The latest episode of the No Agenda Show, titled 'Caconian' and released on August 23, 2026, features host Adam Curry and returning guest co-host Rob Dew in a wide-ranging discussion on how the upcoming midterm elections are shaping major news narratives. From AI data center backlash to beef imports and U.S. posture at the Strait of Hormuz, the duo deconstructs the underlying political and economic forces at play.
One of the central topics is the growing opposition to AI data centers, which Curry and Dew argue has been engineered as an anti-Republican wedge issue. They cite a Gallup poll showing 7 in 10 Americans oppose local data center construction. Curry frames the buildout as a generational economic opportunity comparable to the railroads or the fiber boom of the 1990s, urging listeners to train as electricians, welders, and technicians. '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.
The episode also touches on Texas Governor Greg Abbott's reversal after receiving $20 million in campaign donations from data center executives, leading to a construction moratorium. Other topics include Flock camera vandalism and Fourth Amendment questions, Confucius Institutes and Pentagon audits of 30 universities, and Chinese national voter fraud charges in Massachusetts.
In financial news, the hosts discuss Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's bond buyback strategy, which Curry traces back to Janet Yellen and economists Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Miran's 2024 concept of 'activist Treasury issuance.' Curry explains how swapping long-term 30-year bonds for short-term T-bills is designed to lower yields and prop up the stablecoin market. Tether and Circle now control more than 80 percent of a $300 billion stablecoin sector projected by Citi to reach $3.5 trillion by 2030.
On international affairs, the show covers 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 soldier deployed under NAVCENT provides boots-on-the-ground context on USS Lincoln conditions.
The episode also continues the show's tribute to the late John C. Dvorak through the newly launched Order of the Ant. No Agenda is a listener-supported podcast that offers an irreverent alternative to conventional news analysis. Episode 1897 is available now at podcastapps.com.
