Fauci Pleads the Fifth 111 Times as Guest Hosts Fill In for No Agenda
With Adam Curry on bereavement leave following the death of co-host John C. Dvorak, Darren O'Neill and Larry Blythner take the mic to dissect Anthony Fauci's 111 Fifth Amendment invocations, Elon Musk's AI predictions, and the Flock Safety surveillance backlash.
Austin, Texas (Newsworthy.ai) Friday Jul 31, 2026 @ 6:00 AM CDT
“Well, nothing says honesty like taking the Fifth, huh, Doc? Let's try something. What day of the week is it today?”
Guest hosts Darren O'Neill and Larry Blythner step in for the July 30, 2026 broadcast of the long-running media deconstruction podcast, filling the chairs left open as Adam Curry takes bereavement time following the passing of co-host John C. Dvorak. Episode 1890, titled "Flock Off!" tackles Anthony Fauci's headline-grabbing Senate appearance, Elon Musk's latest predictions on artificial intelligence, and a growing bipartisan revolt against Flock Safety license plate cameras. The pair open with a candid explanation of how they were tapped to keep the twice-weekly show running without interruption.
The episode dissects several stories dominating the news cycle with the show's trademark clip-driven analysis. Topics include:
“Well, nothing says honesty like taking the Fifth, huh, Doc? Let's try something. What day of the week is it today?”
- Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times before a Senate committee, and the diary entries that surfaced alongside it
- Elon Musk telling The Economist that AI will exceed human intelligence within five years, with a 10 to 20 percent chance of "killer robots"
- The ACLU joining right-leaning municipalities in Sedona, Arizona and elsewhere to cancel Flock Safety contracts
- A McLaughlin poll on the Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz strikes
- A WNBA controversy involving the Seattle Storm owner confronting two teenage Sophie Cunningham fans
The hosts read verbatim passages from Fauci's roughly 1,100-page diary, including entries about Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand, and a Kennedy Center evening with Joan Baez. Blythner does not mince words about the spectacle. "This is the biggest, uh, comedic event in the history of United States government, no question about it," he says, arguing Fauci squandered a chance at a Caesar's Palace residency by listening to his six attorneys instead of answering Senator Josh Hawley's questions about the color of his tie and the carpet in front of him.
The Flock Safety segment digs into CEO Garrett Langley's TED Talk and the company's 120,000 cameras across 49 states. O'Neill and Blythner reference 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. They contrast Langley's 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." A lengthy donation segment honors Dvorak with tributes from producers around the world, plus knightings and meetup announcements from Coeur d'Alene to Calgary.
About No Agenda Show
No Agenda is a long-running, listener-supported podcast hosted by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak that takes a skeptical, independent look at mainstream media, politics, culture, and the forces shaping the daily news cycle. Known for sharp commentary, humor, and media deconstruction, the show questions how stories are framed, amplified, or ignored across news outlets and government messaging. Episode 1890 is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why are Darren O'Neill and Larry Blythner hosting instead of Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak?
- Following the passing of John C. Dvorak, Adam Curry needed a couple of weeks off, so he asked O'Neill and Blythner to fill in to keep the twice-weekly show running without interruption. The two already co-host a clip-driven show called Planet Rage, which they describe as an homage to No Agenda's format, making them a natural fit to step in.
- How many times did Fauci actually invoke the Fifth Amendment, and why does the count matter?
- Fox News counted 111 invocations, while CNN reported figures ranging from 'over 70' to 112. The hosts highlight the discrepancy as evidence of sloppy mainstream reporting. Fauci pleaded the Fifth even to trivial questions like what day it was and what color his tie was, which the hosts argue made him look guilty despite his Biden pardon shielding him from prosecution.
- What did Fauci's diary reveal that surprised the hosts?
- The roughly 1,100-page diary contained self-aggrandizing entries about celebrity encounters, including a Zoom with Julia Roberts, a phone call with Barbra Streisand about her shingles lesion and the Moderna vaccine, and a Kennedy Center evening escorting Joan Baez. RFK Jr. also revealed Fauci privately documented a pulmonary infarction after his televised Moderna shot while publicly promoting the vaccine's safety.
- What is Flock Safety and why is opposition growing?
- Flock Safety operates roughly 120,000 license plate reader cameras across 49 states, storing travel data and reportedly capturing MAC addresses from nearby phones. Towns from Sedona, Arizona to Chicago are canceling contracts, and the ACLU's Chad Marlowe has called it a contender for worst company in America. The hosts note rare left-right unity against the surveillance infrastructure.
- What did Elon Musk predict about AI in his Economist interview?
- Musk claimed AI will exceed the sum of human intelligence within roughly five years, ushering in an age of 'amazing abundance,' barring global thermonuclear war. He also put the odds of killer robots wiping out humanity at 10 to 20 percent. The hosts pushed back, arguing AI is pattern matching rather than actual thinking and cannot reason about the physical world.
- What did the McLaughlin poll show about American attitudes toward Iran?
- The poll found 72 percent agree Iran should not be allowed to block or attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and 61 percent agree the U.S. must 'finish the job' in Iran. It also showed 82 percent believe only U.S. citizens should vote in elections and 78 percent support photo ID requirements at the ballot box.
- How can listeners support the show or attend upcoming meetups?
- Listeners can donate at noagenda.org/donate under the value-for-value model, purchase knight and dame rings at noagendarings.com, and find local gatherings at noagendameetups.com. Upcoming JCD tribute meetups include Coeur d'Alene, Alpharetta, Raleigh, Cupertino, Mandeville, Calgary, Cincinnati, and Vaughan, Ontario, with many more scheduled worldwide.
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