No Agenda Show - Episode 1827: “CIS-Lunar”

Date: December 21, 2025
Hosts: Adam Curry & John C. Dvorak

Overview

In this characteristically energetic and slyly sardonic episode, Adam and John provide a deep-dive media deconstruction of the week’s biggest narratives, with particular focus on the Jeffrey Epstein files release, financial and political intrigue, and a medley of current events careening from the absurd to the all-too-real. The hosts question official stories, shred through media spin, lampoon the latest tech fads, and meander through everything from international banking scandals to AI-powered grocery pricing.

Major Topics & Key Insights

1. Epstein Files Release: Political Football and Limited Hangouts

(00:55 – 19:21)

• Theme: The Justice Department’s latest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files, heavy redactions, and what wasn’t revealed.

• Media Spin and Political Gamesmanship:

  • Hosts ridicule the expectation that the releases would “finally get Trump” (01:51, Adam: “Democrats thought they could finally get Trump... all they got was pictures of you buck naked...”)
  • Discuss how Congress’s law is being only partially followed, leading to bipartisan complaints over the slow, opaque and incomplete document releases.

• Redaction Madness:

  • John notes some files are just “completely blacked out” (07:00)
  • Adam: “The law actually says they can't redact to protect the reputation of anybody.” (07:18)

• Conspiracy as Distraction:

  • Adam lays out Mike Benz’s theory that the Epstein affair is “pedophile cover for a bank scam” (17:12), relating it to past intelligence-linked money-laundering scandals and Bear Stearns' collapse.
  • John riffs on how the real banking, intelligence, and laundering mechanisms are boring and unlikely to ever be fully disclosed.
  • “Show me the pizza.” (17:54, Adam, mocking the focus on salacious details over financial crime)

• Media Blindspot and the Neverending Story:

  • The hosts point out the mainstream ignoring law enforcement success stories (“Operation Relentless Justice”) in favor of obsession with Trump/Epstein links.
  • Prediction: The release is being spread out to maximize political distraction until the next election cycle.

2. AI, Surveillance, and Weird Modern Economics

(84:53 – 107:04)

• AI Drives Infrastructure, But Who Needs It?

  • Farms are facing eminent domain threats to make way for high-voltage lines to data centers for AI (84:57).
  • Adam observes: “All the money right now is in building data centers, building the actual data centers. ... And the power generation for it.”
  • John is skeptical the actual demand justifies the hype: “Is the demand for AI services so high that it's coming to a... crisis?”
  • Both hosts mock AI’s inability to do anything truly useful—especially, as John repeats, giving every AI-generated podcast song the same voice (87:58).

• AI and “Surveillance Pricing” in Consumer Life:

  • In-depth discussion of how AI/ML enables retailers and platforms to dynamically price—differently for every user—based on behavioral, demographic, and device data.
  • Adam: Uber reportedly jacks up prices for users with dying phone batteries. John is appalled; Adam confirms it’s not an “urban legend.”
  • Dynamic pricing’s legality is discussed—gray areas abound, discrimination risks flagged.
  • Advice: Go to a real store and leave the phone at home if you want to avoid being priced as a mark.

• Digital Currency & Financial Surveillance:

  • The EU is rolling out the “digital euro” by 2029; Adam and John see it as a direct path to citizen asset seizure and total surveillance:
    • Christine Lagarde quote: “it has to be a digital expression of that sovereignty and a digital anchor...” (54:27)
  • Adam: “Your money belongs to Fifi Lagarde.”

3. Banking Scandals, EU Asset Seizure, and Ukraine

(48:32 – 56:57)

• European “Loan” to Ukraine Is a Euphemism for Asset Confiscation:
  • EU disables time limits on freezing Russian assets, calls lending Ukraine ~€135B “a loan,” but the only way to pay it back is if Russia pays reparations (51:06).
  • Adam: “So they are stealing the money, they're just calling it a loan.”
  • John: “This is going to discourage people from investing in Europe.”

4. Brown University/MIT “Campus Killer” Story: Implausible Official Narrative

(61:35 – 83:49)

• Deconstruction of the Brown campus shooting/MIT professor murder:
  • “Far-fetched” narrative threads called out by John:
    • Magical tip from a “homeless hero”/Brown grad living in the basement, who posts on Reddit
    • The link between suspect and MIT nuclear fusion scientist is sketchily fast-tracked
    • Suspect “shot himself” two days before being found, in storage unit with a “satchel”
  • Both hosts skeptical: “Nothing makes sense about it.” John: “This is bull crap. It's not even well written.” (71:59)
  • Speculation: Was the MIT professor killed for fusion energy research that would disrupt the tech/power/data-infrastructure gravy train in the US?

5. Current Events, Media Outrages & Sideshow Stories

Other Noteworthy Segments:

• Candace Owens Saga & “Doubling Down”

  • Candace pushes claims about Brigitte Macron’s gender; Adam & John discuss “borderline personality disorder” and the tendency to double down on claims, with Alex Jones and Michael Malice clips providing context (29:07).

• Nick Reiner Case – Inheritance, Insanity Plea, and Legal Machinations

  • The “superstar lawyer” and potential legal strategy for the Reiner family murder are discussed; speculation that insanity plea could secure inheritance (34:16).

• AI Glitches and Fraud:

  • Software bug at 7-Eleven charges debit cards 100x for gas (90:13); John suspects the whole thing is “dubious.”
  • Waymo robot cars freeze in San Francisco during power outage (92:31).

• TikTok Sale – The Great American Algos Grab

  • Adam and John lampoon the sale of TikTok to Oracle and SV investors as just an ill-conceived attempt to snag “eyeballs” without the fabled Chinese algo.

• No Agenda Show Inside Baseball & “Value for Value” Rant

  • Reflection on the origin and philosophy of value-for-value, paralleled to church donations, and attacks on today's subscription/paywall journalism (127:57).
  • “Surveillance pricing” analogy—Value-for-Value as the OG of audience-supported media.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Redaction Madness:

  “There are some pages that are just totally black from being blacked out, inked out.”
  — John (07:00)

• On Epstein as ‘Bagman’:

  “He’s just a bag man. And he probably did a really good job.”
  — Adam (18:42)

• Cynicism About Political Scandals:

  “Would people even care? Oh, what, he was laundering money for us to pay, you know, arm the Mujahideen or the Iran Contras? That’s boring. Show me the pizza.”
  — Adam (17:23, 17:54)

• On TikTok Sale:

  “They don’t get the algo, which is, I don’t know, the point of the whole thing.”
  — Adam (108:35)

• On Surveillance Pricing:

  “The attack vector is always the phone. ... When you scroll and you just pause. Boom. Another data point.”
  — Adam (107:25)

• On EU Asset “Loans” to Ukraine:

  “So they are stealing the money, they're just calling it a loan.”
  — Adam (51:06)

• On Social Media Decay:

  “This is entropy of the social networks... insidification.”
  — Adam (44:31)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Epstein Files Release & Deconstruction: 00:55 – 19:21
• Mike Benz theory (Epstein as strategic middleman): 12:02 – 18:42
• AI/Data Center Hysteria & Eminent Domain: 84:53 – 89:49
• Surveillance Pricing Explained: 95:49 – 107:46
• EU Funds Ukraine by Freezing Russian Assets: 48:32 – 56:57
• Brown/MIT (Far-Fetched Shooting Narrative): 61:35 – 83:49
• Candace Owens, Conspiracy Claims, BPD: 26:47 – 31:43
• Nick Reiner Defense, Legal Setup: 32:35 – 37:28
• Value for Value & Media Trends: 123:34 – 132:13 (extended audience, philosophy & comparison to churches)

Tone & Style

• Snarky, unfiltered, and deeply skeptical of official narratives on all sides.
• Profoundly unvarnished, mixing dry humor with inside baseball.
• Consistent focus on deconstructing media framing, highlighting how “real” stories are often about money, power, or distraction, rather than the surface-level scandal.
• Self-aware and reflexive: frequent references to their own format, “value for value” philosophy, and show’s long history.

Memorable Moments

• “Show me the pizza” refrain — Satirizing public hunger for salacious over substance.
• Mike Benz Superstream Theory — Tying Epstein to global money laundering.
• AI as Social Nuisance — Running jokes on uniformly bad AI voices in end-of-show mixes.
• Brown “Homeless Reddit Hero” Narrative — John: “This is bull crap. It’s not even well written!” (71:59)
• Audience Capture vs. Audience Rapture — In the show’s closing ISOs.

Episode Flow

• Opens with witty weather banter and quick transition to hard-hitting, high-profile scandal (Epstein files).
• Builds a running theme of “scam economy,” whether in banking, public policy, or the digital world.
• Pivots into tech and AI world, lampooning the technocratic justifications for infrastructure and consumer “innovations.”
• Tackles peculiarities of crime/media coverage (Brown University story), suggesting deeper or alternative motives.
• Weaves producer/direct donor shoutouts throughout, with inside jokes, testimonials, and end-of-show segments (art competition, donations, and meetups).
• Ends with wine tips and a sardonic note on mixing red wine and Coke as a “disgrace.”

In Summary

This episode exemplifies No Agenda at its best: irreverent, skeptical, and always ready to pop the lid off media hysteria and establishment narratives. Adam and John dig into the Epstein files' true import (or lack thereof), unveil the financial games behind international policymaking, and call out both governmental and technological overreach. Through their banter, they offer both laughter and a bevy of alternative explanations, daring listeners to question everything—especially when the official story seems just a little too far-fetched to believe.

End-of-show ISO:

“It's not audience capture, it's audience rapture.”

(192:00)

For listeners new and old, this episode delivers everything the No Agenda Show promises: a feast of fearless media deconstruction, potent skepticism, and a reminder to always question the script.