No Agenda

No Agenda
File:NoAgendaPodcastLogo.jpg The No Agenda Album Art
Presentation
Hosted by	Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak
Genre	News  / Politics  / Food & Wine  / Conspiracy Theories
Language	English
Updates	Every Sunday and Thursday
Production
Audio format	MP3
Publication
Original release	October 26, 2007

No Agenda is a twice weekly podcast hosted by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak on the mevio network every Sunday and Thursday. The show is a free flowing conversation about recent news, happenings in the lives of the hosts and their families, and restaurant reviews from the dinners John and Adam have together when they are in the same city (usually San Francisco). Much of the appeal of the show comes from the odd couple relationship between the hosts. Adam Curry is younger and usually has more outlandish opinions of the news or world events. John C. Dvorak on the other hand is older, lives in Northern Silicon Valley, and has a more reasoned demeanor. Thus John plays the straight man in the dialogue against Adam's wackiness. The show has no advertisers, instead relying on its listeners to voluntarily donate in either lump sums or a recurring plan.

In September 2009, the show was nominated for Podcast Awards in two categories, "People's Choice" and "General".

In December 2009 the show claimed around 450,000 listeners.

History

No Agenda first aired in October 2007. Its premise was a simple one: the co-founder (Curry) and vice-president (Dvorak) of mevio have an unfiltered dialogue. The impetus for starting the show, according to Adam Curry, was a 4 minute phone call made to Dvorak saying that they "should do a show together." Little thought was given to what the show would be about, in fact only the name was agreed upon before the first show was recorded. The original tagline of No Agenda was that it would be the show with "no sponsors, jingles, and of course no agenda." Indeed, the show's only sound effect would come during the closing minute, where a sedate jazz number would play as the hosts signed off. Topics included the news of the day, restaurant reviews, and family.

No Agenda continued to evolve over time with Adam and John cultivating a more consistent structure to the show. Observing that the mainstream media coverage lacked any depth or unique perspective on many of the topics they discussed, the hosts gradually moved the show into a news and political commentary direction. Today the show is dedicated to discussing hard news and conspiracy theories with deep deconstruction of topics in response to the mainstream media which the hosts believe glosses over real reporting for many reasons. Celebrity-type gossip and other soft news stories are brought up for ironic effect.

Influences

Adam brings a more youthful and counter-cultural outlook of the world. He often links current world events to a number of conspiracy theories, most of which center around a global plan to bring about the New World Order. John is much more mild tempered, often relying on his knowledge of history and varied life experience to shed light on the topics of the day. Inside jokes and references to previous topics recur with great frequency in each episode which may take time for new listeners to fully grasp. The hosts try not to be bogged down into providing a recap or explanation of a phrase or anecdote, Adam goes so far as to sound an alarm when John begins repeating something previously discussed.

The show was greatly influenced by the run up to the 2008 Election, the financial crisis starting that September (the September 13th show carried breaking news of the collapse Lehman Brothers which signaled the beginning of the most apocalyptic phase of the crisis), and the transition to the Presidency of Barack Obama.

Both hosts are self-proclaimed independents, having no allegiance to one political party or ideology. Much of this is attributed to their belief that there is little difference between the two main United States political parties, whether by accident or design. Adam Curry endorsed Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul during the 2008 Republican Primaries.

The No Agenda Stream

Starting in early 2009 Adam began to stream the audio production of the show live, with both hosts advertising the beginning of the show via Twitter. During the week of March 15, 2009 Curry began to experiment with running the audio stream 24/7, carrying music when No Agenda was not being recorded. Throughout the week the stream became more advanced and automated. By March 19 the stream contained computer speech integration and an auto-DJ. Now, after a few songs air the station breaks for podcast promos, news updates, and Twitter messages sent to @noagendastream from listeners. The No Agenda Stream can be found at noagendastream.com.

The Dvorak Interlude

With the turning of the No Agenda Stream into a 24/7 online radio experience the duo have started working on adding more and more content to it. One such piece of content is a 2 hour long show produced by John C. Dvorak entitled "The Dvorak Interlude". This show is essentially a run through of a lot of songs from the last few decades that don't seem to get as much air time as a lot of the more contemporary tracks played on the stream. The show is broken up by John introducing the songs and telling some short anecdotes.

Recurring themes and catch phrases

• Gitmo Nation- The combined United States (Gitmo Nation West) and United Kingdom (Gitmo Nation East) whose governments, in the eyes of the hosts, are in the process of stripping citizens of their rights. The phrase comes from the terrorist prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During the introduction to the show the hosts tell the listeners from which part of Gitmo Nation they are broadcasting. John usually is at his home in "Northern Silicon Valley" and adds that location after he states he is in Gitmo Nation West. When he is at his compound in Port Angeles, Washington he says that he is speaking from Gitmo Nation Northwest.
• Crackpot and The Buzzkill- Nicknames for Curry and Dvorak respectively. The term stems from Adam usually having wild ideas and theories about the news while John tries to ground Adam in reality.
• IN THE MORNING!- Inspired by the Family Guy episode "Mother Tucker" where Stewie and Brian become DJs. The phrase was taken from “Weenie and the Butt in the morning 97.1 WQHG” where the two DJs use a lot of sound clip jockeying. Originally used by Adam Curry to mock DJs and traditional radio media, it soon became a popular phrase with both Curry and the listeners. Adam then had the line professionally recorded in a typical Top-40 radio station style, and it now adorns most show bumpers and intros. It is also interspersed at various moments of the show as a punchline or just thrown in by Curry as an ironic sting. Dvorak is working on a hookup to his sound system that would allow him to drop an IN THE MORNING! on Adam.
• The Fractal- A theory put forth by John that the world power structure is based on a mathematical fractal, an infinite self-replicating shape. He came to this realization after news of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal broke. Dvorak contends that the Madoff scandal is merely a replication of the larger financial system's deceitful nature and shortcomings. The fractal principle has been used by both hosts to describe similarities between a specific example of wrong doing and the larger failings of the system.
• Now Back to Real News- An ironic intro for stories in the news that have little importance or serve only to distract. These tend to be of the celebrity gossip or other soft subject variety. Adam and John mock the media's fascination with stories that appeal to the lowest common denominator, or simply giving the public what it wants rather than what it needs.
• Crackpot Command Center- A room in Curry's home in London that houses his podcasting equipment.
• Buzzkill Bunker- John C. Dvorak's own 'Command Center', located in Northern Silicon Valley, or wherever he happens to be during recording.
• John C. Dvorak's Pet Peeve of the Day. - self explanatory.
• Nothing to See Here!- A phrase noting that an item under discussion is something that the mainstream establishment would rather leave out of the public mindset.
• You Will Obey!
• Mon-san-to!- played when the duo discuss GMO foods, usually involving the Monsanto Corporation and their agriculture products.
• Our formula is this: We go out, and we hit people in the mouth!- A simple, yet effective formula spoken by the NFL's 49ers coach Mike Singletary
• To the gate, to the gate, to the Climategate. - news related to Climategate, or climate change in general.
• Two to the head. - being "suicided"
• Two to the mouth.
• Two to the arm - continuing the "Two to the..." theme, this references vaccinations.
• No Agenda Swine Flu Minute - comments on the marketing aspects of Swine Flu management
• No service for you! - liberal use of this catchphrase from Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi" denoting an authority's denial of favor to the rebellious
• Turn Down Your Speakers! - John doesn't like headphones.
• We told you so on No Agenda - Refers to information discussed on No Agenda prior to mainstream media

External links

• Daily Podcast Reviews - No Agenda
• Podthoughts by Colin Marshall: "No Agenda"
• "No Agenda" episodes on SpokenWord.org
• Mevio - the digital media entertainment network hosting the No Agenda podcast