The No Agenda Show, known for its skeptical deconstruction of mainstream media, politics, and culture, returned with Episode 1891, "We Need Memes!" on August 2, 2026. With co-founder John C. Dvorak having passed, guest hosts Darren O'Neill and Larry Bleidner held down the fort, broadcasting from just outside Chicago and the Connecticut shore. The episode opened with a tearful tribute from Australian listener Sarah Harris before diving into two hours of media analysis that skewered prominent figures including Bernie Sanders, Anthony Fauci, and Donald Trump.
One of the central topics was RFK Jr.'s combative appearance on CNN, where he accused host Dana Bash of "press malpractice" over her COVID-era coverage. The hosts played a clip of Kennedy telling Bash: "I think it was absolute press malpractice. You weren't allowing your... Mr. Secretary, your job is a fierce skepticism toward authority. And you weren't doing that. You were beating up people who were dissenting." Bleidner cheered the exchange, noting it was a rare moment when a cabinet member turned the tables on a broadcaster. O'Neill added that disagreement was rebranded as disinformation during the pandemic, a pattern the show has documented for years.
The episode also dissected Bernie Sanders' real-estate holdings, including three homes and a Lake Champlain "summer camp," which the hosts used to highlight what they see as hypocrisy among progressive politicians. But the most technical analysis came from O'Neill, who used his background to challenge Senator Chris Murphy's characterization of Trump Media's Truth Social API pricing. Murphy and pundit David Pakman had framed the $100,000-per-month fee as "insider trading." O'Neill explained that high-frequency traders already pay for similar firehose access on X, and that the advantage measures in milliseconds. He argued that the criticisms were misrepresentations, and that the API pricing is a standard market practice.
The hosts also turned their attention to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whose leaked remarks about "paving the pathway for 2028" through memes and "primarying" Senator John Fetterman drew scrutiny. El-Sayed reportedly said he would "put one ogre on a pike" to bring other Democrats into line, a comment the hosts saw as indicative of a troubling trend in political meme warfare. They also touched on alleged Iranian cyberattacks on 30 Minnesota water treatment plants, with clips from Bill Maher, Michael Savage, Dave Rubin, Stephen Miller, and Governor JB Pritzker rounding out the deconstruction.
Throughout the episode, O'Neill and Bleidner maintained the show's signature skeptical lens, refusing to let political framing pass unchallenged. They highlighted how media narratives often oversimplify complex issues, whether it's the characterization of Truth Social's API pricing or the portrayal of political disagreements as disinformation. The episode served as a reminder of the importance of independent media analysis in an era of spin and misinformation.
