In Episode 1870 of the No Agenda Show, hosts Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak dissect a week of political upheaval, focusing on three major stories: Vice President JD Vance's debut at the White House podium, Rep. Thomas Massie's upset primary loss, and the federal indictment of former Cuban dictator Raul Castro. The episode, titled "VBS," aired May 21, 2026, and offers sharp media deconstruction across ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, and MSNBC.
The episode opens with an unusual ABC headline tease by David Muir, but Curry argues the real lead is Vance stepping in for Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Vance fielded questions on Iran, gas prices, and the ongoing ceasefire, with Curry stating, "He is making the press briefing exciting again." The hosts contrast this with the media's coverage of Massie's loss to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein in Kentucky's primary, a $32 million race overshadowed by an alleged AI-driven smear campaign involving Massie, Lauren Boebert, and a so-called "boner phone." Curry notes that Massie collapsed from a 71% win probability on May 8 to a near 10-point loss, driven by an algorithmic smear ignored by legacy outlets. Dvorak explains, "It was a smear campaign that indicated that once Massie's wife died, he had an affair with at least 2 women." Curry counters with a listener letter alleging the story was manufactured to take down both Massie and Boebert.
The hosts then turn to the DOJ's indictment of Raul Castro over the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, framed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Dvorak floats the theory that President Trump is "completing the Bay of Pigs operation that Kennedy chickened out on," noting the Nimitz strike group's entry into the Caribbean. Other segments cover the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund born from Trump's settled IRS lawsuit, his 3,700 stock trades attributed to high-frequency trading algorithms, Polymarket insider-betting concerns tied to Donald Trump Jr., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's "Economic Fury" sanctions program targeting UK-domiciled tanker operators, the San Diego Islamic Center shooting, and Google's $190 billion Gemini Spark rollout at I/O.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Hatch Act–adjacent campaign appearance and Tucker Carlson's combative Channel 13 Israel interview round out the political block. Curry argues that the media's framing of these stories reveals a pattern of amplification and neglect, with Vance's briefing receiving less attention than Massie's loss, while the Castro indictment was downplayed by outlets like MSNBC. The episode underscores how algorithmic smears and geopolitical maneuvers are shaping the 2026 midterm cycle.
