Dan Taberski's Manifesto

Summary

Podcast Summary: Crime Writers On... – "Dan Taberski's Manifesto" (August 3, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode of Crime Writers On..., hosts Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn, joined by Laura Bricker and guest Ronald Young Jr. (sitting in for Toby Ball), review Dan Taberski's latest podcast "Manifesto" (an Audible Original). They reflect on Taberski's exploration of manifestos throughout history—how they've inspired, scolded, and even provoked violence—and discuss the podcast’s key stories, Taberski’s signature style, and what makes "Manifesto" both timely and complex. The discussion also contemplates the moral questions around manifestos, violence, and protest, with characteristic humor and sharp pop culture references.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dan Taberski’s Signature Storytelling (07:47)

• Return of a Podcast Auteur: The panel unanimously praises Dan Taberski’s storytelling style for being both conversational and philosophical, making even topics like the phone book compelling.
• Anthological Approach: Unlike deep dives in Taberski’s past work, "Manifesto" covers several movements and moments, often at a surface level but with focused depth on standout stories (e.g., Occupy Wall Street).
• Notable Quote:
  “His storytelling style is so conversational...he could make the phone book sound interesting and...approach the phone book with curiosity.” — Laura Bricker (10:58)

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2. Key Manifesto Case Studies

Occupy Wall Street (12:32)

• Lack of Focus as a Downfall: The group highlights how Taberski’s segment underscores the movement’s inability to articulate a clear goal or single demand.
• Authenticity: Ronald relates personally, remembering the era’s optimism but agreeing with Taberski's critique.
• Memorable Moment:
  “What is our ONE demand?” — The unanswered question of the movement (13:15)

Anonymous vs. Scientology (13:42)

• From Mischief to Activism: The episode explores how Anonymous blurred lines between prankster activism (“Jackass” style antics) and meaningful protest.
• Memorable Anecdote: The infamous Vaseline-and-pubic-hair stunt, prompting both amusement and disgust among the panel.
• Notable Quote:
  “I kind of forgot everything else...because I was so distracted by the image in my mind...” — Laura Bricker (15:14)

The Free State Project in New Hampshire (17:29)

• Local Insight: Rebecca and Kevin, as New Hampshire residents, offer personal context on how what seemed like a fringe libertarian movement now shapes local politics.
• Deeper Impact: Despite initial skepticism, the panel recognizes the Project has had significant, if sometimes disruptive, effects in the state.

Apple’s "Think Different" Manifesto (40:42-41:53)

• Irony of Success: Rebecca points out the Apple campaign’s unintended role in cementing conformity—underscoring how some manifestos, initially empowering, can have double-edged outcomes.

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3. The Chris Dorner Episode & The Role of Violence in Manifestos (30:38, 32:06)

• Controversial Manifestos: Taberski’s episode on Chris Dorner, the former LAPD officer turned spree killer, sparks debate—can the content and grievances of a manifesto be divorced from its violent acts?
• Uncomfortable Sympathy: Ronald and the group note the tension between understanding Dorner’s critique of police and denouncing his actions.
• Notable Quote:
  “If this man had not killed people, his manifesto would not have gotten attention. But his manifesto was saying important things that a lot of us actually agree with.” — Ronald Young Jr. (30:38)
• Narrative Hook: The podcast’s conceit—Taberski’s 11-point manifesto on manifestos—keeps listeners engaged with the promise of a culminating insight.

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4. Manifestos and Violence: Moral & Sociopolitical Ramifications (33:36-39:36)

• Effectiveness or Danger? The group ponders Taberski’s suggestion that manifestos only ignite change if they threaten consequences—sometimes violence or the risk of it.
• Balance with Lighter Tone: While exploring heavy concepts, Taberski maintains a lighter, often joyful tone, a storytelling hallmark the panel admires.
• Critical Take: Ronald wishes the podcast went deeper into how violence—state-sanctioned or systemic—operates in society, suggesting “what is violence?” needs more scrutiny (38:00).

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5. Reception, Impact, and Favorite Moments

• Taberski’s Interview Skill: All hosts praise Dan’s empathetic but probing interview style, highlighting how he humanizes even controversial or “nutty” figures (48:00).
• Panelists’ Favorites:
  • Ronald likes Taberski’s ability to cover “out there, but right” manifestos.
  • Laura admires his humor and authenticity.
  • Kevin enjoys Taberski’s unique writing (“so many lines that just live rent free in my head”—47:02).
  • Rebecca values his knack for connecting with diverse interviewees and making personal stories feel universal.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Dan Taberski’s Authorship:
  "He can make anything sound interesting, and he can seem like he approached the phone book with curiosity..." — Laura Bricker (10:58)
• On Occupy Wall Street:
  “What is our ONE demand?” — Occupy organizers, sparking laughter and frustration (13:15)
• On Consequences & Violence:
  “You ignore us, you ignore this issue at your own risk, which could mean violence, but it also could mean, you know, overthrowing the economic system of technology or whatever.” — Kevin Flynn (37:21)
• On Apple’s Manifesto:
  “Apple has made us all the same...it is no longer different to have an iPhone. If you don’t have an iPhone, people make fun of you...” — Rebecca Lavoy (40:42)
• Taberski’s Self-Referential Humor:
  “He typed on his wireless Apple keyboard as he wrote on his wireless...” — Taberski, reflecting on Apple’s grip (41:53)

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Important Timestamps

• Introduction to Dan Taberski’s Manifesto: 07:47
• Occupy Wall Street Segment: 12:32
• Anonymous & Scientology Segment: 13:42
• Free State Project Segment: 17:29
• Chris Dorner & Violence in Manifestos: 30:38, 32:06
• Discussion on Manifestos & Violence: 33:36–39:36
• Apple ‘Think Different’ Manifesto: 40:42
• Panelist Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down Ratings: 44:39–48:37

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Final Verdicts: Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

• Laura Bricker: Thumbs Up. Appreciates Taberski’s curiosity, humor, and nuanced look at manifestos, even if it's not her favorite of his works. (44:39)
• Ronald Young Jr.: Qualified Thumbs Up. Praises overall craftsmanship and ambition but wants a deeper dive on the theme of violence and its implications. (45:57)
• Kevin Flynn: Big Thumbs Up. Loves Taberski’s writing, authentic voice, and his ability to make challenging topics approachable and even joyful. (47:00)
• Rebecca Lavoie: Thumbs Up. Recognizes minor flaws, but sees Taberski as a compelling exception in true crime/essay podcasting, lauding his ability to draw out human stories from unlikely places. (48:37)

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Panel’s Tone & Chemistry

The panel’s discussion remains witty, warmly self-deprecating, and full of in-jokes (their New Hampshire roots, running gags about pets and local politics, riffing on viral internet moments, etc.). They balance sharp critique with genuine affection for Taberski’s work—and aren’t afraid to get philosophical about activism, history, and storytelling itself.

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Summary for New Listeners

"Dan Taberski’s Manifesto," as reviewed by the Crime Writers On panel, is not Taberski’s deepest or most urgent project, but it is an engaging, thoughtful, and at times playful deconstruction of how manifestos—from Occupy Wall Street to Apple commercials—shape our world. The podcast is recommended for listeners who appreciate smart, accessible examinations of activism, protest, and the power of words.

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For further exploration, check out:

• Crime Writers On website: crimewriterson.com
• Dan Taberski’s Manifesto on Audible and wherever podcasts are available.

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Notable Panel Sign-off

“Dan, please, please keep being exceptional, please keep pitching us your work, and please keep making audio, because we need you right now more than ever…in Lara Bricker's neighborhood.” — Rebecca Lavoy (48:37)

Transcript

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[Guest or Panelist 1]

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[Kevin Flynn]

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[Rebecca Lavoy]

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[Ronald Young Jr.]

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[Laura Bricker]

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[Rebecca Lavoy]

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[Laura Bricker]

Download today.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

To get the crime writers on after show right now, go to patreon.com partnersincrimedia

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I'm Rebecca Lavoy, and this is Crime Writers on. Crime Writers on is the original True Crime Review podcast that digs into true crime pop culture, other podcasts, and on this episode, revolutions don't begin with action. They begin with somebody writing everything down. One of podcasting's best takes us through the history of those written calls to action in Dan Tabursky's manifesto. Joining me to get that done and more is true crime author, TV journalist, and host of these Are Their Stories podcast. My husband and love of my life, it's Kevin Flynn. Hello, Kevin.

[Kevin Flynn]

Hello, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Also with us, private investigator, certified pet detective, resident cat lady, and author of the Final Curtain. It's Laura Bricker. Hi, Laura.

[Laura Bricker]

Hey, Rebecca.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

And finally filling in for the globetrotting Toby Ball is our captain of all things awesome, our good friend Ronald Young Jr. Hey, Ronald.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

It is my deepest pleasure to step in for Toby Ball. Good to see y'.

[Laura Bricker]

All.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Glad to be here.

[Kevin Flynn]

Would you say it's like a maximum pleasure?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yes, I would say it's maximum pleasure guaranteed.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

You know, I agree.

[Kevin Flynn]

All right, well, you just gave me the cue to talk about what's going on next week.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah. What's coming up?

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, we're gonna be talking about the Apple TV show Maximum Pleasure Guarantee, but also wanted to mention that on Thursday for our rewind, we're gonna be talking about running from cops.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Oh, that was a good one.

[Kevin Flynn]

Which was also a Dan Taburski joint. So that brings it all around.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

So you know what I just kept thinking, and I'll talk about it in the next episode when we record, is that I was so relieved this week that Toby did not have to watch Maximum Pleasure Guarantee. Weren't you? Weren't you thinking that the whole time?

[Kevin Flynn]

Nope.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I was.

[Kevin Flynn]

Nope. Fuckers gotta do whatever we do.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

So, Lara, you ran to home base. How did it go?

[Laura Bricker]

It went very well. 3.2 mil, a 5K. And I raised $1,865 and my goal was only.

[Kevin Flynn]

Congratulations.

[Laura Bricker]

Thank you. Only $800 and home base. For those who don't know, this is a program through the Home Base foundation and the Red Sox that provides two weeks of mental health services for veterans and their families free of charge. And it's an on site program for two weeks. They get 80 hours of clinical mental health services in that two week period. And so I got to meet some of the families that had benefited from this. I met a woman who's husband had been in the military and had taken his life by suicide. And now she does the program in the run. So I want to give a shout out to all the crime writers on listeners who supported me on my run because you guys totally got me over the edge.

[Kevin Flynn]

Ali Van, we know we're at the top. Going over the edge is something completely different.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It is.

[Laura Bricker]

Thank you to our listeners who got me over my goal of 800. Not only did I pass my goal, I won tickets to the Red Sox in August.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nice.

[Laura Bricker]

And I won.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Who were they playing?

[Laura Bricker]

I don't know.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I don't know how good this prize is, depending on who they're playing.

[Laura Bricker]

I did go to the game on Saturday against the Blue Jays and they

[Rebecca Lavoy]

lost for the first time in a little while. Yeah.

[Laura Bricker]

Yeah. But I got to go to this event after the main event with the Wounded warriors and it was pretty inspirational. And it had an open bar, so it was pretty fun.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nice.

[Laura Bricker]

Nice.

[Kevin Flynn]

It was more than inspirational.

[Laura Bricker]

The more open bar there was, the more inspirational it got.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

But it got so inspirational.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

So inspirational.

[Laura Bricker]

I love it so much. Like when Kevin does his walk a Mile fundraiser. Thanks so much to all our CWO people. And I'm going to go through my donors. We've got Allie Van Dyne, Lisa Kerr, William Mazerve, Jennifer Cronin, Deborah Wethop, Carrie Savage, Vicki Skirat, Sarah. Sarah Rosenberg, Patty Daniels, Stephanie Tyson, Lauren Mahoney, Stephanie Buckley, Bruce Assam, Leroy Smith, Edie Czech, Sue Dodson, James Perrins, Melissa Peck. Kathleen. I am so sorry. I'm going to butcher your name. Kathleen Trkowski.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Sounds good to me.

[Laura Bricker]

Yep. Okay. Eileen Moffatt, Rebecca Jones, Vicki Skirat, Elizabeth Gardner, Sue Dodson. Anonymous. Bob Elliot, Lisa Durant, A date with Dateline podcast.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nice.

[Laura Bricker]

Yep. Jasmin Lushecki, Mallory Serrao, Jennifer Whitcomb, Patti Daniels, Heather and Tracy from Baltimore. Anonymous. Lori Wernick, Angela Slavinsky, Amy Gradnik, Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoy.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

What?

[Laura Bricker]

I know, Kevin.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Did you go behind my back?

[Kevin Flynn]

No, you were the first to donate, Rebecca. Yeah, you guys.

[Laura Bricker]

You know who actually was the first? So I tie one day and then what? Okay. Oh, my gosh, there's more. Susie, Jimmy Jay, Jennifer Hooker, Samantha Leaf, Angela Mann, Shawna Ramirez, Mary Ellen Weaver, the pest reliever and the to donate this year, Jennifer Rosenberg, sister of Rebecca Lavoy.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

That's very nice of her. Yes, very nice. Yay.

[Kevin Flynn]

Good job, Laura.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nice job.

[Kevin Flynn]

Thank you to all those people who helped Laura get over the edge.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

That's right, get over the top.

[Laura Bricker]

I didn't even need the lemon that keeps showing up on Instagram. I just went over the edge.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nice. All right, should we talk about the podcast we are here to talk about?

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, let's do that.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

All right, leading off, and I'm afraid

[Guest or Panelist 1]

pretty soon I'll have slid all the way over to the dark side. Not the right side or the left side, but the burn it all down side. And I'm waiting for someone to tell us, how do we move past this shit show that we have created for ourselves? What do we do now?

[Rebecca Lavoy]

They're a cry for help, a counting of grievances and a call to action. The manifesto is the tool of the dreamer and of the deranged. Documents meant to scold and to inspire the founding fathers. Modern activists and mass murderers alike have used them to explain themselves and their views on what's wrong with the world.

[Laura Bricker]

I don't know what else to do. I've tried every option. I've exhausted every avenue, and this still sucks. At some point, when option A and option B don't work, we need to create a third option.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Is the third option violent?

[Laura Bricker]

I don't think it needs to be.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Dan Taburski wants to champion the powerful and misunderstood form of the manifesto, taking it from the politicians and crackpots and returning it to the artists, warriors and regular folks who have both something to say and the courage to do something about it.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

This series is my 11 point manifesto on manifestos. Why I think we need them so much how they've gotten twisted in the 21st century and how we might be able to inspire ourselves again, to let ourselves get inspired again.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

In Dan Taburski's Manifesto from Audible Originals, the Master Storyteller takes us on a thoughtful yet sublime anthology about the marvels of written outrage and the visionaries who put them to paper along the way. Taburski writes his own manifesto on manifestos, arriving at a surprising conclusion about what's required to turn words into action. Spoiler alert. We're going to be talking about plot points from Dan Taburski's manifesto, so if you want to remain spoiler free, go to the estimated timecode in our show notes for our thumbs up or thumbs down reviews. So, Ronald, you have a bit of trivia about Dan Taburski that I'd love you to share with our audience.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yes, Dan Tabursky has five podcast Academy Awards, which is the most of any individual person in Ambie's history. He's the number one individual award winner. Do you know who number two is?

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I have a guess.

[Kevin Flynn]

Meryl Streep.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Ronald Young Jr. Ronald Young Jr. That's right.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I'm almost as good as Dan Tabursky. That's right. Celebrate everyone.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

So are you a Tabersky fan?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I love Dan Taburski. He's one. He's a nice person. I've met him in person and I was tape syncing, meaning I was working for him and he was kind to me. We had a very good conversation. My first introduction to him was Running from Cops, which I still think I still recommend to people as basically a one two punch. The one punch of a one two punch combo between Running from Cops and Empire City from Chenjerai Kumanyika. If you just need a full understanding of the police state and the carceral state in a lot of ways. So I really enjoyed Tantoberski's work. 9:12, another one of my favorites. I really enjoy him. I really enjoy his work.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah, I do too. The lion is one of my favorite podcasts of all time that he made. And I met him a long time ago too at a conference right after Richard Simmons came out, and he has been a friend of the show ever since. He actually pitches us his stuff himself, if you can believe it. He'll send us an email and be like, hey, I got a new shot. And we're like, you don't need us, Dan. You're doing great.

[Kevin Flynn]

But I met Dan Tabursky in an elevator.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

You did?

[Kevin Flynn]

Just the two of us, I think When I turned to talk to him, I think he thought I was going to rob him.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Also, fun fact, Dan hates Toby. So, anyway, moving on.

[Kevin Flynn]

He doesn't hate Toby. He just wants an unqualified thumbs up from Toby because Toby gives him thumbs up. But because it's Toby, he's gotta be

[Rebecca Lavoy]

a dick about it.

[Kevin Flynn]

You just gotta, like, find, you know, it's the. Even though. Yeah, it's the yes.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I don't know if y' all should have told me that, because as I'm sitting in for Toby, I'm trying to honor Toby in every way I can. Sitting in this chair, it means a lot. And I love Dan Tabursky, but Toby is my first. You know what I mean? He's my first. That's my first responsibility in this seat. No, no, we'll see what happens.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

We'll see what happens. Rebecca, don't worry, you won't listen to this because he has never listened to one minute of our show. So you can say whatever you want about Toby. I promise you, he will not hear it. I promise.

[Laura Bricker]

Oh, Toby.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

He's like, why would I listen to it? I was on it.

[Kevin Flynn]

I listened to it. Yeah, Kind of it.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Yeah.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Lara, doesn't listening to one of Dan's shows feel a little bit like it's like a returning. Right. Like returning home in a way?

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Oh, yeah.

[Laura Bricker]

I mean, his storytelling style is so conversational. Like, I think he could make the phone book sound interesting and he could seem like he approached the phone book with curiosity to learn all about the phone book and what made it tick. And then he would throw in some fun little humorous quip about that that would relate it, and he just does something so conversational. And, you know, this isn't. I'm gonna say it right off. This isn't my favorite of his podcasts, but I still think this was kind of an interesting shift because it was more philosophical. It felt like this was more philosophical. It felt like we were getting a little bit more of Dan and his own manifesto in this podcast than we did in some of the other podcasts that were more an examination of a particular segment of a story. And I, you know, I felt like he really, right off the bat, kind of tapped into the angst that a lot of us are feeling in this country with his sort of call to action in the way that he prefaced the start of this podcast.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah, yeah. So let's talk about some of the stories. I mean, I get the feeling that Dan could have made a whole podcast about any one of these stories that he tells in the show. And it's interesting that he chose to do it as an anthology. And so he got like, I slightly. I think it was a slightly more surface look at a lot of these things, but a couple of them do go pretty deep. And I thought one of the deeper ones and one of the best episodes was the Occupy Wall street episode, which ultimately ends up being like, you can't protest without a fricking idea, guys. What did you think about that episode, Ron?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I really liked it. I feel like it1. It reminded me of a time, you know, and I'll just leave it right there. As soon as he started talking about Occupy was immediately transported back to the odds and the teens where it was just different. We were very optimistic about what was next. And in some cases, looking at Occupy was saying, ooh, this is the right step. We're gonna now topple Wall street with whatever this is. And when he zooms in on the fact that they didn't really have a leader, that they didn't really have, like, a point or a demand, it really. It made me as angry as it made him. As you continue that episode, what is our 1 demand?

[Kevin Flynn]

And above is what is our one demand?

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Yeah, tell me about that.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

The one question that we were never able to answer.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

So I thought he really, like, to me, articulated that point very well. As someone who was there when it happened. I mean, I'm in Alexandria, Virginia. They did an Occupy D.C. it was right down the street at Liberty Square. I think it was called, so Freedom Plaza. Freedom Plaza. So I feel like it. Yeah. For me, as someone who lived it, I felt like he landed that very, very well.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah, Lara. We also don't let Scientology escape. Scientology being, of course, one of my favorite topics. He doesn't really talk about Scientology a lot in this podcast. I really want someone to make a really great podcast about Scientology. It's like I'm desperate for it. But this was more about 4chan. It was more about Anonymous and the sort of battle within Anonymous to either be funny and mischievous or super deep activist. What did you think, though, about how they approached Scientology as a movement, as the Anonymous movement was starting to grow?

[Laura Bricker]

Well, that one. Right off the bat, I have to say there's a line in there that Dan says at the ultimate sort of event that occurs. That was one of the great lines of this podcast where he's like. And they were just a hair over the line or was that he did something? And I was like, yeah. So number one, I kind of was like, I was listening to that crazy voice that they were using that was like, the computer voice that they were communicating by. And I was like, send messages? Yes, I would like to send messages to people in that voice. You know, it was. But it was listening to, like, how are we going to do this? Are we going to do these, like, stunts like Jackass, or are we going to do something that's actually going to make a difference? And ultimately they do a stunt that's kind of like Jackass, where they get somebody who's going to cover themselves in Vaseline and pubic hair and run into the Scientology.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yuck.

[Laura Bricker]

And run around and create a situation.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

My first question, who gets covered in Vaseline and pubic hair? So you were looking for volunteers. You were saying, I thought we would never get one.

[Kevin Flynn]

And then when we finally got somebody, it was down to do it. We're like, all right, sick.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

How do we make it worse?

[Laura Bricker]

The fact that that was even the action that they decided to take. I kind of forgot everything else about their movement and everything else about their manifesto and what they were seeking and what they were trying to do, because I was so distracted by the image in my mind of somebody, like, just slathered in Vaseline and multiple pubic hairs. Yeah, multiple pubic hairs. I don't know. Did everybody else. Are you gonna have nightmares?

[Kevin Flynn]

I am.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

No, the hair part is the gross part. Obviously, the. What's interesting is that there's. This is happening now. There are a bunch of people raiding Scientology buildings now. They just run in with cameras and get as far as they can. So it's a thing that's happening now. And as much as I, like, see stuff like that, and I'm like, oh, that's not cool for Scientology. Freaking go for it. Like, go for it. It's completely fine. That place is nuts. And I'm probably gonna get emails from Scientologists because I'm saying so on the podcast. That's happened to me.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

So send me those emails too. I hate Scientology. It's whack. It's not real. It's a fake religion. You heard it from Ronald first.

[Capital One Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

And I'm anti organized religion to begin with. Phrasing the church. My whole life still a part of a church. I'm really anti Scientology for reasons that are way stronger than I'm anti organized religion.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It's not a religion. It's not even a cult. It's just a grift. It's just a grift.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

It's just a grift. Yes, we've all been tricked.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Many years ago, we reviewed the Leah Remini TV show that you did about Scientology on the podcast. Freaking love that show. RIP Mike Rinder. Yeah. Anyway, I love that show, and I love Leah Remini. So, Kevin, I wanted to confirm something with you, and I did. And I asked Dan, and he couldn't remember, but then he was like, maybe I pitched him the Free State Project as a story many years ago via Twitter. DM. I know I did. I'm 100% sure I did. I told you I did. At the time. He says, you know what? You probably did. There was an episode about the Free State Project, something we are intimately familiar with. Again, I don't think I go super deep into it. Not as deep as the Wall street one, but what did you think about that episode?

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, I mean, we know about it because it takes place in New Hampshire and. Yeah, as well. I mean, if you listen to this podcast that, you know that it was a movement of libertarians, like, just basically trying to consolidate, concentrate in a certain area and then be able to sort of control local government and then secede from the union, something like that. I was a TV reporter in New Hampshire at the time that this was going on, and I kind of remember hearing about it and then going back to the newsroom saying, do you know about this thing where people, because they were voting on different states and they just voted, New Hampshire's gonna be the one they're all gonna come to. And nobody really seemed interested. They were kind of like, oh, yeah. It just seemed like crack potty. And that was sort of like where, you know, kind of like where it ended, But.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

And today. Would you like to explain freestanding?

[Laura Bricker]

They're on our local school boards, and they're. These people have infiltrated man and legislature.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, right. It wasn't until the end of Dan's episode that he revealed that while there was somebody who was elected to the state legislature, there are 399 other representatives in the general Court. So, you know, as far as, like, impact, you know, it's mostly symbolic, but they do do, like, very disruptive things.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Here's what Dave recorded that day. Video number 800 million. It's Dave and a few compatriots confronting Karen in the parking lot.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Can you give us an answer?

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Dave is our hero.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

It starts off mild, just ironic heckling.

[Kevin Flynn]

Thank you, Karen.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I just want to say I really

[Kevin Flynn]

appreciate murder of a million Iraqis by your heroes in the federal government over

[Guest or Panelist 1]

a lie, but it escalates.

[Kevin Flynn]

I think these are also the people that follow around the parking meter maze in Keene and just harass them when they're writing tickets. It's kind of. But I don't know, I guess protesting is supposed to be uncomfortable and distasteful. And I think that's part of one of the things here that he's getting to about manifestos. But yeah, I was like, oh, that was, you know, that was an interesting take because as he's building up to it, I said, this sounds like the Free Statement. This is what it's gonna be. And it was. It sort of fits in this theme pretty well.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I just wanna say the impact of the Free State Project in New Hampshire is not insignificant. There's actually dozens of legislators who have been elected. They usually run as Republicans. The majority leader of the State House now identifies as a Free Stater. There are dozens of businesses that have propped up around the state. They have a huge festival called Porkfest. And they have been elected to many, many, many local offices. It is frame of mind that's really, I think, had a big influence on New Hampshire politics here. And I remember too, Kevin, when it was first suggested it was a joke, it was like, ha, ha, what are they gonna do? You know, move here and camp? You know what I mean? And that's not what it ended up being.

[Laura Bricker]

Well, one of them got arrested in the January 6 riot. One of the guys.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

The crying Nazi.

[Kevin Flynn]

The crying Nazi.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

There's a whole. I gotta find the episode. I'm pretty sure it's this American Life, but there's a whole this American Life episode about how the Hasidic Jews in New York were banding together to basically set up a bunch of the. I want to call them yeshivas, but they were specifically Hasidic Jewish run schools. And they took over the school board by busing in folks, voting in their candidates and taking over a lot of areas in which. And kind of enacting policies that worked for the community that basically had the most control. So it's not unheard of for something like this to happen, which is why I was very interested in where the Free State Project lies now and yalls opinions on it.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kevin Flynn]

You know, we're starting to pick at some of these different topics here. And you're right, it's like each of these, like you could really go down a much deeper hole. Right. And do multiple episodes or a whole series on sort of any one of these. But I think certainly it's much better the way it's presented. To me, the topic is a little Unusual for, you know, certainly for a Dan Tabursky podcast. It isn't obvious. But what ends up being a Dan Tabursky podcast, the topics aren't obvious. Right. So that's kind of what it is. I mean, between a deep dive into the show Cops and then like, what happens at Y2K and then, you know, Hysterical, which was one of my favorites. He makes, like, for good anthologies, Right. And so he takes these, like, great ideas and finds a way to sort of bring them all together. To me, it's like the side two of Abbey Road where you have all these sort of different things, but you're able to stitch them together in sort of one big thing. Kind of like our own Patreon. Because when you go to Patreon, you can get all sorts of exclusive content, business activities, stuff that that seems like it's like fairly different, but it all works together, including the crime writers. On After Show. On this After Show, Rebecca is gonna give her hot takes on the latest legal problems facing the host of the Murdoch Murders podcast, Mandy Matney.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yes, I am.

[Kevin Flynn]

You also get Toby Ball's Deep Dive Book Club podcast and the Book Club Toby and his guests are talking about the book Murderland. In the podcast Married with Podcast podcast, we give advice to several listeners, including Jessie, who just had a hysterectomy and her friends are being insensitive with their advice. Need to back off, Susan.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

That's right, Susan.

[Kevin Flynn]

Susan.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yes, Susan.

[Kevin Flynn]

Something's off is the True Crime podcast in which Rebecca and Mel Barrett look at all sorts of stuff. And you are currently following this very tragic murder trial in Massachusetts.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

We are, yeah. It's a super tragic one. It's about a. It's a mother who was thralls of postpartum psychosis and ended up unaliving her children. And her ex husband is supporting her, her whole community supporting her family supporting her. But the prosecution doesn't seem to believe her. And it's pretty awful because after she

[Kevin Flynn]

did this, she tried to take her own life by horrible cutting her throat, jumping out a window. She's been left paralyzed, but the prosecution, the state, still wants to call her a murderer. Still call her a murderer. It's a very controversial case. If you join us at the Brichter scale level, you get all of that, including a bonus podcast, Laura Brichter Leave it to Bricker podcast, in which we will finally hear part two of chaos the condo board.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Oh, boy.

[Laura Bricker]

Yes. And last week there was a bonus about the unusual injury I suffered training for the home base run. All right, yeah, it was quite an episode, but chaos at the condo board. There have been some updates. I have two messages from the elusive handyman on my voice right now.

[Kevin Flynn]

The mole. All right, we're just gonna leave it right there. Ronald is like, what is going on? So we're not going to tell you.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It's Ronald's next Ambi winning podcast with Laura Bricker is Lara Bricker's Chaos the Condo.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

I'm just happy to be here, guys.

[Kevin Flynn]

I just got a text from Tabursky. He wants to know he wants in. He wants in. Absolutely. And if you're a deep diver, you get all that, but you also get to be an exclusive sponsor of Toby Ball's Deep Dive Book Club podcast. Toby next week will be recording the next podcast, and the book is the Tragedy of True Four Guilty Men and the Stories that Define Us by John J. Lennon. Now, we also have an Amazon storefront where you can see some of our favorite things. Rebecca, what are this week's Amazon recommendations?

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Our coffee maker's broken the mocha master, which we loved, and they sell them on Amazon. Just throwing it out there into the world.

[Kevin Flynn]

All right, so you manifest that like a manifesto. You manifesto that.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yes.

[Kevin Flynn]

And Ronald, with Toby away, the duty falls to you. Can you tell us what are your listener inspired deep cut recommendations?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Well, I have two. The first is a mini handheld Whack a mole game console keychain, portable fidget, sensory toy, nostalgic stress relief pendant with lanyard. Colorful cartoon print, random color.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Incredible.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

That's my first thing.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Incredible.

[Kevin Flynn]

You said it's a keychain.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I want that.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yes, it's a keychain.

[Kevin Flynn]

Keychain is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Doing a lot of lifting.

[Kevin Flynn]

All right.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yes.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

You want another one, Kevin, please.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, give me one more.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Hot dog roaster, stainless steel, three man stick figure griller Funny barbecue by Goot BBQ grilling gifts. Dad gifts. Men Novelty hot dog. Great for parties, birthdays and tailgates.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

In the middle there, it just says men.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

That's right. I'm reading what I was given, and I love this. Do you see the photo as I can see the photo, Kevin, that sounds wild. I love it so much.

[Kevin Flynn]

So it's three, like wire men. And what you do is you stick the hot dog on the stick figure right where the dick goes.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Okay?

[Kevin Flynn]

And that's how you roast.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

They're dick dogs.

[Laura Bricker]

Oh, my God. I am buying that for everyone for Christmas.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

It's not aesthetically pleasing.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Only for men.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Not aesthetically pleasing. You should Only send it to women.

[Laura Bricker]

To be honest, I'm gonna send it to women. It's like the little charms I have for my wine with the little men with little shorts on in their names.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yes, absolutely.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Great.

[Kevin Flynn]

If you wanna find those, you shop us when you go to Amazon.com shop crimewriterson. We earn commissions on qualified purchases.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Kevin, before we end the business section, do we have any Patreon patron saints of the week this week?

[Kevin Flynn]

Our Patreon patron saints are Vicki Skerritt and Sue Arnold.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Bless Vicki and Sue. I think sue especially has been with us a real long time.

[Kevin Flynn]

Oh, yeah.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Thank you so much for supporting us on Patreon. We literally couldn't make the podcast without our patrons. You keep the show going. You are our engine. You are our fuel. We cannot thank you enough. Kevin does. Thus end our business section.

[Kevin Flynn]

Thus ends the business section.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Let's go ahead and fade that music out. So, Kevin.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yes.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Did you think this was a high quality true crime show?

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah. But not as high a quality as our items from Quince that we always get.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nothing is.

[Kevin Flynn]

I want to start by just thanking Quince for supporting us for many, many years. We were with you when people called you Quince.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yes. Or did Quince. That was a real thing.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah. Well, we have been great partners with Quince for so long. As a matter of fact, because Rebecca loves the items that Quince has so much, we are net negative with our relationship with Quints because Rebecca continues to buy all of these quality items. Rebecca, right now, as a matter of fact, you are clothed head to toe.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yes.

[Kevin Flynn]

In Quint. What do you got on?

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I'm wearing this like cotton chunky cardigan from Quints. It's like this cobalt blue color or cerulean as they would say in Delaware's Prada's Prada. But one of my favorite things I have bought from Quinn in the last like eight months are these super soft fleece cropped wide leg pants. I have a white pair and a black pair and every time I wear them, especially the white pair, they feel like. Guess how much these incredible pants cost?

[Kevin Flynn]

No idea.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

$42. Oh, my God, I love these pants.

[Kevin Flynn]

These are quints for you.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

They're incredible.

[Kevin Flynn]

Everything at quints is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands and they work directly, directly with ethical factories, but cut out the middleman. So you're paying for high quality, not brand markup.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

So be like me. Upgrade your everyday. Go to quince.com crime crime for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK too.

[Kevin Flynn]

You speak English there.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

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[Laura Bricker]

You know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price and want to tell everyone about it?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yeah.

[Laura Bricker]

So do we. Here at Designer Shoe Warehouse. We'll give you something to brag about, like the latest styles from brands you love or the trends everyone's obsessing over, or shoes that make you feel like, well, you. So go ahead, show off a little. Buying shoes that get you and prices that get your budget. Head to your DSW store or DSW.com today DSW. Let us surprise you.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

So one of the things, Ronald, that's really interesting to me is that Dan Taburski is really good, and we hear him doing interviews on tape a lot in his shows, and I think that's very good tape because we hear how he talks to some wild people that I don't think it's unfair to say we all probably disagree with in real life. But he's very good at making them comfortable. He's very good at getting to talk, and he's very good at just not being a dick to them and, you know, sort of showcasing them as whole human beings, which I love. And in this podcast, he does something else, which is that he talks about some manifestos of people who are kind of out there, but who are also right. Can you talk a little bit about the Chris Dorner episode?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Oof. Okay. So I really liked that episode because it also, it. There's a. And I know people. This is a polarizing person. I'm about to say next, but a few years ago, Dave Chappelle actually talked about the Chris Dorner incident in one of his standups. And I remember at the time hearing that it had happened, hearing about the manifesto, going back and then looking it up and then listening to this episode, from listening to this episode of Manifesto, kind of evoking all of the same emotions I had at the time, which was, if this man had not killed people, his manifesto would not have gotten Attention. But his manifesto was saying important things that a lot of us actually agree with. And unfortunately, you find yourself in a position where you have to divorce yourself from the violence but also agree with the actual words. But the truth is, if you agree with the words, then you kind of have to agree with the violence. And I feel like that episode does a very good job of painting the picture of all these people that are like, I don't really agree with him killing, but, I mean, he is saying so. And I'm like, did you actually do agree with the killings then? Unfortunately. Which is kind of how it works.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Facebook groups like Team Dorner and We Are all Chris Dorner begin to grow, and it becomes hard to ignore how the grievances that Dorner laid out in his manifesto were playing out for real in the hunt to find him.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Now, don't get me wrong, what he did was awful. Killing innocent people was bad. But when you read his manifesto, when you read the message that he left, he wasn't entirely crazy.

[Kevin Flynn]

He had a plan and a mission here.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

And I know that's probably, like, a charge to take this day to y', all, but as a person who's like, yeah, I mean, revolution, Thomas Jefferson, the writing's on the wall. It feels like that's what. It feels like, what he's doing in this episode. So I thought it was very well. Very well stated, very well done, and Christopher Dorner was the perfect vehicle to kick this off, in my opinion.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Yeah.

[Kevin Flynn]

And then it actually comes back around again, I think, in the last episode, because, like, he. He did tackle that one. He. He also paired that with Luigi Mangioni coverage. And I think the line that he used was, he's like, you know, that guy's wrong, but he ain't wrong. Like, you know, whatever that is. But then it comes back to his 11th point, right? He starts. And I think this was one of the things that hooked me right from the beginning, is that he's saying the conceit is like, I'm gonna write my own manifesto about manifestos. And he tells you it has 10 parts. But it was. Now it's gonna have 11, because I learned something. And so now I'm like, well, what the fuck? What did he. What is it?

[Guest or Panelist 1]

Why 11 points and not the standard 10? Well, the last point was a surprise. A place I did not expect this journey to land.

[Kevin Flynn]

So now I'm already, like, I'm already in. Cause it's Taburski. But it's like, all right, narratively, what's gonna Happen. And he comes back round to that. Because I believe the 11th point is, I'm paraphrasing here is like the threat of violence needs to be there or has to, or is there when it's effective, right?

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It's not effective.

[Kevin Flynn]

When it's not effective, right? It's not. And if it means, you know, the bullet, if it means, you know, I mean, I don't know. I don't know what the threat of violence is for the, you know, the apple think different, manifest.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

There isn't one.

[Kevin Flynn]

You know, like, not everyone hits all the different points, but it comes back around to that. It's like, okay, we're serious as shit. And those are the manifestos that you take interest in. Whether it's. Whether it's the Communist Manifesto, the Declaration of Independence, or the Unabomber Manifesto. It's not just whether or not it's a ranting, raving thing that you can understand or not. It's basically, you know, it's. It's a warning. It's what? It's a warning.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah, I completely agree with this, but I also think Dan is right. And, you know, again, this is an unpopular thing to say, but, like, the things that have worked have involved either violence or fear of violence. Right. I mean, we talked a couple weeks ago on the show about Martin Luther King and so called peaceful protests. The whole point was to get on camera people being violent to black people and letting the. Letting the world see it. So it was called a peaceful protest, but it wasn't because the attacks were coming inbound, which they knew would happen, and that was intentional. So that was scary, right? Yes. So there's that threat of violence, there's starvation. When people look at that, they see ravage on human bodies. So those kinds of protests have worked, like the hunger strikes. If you think about the movements that have worked, it's been bodily stuff that scares the shit out of people. I think the AIDS movement is very much like that. It's like you have to make straight white guys afraid that this could happen to them by not hiding what happens to you when you get this disease and by talking about it all the time. And that's fear that. That involves fear. So we made inroads there. So there's. I think there's really something to that. But it's also a risk, Lara. Right. Saying that manifestos don't work without a threat of violence.

[Laura Bricker]

Right. Because I think, you know, you think about manifestos and it's almost kind of synonymous with like some extremist or a mass shooter. And so I think what's interesting here is that he places those type of manifestos and those type of call to the actions next to some of these artistic and sort of political manifestos and advertising marketing manifestos. Does that take some of the mystique out of or like the oomph out of the other type of manifesto? I don't know. But you do worry, like, is this giving attention to encourage dangerous behavior for the sake of dangerous behavior by examining people and movements that have included violence? And does that encourage people that are going to then write manifestos or romanticize people that are writing manifestos that really aren't organized around some sort of goal or outcome? And, you know, so it's.

[Kevin Flynn]

It's kind of.

[Laura Bricker]

It's like a fine line because it's like. I think what's interesting about this podcast is that it doesn't just go one way or the other. It includes so many different types of calls to action. And it's really more about, when you think about it in that kind of bigger context, it's like that people coming together behind a common cause. But, you know, is it the common cause of be different for Apple? Is it, you know, is it the common cause of our country? Is it the common cause of equality? Like, so I thought it was interesting that he did bring these other groups in, but, you know, there is that sort of question of like, you know, whenever you hear reporters talk about don't give attention to the murderer or whatever, what comes from that? You know, like, what is the outcome of examining those messages?

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, and I think if, just briefly, I think that if people wanna, you know, aren't comfortable saying, like, that violence is necessary, I think you could parse it by saying that it's the threat that there will be consequences. We're not necessarily talking about. Not every manifesto is about overthrowing the government. Right. This is sort of like, what part of this thesis is that? It's other things as well. But it's sort of like, you know, you ignore us, you ignore this issue at your own risk, which could mean violence, but it also could mean, you know, overthrowing the economic system of technology or whatever. I don't know.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Okay, so the one thing I'll say is, and I think this is, for me, the weakness of the podcast, the only weakness or flaw, which is that that in talking about violence, and if you're going to talk about violence, especially when it comes from the person or the people that are being oppressed, you really have to open up that discussion and say, what is violence? How do we actually define it? Because there are all of these little terrible things that most of the systems of oppression are doing to us on a regular basis that are actually violent, whether it be an arrest, whether it be unjust taxes, whether. Whether it be any of the inequity that kind of exists in a very capitalistic system. And I feel like there's parts of this podcast where I expected him to turn and take aim and say, why is there even a question of us committing political violence, a word that only exists when someone in power is killed? They never talk about the political violence that exists or the terrorism or the extremism that exists when regular folks are being hurt every day. And I feel like if you're going to make a podcast like this and you're not going to do a much longer discussion and examination of that, like episode seven, Dan, do that. Just talk about that. Tag in Chinja. Talk about that. That is important. Otherwise, people walk away saying, oh, well, the best manifestos have violence. Okay. And then we have to have these, like, nuanced discussions about it without saying, like, well, the state is violent to us. The state has probably been violent to all four of us at least once this week.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah. I mean, you can call an execution political violence. It's the government killing a human being. Like, it's. It's. We. This conversation a lot when we talk about environmental terrorism on the show, because it's like, yeah, that's illegal, but the world is literally burning. So called eco terrorism.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yeah.

[Kevin Flynn]

You know, I'll just say that I think that for something where, like, anger is really at the heart of it, like with manifestos, or that this podcast is actually so much lighter than that, and it's actually somewhat joyful and whimsical in some ways. Not. Not like it's not taking it seriously, but that's what Taburski brings to it. Like, Leon Nayfaw would have done a great job, but done it in a different way. Sam Mullins, somebody we know, like, would also have done it, but in a different way. While I don't want people. I don't want people to think like, this was six episodes of Pitchforks and, you know, bloodlust, because it's not. It's. It's. It's told in a much lighter way that is still as, you know, entertaining and informative as. As anything else that this host has done.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I actually think there's one other thing that Dan missed talking about. There are a couple episodes where I'm like, But what about X? Like, you just said, Ronald, for me, the Apple one was one of those. Because that Apple ad is so ironic today because Apple has made us all the same. Like, they have. It's like. It's like the rise of nerd culture, the rise of be different culture. It is no longer different to have an iPhone. If you don't have an iPhone, people make fun of you. Like, it's like it's created the 1984. It's created the surveillance state. It's created the sort of walled garden of data they made that they turned our world into one that is beholden to technology, corporate overlords and tech billionaires. Like, the Apple moment was the moment that. That began. And the rise of the Marvel universe was another moment where that began, where, like, people in power who had, you know, who have all the brains to become rich. We used to be like, yeah, but he's a dork, right? And then they became mainstreamed, and now they are our literal overlords. So I think that there's a little more to the Apple thing that I think is scarier than Tversky said.

[Guest or Panelist 1]

And, yeah, there's bullshit in there, manipulation, pulling at heartstrings, but it's a particularly satisfying bullshit, if I'm being honest, mixed in with a healthy amount of real possibility. And, yes, Apple does kind of own me. He typed on his wireless Apple keyboard

[Kevin Flynn]

as he wrote on his wireless.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

But I will say that was my. That was my favorite writing moment in the podcast when he was talking about the Apple commercial. And he's like, Albert Einstein, so And so. And a random white guy. An undisturbed sleep is a beautiful thing. That's why a Beautyrest mattress is designed

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[Laura Bricker]

You know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price and want to tell everyone about it?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Yeah.

[Laura Bricker]

So do we. Here at Designer Shoe Warehouse. We'll give you something to brag about, like the latest styles from brands you love or the trends everyone's obsessing over, or shoes that make you feel like, well, you. So go ahead, show off a little. Buying shoes that get you and prices that get your budget head to your DSW store or dsw.com today. DSW. Let us surprise you in the US there's a break in every 26 seconds. But when intruders step near Simplisafe, home security steps up.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

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[Rebecca Lavoy]

All right, let's do we do. Let's let our listeners know should they check out Dan Taburski's Manifesto. It's a new podcast available on Audible. Original. Lara Bricker Thumbs up or thumbs down for Dan Taburski's Manifesto.

[Laura Bricker]

Yeah, this is a thumbs up for me. This is not what I would think of traditionally when I think of Dan Taburski podcast, but that's what makes him Dan Taburski. You never know what he's gonna tackle next. And as I said in the main review, I think I would listen to him do an examination of the phone book. He's really good at finding empathy without excusing people's behavior. He's very personal in the way he approaches his interviewing. He adds humor and he's genuinely curious about everything. And I appreciate that because I'm like, I would ask that question too because I would want to know. So the central podcast in this is like can manifestos be separated from violence? And what is a manifesto? And it really goes all over, you know, things that you wouldn't necessarily think of. The Breakfast Club, Dan Taburski's own personal thoughts on manifestos. And I think for me, when I say this wasn't a traditional Dan Tabberski podcast, this felt more like we were getting some more of him in this and his opinions about this situation and this topic and also where we are Right now in the world, in the country. And I think this sort of taps into a lot of what people are feeling in terms of the angst at the state of the world. And I mean, I'm ready to go write my own manifesto. So thumbs up Dan Taburski and manifesto.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Ronald Young Jr. Thumbs up or thumbs down for Dan Taburski's manifesto.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Okay, so in the spirit of Toby, I'm going to give it a thumbs up. But it is a qualifying thumbs up, I will say, because I do think this is a great podcast. As a colleague and as an auteur, I think he has made something very good here. It is not my favorite Dan Tabersky podcast, and I do think that there are gaps that I would have appreciated addressing, like the violence, etc. But I just. I think overall what I expect from him and I think what I'm expecting from Dan Tabursky, who was a very important voice of podcasting, I think, of this generation, I think that there's more that he could be getting out of some of these conversations in a way where it's not just raising questions and presenting it as. I feel like there's something I want from him that says, we gotta do something about this, guys. I feel like I'm just always missing that kind of next step from him. So other than that, thumbs up, that's my only qualification. Love you, Dan. Someday I'll beat you. Keep going.

[Laura Bricker]

All right.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Kevin Flynn.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, I'm a. I'm a big thumbs up on this. There are so many Dan Taburski lines that just live rent free in my head. Like, what? So the better business, bet. Yeah, so the better business, babe. That was from the line. There was the line from Hysterical when he was talking about, like, how he was getting pushback from his staff. And he's like, he says, I'm not afraid of those chumps. I can take them, or whatever. It was the best was in 9:12 when he was interviewing a guy and the guy was about to make a point. And he starts by trying to say that after 9 11, there was no racism. And he's going on, and Taburski just comes in and he's like, wait for it, wait. And he's basically letting the listener know, just hang on, he's getting somewhere. And the way that they did it was just sublime. I think this is great because it gives us the best of Taburski, where his writing is so witty and his interview style is so authentic and he's just genuinely curious and you just sort of make everything about what could be a very heavy topic seem positive in some ways, hopeful and rather joyful. It's really a great tour de force of narrative audio. Everything expertly crafted, you know, completely listenable. There's fantastic flashes of whimsical writing paired with his excellent timing and delivery. So, yeah, if you, like any of the other Dan Tabursky podcasts, podcasts, and I think you should strap in, go along, let him take you where he wants to take you. It's always going to be a great ride. So thumbs up.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Yeah, it's a thumbs up for me, too. This is not Dan Taburski's most memorable or important podcast, in my opinion, but it's quite good. I mean, every time I listen to a Dan Taburski show, I think about all the times I've complained about mediocre white men being successful in podcasting, and I'm like, he's like, literally an exceptional white man in podcasting. And it's just like, like, so deserving of all the accolades and love that he's gotten and all the deals that he gets because he can just do so much. And my favorite thing that he does in every podcast he does, and we hear a lot of it here, is his interviewing people that we will never meet and never talk to because we all live in our little bubbles where we never actually interact with people who are that different from ourselves. And he just goes into worlds and, you know, finds voices. He has an incredible interview of somebody who participated in Occupy Wall street that I just adore in the podc. He follows his arc, gets him to really, you know, sort of share his heart on his sleeve. He has an incredible interview with a political figure that I happen to know is well known to be, like, nutty. And he just really humanizes him and, like, gets to the motivation of it and, like, he's just so good. And that, to me, is, like, the real driving force here. Much more so than. I mean, if there's a weakness for me, it's. I agree with some of what you said, Ronald, but I also think that sometimes having a theme sort of forces some stories in a way, or sort of forces you to bend a story around the theme or sort of forces you to make a number of episodes. So maybe you include things that don't quite fit. There's a little bit of that here. But I felt the same way about hysteria, although I loved hysteria. So, yeah, I'm a big thumbs up. My complaints are minor compared to the things that are good about this. And so Dan, please, please keep being exceptional, please keep pitching us your work, and please keep making audio, because we need you right now more than ever

[Laura Bricker]

in Lara Bricker's neighborhood.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Exactly.

[Kevin Flynn]

Exactly.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

At the condo board.

[Laura Bricker]

Take on the condo board.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Take on the.

[Kevin Flynn]

There's a mole in the condo board.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

There is. There is, Ron. This is very, very.

[Kevin Flynn]

It's the handyman. He's the mole.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

All right, all right. Now it's time for my favorite part of the podcast, a little something I like to call the crime of the week. Researchers at UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology have long relied on grants from the government to continue their study of yellow bellied mart marmots. But because the administration thinks mammals are too woke, the funding has dried. And now scientists have a new way to keep the program going. They've started an OnlyFans. Subscribers to only Marms will get unfiltered yellow bellied marmot content. They can see photos and videos of the beaver like critters with names like Staple, Pawprint and Cabinet. The lab has also partnered with a local brewer to create Marmoteers ipa. And they'll do their own take on Alaska's popular Fat Bear Week with their own fat marmot contest. While they bemoan their lack of funding and the threat of cancellation, the scientists say bringing their knowledge to the public is a worthy goal. So, panel, what is the next unconventional thing these scientists will do to raise money? What do you think, Laura Bricker?

[Laura Bricker]

I don't know if it's the scientists, but I think those marmots are gonna have to unionize to make sure they're getting the right share of their OnlyFans money.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

I think that's right. What do you think, Ronald? What's the next unconventional thing these scientists could do?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

A completely normal potluck fundraiser run specifically by the chemists.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

What do you think, Kev?

[Kevin Flynn]

Kangaroo feet pics.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Oh, my God. Well, I just want to say one thing. I wouldn't copy the Alaska Katami park bear cam too hard. This week, one of the bears killed a cub on camera and tons of people saw it.

[Kevin Flynn]

Geez.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It was no good.

[Kevin Flynn]

I'm the next Dan Taburski's manifesto.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It's just nature.

[Ronald Young Jr.]

It's wildlife, man. That's nature.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Nature that's going to do it for us. But before we go, Laura Bricker. Speaking of nature, do we have a Cat of the Week this week?

[Laura Bricker]

Oh, yes, we do. This is one of my favorite. This is like a Cat of the Week week. Crime of the week almost. Could be a remote Leave it to Bricker. Episode comes to us from Lillian Seldean, longtime listener. Lillian, her cat Benjamin. Benjamin was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit, but I was able to exonerate him by collecting evidence proving he couldn't have done it. It all started when I received an angry text from a neighbor stating she had witnessed Benjamin attacking and seriously injuring her killing. She was demanding I pay her vet bills, so I probed a little deeper and found out the exact time of the attack. Since Benjamin wears a tracker, I was able to pull up the GPS data and prove that Benjamin was nowhere near the scene of the crime at the time of the assault.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Wow.

[Laura Bricker]

Exoneration. We have been able to identify an alternative suspect who bears a similar likeness Orange cat. And we are in the process of apprehending. This has all the makings of a true crime documentary, she says. False accusation by an unreliable witness, conviction demand for justice without due process. If it wasn't for swift work by my own Innocence Project, Ben would be in kitty jail and I would be out hundreds of dollars.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Wow.

[Laura Bricker]

I just knew Ben couldn't have done it. He is not a mean cat and I'm glad I was able to prove it.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

She's the Susan Simpson of cat owners. Laura Bricker. Folks want to reach out to you on social media and pitch any animal or animal story to be cat of the week. How can they find you there?

[Laura Bricker]

You can find me Araber on Instagram and Bluesky.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

What about you, Ronald Young Jr. Where can folks find you?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

You can find me on Instagram threads, TikTok and Letterboxd at ot. It's Big Ron. That's at O H I T S B I G R O N. And

[Rebecca Lavoy]

what should folks listen to to hear more of your voice?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

Oh, man, you should check out. Wait for it. Definitely. And I'm working on a new show so stay tuned to all of my features feeds. I'm going to announce it soon. I'm very excited. I'm in the writing and editing phase, so just stay tuned to all of my feeds. It's going to come out.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

It's about a condo board, 100%. What about you?

[Ronald Young Jr.]

No, it's about racism towards orange cats.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

Oh, a well known problem. Let's write a manifesto. What about you, Kevin? Where can folks find you?

[Kevin Flynn]

I'm at Kevin Plin.

[Rebecca Lavoy]

You can find me everywhere at Reb Lavoy. Follow the show everywhere at Crimewriters on and join our Patreon Patreon. We've got lots of amazing stuff back there. I promise it's worth your while. Our theme song was composed and performed by Ty Gibbons and our editor is Kevin Flynn. He's also the EP of this show. This show was recorded in the Caitlin Rogers Project Studio, also known as Studio C, the closet in our New Hampshire basement where we also slather ourselves in petroleum jelly while covered in shaved pubic hair. Well, Kevin does anyway. Not on behalf of all the crime writers, thanks so much for listening. We will catch you later.

[Laura Bricker]

Oh God,

[Kevin Flynn]

why are your your episode uploaded right away? Yeah, I wonder what you did.

[Laura Bricker]

I don't know. It's who it could be all the rain that's over.

[Kevin Flynn]

Yeah, the water fixed your. Your cable, your Internet. Yeah, it's flooded in here, but it actually fixed my cable.

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