You're Very Beard Focused Today...

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand — "You're Very Beard Focused Today..."

Date: March 11, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
Notable Contributor: Katie Green
Main Theme: Iran, the Straits of Hormuz Crisis, U.S. Military & Media Coverage, AI's Impact, and Billionaire Wealth

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on rapidly unfolding events in the Middle East, particularly Iran's actions in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. military response. Armstrong and Getty dissect the geopolitical stakes, the role of modern media, how AI both empowers and endangers news consumption, and explore the economic impact including wild oil market fluctuations. The conversation then pivots to the Forbes billionaire list—using it as a springboard to discuss broader issues of inflation, tech wealth, and economic migration within the U.S.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Iranian Escalation & the Strait of Hormuz Crisis

• [02:36] Jack follows open source intel reporting on Twitter: "Iran attempting to mine the Straits of Hormuz...giant headline...French announced ships escorting oil tankers...Then Iran's going to mine the thing."
• [03:25] Joe adds: "US military has bombed 16 of those mining ships...blew them to the pleasant coastal town of smithereens."
• [05:12] Despite military action, "Iran did hit three ships this morning...and attacked Dubai International Airport, now the busiest airport in the world."
• Strategic context: At its narrowest, the strait is just 21 miles wide—shipping must come within 10 miles of Iran's coast, making it vulnerable.

2. Impact on Global Markets—Social Media Missteps

• [03:31] Joe recounts the Energy Secretary tweeting about U.S. escorts—causing oil futures to plunge. When the tweet was deleted minutes later, "hundreds of millions of dollars traded hands...companies that had lost and bought a bunch of oil at that price...prices shot back up."
• [04:54] Jack: "How easy would it be to make millions of dollars by jerking around the stock market like that on purpose if you knew you were going to do it?"
• They discuss how these rapid news cycles can be weaponized—intentionally or not—for financial gain.

3. Military Strategy, Targeting, and "Victory"

• [05:59] Jack questions the logic of claims that the U.S. and Israel have struck "8, 10,000 targets," yet "how are they not all...that would fire rockets into the Strait of Hormuz?...How have we not obliterated every bit of that?"
• [07:13] Joe explains: "The weird beards [Iranian military], they understand...missile launchers are their leverage, and so they have...dispersed them and hid them."
• Discussion then moves into the goals of U.S. involvement and the elusive definition of "victory."

4. Media Framing & Public Perception of the Conflict

• [08:25] Armstrong relays a take from Mark Halperin on polarized U.S. media: “On Fox...unquestioning support...on the other channels, they don't seem to be rooting for our side.”
• [09:19] Jack: "Big thread smell of not rooting for success on our side. Because that would hand Donald Trump a win, I guess."
• [09:34] Joe criticizes “generations of Americans...taught to despise their country," linking this to reflexive anti-U.S. coverage and political polarization.

5. Iranian Oil Exports—Contradictions in the Narrative

• [10:13] Jack quotes Brit Hume: "The Strait of Hormuz is...accommodating more Iranian oil exports than before the war. If you're not sure what to believe, you're not alone."
• [10:48] Joe: "We can blow the beard off a mullah, but we can't...take out an Iranian oil tanker."
• The hosts probe this disconnect: how is Iran exporting more oil now? They vow to investigate.

6. Notable News Headlines & The Rise of AI Fakes

• [14:38] Katie Green reviews headlines:
  • "Iran launches... most strikes yet"
  • "Fake explosions, fake missiles, fake troops: AI videos/images of Iran war spread widely on social media" (CNN)
• [15:03] Jack: "I've probably watched videos that were AI and I didn't know it."
• [18:01] Cold open: A viral TikTok associating meat-eating with “toxic masculinity”—the hosts lambaste viral outrage culture and ponder the value of platforming fringe voices.

7. Forbes Billionaire List & Wealth in the Age of AI

• [19:30] Jack: "A record 3,428 billionaires...13% increase in a year...combined net worth jumped by $4 trillion."
• [21:54] AI overtly drives new wealth: "Year of the billionaire...AI-powered stock market boom."
• Tech dominates the rich list: Elon Musk #1, followed by Google founders, then Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison.
• Donald Trump ranks #645—his net worth up 27%, partly due to crypto.
• Notable newcomers: Beyoncé, Dr. Dre, Federer, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Springsteen.

8. Inflation’s Legacy & Its Hidden Cost

• [20:53] Joe: "When the government overspends, it causes inflation and that steals your money, it steals your savings."
• [21:15] Jack: "A million dollars is 790,000. Really?...Actual buying power is a lot less."
• They hammer home that apparent gains can be illusions—especially for regular savers.

9. AI, News Trust, & Constructed Realities

• [25:10] Jack: "What’s the point of even reading the news? ...If there's a decent chance that what I'm looking at is not real, pretty soon, it takes all the fun out."
• [25:43] Joe: "We've just begun the era of, I wonder if this is real."
• They predict the emergence of “trustworthy” news sources, likely using both expert curation and AI-based detection—but express skepticism about people’s willingness to seek the truth.

10. Political Intrigue: Trump, Rubio, and J.D. Vance

• [28:53] Trump may prefer Rubio as successor over J.D. Vance—early “palace intrigue” for 2028.
• [29:42] Joe: "If the election were held today, Rubio would be the guy."
  Jack: Questions Rubio's reticence to run if Vance does, calling the dynamics "epic battles."

11. Taxes and the Business Elite's Migration

• [30:16] Seattle passes a nearly 10% tax on millionaires, prompting Starbucks founder Howard Schultz to relocate to Florida.
• [30:43] Jack: "You think people, rich people, aren't going to leave your city or state when you raise your taxes? ...You're nuts."

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Quotes & Memorable Moments

"Blew them to the pleasant coastal town of smithereens."
— Joe Getty [03:25]

"How easy would it be to make millions of dollars by jerking around the stock market like that on purpose if you knew you were going to do it?"
— Jack Armstrong [04:35]

"I'm surprised that we haven't just ...obliterated everything they've got to try to shoot at the Strait of Hormuz."
— Jack Armstrong [06:46]

"The weird beards, they understand... those missile launchers are their leverage, and so they have worked very hard to disperse them and hide them."
— Joe Getty [07:13]

"On one hand, no skepticism. On the other hand, they're not even rooting for our country."
— Jack Armstrong [08:55]

"It's Trump derangement syndrome...a handful of generations of Americans who've been taught to despise their country..."
— Joe Getty [09:34]

"We can blow the beard off a mullah, but we can't, you know, take out an Iranian oil tanker."
— Joe Getty [10:48]

"What’s the point of even reading the news ...if what I'm looking at is not real?"
— Jack Armstrong [25:10]

"If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."
— Joe Getty [30:01]

"Ten soldiers, wisely led, will beat a hundred without a head."
— Joe Getty, quoting Euripides [31:14]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Strait of Hormuz/Iran Crisis News: [02:36] – [07:25]
• Oil Market/Social Media Manipulation: [03:31] – [05:12]
• Media Coverage Polarization: [08:25] – [09:34]
• Iranian Oil Exports Paradox: [10:13] – [11:07]
• AI Misinformation in War: [14:38] – [15:17], [25:10] – [26:59]
• Forbes Billionaire Report & Tech Wealth: [19:30] – [24:41]
• Inflation and the Value of Wealth: [20:53] – [21:15]
• Political Dynamics (Trump, Rubio, Vance): [28:53] – [29:54]
• Tax Policy & Billionaire Migration: [30:16] – [30:52]
• Mailbag and Listener Questions: [31:18] – [34:50]

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Tone & Style

The episode stands out for its sardonic humor, skepticism towards both government and media, and a fast-paced, conversational style peppered with off-the-cuff jokes ("You're very beard focused today!") and pop culture references. There’s a persistent theme of incredulity at both current events and some public reactions, balanced by moments of genuine concern for geopolitical and economic realities.

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Summary

Listeners are given a whirlwind tour through the latest military, economic, and media developments—from missile strikes in the Persian Gulf to the surreal ways that AI and social media are distorting reality. Deep skepticism abounds: regarding official narratives, media objectivity, the potential for market manipulation, and even the ability to discern truth in the age of AI. The billionaire list culminates as both a symptom of tech-driven change and a case study in the real impact of inflation. Throughout, Armstrong and Getty’s trademark irreverence and quick banter keep the discussion lively, informative, and, at times, provocatively funny.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

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[Announcer]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

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

[Joe Getty]

Live.

[Jack Armstrong]

Live, live from Studio C, a dimly lit room deep within the bowels of the Armstrong and Getty Communications compound, fortified by titanium walls. And today we are toiling under the

[Joe Getty]

title of the show the Straits of Horror Moves. Okay, I was answering a friend's question about these traits. The the straight of Hormuz Apple, whose AI is an embarrassment, wrote it as the Straits of Horror Moves.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not bad today.

[Joe Getty]

It's only one of the most discussed things in the news today. And then it had the wrong form of route when I said shipping route, but keep working on it. Cupertino, the other alternate title.

[Jack Armstrong]

To win or not to win.

[Joe Getty]

That is the question.

[Jack Armstrong]

We were making that point yesterday about AI And I don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but I, I gotta believe if AI is gonna take all our jobs, you'd be able to make texting figure out that if you're talking about shipping routes, you wouldn't use root. I mean that's like something a second grader could figure out. So why can't AI do that? I really don't. Does if anybody, like many of our smart Silicon Valley listeners, know if there's any relationship between those things? Maybe there's not. Maybe they just don't care about the fixing that while they're working on coding or something.

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. Yeah. I'm so mystified and flabbergasted by the whole thing. I can't even imagine anyway, but to

[Jack Armstrong]

the, to the things you're talking about there. So it was a heck of a thing middle of the day yesterday, west coast time, because I follow the open source intelligence thing on Twitter on a fairly regular basis and they had a bulletin report Iran attempting to mine the Straits of Hormuz and that was a giant headline. I mean, holy crap. You know, because we've been talking for days about keeping that open. And the French had announced that they were willing to send some of their ships there to escort oil tankers through there and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So then Iran's going to mine the thing. Then like 15 minutes later, the open source intelligence headline was, never mind. US military has bombed 16 of those mining ships and they're in. Sunk.

[Joe Getty]

Blew them to the pleasant coastal town of smithereens.

[Jack Armstrong]

That didn't last long.

[Joe Getty]

Speaking of things that didn't last long, you follow the whole Secretary of Energy tweet thing? The tweet that cost hundreds of millions of dollars?

[Jack Armstrong]

No, I don't know this story.

[Joe Getty]

The Sec N, who I think is doing a terrific job, tweeted that the picture of a warship next to a tanker. The US Is escorting tankers through the Straits of Hormu. And oil markets plunged because the futures market's really a cool thing in the free market. We'll talk about it later. But anyway, so everybody thought, oh, thank God, all right, the Straits of Hormuz are cool now. We're going to be able to ship oil just fine. All right, thank God for the U.S. blah, blah. And then like a few minutes later, Katie, I know. You know, the story was five, ten minutes later.

[Katie Green]

It was probably five minutes.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. All of a sudden it was taken down. And the oil markets are like, why did you take that down?

[Jack Armstrong]

Really?

[Joe Getty]

And the prices shot back up again. And companies that had lost and bought a bunch of oil at that price and then that price and hundreds of millions of dollars traded hands. And the Energy Department said a staffer miscaptioned photograph, but we've corrected.

[Katie Green]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that sort of thing has happened a number of times. And I don't have the slightest reason to believe that there's any malfeasance here other than maybe shouldn't have posted a picture. But how easy would it be to make millions of dollars by jerking around the stock market like that on purpose if you knew you were going to do it?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. That's funny. I hadn't even thought in terms of malfeasance, but, my God, that would be an easy way to make just so easy gobs of money.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Enough that you never have to worry about making money ever again in your life. You could make in like, five kind

[Joe Getty]

of money I'm looking for.

[Jack Armstrong]

You could make it like five minutes with that sort of a tweet.

[Joe Getty]

The big score.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they didn't get to lay their minds across the Strait of Hormuz, which at its narrowest point is only 20 miles from Iran. But Iran did hit three ships this morning trying to sail through the Straits of Hormuz and attacked Dubai International Airport, which we've all learned in the last couple of weeks is the busiest airport in the world. Did not know that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Unbelievable. So I happen to be reading about the Straits. The Strait of Horror moves today. And indeed, as Jack indicated, It's just under 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. But interestingly, because of the sea floor and shipping routes and blah, blah, blah, you've got to pass within 10 miles of Iran's coast as you squeeze by. So it is. It's an easy shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, and so I. I don't know anything about this. Maybe we should have Mike Lyons on about this or something like that. I would love to understand, first of all, like, we've hit. I hear different numbers now. 8, 10,000 targets between US and Israel. What are all those targets? I mean, how are there even 10,000 targets to hit? That's kind of surprising to me. As a layman, I can't imagine there are 10,000 things to hit. I realize it's a big country, but 10,000 is a large number. And then with the fact that we've hit 10,000 targets, how are they not all the stuff that would fire rockets into the Strait of Hormuz, haven't we. How have we not obliterated every bit of that? Since they have no air defenses, there must be a reason.

[Joe Getty]

They got a missile launcher hidden under every camel.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've got to assume there must be a reason. Obviously, I'm not trying to claim any incompetence or anything, but it's just surprising to me if we've hit that many targets, with that being such a high priority, obviously, for the President of the United States, for the entire world. Well, yeah, but the President, United States kind of calling the shots on this whole thing, since that's such a high priority, I'm surprised that we haven't just like, obliterated everything they've got to try to shoot at the straight to or Hormuz.

[Joe Getty]

On the other side of the equation, the. The weird beards, they understand that those missile launchers are their leverage, and so they have worked very, very hard to disperse them and hide them, etc.

[Jack Armstrong]

The weird beards, yes.

[Joe Getty]

With all due respect, I wonder, because one of our alternate titles was to win or not to win. That is the question. And what would victory look like? What are the levels of quote, unquote, victory that would be acceptable to the orange one. And it's a really interesting question which we'll be digging into in a little bit. But I find myself wondering whether since the irgc, the Revolutionary Guard, they appear to be really pulling the strings at this point, they're a pretty potent force. Still fewer and fewer large arms, but hundreds of thousands of guys with small and medium arms. I wonder if we are pummeling their business interests to get them to come to the table in a serious way. Because you remember, you must remember,

[Jack Armstrong]

they're

[Joe Getty]

an army and a syndicate and a corporation.

[Jack Armstrong]

As far as the coverage of this, I got a clip we're gonna play later. Mark Halperton was doing his newscast in the afternoon and talking about how for the media, he is trouble that you've either got on Fox and Fox adjacent sort of media unquestioning support of this. Like there. No, no skepticism about, you know, how's this going to end, or what about this? None of that. Whereas he said on all the other channels, they don't seem to be rooting for our side.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And he's really troubled by. On one hand, no skepticism. On the other hand, they're not even rooting for our country.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's not the best place to be in terms of media coverage.

[Joe Getty]

That's very troubling. If you would like something in the middle. Well, A, you found it. And B, perhaps you could recommend the Armstrong and Getty show to your friends. They can grab it via podcast, Armstrong and Getty on demand, anytime they want. I do.

[Jack Armstrong]

I take in a lot of all kinds of different kinds of media. And there is a big thread smell of not rooting for success on our side. Because that would hand Donald Trump a win, I guess. I guess, yeah.

[Joe Getty]

It's Trump derangement syndrome. But you've also got to remind yourself that we've got a handful of generations of Americans who've been taught to despise their country, that the US has been a force for evil in the world. That uniquely on Earth, we had slaves for a while, a little while, historically speaking, and that we're an oppressor, a colonial oppressor. And so when they see us lobbing bombs, of course they think it's evil. It's the greatest failing of the boomers and Gen X to let the Marxists take over schools. I firmly believe that. Oh, and spending the country into oblivion, those two things. Other than that, we've done great, though.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I'm reading this tweet from Brit Hume. And then we'll start the show officially. Brit Hume, senior analyst for FOX News and a very, very straight shooter. So it seems that not only is the Strait of Hormuz not closed, it is actually accommodating more Iranian oil exports than before the war. If you're not sure what to believe, you're not alone. Let's read into that story more.

[Joe Getty]

I'm making my face exports of oil

[Jack Armstrong]

than before the war. How are they pulling that off?

[Joe Getty]

What the hell?

[Jack Armstrong]

I know. I don't. We'll have to look into that.

[Joe Getty]

We can blow the beard off a mullah, but we can't, you know, take out an Iranian oil tanker.

[Jack Armstrong]

What the hell? You're very beard focused today, Andy Shorthand. I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Wednesday, March 11, year 2026. We're Armstrong and getting we approve of

[Joe Getty]

this program, the old Patriot missile shave. All right, here we go. Officially, according to FCC rules and regulations

[Guest/Caller]

at Mark, yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing. That's, that's what. So, you know, we can, we can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, and yesterday morning independently, Jared and I had a call with Ushakov who reiterated the same. So I, you know, that's a better question for the intel people. But let's hope that they're not sharing.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, let's Hope that. That's Mr. Witkoff, the lead negotiator on everything. And the Trump administration on the story that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran to give them targets to try to hit our troops, which obviously would be really, really bad. And Witkoff says, well, I hope they're not. They say they're not. I'm going to take them at their word that they're not.

[Joe Getty]

You're taking Vladimir Putin at his word. Well, that's cute.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I think he'd like to have that answer back.

[Joe Getty]

But yeah, yeah, you're probably right.

[Jack Armstrong]

I, yeah. Don't like that story. Anywho,

[Joe Getty]

Spicy Times got a guy that

[Jack Armstrong]

scored, what, 83 points in the NBA last night. Break down some of the stats that are amazing in that second most in NBA history. Not what was the number, Michael? Not anybody you've ever heard.

[Joe Getty]

83. 83.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's amazing. Not anybody you've ever heard of, which is interesting because the top two record holders were Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant, household names. And then this guy comes along and scores 83 points in a game, but some of the stats behind it are amazing. If you're a sports fan at all. And we'll get to that. We got Katie's green.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that went poorly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Speaking of wanting a second chance, let's lay down, lay down some orange cones, some road flares and everything. Try to reconstruct this sentence. We've got. Yes, Katie.

[Katie Green]

No, I'm just. You can do it, Jack.

[Jack Armstrong]

I believe in you. Well, dentures and whatnot. I should have gotten the ones that. So I bought them off the shelf. Just like the small, medium, large, instead of getting fitted.

[Joe Getty]

I told you they look large.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Either go big or small.

[Joe Getty]

But if they go, you look like Gary buses.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I go to small ones, I can't eat corn on the cob. If I go with the big ones, I can't eat, I can't talk. So it's a problem. Anyway, we've got Katie Green's headlines coming up next.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, another sports story. I don't know if Katie had this headline, but the United States lost tank freaking Italy in the World Baseball Classic and we might be out of the tournament. We might be out of the tournament. Everybody was looking forward to us playing Japan for the title and the manager of the team, I forget what his name was, had already announced yesterday. Well, we're, we're basically into the, the final round already. Oh, playing Italy and then they, they went down 8 nothing to Italy and lost.

[Joe Getty]

The sports gods heard them say that.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

You know, I didn't even dial up the game last night because I thought, I'm not going to watch the US Play Italy.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, they might be out if Mexico doesn't win. Mexico win over somebody today by four runs or more, which is a lot in baseball to pull the United States into the tournament.

[Joe Getty]

Otherwise, Mexico. That's what I say. Good Lord. I guess national humiliation and in wartime. Michael.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

We didn't have an espresso machine in there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, that's right. They had an espresso machine in the dugout. Maybe that works.

[Joe Getty]

Delicious. Hey, let's figure out who's reporting what. It's the lead story with Katie Green.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie? Well, of course, at the top of

[Katie Green]

the headlines is Iran. NBC inflation was steady in February before Iran drove up gas prices. ABC Iran launches, quote, most strikes yet ships hit by unknown projectiles in Strait of Hormuz. And cnn, fake explosions, fake missiles, fake troops. AI videos and images of Iran war spread widely on social media.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's an interesting angle. I'll bet that's true. I've probably watched videos that were AI And I didn't know it with a. Some sort of exciting headline.

[Katie Green]

I got. I got.

[Jack Armstrong]

Got what?

[Katie Green]

By one the other day.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interesting.

[Katie Green]

Yeah. The war we've seemed to have forgotten about. The New York Times. Ukraine reaches a milestone. Finally making China free drones.

[Jack Armstrong]

What is that?

[Joe Getty]

China free drones. No Chinese parts.

[Katie Green]

No Chinese parts products.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Okay. All right. Good, good. Let's buy some Fox News.

[Katie Green]

DHS shutdown forces airports to tell travelers to arrive four hours early amid massive delays.

[Jack Armstrong]

What?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm driving or walking or riding my bike or riding a horse. Anything but a plane.

[Jack Armstrong]

Obviously the flight has got to be of a certain length before it makes any sense to not drive versus getting there four hours early.

[Joe Getty]

And presumably four hours early on the way back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right.

[Katie Green]

The Guardian investigators are finally looking into Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch and searching for dead foreign girls.

[Joe Getty]

I saw that. Oh, boy. It's beautiful ranch. Nice piece of real estate.

[Katie Green]

Market watch. YouTube is now the world's largest media company and it's only getting bigger.

[Jack Armstrong]

What did we. We had stat the other day. Something. A billion. Two billion videos get uploaded per day or something. It's some crazy number.

[Katie Green]

Study finds scientists gave raccoons a puzzle box. They continued to solve it after the

[Jack Armstrong]

food was gone just because they enjoyed it.

[Guest/Caller]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

They enjoy a puzzle.

[Joe Getty]

Raccoons. Fascinating beasts.

[Katie Green]

Finally, the Bab. The Babylon Bee, Iran. Morton's United States. That it has a huge stockpile of supreme leaders.

[Jack Armstrong]

You better. You better. Where is he hiding? Where is that guy hiding? How much is he enjoying life right now? Does he feel like he's the supreme leader and supremely in charge of anything?

[Joe Getty]

Well, he can't even pick up a cell phone. They're. They're allegedly. It should be keeping him away from laptops or anything connected to the Internet. Well, he's can't really communicate. He's like writing notes and passing them around.

[Jack Armstrong]

He's got to be a little twitchy. Hey, Supreme Leader. Ah, well, I thought. Sorry, you startled me.

[Katie Green]

He should be hiding in a brothel or a HOA house, considering his issue.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. He's been wounded in the legs too, apparently recently or the initial strike.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, really? Okay. I'd never heard that.

[Joe Getty]

I wish him a speedy death recovery. No, I mean death.

[Jack Armstrong]

No kidding. Yeah. So we got more news on the way. Hope you can stay here.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Podcast Host]

The way that a man views vegetarianism, veganism, tofu reflects how they view women. I think that if you can't reduce your meat intake. You are selfish. What do you mean you can't just have a veggie burger once in a while? The world is dying. Rainforest is being chopp lockdown to make warehouses to kill animals in. I had a bacon sandwich this morning, but I still feel so guilty. Meat isn't that good for you. The idea of 20 seconds. That reminds me of toxic masculinity.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, eating meat is toxic masculinity according to that person. And immediately the story started playing it.

[Joe Getty]

I regretted it.

[Jack Armstrong]

I thought why do we or anybody else do this? I guess you take some obscure tiktoker with a hot take platform them and then complain about it. What's the point of that?

[Joe Getty]

Because people enjoy it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Do they? Do they? I want these people to shut up and go away. I don't want them to be like, get more juice. They don't need more juice.

[Joe Getty]

You're no fun.

[Jack Armstrong]

So good for you with your hot Take that eating meat is toxic masculinity.

[Joe Getty]

See, that was 20 seconds. But it only seemed like a year because she was so. God.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Imagine having to have dinner with her. So if 20 seconds seemed like five minutes to me, then having dinner with her would seem like six years of your life.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I would grab my phone, say oh my God, it's my mom, she's been sick. I'll be right back.

[Jack Armstrong]

And yoink. I'll probably grab my fork and stab her in the neck.

[Joe Getty]

So you're better than ever seen again. Anything to escape.

[Jack Armstrong]

We got some news of the day like we've already mentioned and we'll get into some of that a little bit later on a variety of fronts. But the Forbes billionaire list came out and it's actually pretty interesting in a number of ways. The big picture being that the list features a record 3428 billionaires. A 1315% increase in one year because of the stock market going up so much. The combined net worth of all your richest people. I mean, I'm not working Bernie's sand side of the street here. I don't think this is a horror or I don't think their money took any from me, so. But it's something. A combined net worth that jumped by 4 trillion in one year to $20 trillion. It was a good year for people who are rich and in the stock market, definitely.

[Joe Getty]

That's astonishing.

[Jack Armstrong]

It is. It really is. 13% increase in billionaires. Part of it is inflation is a billion isn't the same today as it was in 2020. Remember I mentioned yesterday that $100 barrel oil was $79 in 2020. That's only five years and a couple of months ago.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, that's shocking.

[Jack Armstrong]

So a billion is, you know, not close to the same as it was just five years ago. Forbes called it.

[Joe Getty]

Keeping in mind, just to bring this home, because this is one of my top five jihads. When the government overspends, it causes inflation and that steals your money, it steals your savings.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. This is not to depress you as the world's most depressing radio show. This is just like a wake up call to me or you or anybody else. We all need to remember this. You know, you look at your 401k or your savings, a hundred thousand or five hundred thousand or a million or whatever you got in there ain't the same as it was when you looked at it in 2020. The actual buying power is a lot less.

[Joe Getty]

According to your figures, that million dollars is 790,000. Really?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Which is a big deal. Oof. All right, I'm not sure I can go on. Okay, back to the.

[Joe Getty]

This is why you dredge up obnoxious vegetarian kick chicks and yell at them for fun.

[Jack Armstrong]

Forbes noted it is the year of the billionaire, noting that the planet added more than one billionaire per day over the past 12 months, driven by AI powered stock market boom. So everybody got involved in a look at all the tech people in the top six on the list, at number one, Elon Musk. Now at 839 billion, he is going to become the world.

[Joe Getty]

Oh my God.

[Jack Armstrong]

He will be the world's first trillionaire. And boy, will The Bernie's and AOCs go crazy when he's got a trillion dollars about how somehow he took that money for you from you. If he didn't have it, you'd have it. I don't, I don't understand how you

[Joe Getty]

make that share the. Share the wealth. Yeah, fair share.

[Jack Armstrong]

We all know who Elon is. Larry Page number two at Google. Sergey Brin of Google, number three. So Google's two and three way back at 257 billion. Jeff Bezos of Amazon 224. Mark Zuckerberg 222. Larry Ellison of Oracle 190. So your top six are all tech AI related companies that made a lot of money. One interesting note, Trump ranks at number 645 on the list. Our current president worth $6.5 billion according to Forbes, up 27% largely from crypto dealings and his New York civil fraud penalty being thrown out. He got a lot of his money Back.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting. Yeah, the crypto dealings are utterly unholy. I mean, just despicable, Frankly. Is Don Jr. On the list, Eric?

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know. Somewhere on there maybe. Notable newcomers to the billionaire list include. Beyonce is now a billionaire. She and her husband's been for a while. They're a wealthy family. I'll bet little Blue Ivy has some nice toys.

[Joe Getty]

Who's her man again?

[Jack Armstrong]

Blue ivy might be 17 years old by now.

[Joe Getty]

Jay Z. Oh, Jay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mr. Z. Beyonce Z. That's her last name. Deonce's now on the list. Dr. Dre is on the list. Roger Federer. The tennis players on the list among the 391st timers. Dr. Drake declared himself hip hop's first billionaire back in 214. He's now officially one of only six music artists on the list. Here are your music artists. Beyonce, Jay Z, Husband and wife. Wow. How did they pull that off? It must be really good business people. Rihanna who? We got to talk about that situation. She nearly got killed the other day. She was home. The original reports where she was not home. They were home and in the trailer that this nut job was shooting at.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Yeah. In a trailer. What's she doing in a trailer?

[Jack Armstrong]

They had an Airstream trailer out front. And they must camp or something, I'm assuming. Or maybe they're like you having their kitchen remodeled. So they bought a fancy trailer. I don't know why, but anyway, could be Rihanna, Taylor Swift and who else is on the list? Bruce Springsteen. Wow. Eight of the top 10 fortunes in the world are now driven by technology. With Nvidia's the guy with the cool leather jacket joining the elite ranks as AI infrastructure becomes the world's primary engine for new wealth. Is anything AI or certainly was over the last couple of years.

[Joe Getty]

Just reading in the journal about this company founded by a 19 year old, 18 year old and 17 year old. Something like that. They're a couple of years older now, but just a couple of years older. And they're AI Company that does like polling and predictions and stuff like that is now valued at a billion dollars if. And they can't even rent a car.

[Jack Armstrong]

If all of us could go back like three years and readjust our investments and retirement heavily into AI, it would be a big difference.

[Joe Getty]

I didn't be rich rich except for what was stolen by inflation.

[Jack Armstrong]

It was a fad. I thought the whole AI thing thought that was a fad. So I was just looking at that article that you sent us, Katie, about the AI images of bombings and pictures from the war that are flying around. And it made me think, what's the point of even reading the news? Which might be where a lot of people end up in the near future. If there's a decent chance that what I'm looking at is not real, pretty soon. It takes all the fun out of it,

[Joe Getty]

clearly. And we've just begun the era of I wonder if this is real. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I assume that there will be news organizations emerge, that we trust, that their motto is, look, we got a panel of 12 experts that do everything we can to make sure everything on here is real and that we gravitate toward them. I assume that's the only thing that possibly could happen. Or we all just.

[Joe Getty]

But it won't be a panel of experts. It'll be an algorithm that'll detect AI tampering, I think, but the same effect.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, but that's almost got to happen, right? If there is a desire for people to seek out the truth. I'm not sure there is. I don't know. I only know my own anecdotal life. But I know plenty of people who enjoy seeking out so much stuff that just verifies your worldview already. Don't really care if it's real or not.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I think that that fringe of the population, whether it's 2% or 20%, is going to be unreachable soon. I mean, you can't reason with them because they'll be able to construct their own universe. I mean, even more than they do right now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Will that crowd vote? Or is that crowd so cynical that they will not vote?

[Joe Getty]

Depends what stripe of them you're talking about. But interesting question.

[Jack Armstrong]

If they don't vote, then I'm not sure how much it matters. Go ahead and chatter amongst yourselves on Twitter and whatever other social media forum you got about your weird conspiracies or views. And don't vote and the rest of us will run the world.

[Joe Getty]

I think they probably will vote, but for bizarre and difficult to explain reasons. And you will have a. Just for instance, a J.D. vance who understands his consultants will tell him, listen, this is a pretty significant block of people in the, you know, fourth district of Illinois or whatever. All you have to do use the word rutabaga in one of your speeches. Okay? Because in their forum, that's code for unearthing the anti Jewish or the Jewish cabal that runs the Bilderberg Group that is in touch with the space aliens. So just say rutabaga. And they'll be like, yeah, all right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, Breaking moving news. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz is moving out of Seattle and going to Florida. It's amazing how many super blue like Hollywood stars or business leaders, but when the rubber meets the road of taxes, they leave wherever they're from and go to Texas or Florida or Tennessee or any of those places.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe we can dig into this a little bit later, but I was just reading about how Europe's far left is having a moment. Their real lefty political parties are surging and what they advocate is so, pardon me, effing stupid, unworkable and indicted and convicted by history over and over again. It's breathtaking that anybody could advocate for it, but it's catching on, especially among

[Jack Armstrong]

somebody, anybody, the young, young voters. One thing just since you mentioned it. So I saw a headline, I didn't look into the story that around the White House, Trump is starting to say, maybe Rubio's the next guy, not JD Dance.

[Joe Getty]

That's the word.

[Jack Armstrong]

But based on a couple of speeches and some, you know, just hanging out with Rubio, maybe he's just super impressed with him.

[Joe Getty]

It is both amusing and troubling how much the White House can resemble the Apprentice show as he really likes to see people grapple with each other a little bit. He comes out on top. Oh, that's interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

He thinks, boy, if they. Rubio says he won't run. If J.D. vance runs. J.D. vance is gonna run. Boy, that would be one of your all time epic bottles. That would be like Hillary and Brock going at it where Hillary was the presumed and he'll. And Brock said, no, no, I think this is my time, old lady.

[Joe Getty]

We'll have to see where events leave them in the great foot race for power because right now, if the election were held today, Rubio would be the guy.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't quite understand why Rubio has said out loud he won't run if JD Is runs.

[Joe Getty]

At the time he said that JD Was extremely popular and he's the sitting veep.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's tough to beat that, especially if he gets the nod from Trump and their friends, allegedly.

[Joe Getty]

Although as the old saying goes, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, no kidding. Okay, so we got Mailbag on the way and then we'll get into some more news of the day. Stay here.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

I missed the connection. So the reporting is the CEO of Starbucks is leaving his hometown of Seattle because the legislature in Seattle in Washington today. The legislature in Washington today passed a 10% tax on anything over a million dollars that you make 9.9%. So that. So there you go. Yeah. You think people, rich people, aren't going to leave your city or state when you raise your taxes? Billionaire.

[Guest/Caller]

Tax.

[Jack Armstrong]

Million tax. Whatever. You're nuts.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, they'll think, gosh, that's too bad. I like this house and I'll miss my friends, but I'll fly back and see them.

[Jack Armstrong]

Goodbye.

[Joe Getty]

Here's your freedom loving quote of the day. Continuing our series on this one from Euripides, ancient wisdom, and it rhymes. Ten soldiers, wisely led, will beat a hundred without a head. There you go. Think about it, huh?

[Jack Armstrong]

Mailbag without a leader. Not missing their heads.

[Joe Getty]

Not. No, literally headless. It's a metaphor, you see. Could go with this. The classic Sun2 quote. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Ah, that's worth remembering.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, indeed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's your mailbag.

[Joe Getty]

Drop us a note. Mailbagarmstrongygetty.com Don wants to know, hey, the new Khomeini Weird Beer Junior has no interest in becoming a martyr. What would he do with 17 virgins?

[Jack Armstrong]

Right?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, because he's impotent, he can't get it up. Is there a virgin shortage? I thought it was 72 virgins. I like the meme where the 72 virgins are all male video gamers. Anyway, moving along, there's anything wrong with video?

[Jack Armstrong]

Does inflation play a role in this?

[Joe Getty]

That's right. Adjusted for inflation, that is 35 virgins. I guess that would be backward. Moving on, Zach, who is a man of the military rights. I've been looking in on Twitter since the war started. I see extremists left and right claiming we're fighting for Israel, saying they don't want to send American sons and daughters to die for Israel, et cetera. I must have missed the die for Israel clause in my enlistment contract with the Army. Oh, well. Biggest thing social media and this conflict have shown me is one, there's there are way more anti Semites than I realized existed. And two, there's a massive disconnect between civilians and the military and veteran community. I know a lot of vets loving this gwot. What does that stand for?

[Jack Armstrong]

G wot?

[Joe Getty]

I don't know. I'll look it up. I know a lot of GWOT vets living this. And I have young guys in my unit itching for Middle east deployment right now. Not young, but so am I. What a weird time we live in. Anyway, cheers, boys. Same to you, Zach.

[Jack Armstrong]

My brother's that way.

[Joe Getty]

Respect, my lad.

[Katie Green]

Global war on terrorism.

[Joe Getty]

Ah, Oh, I see, I see. Yeah. Okay. Thanks for the note, Zach, and thanks for everything you do. Um, let's see. Jack, Joe writes Anita, gaining steam as a frequent correspondent. Progressives in the press and the Christian. And the Christians, who never darken the door of a church may not care much for religious worldviews, but the Iranian theocracy is premised on bringing about the return of the Mahdi. That is their particular brand of Shia Islam.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's correct.

[Joe Getty]

To do so, they must destroy Israel. The whole of the regime has existed to do just that. And the deceased Ayatollah decided to pursue nuclear weapons because, in his words, Israel is a quote, one bomb country.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's amazing how many of us refuse to believe people when they say what they are. Just like the. The thing of, hey, it turns out Stalin and Lenin actually believed it. They were actual communists. And it turns out the mullahs in Iran, they actually believe this. They believe they're going to bring back everything good for the world. That's why they're so into this.

[Joe Getty]

American progressives and oddly, Donald Trump, I don't think get religious fanaticism. Moving along. Great note from Jim. Jack's comments about adjusting oil prices for inflation are spot on. Even a hundred dollars a barrel, we aren't anywhere near the historic peak. See this graph I've attached. Love the show. Been an avid listener for about two years now. My only regret is not listening earlier. Oh, come on. You're too kind.

[Jack Armstrong]

But my problem with that is I'm an idiot. Why did it take me to point that out? Why hasn't some news organization said, by the way, $100 barrel of oil is not the magic number it used to be. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Joe Getty]

It's a measure of how horrifyingly terrible our media are. I mean really terrible. But Jim helpfully sending along the chart, he indicated it's inflation adjusted monthly prices from crude oil 1946 through the present in June 2025 dollars. And by that measure, the highest ever prices adjusted for inflation were In June of 2008, oddly enough, at $186 a barrel during the great financial collapse, significantly higher than December of 1979 or the Arab oil embargo of the early 70s. And I don't particularly right around the average price, really.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't particularly remember that being the big topic in 2008, I guess because housing prices and everything else.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. It skyrocketed up and then fell very quickly too. It looks like it was in six months on this chart, but yeah, I don't recall it specifically. Much more to come. Hope you can hang around.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's pretty interesting. Yeah, we have a lot of interesting stuff, hopefully on the way. If you miss a segment or an hour, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Announcer]

Armstrong and Gettys.