About No Agenda

No Agenda is a bi-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 the week's 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, lives in London, and usually has more outlandish opinions of the week's 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 donate in either lump sums or a monthly $2 plan.
==History==
No Agenda came about in late 2007. Its premise was a simple one: the co-founder (Curry) and vice-president (Dvorak) of mevio have an unfiltered dialogue. The original tagline of No Agenda was that is was 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 sedated jazz number to take the show out over the hosts' goodbyes. Topics included discussing the news of the day, restaurant reviews, and discussions of each other's family happenings.
No Agenda continued to evolve over time, as each host cultivated the currently more structured format of the show. Observing that the mainstream media coverage lacked any depth or unique perspective on many of the topics they discussed, the show became more news and politically focused. 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 bent around bringing about a New World Order. John is much more mild tempered, often relying on his knowledge of history and varied life experiences to shed light on the topics of the day. Further points of differentiation between the two hosts stem from Adam living primarily in the United Kingdom, while Dvorak resides on the west coast of the United States. This often leads to discussions on the variations of culture and news between the two continents.
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 Election.
==The 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 15th, 2009 Curry begin 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 19th 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 Live 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.
==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 from. 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!- After watching the episode Mother Tucker of the Family Guy where Stewie and Brain 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 said by Adam Curry as a mocking of 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 manner and tone of a Top-40s radio station; it now adorns most show bumpers and intros. It is also interspersed at various moments of the show, whether it is set up as a punchline or just thrown in by Curry. Dvorak is working on a hookup to his sound system that would allow him to drop an IN THE MORNING! if Adam falls into such a punchline himself.
*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 find similarities between a specific example of wrong doing and the larger failings of the system.
*Now Back to Real News- stories brought up on the show that the media focuses on yet have little importance. 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 least 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.
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Category:Show Features