California's Vote Count Delays and AI Economy Risks Explored in No Agenda's Latest Episode
Episode 1875 of No Agenda, 'Sonic Thump,' tackles California's drawn-out primary count, Bill Pulte's surprise appointment as acting DNI, Trump's combative Meet the Press walk-off with Kristen Welker, the New World Screwworm scare in Texas, and warning signs in the AI economy.
Fredericksburg, Texas (Newsworthy.ai) Monday Jun 8, 2026 @ 1:10 PM CDT
California Election Integrity - Stella & Spencer Pratt
“All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look. That's not evidence. And I listen. And I listen to people. They're crooked, just like you're crooked. Press is crooked.”
Episode 1875 of the No Agenda Show, titled 'Sonic Thump,' published June 7, 2026 and hosted by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak, delivers a sweeping media deconstruction of a chaotic news week. Broadcasting from the Texas Hill Country and Northern Silicon Valley, the duo dig into California's mail-in ballot delays, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli's fraud investigations, President Trump's contentious sit-down with NBC's Kristen Welker, and the surprise naming of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. It is classic Crackpot and Buzzkill territory: skeptical, irreverent, and relentlessly specific.
Listeners get a guided tour through the week's most contested narratives, including:
California Election Integrity - Stella & Spencer Pratt
“All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look. That's not evidence. And I listen. And I listen to people. They're crooked, just like you're crooked. Press is crooked.”
- California's 37-day mail-in counting window and SB 75's signature-verification rollback under Governor Gavin Newsom
- Xavier Becerra's front-runner status in the governor's race and Steve Hilton's frustration over the LA mayoral count
- The Watson v. Republican National Committee case pending before the Supreme Court
- Pete Hegseth's D-Day speech in Normandy warning Europe about migration
- The New World Screwworm outbreak roughly 100 miles southwest of San Antonio
The hosts roll tape on Trump telling Welker the press is crooked before walking off the Wisconsin barn set. 'They're crooked, just like you're crooked. Press is crooked,' the president says in the clip. Welker's on-camera tag blamed rain interruptions. Curry counters that historical precedent for personal attorneys running Justice runs from Edmund Randolph under Washington to Robert Kennedy under JFK, calling MSNBC analyst Ari Fleischer's framing 'bullcrap' aimed at low-IQ viewers.
The episode's deepest thread is the AI bubble. Curry walks through Google raising $80 billion partly to cover RSU cash-outs, Microsoft engineers 'token maxing' for promotions, and Cisco president Jeetu Patel pitching $200-per-week per-employee token costs across 90,000 workers. The hosts mock 'Jevons Paradox,' the 1865 economic principle now invoked by VCs to justify runaway AI spend, and flag a Stanford study, 'Algorithmic Monocultures in Hiring,' showing resume scores persist for 330 days across employers. They also cover NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic jet, the Ebola facility controversy at Kenya's Lokichogio airbase, and an mpox smuggling case involving NIH researchers Vincent Munster and Claude Kwe.
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 technology. Known for its sharp humor, media deconstruction, and value-for-value model, the show examines how stories are framed, amplified, or ignored. Episode 1875, 'Sonic Thump,' is available now wherever podcasts are heard and at noagendashow.net.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is California's vote count taking so long, according to the episode?
- The hosts attribute it to Newsom-era changes where every Californian automatically receives a mail-in ballot, plus SB 75, which Newsom signed to eliminate signature verification on mail-in ballots. Curry notes the count now stretches to 37 days, where it used to finish within two or three days. KTLA officials blamed signature-matching, which Curry calls contradictory given SB 75.
- Who is Bill Pulte and why did Trump name him acting Director of National Intelligence?
- Pulte currently runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency and is associated with the Pulte home-building family. The episode's guest analysis from Barbara Boyd frames him as a 'bull in a china shop' chainsaw-style reformer, paired with former Tulsi Gabbard deputy Aaron Lucas to direct him toward intelligence community targets, with election-integrity work for the midterms reportedly a priority.
- What is 'Jevons Paradox' and why do Curry and Dvorak mock it?
- Jevons Paradox is an 1865 economic principle stating efficiency gains in resource use can paradoxically increase total consumption. Cisco's Jeetu Patel and the All In podcast crowd invoke it to argue cheaper AI tokens will drive more usage. The hosts dismiss it as Silicon Valley jargon papering over a broken business model amid massive CapEx and RSU-driven stock pressure.
- What did the Stanford hiring study reveal about AI resume screening?
- The study, 'Algorithmic Monocultures in Hiring,' tracked over 4 million applications across 156 employers and found roughly 90% of companies use AI screening, often from the same few vendors. An applicant's score can persist for up to 330 days, meaning rejected candidates carry the same score to other employers using the same tool, producing what researchers call systemic rejection.
- What is the New World Screwworm threat discussed in the episode?
- The parasitic blowfly lays eggs on animal wounds, with larvae feeding on flesh and typically killing the host. An outbreak was detected roughly 100 miles southwest of San Antonio with a 12-mile containment radius. Curry's source Texas Slim argues the panic is regulatory capture aimed at further reducing the U.S. cattle herd, noting infested animals were moved up from Mexico and South America.
- How did Trump's Meet the Press interview with Kristen Welker end?
- After roughly 50 minutes in a Wisconsin barn with rain interruptions, Trump repeatedly called the press crooked, told Welker 'Thank you, darling. Have a good time,' removed his microphone, and walked off the set. Welker's studio tag attributed complications to the rain and said Trump agreed to sit for another Meet the Press interview.
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