JRE 1436 · March 4, 2020

Adam Curry

technologymediabusinesspolitics

Who is Adam Curry?

Adam Curry is a podcaster, announcer, internet entrepreneur and media personality, known for his stint as VJ on MTV and being one of the first celebrities personally to create and administer Web sites. Check out his podcast "No Agenda" with new shows available every Sunday and Thursday. http://www.noagendashow.com/

Topics and Timestamps

01Adam Curry discusses his early MTV career and transition to internet entrepreneurship before podcasting became mainstream
02The No Agenda podcast model and how Curry and John Dvorak built a show focused on critical media analysis
03Discussion of how traditional media gatekeepers have lost control over information distribution through decentralization
04Adam's perspective on the evolution of the internet from open protocol to corporate-controlled platforms
05Conversation about independent media, sponsorship models, and listener-supported content creation
06Reflections on being an early adopter of internet technology and predicting digital trends decades ahead
▶Adam discusses his MTV career and early web presence0:00:00
▶Explanation of the No Agenda podcast model and listener support system0:15:30
▶Conversation about media gatekeepers losing control over information distribution0:28:45
▶Adam reflects on the internet's evolution from decentralized to corporate-controlled0:42:15
▶Discussion of independent media's role in countering mainstream narratives0:58:00

The Show

Joe sits down with Adam Curry, the former MTV VJ turned podcasting pioneer, and they dive deep into Adam's journey from television celebrity to internet entrepreneur. Curry was literally one of the first celebrities to personally create and maintain a website, recognizing early on that the internet would fundamentally change how content gets distributed. This wasn't some lucky guess either. Curry was experimenting with web technologies and understanding their potential before most people even knew what the internet was.

The conversation moves into how Adam built the No Agenda podcast with John Dvorak, creating a show that operates completely independently from traditional media structures. They discuss how the podcast model, which seemed radical at the time, has become a proven format for reaching audiences without needing corporate backing or network approval. Adam explains how No Agenda functions as a listener-supported show that comes out twice a week with no ads, relying instead on donations from audience members who value the content.

A major theme throughout is how centralized media gatekeepers have lost their stranglehold on information. Joe and Adam talk about how traditional journalists and news organizations used to control what stories got told and how they got framed. Now anyone with a microphone and internet connection can reach millions of people. This democratization of media is both empowering and chaotic, but it's fundamentally changed the game. Curry's perspective is that this shift was inevitable and necessary.

Adam also reflects on the evolution of the internet itself, from an open protocol-based system to something increasingly controlled by large corporations like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. He had hoped the internet would remain decentralized, but instead it's become concentrated in the hands of a few mega-companies that control access and visibility. Despite this, he sees independent creators and podcasters as a counterbalance to corporate media consolidation.

The discussion touches on how being an early adopter gave Curry an unfair advantage in understanding technology trends. He was thinking about these concepts when most people were still confused about what email was. His ability to see where things were heading allowed him to position himself at the forefront of these changes.

Best Quotes

“I was one of the first celebrities to actually create and maintain my own website because I understood what the internet was going to do”

— Adam Curry