August 21st • 3h 30m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
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Big Tech AI and the Socials
Sam Altman on GPT-6: 'People want memory'
He said he sees memory as the key for making ChatGPT truly personal. It needs to remember who you are — your preferences, routines and quirks — and adapt accordingly.
“People want memory,” Altman said. “People want product features that require us to be able to understand them.”
He said OpenAI has been working closely with psychologists to help shape the product, measuring how people feel while tracking well-being over time. The company hasn’t made that data public, but Altman indicated it might.
He also said that future versions of ChatGPT would comply with a recent executive order from the Trump administration that requires AI systems used by the federal government to be ideologically neutral and customizable
“I think our product should have a fairly center-of-the-road, middle stance, and then you should be able to push it pretty far,” Atlman said. “If you’re like, ‘I want you to be super woke’ — it should be super woke.”
He added that if a user wanted the model to be conservative, it should also reflect that as well.
Big Pharma
EU UK Ukraine and NATO
Greece wants to introduce flexible 13-hour days | tagesschau.de
Seems they will limit it to 37 times a year you can be asked to work 13 hour
days, but if that is per job, then you can easily have that twice a week
during a tourist period.
Did not know Germany introduced 6 day working weeks as mentioned in there.
Massive Hack Hits Ukrainian Military Command
Hackers have breached the networks of Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff, stealing vast amounts of highly sensitive data.
Among the files are casualty reports that point to staggering Ukrainian losses since the war began. According to the leaked documents, Ukraine has lost more than 1.7 million soldiers over three years. The breakdown is severe: 118,500 deaths in 2022, 405,400 in 2023, 595,000 in 2024, and a record 621,000 so far in 2025.
The stolen data reportedly contains not just statistics but detailed records of the dead and missing — including names, locations, personal details, photographs, and even family contact information.
Even more damaging, the hackers also obtained terabytes of files on foreign arms suppliers. These lists identify who supplied Ukraine with weapons between 2022 and 2025, and exactly what was delivered.
They also obtained personal data of high-ranking officials from the Special Operations Forces and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), along with detailed lists of countries supplying weapons to Ukraine. When, where, how it was transported and what
The CIA & MI6 - The Forgotten Roots of Today’s Conflict in Ukraine
On August 7, Gallup released a surprising poll. Nearly 70 percent of Ukrainians said they want the war to end soon—even if that means sitting down at the negotiating table. Only 1 in 4 believe the fighting should continue until Ukraine achieves a complete military victory. That’s a huge shift compared to two years ago. And yet, despite this, most people still don’t believe peace will come anytime soon.
Why? The answer isn’t all that complicated. President Zelensky has made clear he doesn’t want to accept major compromises. Western allies—especially Britain—back him in this stance. But to really understand why the war keeps dragging on, you have to zoom out, and look into the past.
The Old Western Playbook
For a long time, Britain has sought to weaken Russia. After the Maidan protests of 2014, that old strategy was dusted off once again. A British think tank, tied to NATO and MI6, even argued back then that an old-fashioned confrontation with Russia would serve the West’s interests.
But this way of thinking goes back much further. As early as 1957, the CIA produced a 200-page report proposing that American Special Forces should secretly infiltrate Ukraine, spark uprisings, and destabilize the Soviet Union from within.
How the CIA Saw Ukraine
At the time, the CIA didn’t believe Ukrainians were particularly hostile toward Russia. After all, Ukraine and Russia had been tied together since the 17th century. But the Agency did spot a few fault lines where unrest could be encouraged:
• Western Ukraine (Lviv and Volyn): Nationalists here had a long tradition of resisting Moscow, sometimes with British support. The CIA viewed this as the most fertile ground for an uprising.
• Kyiv: The capital leaned more toward Ukrainian nationalism. The Soviets even moved the capital temporarily to Kharkiv because they didn’t trust Kyiv. In 2014, the city again became the heart of protest.
• Donbass and Crimea: These regions were considered strongly loyal to Russia. A “Russian island in the Ukrainian sea,” as the report put it.
• Odessa: Too mixed and too close to Russia to serve as a reliable base for anti-Russian movements.
In short, the CIA had already mapped out the fracture lines that would become glaringly obvious after 2014.
From Maidan to Now
Fast forward to the Maidan protests of 2014, and the old CIA forecasts suddenly seemed prophetic:
• Western Ukraine and Kyiv led the push for change.
• Donbass and Crimea resisted, seeking closer ties with Moscow.
• Odessa witnessed one of the worst tragedies, when dozens of anti-Maidan activists died in a fire.
Since then, Ukraine has become the battleground for a conflict that has been simmering for decades. Today, even as most Ukrainians say they just want peace, Western powers keep applying pressure on Russia—exactly as the old playbooks had envisioned.
History Repeats Itself
It really does feel like history repeating itself. The CIA’s 1957 blueprint and Britain’s plans from 2014 are still shaping events today. Most Ukrainians want the fighting to stop. But their future remains caught in power games that began long before they were even born.
I think back to my own grandparents, who used to say that decisions about war were always made far away, by people they would never meet.
Some things never change.
Transmaoism
Does the word nature appear in the bible?
Yes, the word "nature" appears in some English translations of the Bible, but its usage depends on the translation and context. In modern translations like the King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), or English Standard Version (ESV), the word "nature" is used sparingly and often refers to the inherent character, essence, or natural order of things, rather than the modern concept of the natural world (e.g., forests, animals, etc.).
For example:
- In the KJV, "nature" appears in passages like Romans 1:26 ("against nature") and Romans 2:14 ("by nature"), referring to the inherent disposition or characteristics of people.
- In the NIV or ESV, the word may appear in similar contexts, such as Galatians 4:8 (referring to "beings that by nature are not gods") or 1 Corinthians 11:14 (about the "nature" of gender distinctions).
However, the Bible more commonly uses terms like "creation," "world," or "heavens and earth" to describe what we might today call "nature" (e.g., Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1). The modern environmental concept of "nature" isn’t directly paralleled in the original Hebrew or Greek texts, as the word’s usage in English translations reflects interpretive choices by translators.
War on Beef
Screw Worm Playbook
Howdy Adam, I am a cattleman on the
coastal plains of Texas and have been listening since your original
Rogan appearance. Much has been made of the New World Screwworm (NWS)
but as a media deconstructionist, I see through it. Forgive the long
note
Yes,
the herd size is down. We've also been in a biblical-type drought the
last 3 years. That has changed this year, but when you have 3 years in a
row of culling your herd, the head count situation shouldn't be a
surprise. Headcount only tells part of the story. We produce
significantly more beef on less feed than ever before. The industry
(Particularly Angus) has selected for carcass and feed efficiency to
accomplish this so we still have a good supply of beef. Don't let anyone
spin you up about running out of beef. IF we were running out of beef
we wouldn't close off the southern border to Mexican cattle(1.4 Million
head in 2023). The narrative that the Mexican heard is over run with NWS
and theyre migrating north is reminiscent to the migrant caravans which
we havent seen lately. The story is everywhere, it has swamped my algo
and its the subject of keynote speakers at every convention I go to. It
feels very pushed.I dont know where JCD got the notion that you cant
post about it anywhere.
In
2017 there was a case of NWS in a deer in Florida. Sterile flies were
released and the problem was solved. We have a solution and are
executing the plan, so why the panic from Big Ag? In my oppinion there
is market manipulation at play. The same market manipulation is being
played out in the grain markets. USDA has underplayed the size of the US
crop to avoid insurance payouts, but that's another story for a more
qualified producer to tell. The bottom line is don't get spun up by
these guys who rely on fear to make their nut.
I highly recommend the podcast Lonesome Lands to get a better understanding of some of the manipulation by Big Ag.
Vaya con dios,
Austin
