No Agenda Guest Hosts Tackle Fauci's Fifth Amendment Stand, AI Predictions, and Flock Safety Backlash
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The long-running media deconstruction podcast No Agenda continued its twice-weekly broadcast with guest hosts Darren O'Neill and Larry Blythner stepping in for Adam Curry, who is on bereavement leave following the passing of co-host John C. Dvorak. Episode 1890, titled “Flock Off!,” aired on July 30, 2026, and delved into several major stories shaping the national conversation, including Anthony Fauci's Senate testimony, Elon Musk's predictions about artificial intelligence, and a mounting backlash against surveillance technology company Flock Safety.
The episode opened with the hosts explaining how they were tapped to keep the show running without interruption, then moved into a segment on Fauci's appearance before a Senate committee, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times. According to the hosts, Fauci's roughly 1,100-page diary also surfaced, containing entries about Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand, and a Kennedy Center evening with Joan Baez. Blythner did not mince words about the spectacle, calling it “the biggest, uh, comedic event in the history of United States government, no question about it.” He argued that Fauci missed an opportunity to turn the hearing into a performance, instead following the advice of his six attorneys and refusing to answer even simple questions from Senator Josh Hawley.
The conversation then shifted to Elon Musk, who told The Economist that AI will exceed human intelligence within five years, with a 10 to 20 percent chance of “killer robots.” O'Neill and Blythner analyzed the implications of that prediction, placing it in the context of ongoing debates about AI regulation and safety.
Perhaps the most substantive segment focused on Flock Safety, a company that has deployed over 120,000 license plate cameras across 49 states. The hosts discussed a growing bipartisan revolt against the company, with the ACLU joining right-leaning municipalities like Sedona, Arizona, in canceling contracts. They referenced the ACLU's Chad Marlowe, the dflock.org tracking site, and reporting from Sir Ryan Bemrose about antenna sensors capable of harvesting MAC addresses from passing phones. The hosts contrasted CEO Garrett Langley's TED Talk pitch that “safety should just be a right” with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's stance on incarceration, El Salvador's Bukele prison model, and Radley Balko's book “Rise of the Warrior Cop.”
The episode also touched on a McLaughlin poll regarding the Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz strikes, as well as a WNBA controversy involving the Seattle Storm owner confronting two teenage fans of Sophie Cunningham. The hosts read verbatim passages from Fauci's diary, adding a layer of absurdity to the proceedings.
The implications of these stories are significant. Fauci's use of the Fifth Amendment raises questions about accountability and transparency in government, while Musk's AI predictions highlight the urgent need for ethical frameworks around artificial intelligence. The Flock Safety backlash underscores a broader societal debate about privacy versus security, with implications for civil liberties and the role of surveillance in public life.
No Agenda is a listener-supported podcast known for its skeptical, independent look at mainstream media and politics. Episode 1890 is available now wherever podcasts are heard.