Listen Now: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto

Summary

Against The Odds — Listen Now: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto (July 13, 2026)

Podcast Summary

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Episode Overview

In this special feature, host Dan Taberski introduces his new podcast series "Manifesto," which dissects the nature, history, and impact of manifestos—from art and activism to acts of violence. Taberski explores the powerful allure and dangerous potential of this form, aiming to reclaim the word "manifesto" from its darkest associations and spotlight its creative, transformative origins. The excerpt grapples with the duality of manifestos—how they can inspire profound societal change or incite chaos—while reflecting on rage, agency, and the urge to act against systemic failures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reframing the Manifesto

• Dan Taberski introduces "Manifesto" as an attempt to "take the Manifesto back for mass shooters and nihilists and return it to its rightful place with the artists and the warriors, the visionaries, the regular folks...who've got something to say and the guts to say it."
  • [00:11]
• He outlines his journey of interviewing radicals, secessionists, punk singers, and trolls, all seeking to channel their anger into purposeful action.

2. Personal Context and Brush with Harsh Reality

• Taberski sets the scene in Venice, California, reminiscing about a peaceful, idyllic life by the ocean that is shattered by news of a double murder.
  • "But I'm not taking you back in my time machine because of how good I looked. Which was very—it's because of what happened next in Southern California that cut through that dreamy scene and swapped it out with harsh reality."
    • [01:46]

3. The Christopher Dorner Case

• The episode dives into the 2013 double homicide of Keith Lawrence and Monica Kwan in Irvine, CA, painting it as the start of a chilling manhunt.
  • Details reveal the crime was not a robbery—"Her new engagement ring is still firmly on her finger. Which means this isn't a robbery."
    • [02:17]
• The suspect, former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, leaves behind a lengthy, furious manifesto.
• The host and news reports express the fear—the impact and chilling power of Dorner's words.
  • "And this manifesto on Facebook is 11 pages long...It is stunning...it scares the hell out of me."
    • [03:54–04:09]

4. Anger in the Modern World

• Taberski reflects on modern discontent: "The world is on fire...even more concerning for me...has been my own reaction to it and how difficult it's been to get a handle on how angry it has all made me...my patience has become strained, my temper too short."
  • [04:08–05:19]

5. Small Acts of Defiance

• Anecdote of everyday resistance: a man refuses a supermarket policy requiring a coin for the shopping cart and rebels, to liberating effect.
  • "So he takes a coin and he jams it into the slot so it won't come out. So now no one's playing the stupid shopping cart game, are they?...And it felt so good. It felt like a moment of liberation."
    • [06:01–06:32]

6. When Emotion Sparks Action: The Power and Risk of Manifestos

• Taberski connects these moments—both grand and mundane—of emotion transmuted into action as "the stuff of manifestos."
  • "That space right there where emotion becomes action, when you're inspired to just do something already—that is the stuff of manifestos."
    • [06:33]

7. Historic Manifestos & Real Impact

• Archival audio of Bobby Seale reading the 1968 Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program underscores manifestos as tools for focusing collective anger into demands for justice and equality.
  • "Number seven. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people."
    • [06:51]
  • "Manifestos aren't just pretty poems. They are, in a sense, a threat. A hard packed snowball of grievance and timing and nerve and real impact..."
    • [07:23]

8. Caution and Questions

• Taberski ponders: "Can we get inspired again, and can we do it without a bullet?"
  • [00:52]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On reclaiming the Manifesto:
  "This project is my attempt to take the Manifesto back for mass shooters and nihilists and return it to its rightful place with the artists and the warriors, the visionaries, the regular folks with just the right amount of crazy who've got something to say and the guts to say it."
  — Dan Taberski, 00:11

• On discovering rage:
  "I'm not an angry person. I am a relatively happy guy, but I find myself seething underneath all the time. My patience has become strained, my temper too short, my ability to hear anyone has."
  — Dan Taberski, 04:49

• On small acts of rebellion:
  "And it felt so good. It felt like a moment of liberation."
  — D (supermarket story), 06:23

• On the activist voice:
  "Number seven. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people."
  — Bobby Seale, 06:51

• On the true nature of manifestos:
  "Manifestos aren't just pretty poems. They are, in a sense, a threat. A hard packed snowball of grievance and timing and nerve and real impact, a sparking of real, honest to God, change is the longest of long shots."
  — Dan Taberski, 07:23

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00–01:30: Dan Taberski introduces "Manifesto" and outlines its premise.
• 01:55–02:50: Reporting on the Irvine, CA double homicide that triggered the Christopher Dorner manhunt.
• 03:46–04:09: Media reactions to Dorner’s manifesto.
• 04:08–05:34: Taberski discusses personal frustration and rage in today’s world.
• 05:34–06:32: Story of minor protest in a supermarket as an example of defiant action.
• 06:51–07:23: Bobby Seale reads from the Black Panther Ten Point Program.
• 07:23–End: Taberski reflects on the power and danger of the manifesto form.

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Tone and Language

Taberski's approach is heartfelt, introspective, and searching. He injects humor and vulnerability into his reflection on anger, activism, and individual agency. The tone is both urgent and hopeful, balancing the darkness of recent events with the potential for constructive transformation.

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Conclusion

“Manifesto” engages listeners in a thoughtful exploration of what fuels both destructive and transformative action, examining the roles that manifestos play in social change and violence alike. This episode-in-brief poses challenging questions: Can we harness our rage for good? Can we shape the world with words, not weapons? Listeners are left contemplating the thin line between inspiration and mayhem—and the enduring allure of the manifesto.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, Dan Taburski here. You might know me from podcasts like Hysterical or Missing Richard Simmons. And now my latest adventure, Dan Taburski's Manifesto. This project is my attempt to take the Manifesto back for mass shooters and nihilists and return it to its rightful place with the artists and the warriors, the visionaries, the regular folks with just the right amount of crazy who've got something to say and the guts to say it. I compare notes with radicals, secessionists and Internet trolls out for a laugh and punk singers screaming their guts out, all trying to turn their anger into the world that they want to see. And along the way I write my own manifesto about manifestos. But the question that rises up pretty quickly Just how cozy can we get with our rage before it takes on a life of its own? From Audible Originals and Please and Thanks Productions, this six part series explores the power and precariousness of the Manifesto and asks can we get inspired again and can we do it without a bullet? I'm about to play a clip from Manifesto. You can listen to Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Manifesto ad free right now. Start your Audible subscription on the Audible app or on Apple Podcasts. February 2013 Venice, California. It's my last few months in Los Angeles before I move back east. I'm in my late 30s, living by the beach, learning to surf the crumbly waves on my longboard. My skin smells like the ocean all the time. I feel amazing. I look amazing. I look amazing. But I'm not taking you back in my time machine because of how good I looked. Which was very it's because of what happened next in Southern California that cut through that dreamy scene and swapped it out with harsh reality.

[B]

Police in Irvine, California are investigating the double murder of a young couple in the parking lot of their apartment complex.

[A]

Reports of a homicide in Neighboring Orange County.

[B]

27 year old Keith Lawrence and his fiance, 28 year old Monica Kwan, were found shot to death in Lawrence's car late Sunday night.

[A]

Two young people, a couple, recently engaged. The guy was a public safety officer at USC and she was an assistant basketball coach at a local university, murdered while parked in their white Kia Optima.

[B]

Investigators do not yet have a suspect

[A]

description or motive and immediately the details of the crime begin to add up to something bigger than a one time thing, like when their bodies are found by the police. The victim's necklace is still on her neck. Her new engagement ring is still firmly on her finger. Which means this isn't a Robbery. Also, investigators find evidence of 14 shots having been fired. That's a lot of bullets for just two people cornered in their car. But the number of neighbors who actually heard those 14 shots, zero. So maybe there was a silencer on the gun, which would mean the killer probably isn't new to this, that maybe they're a professional.

[C]

Irvine detectives have been working day and night since this tragedy.

[A]

The Irvine police chief takes to the podium to tell the people of Southern California that they are going to have to buckle up for a ride today.

[C]

We have identified Christopher Dorner as a suspect in this double homicide because the

[A]

suspect, Christopher Dorner, is no ordinary suspect.

[C]

Dorner was an LAPD officer through 2009 and a reservist for the United States Navy.

[A]

Dorner is a former LAPD cop and he's still out there. And there's reason to believe that he's going to kill again, that maybe he already has. And we know this because Christopher Dorner left something behind.

[C]

A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slings.

[A]

And this manifesto on Facebook is 11 pages long. Trace this manifesto from this suspect who's targeting cops. It's stunning. It is stunning, Shep.

[C]

And it says he's been very well trained. You know, lapd, some of the best trained officers in the country. And I tell you, this manifesto, it

[A]

scares the hell out of me. I'm Dan Tabursky from Audible Originals and please and thanks Productions. This is Manifesto Episode 1 2America. Subject Last Resort. I am in the market for a manifesto. I have been for a while now, to be honest. The world is on fire. I'll spare you the details. We've all got our own faves and I mean, really, what fresh words could be left to describe what fresh hell we're presented with day after day? But even more concerning for me, even more surprising, has been my own reaction to it and how difficult it's been to get a handle on how angry it has all made me. I'm not an angry person. I am a relatively happy guy, but I find myself seething underneath all the time. My patience has become strained, my temper too short, my ability to hear anyone has. It happens at, of all places, a supermarket where the whole economic order is reduced down to cans on a shelf where you can buy two of crap you don't need for the price of one.

[D]

And this feeling of discontent that I've had in shopping at supermarkets, you know, for years and years before that, and being dissatisfied with the whole feeling of walking in there and having the choices that they're giving me and the way that I. It just felt like something that I don't want to do. But I kept on doing it.

[A]

He goes to grab a shopping cart. Only it's one of those setups where you got to insert a coin to get the cart, and you only get the coin back if you return the shopping cart. As if none of us can be trusted.

[D]

You know, basically, they asked me to sort of use the shopping cart, put the coin in and take the coin back and put it back to where it belongs. Then all of a sudden, there was that one moment when. When I sat, he said, fuck it, I'm not gonna do this anymore, and I'm not gonna stop other people from doing it as well.

[A]

So he takes a coin and he jams it into the slot so it won't come out. So now no one's playing the stupid shopping cart game, are they?

[D]

And it felt so good. It felt like. Like. It felt like a moment of liberation.

[B]

That.

[A]

That space right there where emotion becomes action when you're inspired to just do something already. That is the stuff of manifestos. Individuals, groups, entire swathes of society use it as the funnel to focus their erupting rage.

[E]

Number seven. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.

[A]

This is activist Bobby Seale reading the Black Panther Manifesto in 1968. They called it the Ten Point Program.

[E]

We want all black men held in counties, states, federal jails and prisons to be released because they have not had a fair trial, because they've been tried by all white juries. And that's just like being tried in Germany, being a Jew.

[A]

Manifestos aren't just pretty poems. They are, in a sense, a threat. A hard packed snowball of grievance and timing and nerve and real impact, a sparking of real, honest to God, change is the longest of long shots. But when it happens, when a manifesto catches fire, it can change our world. It can rewrite our future. But there's a hitch. Binge all episodes of Dan Taburski's manifesto ad free right now on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible app or on Apple Podcasts.