Listen Now: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto

Summary

American History Tellers | Special Feature: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto
Release Date: July 13, 2026
Host: Lindsay Graham (not the Senator)
Featured Guest: Dan Taberski
Episode Focus: A preview and discussion of “Manifesto,” a new Audible Originals podcast by Dan Taberski, exploring the power, peril, and potential of manifestos—what they spark, whom they inspire, and the blurred line between justified rage and dangerous actions.

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Episode Overview

This episode features a crossover special with Dan Taberski, noted for his innovative and provocative podcasting work. Taberski introduces his latest series, Manifesto, which aims to re-examine the meaning and influence of manifestos in American history and present day. Rather than let manifestos be defined only by extremists and mass shooters, Taberski reclaims them as tools for artists, visionaries, radicals, and ordinary people striving for change. The preview uses gripping real-world examples—including the 2013 Christopher Dorner case and the Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program—to probe the fine line between righteous anger and violence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Manifesto (00:00 – 01:53)

• Dan Taberski openly frames the podcast’s core question: Can manifestos reignite inspiration and collective action without inciting violence?
  • [00:09] Dan Taberski: “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...”
• He explains the show's premise: examining people who turn anger and ideals into action, from internet trolls and punk singers to radicals and secessionists.
• Main philosophical question: What happens when justified rage gains momentum of its own?
  • [00:40] Dan Taberski: “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?”

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The Story of Christopher Dorner’s Manifesto (01:54 – 04:08)

• Taberski recounts a pivotal incident from February 2013 in Southern California, juxtaposing his own idealized beachside life against the sudden shock of violence.
• Gripping details of the murder of Keith Lawrence and Monica Kwan:
  • [02:13] Dan Taberski: “Two young people, a couple, recently engaged... murdered while parked in their white Kia Optima.”
  • No signs of robbery; forensic clues (14 shots fired, use of a silencer) hint at a calculated, professional crime.
• Identification of suspect Christopher Dorner, an ex-LAPD officer:
  • [03:21] News Clip: “Dorner was an LAPD officer through 2009 and a reservist for the United States Navy.”
  • The narrative pivots when Dorner’s manifesto is discovered—a pivotal example of how words can drive action and fear.
  • [04:08] News Clip: “It scares the hell out of me.”

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What Is a Manifesto? Dan’s Quest (04:09 – 06:32)

• Taberski turns the focus inward, exploring his own mounting frustration with the state of the world.
  • His candid confession: “I find myself seething underneath all the time... My patience has become strained, my temper too short, my ability to hear anyone has.”
• The supermarket moment: An everyday act becomes charged with symbolic rebellion.
  • [05:34] Dan Taberski (as Narrator): “He goes to grab a shopping cart... you got to insert a coin... as if none of us can be trusted.”
  • Interviewee D describes his mini-revolt against the system: he jams the cart lock and “liberates” himself from the petty tyranny of supermarket procedure.
    • [06:01] D: “All of a sudden, there was that one moment when I said, fuck it, I’m not gonna do this anymore…”
    • [06:23] D: “And it felt so good. It felt like a moment of liberation.”

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Manifestos as Catalysts—Examples Past and Present (06:33 – 07:23)

• Taberski draws a parallel from petty rebellion to the grand tradition of American manifestos.
  • Manifestos focus and ignite collective outrage and hope, sometimes with unpredictable consequences.
  • [06:33] Dan Taberski: “That space right there, where emotion becomes action, when you’re inspired to just do something already... that is the stuff of manifestos.”
• He features Bobby Seale reading the Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program (1968):
  • [06:58] Bobby Seale (archival): “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...”
• Taberski characterizes manifestos as living things—capable of becoming threats and transforming societies.
  • [07:23] Dan Taberski: “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.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• [00:09] Dan Taberski: “My attempt to take the Manifesto back for mass shooters and nihilists and return it to its rightful place...”
• [00:40] Dan Taberski: “Just how cozy can we get with our rage before it takes on a life of its own?”
• [04:08] News Clip: “This manifesto... scares the hell out of me.”
• [06:01] D: “I said, fuck it, I’m not gonna do this anymore, and I’m not gonna stop other people from doing it as well.”
• [07:23] Dan Taberski: “A sparking of real, honest to God, change is the longest of long shots. But when it happens... it can rewrite our future.”

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Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Introduction: Reclaiming the meaning of manifestos | | 01:55 | The 2013 Venice, California murders and Dorner manhunt | | 03:15 | Identification of Christopher Dorner as suspect; police/media context | | 04:09 | Personal reflection: modern rage, struggle to channel it constructively | | 05:34 | The supermarket cart—mundane rebellion as metaphor | | 06:33 | Defining manifestos; focus of collective anger and change | | 06:58 | Bobby Seale reads the Black Panther Party’s Manifesto | | 07:23 | Manifestos as threats and instruments for world-changing action |

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Tone and Language

• Authentic, earnest, slightly wry: Dan Taberski balances seriousness with conversational intimacy, candidly using humor and personal anecdotes to engage listeners (“I look amazing. I look amazing.”).
• Cinematic and gripping: The story interweaves news audio, historical tape, and evocative narration, making history feel urgent and present.

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Conclusion

This episode presents a compelling preview of Manifesto, driving home the ambivalence and power of these public declarations—how they can catalyze necessary change or spiral into destruction. Taberski weaves historical context with modern unrest and personal reflection, challenging listeners to consider: Where do we go with our collective rage—and can manifestos channel it into something better?

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For listeners looking for a nuanced, provocative dive into American protest and proclamation, Dan Taberski’s Manifesto promises insight, urgency, and uncomfortable questioning.

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.