Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: "You Woke Little Dwarf"

Date: November 20, 2025
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

Episode Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand features the hosts' trademark wide-ranging discussion—from serious political news (Epstein files, military insubordination arguments) to debates about historical narratives (Ken Burns’ "The American Revolution") and lighter material, including viral animal clips and offbeat humor. The main theme centers around skepticism of prevailing political and historical narratives, often confronting perceived overreaches of "woke" culture and media.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rachel Maddow at Dick Cheney’s Funeral - Shifting Political Landscapes

(03:49 – 04:23)

• Hosts react in disbelief at reports that liberal commentator Rachel Maddow attended the funeral of Dick Cheney.
• Jack’s Take: Once reviled by the left, Cheney is now considered by some as emblematic of the "grown up" GOP, mainly because his family stands against Trump.
• Joe: “Because the Cheney family was anti-Trump.”
  Jack: “Yes.”
• Reflection on how quickly alliances and political perceptions shift in modern America.

2. The “Epstein Document Release Act of 2025” – Privacy vs. Transparency

(04:23 – 09:49)

• Congress passes a law pushing for the release of government files on Jeffrey Epstein, with overwhelming public support.
• Jack: Notes enormous political pressure for maximal transparency, predicting public discontent if significant information is redacted.
• Concern: Release could erode long-standing norms about privacy and the presumption of innocence, potentially harming people tangentially mentioned but not accused of crimes.
• Joe: Compares it to opening a dangerous Pandora’s box—justifying action in an extreme case could set a perilous precedent for privacy in all investigations.
• Quote:
  Joe (06:42):
  “If you've got a really, really good reason to murder somebody. Well, once you start murdering people…it’s, you know, Katie, bar the door.”
• Real-world example: Larry Summers lost positions, not due to criminal accusations, but due to embarrassing, tangential associations.
• Discussion expands to “guilt by association” and how lives can be ruined by minor or misconstrued links to bad actors.

3. Encouraging Military Disobedience – Politics and Chain of Command

(10:51 – 15:19)

• Context: National security Democrats are publicly suggesting military personnel may defy certain Presidential orders (especially if from Trump), under the pretext of fighting fascism.
• Jack:
  “This has been burbling around for a couple of weeks now... Now it’s out in the open.”
• Guest soundbites:
  • Pat Fallon (Republican): Asserts that “not following illegal orders” is Military 101, but it obviously requires practical limits for the chain of command.
  • Jason Crow (Democrat): Vaguely cites the need for judgment and preparation but gives no specifics.
• Critique (Email from listener Henry):
  “Democrats encouraged American servicemen to disobey presidential orders… but refused to give an example of such an order from Trump… Grandstanding from the left who risked nothing…”
• Underlining worry: The politicization of the military and calls for resistance could create real-world martyrs (references to Chelsea Manning).

4. Viral “Screaming at a Goat” Video – Humor and Gender Stereotypes

(20:15 – 24:32)

• The hosts play and dissect viral audio of a man shrieking upon encountering a neighborhood goat.
• Jack:
  “Well, you can’t get away from a goat that way. It'll just jump on top of the car with you.” (21:36)
• Joe:
  “The goat we’re talking about, now if it were a substantial goat and it were indeed trying to, and I quote, ‘hump us,’ that would be alarming.” (21:08)
• Spirals into banter about startle responses—screaming, fighting, and cultural narratives about gendered behavior and fear.
• Jack pushes buttons with gendered humor (“I don’t think I’ve ever screamed…like I got a vagina.”), leading Joe to playfully rebuke:
  "Wow, that was unnecessary." (22:23)

5. Ken Burns’ “The American Revolution” – Historical Narratives and Controversy

(28:22 – 48:41)

• Jack describes watching the first moments of Ken Burns’ 12-hour documentary, only to be struck that it opens with the idea that American democracy was inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy—a point he’d never heard before.
• Joe: “I'd never heard that before, specifically... union of separate entities.” (32:27)
• The hosts debate if the claim about Native American influence on the Constitution is “basic high school stuff,” as Twitter critics claim, or “complete nonsense,” as others counter.
• Summary of arguments:
  • Were the Iroquois truly running a democracy akin to the U.S. model? Hosts express deep doubt.
  • Did Benjamin Franklin and others draw directly from Native systems? Joe provides a cursory history of the Iroquois Confederacy (structure, clan mothers choosing leaders, need for unanimity), but concludes:
    “It could be described as an oligarchy as easily as a democracy… I wouldn’t call that a democracy exactly.” (45:02)
  • At best, Native confederacies may have served as one of many inspirations.
• Jack:
  “To act like that was… the seed of the American system—no it’s not.” (48:24)
• Both hosts express disappointment if the documentary leans too hard on contemporary revisionist angles over straightforward historical narrative.
• Quote:
  Jack (34:09):
  “If you led with that, how much—oh, this is going to be hard to watch.”

6. Meta-Commentary: AI, Trust, and Historical Sources

(44:12 – 46:32)

• Joe facetiously “checks” with ChatGPT about Native American governance, notes studies showing AI fabricates some citations, and jokes maybe it’s just mimicking bad academic habits of humans.
• Broader point: Both in AI and historical commentary, reliable sourcing and skepticism are key, especially in an age of information overload.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Joe Getty:
  “The idea that everybody’s so pristine… Therefore the authorities ought to be able to just broadcast that to whomever they want, anytime they want. I mean, that's anathema to our system.” (06:42)
• Jack Armstrong:
  “You're going to tell me you got nothing in your past, nothing at any point…that if it were exposed, it wouldn’t look bad without explanation? Of course you do. Everybody does.” (08:16)
• Joe Getty (re: Ken Burns):
  “To call it a democracy is a hell of a stretch.” (47:49)
• Jack Armstrong (withering sarcasm on the documentary’s message):
  “The subtitle is ‘How British Colonists Imitated the Indians and Built a Country and Kicked the Indians Off Their Country.’” (34:09)
• On AI and Truth:
  Joe: “ChatGPT fabricated roughly one in five academic citations.” (44:36)

Important Timestamps

• 03:49 – Start of political discussion, Rachel Maddow at Cheney funeral
• 04:23 – Epstein files law: privacy vs. transparency debate
• 06:42 – Civil liberties and "mob justice" analogies
• 10:51 – Military, illegal orders, and Democrats' rhetoric
• 20:15 – Viral goat video, shrieking, banter about fear responses
• 28:22 – Ken Burns documentary discussion begins
• 32:27 – Claims of Iroquois influence on U.S. democracy scrutinized
• 44:12 – AI, fabricated citations, and historical argument reliability
• 47:49 – Final remarks on “democracy” and Iroquois system

Tone & Style

• Irreverent yet critical; swings between deeply skeptical, sarcastic humor and serious, sometimes historical-laden commentary.
• Hosts often self-deprecate, challenge each other's points, and invite audience participation by mentioning their text line.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is a classic Armstrong & Getty show: skeptical of official narratives (be it political cover-ups or "woke" retellings of history), critical of “mob” and media groupthink, and laced with irreverent humor. The discussion on Ken Burns’ documentary provides a window into contemporary debates over how America’s story gets told—and who gets to tell it. Along the way, expect quips about goats, gender stereotypes, the dangers of transparency without privacy, and the reliability (or not) of AI-generated facts.

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