We've Gotten Desperate!

Summary

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Armstrong & Getty On Demand – "We've Gotten Desperate!"

Date: September 29, 2025
Hosts: Armstrong & Getty
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand (iHeartPodcasts)

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Overview

This episode, titled "We've Gotten Desperate!", takes a playful turn as Armstrong & Getty find themselves without a burning news topic and instead riff on random pieces of trivia, all spun through their dry wit and banter. They open with a political anecdote that ties to the current atmosphere of government shutdown threats and then fill the episode with mildly to surprisingly interesting facts, laced with asides on body modification and aging rock stars. The episode’s tone is conversational, irreverent, and entertainingly meandering.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Political Impasse Anecdote & Government Shutdowns

• [03:24] Armstrong shares a story from Bob Woodward’s book involving Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi, and John Boehner, highlighting how sometimes high-stakes government negotiation boils down to "just splitting the difference."

  • Quote:

    “Rahm Emanuel says, hold on, hold on. Before you go home, just Nancy, write down the lowest number you're willing to take. And then he said to Boehner, write down the highest number you're willing to take... how about if we do five? And they looked at each other and said, yeah, I'd go for five. I would, too. And that's how they settled it.” – Armstrong [04:11]

• Getty expands on the value of arbitration, noting its role in bringing sense into otherwise stubborn disputes.

  • Quote:

    "If you get the two parties just dealing with their s on their own, they'll never do something that calm and obvious." – Getty [05:16]

2. Random Trivia – The ‘Desperate’ Content

After admitting they've gotten “desperate,” the hosts rattle off trivia gathered from AI chatbots (Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude):

Animal Oddities

• Dolphins and mirrors: Dolphins can recognize themselves in mirrors, one of the few animals besides chimpanzees with this ability. [06:12]
• Octopus and hearts: Octopuses have three hearts, which Armstrong finds unimpressive. [06:34]
• Cows’ four stomachs: Spark discussion about the university tradition of cows with windows in their sides for agricultural study. [06:51]

Body Modification Trends

A sidetrack into the quirky and sometimes gross world of body mods sparked by the ‘window cow’ story:

• Chindo & nose gauging:
  • Quote:

    “People getting a window hole cut out in the bottom of their, like, Below your lip so you can see their teeth through there.” – Armstrong [07:40]

  • The discussion devolves into jokes about new trends such as "nose does" (gauged nostrils).
  • Quote:

    "Can't you just wear a T shirt that says I'm mad at my parents or whatever?" – Armstrong [08:18]

  • Their reaction is mostly horror and comedic disbelief, especially regarding their own children adopting such trends.

Ancient History and Surprising Facts

• Cleopatra’s Timeline:

  • “Cleopatra lived closer in time to the moon landing than to the construction of the great pyramid of Giza.” – Armstrong [08:30]
  • This sparks reflection on the scope and depths of ancient history.

• Etymology:

  • “The word muscle comes from the Latin ‘musculus’ meaning little mouse, because flexed biceps resemble mice.” – Armstrong [09:23]
  • Both find this origin "stupid" [09:36–09:37].

• Whale Tongue:

  • “A blue whale's tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant, about three tons.” – Armstrong [09:46]
  • Getty jokes about whether whale tongue is considered a delicacy somewhere, like among the Inuit.

• Ancient Dental Hygiene:

  • “Ancient Romans used to brush their teeth with urine. Because the ammonia whitened them effectively. They wanted white teeth just like we do today.” – Armstrong [10:22; 10:41]

Celebrity Sidetrack: Van Morrison’s Teeth

• Discussion sparks about musicians not caring for their teeth, specifically Van Morrison, humorously referred to as having "little baked beans" for teeth.
  • Quote:

    “If you see a recent picture of him, it's like he's got little baked beans there.” – Armstrong [11:09]

  • Co-host: “His teeth look like they're 106.” [11:23]
  • The hosts question if Morrison ever brushes anymore, deciding he’s simply “given up.” [11:31]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Government Shutdown Anecdote:

  “Just pointing out that sometimes it's just that basic and moronic. And, and, and nobody hadn't occurred to anybody to do that. I guess I just thought that was fascinating.” – Armstrong [04:43]

• On Body Modification Trends:

  “Seriously? My God. I hope neither one of my kids does that.” – Armstrong [08:07]

• On Ancient Roman Teeth Cleaning:

  “So glad we found a way around that one.” – Co-host [10:47]

• On Van Morrison:

  “His teeth look like they're 106.” – Co-host [11:23]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:24] – Bob Woodward/Rahm Emanuel anecdote on high-level governmental negotiation
• [06:11] – [06:37] – Animal trivia from various AI platforms
• [07:21] – [08:18] – Window cows segue into body modification tangents
• [08:30] – [09:40] – Ancient history trivia: Cleopatra, ‘muscle’ etymology, whale tongues
• [10:22] – [10:51] – Ancient Roman dental hygiene using urine
• [11:09] – [11:37] – Van Morrison’s teeth and general discussion about aging musicians’ hygiene

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Episode Tone & Style

• The tone is lighthearted, irreverent, and driven by the hosts’ signature sarcasm and banter.
• Language is casual, sometimes vulgar, but always in the spirit of comic exaggeration and mock seriousness.

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Closing

The show closes with hints at more offbeat trivia to come ("obscure Scrabble words") and a round of playful, exhausted resignation—perfectly in line with the “desperate for content” theme of the episode.

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This summary captures all substantive content, omitting advertisements and non-content interludes.

Transcript

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[Armstrong]

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[Armstrong]

We've gotten desperate. It's One More Thing Armstrong and Getty. One More Thing Before I get to the desperation of the One More Thing podcast, I will tell a story I've told on the Armstrong and Getty radio show a couple of different times. But I think it fits in with the looming government shutdown, which I don't care about at all. It's just a fascinating story from one of Bob Woodward's books. Several years ago, when obviously Obama was president, we were facing a government shutdown, and Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner could not come to an agreement on some terms to avoid the government shutdown. And the person trying to put the deal together was Rahm Emanuel, who you may know was Obama's chief of staff, became the mayor of Chicago, and I think has a decent chance of becoming the Democratic nominee for president and the next president of the United States. Anyway, Rahm Emanuel is in the room when Nancy Pelosi and, and, and Boehner are saying, we're at an impasse. There's just no solving this problem. There's just no solving it. We're going to have to have a shutdown. And they decide they're going to go home. And Rahm Emanuel says, hold on, hold on. Before you go home, just Nancy, write down the lowest number you're willing to take. And then he said to Boehner, write down the highest number you're willing to take. You know, and I don't know what the numbers are. It doesn't matter. But they were like, Nancy's was like 4 and his was like 6 or whatever. And he said, how about. And Rahm Emanuel said, okay, how about if we do five? And they looked at each other and said, yeah, I'd go for five. I would, too. And that's how they settled it. Just pointing out that sometimes it's just that basic and Moronic. And, and, and nobody hadn't occurred to anybody to do that. I guess I just thought that was fascinating.

[Getty]

Right, right. Well, that's why arbitration is a thing. Because if you get the two parties just dealing with their s on their own, they'll never do something that calm and obvious.

[Armstrong]

Right.

[Getty]

Because they got their dukes up and they just did somebody. That's simple. And. Oh, oh, so you do have. You do have a overlap. How about we split the overlap in half and I'll go home?

[Armstrong]

Yeah, exactly. Right. Anyway, so that's probably what will happen in the next 24 hours. So to my opening where I said it's come to this or we're down to this or we've gotten this desperate. I have random pieces of trivia that I think are mildly to above interesting, including Katie. I just went to Grok Chat GPT and what's the other one that I use?

[Co-host/Guest]

Gemini.

[Armstrong]

Gemini. Claude is what I use. I use Claude and I just said, give me a piece of interesting trivia. ChatGPTs was somewhat interesting. Dolphins can recognize themselves in mirrors. One of the very few beasts that can do this. They've done tests to show that this. But there's only like that. And the chimpanzees are pretty much it. They can recognize themselves in a mirror.

[Co-host/Guest]

Really interesting.

[Armstrong]

What is it? I don't. I'm not sure it is. According to Grok, an octopus has three hearts. I found that less than interesting. This is the one I actually liked from Claude. And then I've got a couple more.

[Getty]

Cows have four stomachs. Yeah, well, although they all have different, like, jobs.

[Armstrong]

Right? Yeah. There's a very famous thing at UC Davis. I live in Davis, California. They've got. I think the cow used to be alive. I don't think it's alive anymore. But they had a living cow with a window in its side. Oh.

[Getty]

University of Illinois, one of the great agricultural schools on earth, has had mirrored windowed cows for ages.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you can look at their stomachs and how the whole thing works. Here's your piece of trivia from.

[Getty]

Some of the undergrads have chindos, Michael.

[Co-host/Guest]

Awesome.

[Armstrong]

Did you miss out on the chindo trend?

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah, I think so.

[Armstrong]

It was hot for like a week. You know how some people get their earlobe stretched out? You did that, right?

[Co-host/Guest]

Yeah, I did. Like an idiot.

[Armstrong]

Get their earlobe stretched out. A variety of other things to like shock their parents or whatever you're trying to do. People getting a window hole cut out in the bottom of their, like, Below your lip so you can see their teeth through there.

[Co-host/Guest]

They're doing nose dose now. They're doing the nostrils.

[Justin Richmond]

Nose does.

[Co-host/Guest]

I just made that word up. But they're. They're gauging their. Their sides of their nose so you can see into their noses. Yes. It's.

[Armstrong]

Oh.

[Getty]

Seriously?

[Co-host/Guest]

Huh?

[Armstrong]

My God. I hope neither one of my kids does that.

[Getty]

Come on in. China. Yeah, Come on in. Or a volcano eruption or AI or something. It's over.

[Armstrong]

Can't you just wear a T shirt that says I'm mad at my parents or. Or whatever?

[Getty]

It is comfortable with conforming with the norms of society as it currently exists.

[Armstrong]

Yeah. Instead of doing something like that. Here's what it is. Gross. I do not want to stare into your skull like that. Get away from me. Just hand me my coffee. Let me go. Because I assume you're a barista. This piece of trivia from Claude Cleopatra lived closer in time to the moon landing than to the construction of the great pyramid of Giza. That's kind of interesting.

[Getty]

I've heard that sort of comparison before. Yeah, the. The ancient world was so much more ancient then. I think a lot of people understand.

[Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Getty]

That was one of the greatest parts of the British Museum in London was their collection of just mind bogglingly old antiquities. And just to think of people writing and recording what they wanted to do and their thoughts and their complaints and all thousands and thousands of years ago. And as it turns out, they're usually pretty mundane.

[Armstrong]

Yep. Three more little pieces of trivia for you. The word muscle comes from the Latin musculus, meaning little mouse. Because flexed biceps resemble mice. I don't think they do.

[Co-host/Guest]

No, they don't.

[Getty]

That's a stupid origin of a word.

[Armstrong]

Bad job. Latin Latinos. Who do I blame for this?

[Getty]

Latinx is the preferred term.

[Armstrong]

A blue whale's tongue alone can weigh as much as an elephant, about three tons. Just a blue whale's tongue weighs three tons. And then finally, this one.

[Getty]

Is whale tongue meat a delicacy anywhere among the Inuit people? Perhaps.

[Armstrong]

Or maybe it is you.

[Co-host/Guest]

Have you ever seen those videos when they get washed up on the beach and they have to blow them up?

[Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Getty]

Oh sure, sure. Is that a bunch of floating whale videos?

[Armstrong]

Or get a big chunk of whale goo on you. And then finally this one. Ancient Romans used to brush their teeth with their urine.

[Getty]

Okay, me too.

[Armstrong]

Actually. Actually, it doesn't say their urine. It just says urine. So I guess it's up.

[Getty]

Somebody's urine.

[Armstrong]

It could be someone. Steve's urine. Exactly.

[Getty]

Hey, Steve, I've run a little dry. Here's a. Take this cup.

[Co-host/Guest]

Fresh out.

[Armstrong]

Ancient Romans used to brush their teeth with urine.

[Getty]

Yes.

[Armstrong]

Because the ammonia whitened them effectively. They wanted white teeth just like we do today. They just didn't have the modern crush strips.

[Co-host/Guest]

So glad we found a way around that one.

[Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Guest]

So they used urine.

[Getty]

It's a money saver too. Michael. Huh?

[Armstrong]

You know who is not concerned with having white teeth? I just came across this the other day because I think he's got a new album out. The British Van Morrison, who is Irish, from the British Isles. Van Morrison is not concerned with how white his teeth are. If you see a recent picture of him, it's like he's got little baked beans there.

[Getty]

How old is the great songmeister?

[Armstrong]

Pretty old. Got an album out. I'm always interested in the people 80. The people that. He's not as old as I thought. His teeth. His teeth look like.

[Co-host/Guest]

His teeth look like they're 106.

[Armstrong]

Look like they're. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's bad. Isn't that something? Whoa.

[Co-host/Guest]

He's giving up. He just doesn't brush anymore.

[Armstrong]

Yes, he has decided I am not going to worry about how white my teeth are.

[Getty]

So gross.

[Co-host/Guest]

Oh, well, join us next time when we'll discuss obscure Scrabble words.

[Armstrong]

There you go.

[Co-host/Guest]

Well, I guess that's it.

[Armstrong]

Uses a cue.

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[Armstrong]

Where do you see the business actually.

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[Justin Richmond]

This is Justin Richmond, host of Broken Record. Lexus is a company that believes in the importance of setting a standard we which I can appreciate as someone who holds themselves to lofty if not ridiculous standards, especially with the car I drive. The standard Lexus has set for themselves is to experience amazing. Lexus measures success by the feeling and emotions evoked in a driver, like exhilaration and joy. Amazing can only be achieved by knowing people on a deeper level. The standard of amazing results in a feeling in drivers that their car was built in anticipation of them. Machines that make you feel more human because a car that doesn't make you feel something is a car that stops short of amazing experience. Amazing at your Lexus dealer.

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