• Jack Armstrong recounts getting whooping cough as an adult despite being vaccinated as a child, emphasizing declining herd immunity.
• The hosts highlight that factors like declining child vaccinations, adults’ immunity wearing off, and mass immigration have pushed the US below herd immunity thresholds for several illnesses.
• A cynical take on media ignoring the immigration aspect.
• Joe and Jack dismiss COVID vaccine panic for healthy children:
  Jack Armstrong: “I don’t think a single healthy child in America died [from COVID]. Not one in the whole country.” (33:41)

8. Gavin Newsom, California Politics, and Redistricting Referendum (33:49–38:24)

• Analysis of an upcoming California redistricting referendum that the hosts believe could damage Newsom’s national ambitions.
• Discussion of how poorly it’s polling, even with Democrats, and speculation on what a Newsom presidency would mean.
• Jack Armstrong: “If Gavin Newsom gets elected, that means nobody looked into California and what it’s like.” (35:49)

9. Odd News: Bank Robbing Chef & Gator Attack (18:56–19:12, 45:06–47:59)

• Brief aside about a chef robbing three banks in a day in San Francisco.
• A Florida woman saves her dog by punching an alligator, leading to a whimsical reflection on animal encounters and heroics.
  • Jack Armstrong: “I'm socking that thing in the face.” (46:14)
  • Joe Getty: “Go to the edge of the lake and put your finger in the lake, pull it out. If your finger is wet, there’s an effing gator in there.” (47:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Joe Getty (on polarization):
  “There's a lack of a feeling of shared responsibility and kinship… being part of the same community, accountable to each other.” (05:26)

• Jack Armstrong (on social media):
  “The couple of people that I know that are off the rails are 100% off the rails because of Twitter and Facebook…” (06:21)

• Bill Maher (on polarization):
  “Right wingers… they're not into this leftist think… The left really has much more of an ‘I don't talk to you… I can't break bread with you’ attitude.” (11:13)

• Joe Getty (on activist left):
  “A lot of ideological energy comes from actual neo-Marxists who want to overthrow Western civilization… useful idiots… aren’t as dyed in the wool as the activist class.” (13:08)

• Jack Armstrong (on beard trends):
  “We’re gonna have our first bearded president in a very long time soon… first female president will not have a beard. I’m willing to wage money on it.” (14:54)

• Joe Getty (mocking NYT):
  “If you care what the New York Times thinks of your beard or lack of beard, we can’t be friends.” (21:28)

• On media failings:
  “Nice job. Most important newspaper in the world. Good Lord. How do you make a mistake like that?” (22:29, Armstrong)

• On herd immunity:
  “You need to get to like 95%… we've crossed that line because of three things: fewer kids, an aging population where their shots are wearing off, and rampant immigration.” (30:40)

• On Newsom:
  “If he became president, I would become so despondent I could no longer participate in the country…I would have to give up my idea that we can govern ourselves.” (35:49, Armstrong)

• On gators:
  “Go to the edge of the lake and put your finger in the lake, pull it out. If your finger is wet, there’s an effing gator in there.” (47:53, Getty)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Rising Violent Tension in America – 03:36–06:24
• Social Media and Societal Heat – 05:45–06:24; 07:31–08:16
• Eroding Social Norms – 07:31–08:16
• Bill Maher on Dialogue & Division – 10:47–13:08
• Bearded President & Beard Symbolism – 14:34–21:36
• Media Inaccuracy & The Kirk Story – 21:40–23:38
• Vaccine Hesitancy & Herd Immunity – 27:05–33:41
• Newsom’s Redistricting Gamble – 33:49–38:24
• Florida Gator Dog Rescue – 45:06–47:59

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Conclusion

This episode runs the gamut from the serious crisis in American public life to tongue-in-cheek culture commentary and news-of-the-weird. Armstrong and Getty’s skepticism of both political extremes, the media, and even themselves sets a conversational but critical tone. Listeners gain an overview of violence and fragmentation in America, the symbolism of facial hair in politics, the ramifications of vaccine reluctance, and the quirks of public discourse in 2025—with a few alligators thrown in for good measure.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Asma Khalid]

Check us [e-mail] America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, dc.

[Tristan Redman]

I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

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Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, come on.

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Why is this taking so long? This thing is ancient.

[Jack Armstrong]

Still using yesterday's tech upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultralight.

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[Joe Getty]

You can work, create and boost productivity.

[Jack Armstrong]

All on one device. Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio.

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Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Yeti.

[Joe Getty]

We look at the kinds of things.

[Jack Armstrong]

That have been happening starting on the.

[Joe Getty]

First day of this year with the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Terrorist attack in New Orleans, school shootings.

[Joe Getty]

In Minneapolis, politicians being gunned down in their front doors, the Charlie Kirk shooting. The pace of this, which used to.

[Jack Armstrong]

Be something that was every month or every other month, is now every week.

[Joe Getty]

Or every other week.

[Jack Armstrong]

Something is definitely wrong with the idea.

[Joe Getty]

That our public discourse has now become a discourse that is spoken in violent acts as opposed to discussions.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's John Miller on cnn. He's former FBI. I think that's what he was. You know, I didn't know that the pace had picked up really. It seemed pretty awful to me for quite a while. And then, you know, you get just lost in the blur of news. You can't remember what happened when. Yeah, that little laundry list there was pretty troubling. But I assume he's looking at the actual stats. If the pace has picked up a violence of like big public violence, terrorist attacks, school shootings, political violence. That ain't good. I don't know. I don't know. Well, everybody can feel that the overall temperature is just higher.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's no denying that the tenor of.

[Joe Getty]

The vast majority of conversations is much, much more vicious and angry than generally. You know, not too long ago.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was thinking about this the other day, how it. We know people are speeding more.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And just like in town, I see more people driving ridiculously fast in town than I've ever seen in my life.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like what are you doing?

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's probably part of it, right? Just we're hot, we're running hot.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Just there's. Well, I don't know. This is like a book length topic, but there is a lack of a feeling of shared responsibility and kinship with your fellow man, being fellow citizens, being part of the same community, accountable to each other.

[Jack Armstrong]

And you probably know where I was going with this when I started into this. But what caused it? Is it mostly people always say social media. I don't know if Social media is the right term, but is it just the online thing that's a chunk of it? Everything that is online, it's a chunk of it. The way it feeds you stuff to make you feel crazier. Everybody that I know, I know a few people that are, like, off the rails. The couple of people that I know that are off the rails are a hundred percent off the rails because of Twitter and Facebook and whatever things they're on.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

100%.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Well. And those conversations tend to be angry and, you know, fantasize about violence or eliminating the enemy and that sort of thing in a way that leaks into real life as we've just seen recently. The other thing, and I used to hesitate to say this, and whether it's just age and I don't give a crap anymore, or I just think it really needs to be said. No matter what you think of quote, unquote diversity or rampant immigration, we've gone from a country that had a vast level of. An extremely high level of agreement on basic cultural concepts to a country in which we have a bunch of different subgroups who say openly, I don't agree with your concept, your culture, your idea of politics or the family or religion or law or violence or women or a hundred different things. We now live in a much, much more, much less homogenous society than we used to. That's a huge part of it. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's funny, I was having a conversation about the social compact with my kids the other day and the various ways it displays itself. Just like, you know, holding the door open for somebody or somebody saying, how you doing? You say, I'm fine. There's, like, no meaning there, really, other than we're. We're both distributing that. We're part of, you know, polite society.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And playing by the rules. That's kind of what we're saying.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And it extends to not cutting in line.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

A hundred different examples.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. But. Yeah. I wonder how much of it is the online thing and that isn't going away. Just the fact that the temperature's higher. The temperature is higher all the way around. It's just higher. It's hotter in sports. It's hotter in politics. It's hotter on your city streets. It's hotter in schools. It's just higher everywhere.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. Angsty.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if there's anything to do about that. Cash Patel, the guy who runs the FBI, is before Congress right now answering questions. One interesting thing that's come out, he said they believe there were at least 20 people on that Discord at the time playing video games. Discord is a talk to each other app, website. Whatever the hell it is, my kids use it sometimes you wear headphones, you know, talk to each other while you're playing video games. He says Cash Patel said there are at least 20 people on there. When he talked about the killer, talked about taking out Charlie Cook and admitting that he did it.

[Joe Getty]

Kirk.

[Jack Armstrong]

Kirk. Damn it. 20 people. So advance of the killing, you know, I didn't nail that.

[Joe Getty]

Or was it when he confessed?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know which. Okay, I have to nail that down. Hansen, if you can nail that down, that'd be interesting because we are trying to figure out obviously if there was some sort of group that had a pretty good idea that this guy was going to assassinate Charlie Kirk, because that would be a big story, obviously. Okay, so there's that. And we'll bring you the update on that as soon as we get it. So Bill Maher, he's better known as a commentator and political pundit now than he is as a stand up comedian. Certainly he's an old guy. It's like 75 years old or something. He's got this show where he just interviews famous people alone in his basement while he smokes pot and drinks. And it's better than it sounds. It's very entertaining. I mean, this the one he did with Billy Joel the other day or he does politicians or the more he.

[Joe Getty]

Drinks, the worse it gets. True.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean true. You get toward or higher you get. The higher he gets smoking pot, he just laughs. He giggles for a long time. It's like, okay, you're high, I'm not. If you ever been to a party sober, it's like, okay, I got to get out of here. People are killing me. Sometimes it's that. But anyway, he, he had had Charlie Kirk on just a couple of months ago and they had a long, great conversation which he references here because he was taping one with Billy Corgan, who was a singer with a group you might not even remember. Smashing Pumpkins. He was, he was taping it the day that he got news that Charlie Kirk had been shot. And what he has to say about political violence and everything like that I think is pretty interesting.

[Bill Maher]

Here it is the irony as a lot of people in my position is still a liberal, just a traditional liberal, not won't go along with their, like a lot of the stuff that's just crazy out there too far which gets Trump elected, blah, blah, blah. As I always say to my woke friends, we voted for the same person. You're just why she lost.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, good. Okay. Took me a second. Sorry to absorb that. Okay.

[Bill Maher]

You know, they're the people who don't want to talk. It's my main issue with them. And Charlie Kirk was a guy who, like, he was always talking and I talked to him here. You know, the right wingers say what you want about them, but they talk to you. They're not into this leftist think. The left really has much more of a I don't talk to you, I don't want to deal with you, you're deplorable. I can't break bread with you. That attitude. And like all the right wingers, they don't have that attitude. Now again, I didn't vote for them. And Charlie Kirk and I certainly don't agree on much politically. But he sat here, he's a human being. He's not a monster.

[Joe Getty]

And a husband and a father.

[Bill Maher]

Yes. And I liked him. I liked them all. They're all nice people when you meet them in person. And they're not as crazy as they would. Nobody's as crazy as they make them out to be. And we're never going to solve this unless it begins with both sides agreeing. We both do it.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what I've been saying for a while now. Bill Maher on his Friday night HBO show the other night we opened up with his, his monologue. He said Trump was at a restaurant the other night and people started chanting Hitler, Hitler. And he said that S has got to stop. He's not Hitler. You might not like him, but he's not Hitler. Let's quit with this.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. They. Yeah, I was just reading a really great thorough piece on how the left got Trump reelected. Reelected.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's a good point. Bill Maher makes when you're talking to woke people. Hey, you, you're the ones that got Trump elected, not me. Why are you mad at me? I'm a liberal. I voted for Kamala Harris to a.

[Joe Getty]

Large extent, not conservatives. I mean, conservatives supported Trump.

[Jack Armstrong]

The woke left got Trump elected, no doubt.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You know, one of the problems the left has is that a lot of ideological energy comes from actual neo Marxists who want to overthrow Western civilization. A lot of the useful idiots who just go along with it, cuz they've fallen for their fake moral arguments aren't as dyed in the wool as the activist class is. But like Bill Maher is talking about, you know, you got Trump elected and you gotta drop the woke stuff and all, but what he's forgetting is that that activist class, and I don't know what percentage of the left it is, but they're extremely active and very smart and very aggressive. And again, if you think I'm having some sort of conservative fantasy, I will tell you which books they read in or, I'm sorry, which books they wrote in which they vowed to do precisely what they're doing now in the way that they're doing it. The problem that Bill Maher has is he and a lot of good folks don't get that yet they take these people at their word that they're for inclusion and diversity and equity and the rest of it and don't know what's behind it, including some people I'm surprised. Haven't gotten the the memo yet. But so I do what I do. It's a big day for the beard. Jack, what's the deal with all the beards?

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, so we'll get into beard talk when we come back. We're gonna have our first bearded president in a very long time soon. I think there's a very good chance of it, which is not good news for anybody who wants a female president. Probably won't have a bearded lady as president. Our first female president will not have a beard. I'm willing to wage money on.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Yeah, I'd go heavily at that proposition.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes, the bearded lady.

[Joe Getty]

Now all transgender.

[Jack Armstrong]

True. So anyway, we got a lot on the ways there.

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[Asma Khalid]

Check us [e-mail] America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Jack Armstrong]

A prominent San Francisco area chef, which would be a pretty good job. Robs three banks in one day.

[Joe Getty]

And it's not the first time he did it.

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[Joe Getty]

He's a serial bank robber.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

You got to put him in the kitchen in prison, right? I suppose. What the heck.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Win, win.

[Jack Armstrong]

Tossing salad.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, among other things. Certainly main courses as well. New York Times. What's with all the beards? More and more men seem to be putting down the razor. Blah, blah, blah. This column by Vanessa Friedman. The first part is actually kind of interesting. J.D. vance, first major party nominee on a presidential ticket with facial hair in 75 years.

[Jack Armstrong]

I remember talking about that at the convention.

[Joe Getty]

Far from being a historical norm, according to the popular beard blog, there have been four great beard movements in history. The second century, we all remember that. The Middle Ages, the Renaissance in the late 19th century. We are currently in the 5th.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Then she goes into famous bearded figures, from Shakespeare to Moses. Oh, good. There are also Abraham Lincoln, Karl Marx, to name a few. Nobody needs you to name a few. Anyway, this woman, Vanessa Friedman.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jesus is usually. No, he's bearded sometimes. I was gonna say he's usually clean shaven in paintings, isn't he? But no, he's bearded.

[Joe Getty]

Often bearded. Yeah, usually bearded. Although those paintings have nothing to do with reality whatsoever. Let's see. Traditionally, beards have signified virility. Though in the 60s and 70s, the last great beard renaissance, they came to civilized rebellion, literal and cultural, against the establishment. But then she gets into the age of the beard and it's so in, it's out, and soon there'll be clean shavenness coming back and blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's interesting. The punk movement was beardless. Bono talks about that in his memoir book. About how that was part of their whole. You know, we're. We're getting rid of our dad's music, the Beatles. And although the beards. We were clean shaven. That was like radical. And we're different.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Okay, good. Good for you. Anyway.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, it's just interesting how. What becomes radical and then you clean shaven long enough and now all the cool young. Well, oh yeah, it's now tired. But as of a few years ago, all the cool young baseball players and musicians had beards. Because you're a rebel.

[Joe Getty]

Sure. Right. And if you care what the New York Times thinks of your beard or lack of beard, we can't be friends.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, you're not a rebel.

[Joe Getty]

They should shut up.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you're reading articles in the New York Times about whether or not you should have a beard, right? You're not punk.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of the New York Times, it was just a day after an assassin killed Charlie Kirk in cold blood on a college campus that the New York Times published a story in which the paper quoted a segment on Kurt's podcast proving he was an anti Semite. And that story ran for hours and hours. I saw it, I read it. I was shocked. I was like, wait a minute. I didn't know this about Charlie. And I didn't see their correction many hours later in which they pointed out, and I quote, an earlier version of this article described incorrectly an anti Semitic statement that Charlie Kirk had made on an episode of his podcast. He was quoting a statement that on social media and went on to critique it and refute it. It was not his own statement. Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nice job. Most important newspaper in the world. Good Lord. How do you make a mistake like that?

[Joe Getty]

Or was it a day after he was murdered?

[Jack Armstrong]

Was it? I'll bet it was. I'll bet it wasn't on purpose. It was. We want this to be true so bad. You found it, quickly ran it.

[Joe Getty]

Yes. The writer didn't want to check. The editors didn't want to check. Or they just wanted something out there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because they knew he was an awful person.

[Joe Getty]

He was a monster who spread hate and division.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's no need to check.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Exactly.

[Jack Armstrong]

God, that is unbelievable.

[Joe Getty]

He actually, in that podcast, cocked an ear for a minute, responded to antisemitism powerfully and eloquently.

[Jack Armstrong]

The way they ran that correction makes it seem like.

[Joe Getty]

We're sorry.

[Jack Armstrong]

The guy that we said invented the lawnmower. We said his middle name was Thomas when it was actually Tim. No, this is a big deal.

[Joe Getty]

On his podcast, Charlie Kirk called the Jews divisive and. And. And had declared war on white people. And the rest of it. The flaming anti Semite was killed. The other. No, it was the opposite. The opposite.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nice work, Armstrong and Gettys.

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[Asma Khalid]

Check us [e-mail] America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC.

[Tristan Redman]

I'm Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Guardian Bikes Advertiser]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Sorry Michael. I don't know where I saw that. Losing my mind probably.

[Joe Getty]

I've never seen such a clear cut case.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think I'm losing my mind. Sorry about that, Michael. I blame myself. So I got into this story, I just saw it from NBC News. They've done a six month investigation about herd immunity for a whole bunch of different diseases across the country. Now they're the, the, the, the impetus for the study and the way they want to shade it. I don't like and don't agree with. It's all about wanting to beat up on RFK Jr. And Trump and all that sort of stuff. But regardless of that, it sounds pretty damn plausible to me. And, and it's, and it's a real problem we have. As a guy who got whooping cough, that's why it's on my mind. There is a decline in people having their kids vaccinated, no doubt, but it's small so far, but it's there. You add that to adults who got their shots decades ago and have now, they've now worn off, which none of us think about. That's what the NBC story talks about.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

We think I got the shot for whooping cough when I might, that's what my mom told me when I got whooping cough. She said, well, I got you the shot when you were a baby. Mom, I'm 60. But, but I like, I never thought about it. I wasn't walking around thinking, man, I'm really, I'm, I'm, I'm rotten dirty here on, on whooping cough and tetanus and all kinds of different things, but I'm willing to take my chances. I wasn't thinking about it at all. And neither are you, neither is anybody else. But the, the percentage you need to get to, when we all remember this a little bit from COVID right, There's this thing called herd immunity. If you get to like 95% of people not being able to get to.

[Joe Getty]

A disease can't spread, runs out of vectors. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It just, just mathematically can't spread. And we've been at that number or higher for all these different diseases for decades now. So it didn't matter that so many adults, their immunity had worn off on all these different things. Well, now the kid number have dropped. Even though it's small, it's gone from like nobody to 5% of kids who aren't getting inoculated. Depending on where you live, it's crossed the line. And that's how I ended up with whooping cough and lots of people. And you're seeing more tuberculosis and a bunch of these different things that might be a serious problem for the country. I don't know what we do about this other than I wonder if adults are going to start getting measles shots and whooping cough shots and all these different.

[Joe Getty]

Well, they'll get boosters that in the past hadn't been deemed necessary because there was nobody to give it to you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, right. Nobody. Nobody ever told me ever that I should get a booster of my TDAP shot. That you get your kids.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. And you didn't mention immigration. But that's a fact or two. If you let millions of people, obviously, and NBC into your country unvaccinated.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you're right. NBC. NBC isn't going to mention that. So a chunk of that percentage is the biggest migration in world history that happened over the last presidential term. We won't mention the mummy who was president. Yeah, that plays a role, obviously.

[Joe Getty]

What's it like to be one of those people like at NBC News who want to make. Are they willfully ignoring immigration? Have they not heard it? Are they. I'm picturing them saying, you know, it's probably not a major factor and we don't want to like, give people an excuse for racism, so we'll leave that out. Are they just that ignorant?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. It's more interesting and true. Which should be your number one goal when writing any piece that the. We've. We've crossed the 5% who are out there able to spread it. Well, the 95% people that immune for herd immunity. We've crossed that line because of three things. Fewer kids, an aging population where their shots are wearing off, and rampant immigration.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those three factors is what got us here. Why wouldn't you report the whole thing?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I would love to know. Seriously, it's not that hard.

[Jack Armstrong]

So don't be surprised, I guess, if doctors start saying, you know, you need to get your measle, mumps, rubella, or tetanus, diphtheria, whatever the official name is, of whooping cough. Something starts with a P. Pertussis. I believe it's the P&TDAP. You don't want it?

[Joe Getty]

No. And you sure don't want your baby to have it.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, no, no, no, no, no. It's the worst thing. Worst disease. I'VE ever had was whooping cough. And if a kid had it. Yeah, it'd be horrifying. There's Covid all over the place right now. I know. I know more people with COVID now than I knew three years ago. And it's a different beast now. It's a different beast. People aren't getting the jab. I'm not either. And it spreads like you can't stop the spread of it at this point.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of the mainstream media, I sat on this for a few days and just never got to the article. So I navigated away from them. But there were pieces in both the New York Times and I think it was Washington Post about how people were just outraged that they and their kids didn't have access to the COVID vaccine.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. I know.

[Joe Getty]

And they're kids.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm like, wait, what?

[Joe Getty]

What is the matter with you cultists? Seriously, what's it like in your head?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if you're old, got.

[Joe Getty]

Comorbidities, tough respiratory or cardiac situation, you know, you're probably fine getting it. I'm not with the crowd that thinks that. Like, did RFK Jr himself say that the vaccine killed more people than the disease? That's a bizarre and ridiculous thing to say.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think he did say that years ago. He has walked it back. But he did say it at one point.

[Joe Getty]

But anyway. But if you're, like, anxious for your kids to go get a COVID vaccine, you're a cultist. Unless there's a special circumstance, then we're not talking about you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Some of the testimony I think it's today actually was going to be. And they were using their sarcastic tone on npr. Somebody, I don't even remember who it is, will be making the claim that Covid wasn't as deadly as officials had said. It absolutely wasn't as deadly as officials said. They acted like your kid was at risk all the time. And I don't think a single healthy child in America died. Not one in the whole country.

[Joe Getty]

Correct. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

How many people do that?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Very frustrating.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

One other story that I can fit into the time we got, I thought, this is an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal. Kind of want it to be true. Kind of don't want it to be true. It's the idea that this referendum we're going to have November 4th in California for redistricting is going to doom Gavin Newsom. It's an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, and they just think it's going to take him Down. He's putting all his eggs in that basket. Seems to be fighting hard. He putting out lots of videos, giving speeches and everything like that. It's polling horribly. And I assume you all know this story. It's in a. It's. Well, it's an attempt for Gavin Newsom to look like the person who's the resistance to Trump so he can become the Democratic nominee for president. But he wants to do in California what they're doing in Texas with the redistricting to get more Democrats. But they already have, except they already did it years ago and. But they're going to try to squeeze a few more Democrats out of the state. It's polling horribly, this ballot measure, to redistrict in the middle like this. And even 60% of Democrats don't like it. So people just. People just don't like it. It looks undemocratic, blah, blah, blah. And this piece in the Wall Street Journal thinks it will doom him, that when it goes down big and he is really, you know, put a lot of oomph behind it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's going to tank him with, with donors and just in the eyes of the, the experts who are talking him up. I don't know. I don't know if I agree with that or not. And again, I don't know if I want it to be true or not.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I would certainly like to see him brought down and humiliated, but by other things.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Joe Getty]

I.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's funny, I had never considered him the. Considered the idea of him winning the presidency. I've considered he could get the nomination. I think if he became president, I would become so despondent I could no longer participate in the country. I would just. I would, I would. So I would have to give up my idea that we can govern ourselves.

[Joe Getty]

Total loss of will to live.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would become like Michael Malice, where I no longer believe in democracy. I just don't think people pay enough attention or smart enough because if Gavin Newsom gets elected, that means nobody looked into California and what it's like.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. It's easy to spin the scenario where that happens, though.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, sure, yeah. Yeah. I mean, number one, and everybody knows this. Right. A very small percentage of the electorate nominates the candidates.

[Jack Armstrong]

True.

[Joe Getty]

It's the hardest core of, you know, whatever. 30% of the population is a declared Democrat at this point.

[Jack Armstrong]

I actually think that works against him since he's trying to moderate. I mean, getting the nomination, you need to be all free transition surgeries for illegal children.

[Joe Getty]

Right. Well, he has no beliefs, so he'll be able to swing back to the left during the primaries. But then something happens with the Republican nominee. Whether a narrative is built that just sways enough people. A giant scandal, a shocking health problem. Joe Biden. Just something clears the way. Because it's a binary choice.

[Jack Armstrong]

Sure.

[Joe Getty]

I tell you what, though, that'd be depressing. The Kamalopolic ellipse should have taught the parties. Look, we've gotta have a. You know, the little glass box with the hammer break in emergency. We've got to at least have a protocol for. We've got to jettison the candidate. We gotta put in the backup qb because otherwise, you know, that scenario plays out. Gavin Newsom is the president of the US Having earned it by driving one of the greatest chunks of geography on earth straight into to the sewer in virtually every way, economically, educationally, socially, people.

[Jack Armstrong]

Leaving for the first time in its history.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. Seriously, one of the great places on earth. And, oh, what a nightmare that would be. I don't know how I.

[Jack Armstrong]

You laugh.

[Joe Getty]

I laugh. I wouldn't know whether to, you know, take to the. The ramparts or stand on my head and poop. Poop wooden nickels.

[Jack Armstrong]

How'd I pay to see them?

[Joe Getty]

Well, you know, whatever you paid, you'd be overpaying.

[Jack Armstrong]

I feel like if you stood upright and pooped wooden nickels, it'd be qu. Trick. Just stand on your head.

[Joe Getty]

That is not an act anybody wants.

[Jack Armstrong]

To see another layer. If you could play the harmonica standing on your head and pooping with. Oh, man, that.

[Joe Getty]

That show would close after a day.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'll give you $5 for that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. All right. Anyway, the.

[Jack Armstrong]

The. The whole glass box break in case of emergency. Where does that come from?

[Joe Getty]

Fire alarms.

[Jack Armstrong]

Back in the day, fire alarms used to be that way. That's right.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

As I recall, they're not that way anymore.

[Joe Getty]

Not generally, no. Break your glass.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's your chance of cutting yourself horribly now? I'm bleeding and I'm in.

[Joe Getty]

A building's burning down. You baby. Be careful and break the glass.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

All right. So what time is it? Oh, we probably ought to take a break.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they dropped the terrorism charge against Mangione, the horrifying murderer.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Maybe you can explain why that is, briefly.

[Joe Getty]

Be delighted.

[Jack Armstrong]

It'll be a talking point today. Among other things.

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[Joe Getty]

Free.

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[Asma Khalid]

Check us [e-mail] America is changing and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America is isn't just a cause of global upheaval, it's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington D.C. i'm.

[Tristan Redman]

Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global Story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Guardian Bikes Advertiser]

Looking for a smarter way to teach your child to ride a bike and support American jobs at the same time? Most kids bikes are cheap imports, heavy clothing, clunky and hard for kids to control. Guardian Bikes is changing that assembling bikes right here in the USA with plans for full US manufacturing in the next few months. It's a commitment to higher quality and American craftsmanship you can trust. Each bike is lightweight, low to the ground and built to help kids learn to ride faster, many in just one day. No training wheels needed. Guardian's patented sure Stop Braking System. One lever stops both wheels, giving your child more control, faster stops and prevents those scary head over handlebar accidents. It's so easy even a 2 year old can do it. If you're ready to support American jobs and keep your kids Safe, head to guardianbikes.com today. You'll save hundreds compared to the competition. Join their newsletter. You'll get a free bike lock and pump a $50 value. Guardian bikes built in the USA made specifically for kids the Trump administration is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Signaling it's close to a deal with China over TikTok. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen saying the US and China have reached the quote framework for a deal. TikTok owner ByteDance has until Wednesday's deadline to sell to a US approved buyer or risk TikTok being blocked in the US President Trump and China's President Xi could announce a deal when they speak together on Friday. So the version I heard of it is they have to rewrite the algorithm. Well, if they rewrite the algorithm, it's a different it's not TikTok. Right. Mean call it TikTok, but it's not the TikTok people love so much.

[Joe Getty]

Right. They're going to rewrite the algorithm and then sell it to a US Owner.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's what I heard. It was even one of Trump's dudes explaining how it works.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that reminds me of what I learned just a few years ago that like big box hardware stores have a different version of the product than you would get directly from the manufacturer. They give, they offer a less expensive, probably less great option to lower the price point for the big box stores and this will be cut rate. Tick tock.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah, so I don't, I don't quite understand that, but no, me neither. So that's that story and we're not on TikTok because it's a Chinese spy app and when the deal gets done, we'll talk about it then. Don't trust China. That's right. Also, quickly, why did they drop the terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, the scumbag murderer?

[Joe Getty]

It's because what he did in shooting the poor healthcare executive does not really fit the New York State definition of terrorism, which is tailored to mostly shooting multiple victims over a clearly political end. It's just too cloudy. It'd Be too easy to lawyer him out of it. So they're just going with his cold blooded murderer, okay?

[Jack Armstrong]

Fine with me. As long as he doesn't ever get out, I don't care what the charges are. It doesn't make any difference.

[Joe Getty]

And if you support him, you're sick.

[Jack Armstrong]

You are. And there's lots of people outside that courtroom with. With pro him signs today, which is pretty twisted because that's a level of political violence. Also, does this need set up what we're about to hear? I don't want to give anything away. It doesn't, Michael. Okay, here we go.

[LG X Boom Advertiser]

I heard a squeal and I got pulled. The alligator had him by his airtag and drags him. And I just punched and punched and punched and I punched him in the eye enough that he kind of let go. Like he unclamped a little and I pulled out, but his teeth were like here. And just drug down my arm. Be careful with your dogs. You know, these alligators are no joke. I mean, 15ft he came out to get them.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's a woman who punched an alligator in the eye to get it to release her dog who was being eaten.

[Joe Getty]

Well, all's well, it ends well, I guess. Do we know where that was, Michael?

[LG X Boom Advertiser]

It was in Florida.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, Florida.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. The infamous sewer gators of Manhattan. Yeah. You know, I'm glad it ended well, but as a guy who spends a fair amount of time in the southeast, the conventional wisdom is if gator gets hold of fluffy. Say goodbye to fluffy.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would.

[Joe Getty]

Otherwise you're gonna get dragged into the water and drowned.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I'm gonna be like that woman. I'm socking that thing in the face.

[LG X Boom Advertiser]

Absolutely.

[Joe Getty]

Touch his leathery face.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm gonna stand and salute my dog.

[Joe Getty]

It was fluffy.

[Jack Armstrong]

My dog's not going anywhere without a fight. Really? Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[LG X Boom Advertiser]

I mean, I say that I don't have an alligator in my face. Actually confronting the situation, but.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[LG X Boom Advertiser]

No, it's super superhero in me thinks.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'd knock that thing out.

[Joe Getty]

I actually could see you doing that, my kid.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Probably until the blessed day occurs that you are a mom.

[LG X Boom Advertiser]

Ah, yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It does change things that. That's funny. I would have said what you said before I had kids about the dog. How interesting is that? I'm just saying. Me. Yeah. This is true for me. Doesn't need to be true for anybody else. Before I had kids, I would have said I would fight an alligator to save my dog. Having kids now. I would. My kids, but not the dog.

[Joe Getty]

And again with some familiarity with alligators I will tell you there are two ways people get killed by gators mostly. Number one, some old stir is gardening too close and slips into a lake and the gators happens to be right there and says well I'll be damned a meal and it's just damned unfortunate. But the second thing that happens a lot is the gator gets fluffy and grandma decides she's gonna save Fluffy. Goodbye Fluffy. Goodbye. Don't walk dogs, little dogs, especially close to lakes. And Katie, you know the test for whether there's a gator in a lake in like Florida, South Carolina, Georgia? Right? Go to the edge of the lake and put your finger in the lake, pull it out. If your finger is wet, there's an effing gator in there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Now when I was in the Everglades there were gators all over the place like right by the bike path. Could they gotten me before, I'd have been able to get away right by the bike path.

[Joe Getty]

No, cuz you look enormous to them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

Anyway, so ends gator talk tomorrow. Tigers.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Asma Khalid]

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[Asma Khalid]

Back to school sale. That's lenovo.com Lenovo America is changing, and so is the world.

[Tristan Redman]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Asma Khalid]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, DC.

[Tristan Redman]

I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global Story.

[Asma Khalid]

Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[Tristan Redman]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.