Knowledge Fight Episode #1103: Live In Portland (Dec 22, 2025)

Hosts: Dan & Jordan
Episode Focus: A live deep dive into Portland’s Vortex I festival, 1970s protest history, and a critique of Alex Jones’s show from Aug 28, 2011—featuring Nazi ads, bizarre infomercials, music festival parallels, and Mike Adams’s tragic rap career.

Episode Overview

Dan and Jordan kick off their live show in Portland with a blend of personal anecdotes, regional humor, and their traditional “bright spots” segment, before embarking on a wild, comedic journey through Portland’s radical antiwar protest history—the infamous Vortex I festival—and the convoluted Alex Jones Show episode that happened during the same period in 2011. The show rapidly pivots between hilarious tangents, unexpectedly earnest historical insights, and a scathing run-through of Infowars content—complete with alarming advertisements and Mike Adams’s disastrous attempt at a music career.

Key Themes:

• Comparing Portland’s Vortex I festival (1970) with contemporary protest movements and culture
• A real-time roast/critique of a 2011 episode of The Alex Jones Show
• Dissecting fringe right-wing history, fake supplement ads, and music parodies
• Live audience energy, frequent asides, and spontaneous humor

Bright Spots & Cheesy Traditions (00:39–07:45)

• Jordan’s Bright Spot: Gratefully celebrating being needed by his wife and three dogs, calling himself an “empowered wife guy”.
  “My bright spot is everybody’s happy, but not without me.” —Jordan (02:18)

• Dan’s Bright Spot: Updating the annual “cheese advent calendar” ritual—even admitting, with self-deprecating humor, that he forgot his cheeses for the tour and improvises by sourcing “new cheeses” locally for Portland.
  “I made a huge deal out of how there would be cheese at the live shows. And then, on the way to the airport, I realized I fucking forgot the cheese.” —Dan (03:26)

• The duo’s banter on honesty, live show mistakes, and the communal weirdness of audience participation.

Music Festivals & The Vortex I Deep Dive (07:50–27:00)

Music Festival Memories (07:45–09:04)

• Jordan shares past festival experiences and the odd social mix they create, notably referencing “summer camp”—the Midwest's Bonnaroo.
• Audience and hosts joke about the dirty, chaotic vibes of such events, situating them as the weird social background for Vortex I.

The Story of Vortex I and Portland Protest History (09:04–27:10)

Context & Build-up

• Woodstock 1969: Setting the scene, Dan delivers a tongue-in-cheek Ken Burns-style recap, with Jordan riffing accordingly.
• Portland 1970: High protest tensions anticipating Nixon’s visit and anti-Vietnam War activism spike. The “People’s Army Jamboree” emerges—a proto-Antifa coalition, the “antagonist” of the narrative.
  • Money Factionalizes Protest: A $10k donation from a potato chip heir fuels logistics but also infighting: “Money is the root of all evil. Specifically potato chip money.” —Jordan (13:13)
  • The city denies their request for a protest encampment permit, leading to footloose jokes: “No dancing, no jamborees?” —Dan/Jordan

Media Panic & Government Strategy

• Protest numbers grossly inflated by rumors, as Dan recounts how activists’ wild guesses (“50,000 hippies”) feed public hysteria:
  “We just doubled the number. We made it up out of thin air.” —Peter Fornara, as quoted by Dan (14:56)

• State’s Countermove: In a bid to sap the protests, Oregon officials quietly organize Vortex I—a state-sponsored music fest—hoping to lure hippies away from Nixon’s speech.

  • Jokes about infiltration and government strategizing:
    “If you have enough trombones, people will just support the war.” —Dan (21:03)
  • Both hosts marvel at the absurdity and inefficiency of the overlapping/competing events, likening it to a sitcom or a “pillow fort war”.

Vortex I Outcomes & Ironies

• Permissive Chaos: Drug use and nudity are essentially decriminalized for the festival’s weekend; police are told not to intervene.
  • “I know you’re itching to give out pube tickets, but not this weekend.” —Dan (22:57)
• Nixon cancels his visit—rendering the massive security theater moot.
  • “So you're saying we're doing the story of the greatest case of blue balls in Oregon history?” —Jordan (25:26)
• Lasting Legacy: Locally, Vortex I is culturally forgotten except for its government sponsorship and the odd fact that Gene Chandler (the “Duke of Earl”) performed.

The Alex Jones Show (Aug 28, 2011) Breakdown (27:00–79:38)

Nightly News Launch & The “Excitement” of Infowars (28:06–32:32)

• Alex hyping his soon-to-launch “Infowars Nightly News”.
  • Hosts joke about how, in retrospect, this “hard-hitting” news operation’s trajectory was wholly underwhelming given its future turn toward “battling the devil”.
    • “A plane crash that happens at negative 3 miles per hour.” —Jordan (29:11)

Sample Infowars “Journalism” & Al Gore Rant (32:39–38:04)

• Darren McBreen’s Field Piece: On rising utility prices; thoroughly bland, to the point where the hosts note how “reasonable responses” stood out.
• Al Gore “Civil Rights” Analogy: Alex mischaracterizes Gore as calling climate deniers “racists”.
  • Dan clarifies Gore’s point: the arc of public debate, not literal racism, paralleling the civil rights era with modern climate denial.
    • “If you're still asking questions, your real answer is shut the fuck up and go away.” —Jordan, re: climate deniers (40:16)

Notable Ad – American Third Position (A Neo-Nazi Party) (41:10–45:51)

• Shocking ad for “American Third Position” plays, prompting detailed context:
  • “A3P is a Neo-fascist political party that’s organized mostly around white supremacy.” —Dan (41:54)
  • Party’s Stormfront origins, public rebranding to seem “respectable,” leadership by overt racists—one of whom later becomes a Trump delegate.
  • Audience and hosts react with boos, then laughter at the horror:
  • “America’s first position is going to be his last position, if you know what I’m saying.” —Jordan (45:09)

Infowars "Health" and Survival Ads (Soup Beans!) (55:02–56:16)

• Wildly over-the-top ad for “soupbeansurvival.com”—selling “rare, non-grocery store” beans.
  • Hosts riff on the ridiculous lengths the bean ad copy goes to (“Bean Doctor,” etc.), comparing it to absurdist web humor. “At the end of every blog about a log, it would just say, ‘Overall, a very satisfying log.’” —Jordan (60:30, on absurd micro-enthusiasms)

Jones’s Law & Order Fascination – Castle Doctrine (47:24–52:16)

• Alex defends shooting burglars on your property (tie-in to the Magna Carta!).
  • Dan & Jordan mock his bloodlust:
    “By his own standards, if he was shot, we would have to say, like, man, what are you gonna do?” —Dan (54:38)
  • Alex recounts stealing beer as a teen but is quick to say that getting shot would’ve been justified—by his own logic—underscoring his impetuous, inconsistent worldview.

Alex’s Dad Makes a Rare On-Air Appearance (65:53–70:53)

• For the first time, Alex physically drags his (reluctant) father onscreen for an interview.
  • Alex Sr. shares old Texas aviation sightings (“I wanted to be the first kid on the moon”), and they muse about animal fights and livestock methane conspiracies.
  • Assorted conspiracy theory nonsense:
    “That sounds ludicrous, but there’s truth to it.” —Alex’s Dad (70:53)

The Health Ranger's (Mike Adams) Musical Career (“Don’t Touch My Junk”) (81:12–91:02)

• Mike Adams, the “Health Ranger,” appears to promote unity and… his new foray into music.

• [83:32] Song 1: “Dumb and Lazy” — A parody ridiculing the unemployed, in the “Call Me Maybe” style.
  “Imagine Hitler doing a remix of Gangnam Style. At least we skipped over that.” —Jordan (85:22)

• [86:18] Song 2: “Don’t Touch My Junk” — A pop-rap protest against TSA security grope-downs (“Man junk” is a recurring chorus).

• [88:38] Song 3: “I Just Want You to Know My Name” — A melancholic, awkward pop ballad; hosts lampoon the incongruity and pathos.

  • “If I’m walking by somewhere and hear that, that's clearly a true crime documentary. The only explanation is later on there was a murder.” —Jordan (90:16)

• Dan and Jordan marvel (in horror) at Adams’s failed artistic ambition and how, in comparison, “Don’t Touch My Junk” qualifies as his most progressive or sympathetic message.

Supplements, MLMs, and More False Promises (93:10–96:00)

• InfowarsTeam.com: Alex pitches their multi-level marketing scheme, promising “six or seven figure annual income” with little effort. Dan & Jordan respond with mock incredulity.
  • “If you’re making a seven figure income as a salesperson for Infowars Team… why isn’t Alex doing that?” —Dan (94:39)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “There's too many hippies coming. What are we gonna do?... We'll get a band together.” —Dan (20:44)
• “That’s a great idea. If any human being outside of that was like, you’re going to set up a rival music festival named Vortex I and you’re not going to make a comic book about this, well, then you’re an idiot, man.” —Jordan (26:26)
• [On ad for the neo-Nazi A3P:] “Thank you, Dan!” —(Audience, led by Jordan, in mock support after a round of boos) (43:05)
• “Who is the HR rep for the jamboree?” —Jordan (14:35)
• “If you steal stuff from people, then maybe you're going to get castle doctrine.” —Dan (52:25)
• [On Mike Adams’s music:] “He’s afraid to talk to somebody. That’s the song. It’s a... love sick song of, like, ‘I just want you to know my name.’ He’s married. He’s the Health Ranger.” —Dan (89:14)
• “Do you want to be extremely lonely and surrounded by blades and probably in a couple years get a weird pet because you need something else for the personality?” —Dan (95:46)

Timeline of Key Segments

• 00:39–07:45: Bright Spots & Cheese Advent Calendar
• 09:04–27:10: History of Vortex I, hippie protests, and state shenanigans
• 28:06–32:32: Alex Jones’s “Nightly News” ambitious launch (2011 context)
• 32:39–38:04: Alex/Infowars sample journalism and Al Gore’s “racist climate denier” headline
• 41:10–45:51: Outrageous ad for American Third Position, neo-Nazi SPLC-designated group, discussed and dissected
• 55:02–56:16: Soup Bean Survival ad, “Bean Doctor,” and rare beans riff
• 47:24–52:16: Alex’s advocacy for castle doctrine—discussing the border between self-defense and murder
• 65:53–70:53: On-air Alex Jones’s dad interview—fossil-hunting, fantasy, livestock myths
• 81:12–91:02: Mike Adams music showcase: “Dumb and Lazy,” “Don’t Touch My Junk,” “I Just Want You to Know My Name”
• 93:10–96:00: Alex’s MLM Infowars Team pitch; audience and hosts mock seven-figure promises

Tone & Language

The episode is packed with sardonic banter, improvisational jokes, and exasperated incredulity, keeping the live crowd thoroughly engaged. Dan and Jordan maintain a critical but humorous tone, especially when exposing right-wing grifts, suburban paranoia, and fringe media absurdities. Their approach is both academically curious and comedically irreverent—using digressive bits, live feedback, and recurring callbacks for maximum effect.

Final Thoughts

This live Knowledge Fight is a full-fledged satire and history lesson—juxtaposing Portland’s countercultural legacies with the disturbing through-lines of “Infowars” America. Even as Dan and Jordan revel in their digressions, they never lose sight of the pressing throughline: how media misinformation, reactionary fear, and failed utopias keep repeating themselves—in the news, on stage, and in bizarre “bean doctor” infomercials.

Most enduring lesson:

“Don’t touch my junk.”

—Mike Adams, The Health Ranger, headlining the only government-sponsored hippie music festival that never happened.

For newcomers or those curious about what makes Knowledge Fight such a unique show, this episode is a showcase: sometimes rambling, often hilarious, deeply researched, and always ready to point out the strange, dangerous, and ridiculous world around Alex Jones and the American right.