The latest episode of the No Agenda Show, titled 'Caconian' and released August 23, 2026, sees host Adam Curry and returning co-host Rob Dew deconstruct the media narratives shaping the upcoming midterm elections. Their wide-ranging discussion covers the engineered backlash against AI data centers, the Trump administration's beef import plan, and the ongoing U.S. strategy at the Strait of Hormuz, all while continuing the show's tribute to the late John C. Dvorak through the newly launched Order of the Ant.
Curry and Dew argue that opposition to AI data centers has been turned into an anti-Republican wedge issue, citing a Gallup poll showing 7 in 10 Americans oppose local data center construction. They point to Texas Governor Greg Abbott's reversal after accepting $20 million in campaign donations from data center executives, leading to a construction moratorium. The hosts push back on the framing that data centers are inherently harmful, with Curry describing the buildout as a generational economic opportunity comparable to the railroads or the 1990s fiber boom. 'This is an opportunity for the American people to take money from BlackRock, from Vanguard, from Google, from Meta. Take their money,' Curry says. Dew adds a firsthand account of friends in Alexandria, Virginia being offered $4 million for homes surrounded by existing data centers, illustrating how private equity money is flowing directly to homeowners in affected corridors.
The episode also covers other topics, including Flock camera vandalism and Fourth Amendment questions on public roads, Confucius Institutes and Pentagon audits of 30 universities, and Chinese national voter fraud charges in Massachusetts. The hosts delve into Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's activist bond strategy, which Curry traces back to Janet Yellen and economists Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Miran. They explain how swapping long-term 30-year bonds for short-term T-bills is designed to lower yields and prop up the stablecoin market, with Tether and Circle controlling more than 80 percent of the $300 billion stablecoin sector, projected by Citi to reach $3.5 trillion by 2030.
Coverage extends to CENTCOM's stealth Omani shipping corridor moving 10 million barrels of oil daily, Trump's declaration of the Strait of Hormuz as 'American territory,' and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defending the 300,000-ton Argentine ground beef import deal. A boots-on-the-ground note from a soldier deployed under NAVCENT offers context on USS Lincoln conditions.
No Agenda is a long-running, listener-supported podcast hosted by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak that takes a skeptical, independent look at mainstream media, politics, culture, and the forces shaping the daily news cycle. Episode 1897 is available now wherever podcasts are heard, and through modern podcast apps at podcastapps.com.
