Listen Now: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto

Summary

Lawless Planet – "Listen Now: Dan Taberski’s Manifesto"

Date: July 13, 2026
Host: Zach Goldbaum (Lawless Planet)
Featured Guest: Dan Taberski
Episode Focus: A special feature/preview of Dan Taberski’s podcast "Manifesto"

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Episode Overview

This episode of Lawless Planet deviates from its usual examination of environmental crime to feature a compelling preview of Dan Taberski’s new series, Manifesto. Taberski, known for investigative works like "Hysterical" and "Missing Richard Simmons," introduces listeners to his six-part exploration of the idea and peril of manifestos—public declarations of intent, desire, and rage, crafted by everyone from activists to criminals. He aims to reclaim the word "manifesto" for visionaries and artists, questioning how societies can channel collective anger into positive change—instead of violence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Taberski’s Personal Motivation

• Opening Thoughts on the Manifesto (00:00–01:55)
  • Taberski sets the tone, describing his project as a way to move “manifesto” away from its modern association with violence and nihilism, and back toward its roots with visionaries and regular people:

    “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.” (A, 00:11)

  • He questions: “Just how cozy can we get with our rage before it takes on a life of its own?”

2. Dramatic Introduction: The Christopher Dorner Case

• A Real-Life Manifesto with Deadly Consequence (01:55–04:08)
  • Taberski recounts the shocking 2013 murders in Irvine, CA—Keith Lawrence and Monica Kwan—pointing to their execution and the clues left behind. The crime, devoid of robbery, leads to the suspicion of a professional and culminates with the naming of suspect Christopher Dorner, a former LAPD officer.
  • Christopher Dorner left behind an 11-page public manifesto, transforming the crime into a media frenzy and public panic:

    “...a multi page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings.” (C, 03:46) “I tell you, this manifesto, it scares the hell out of me.” (C, 04:08)

  • Taberski uses this to illustrate how manifestos—documents often meant to inspire—can become vehicles for violence and terror.

3. Taberski’s Search for Constructive Rage

• Manifestos in the Age of Fury (04:08–05:34)
  • Candidly, Taberski admits to his own simmering anger at the state of the world, reflecting a common social anxiety:

    “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. I'm not an angry person. …I find myself seething underneath all the time.” (A, 04:38)

4. Manifestos Begin in the Mundane

• Small Acts of Resistance (05:34–06:32)
  • A story is told about rage and resistance as a shopper jams a coin-operated cart system, refusing to play by arbitrary rules:

    “And it felt so good. It felt like... a moment of liberation.” (D, 06:23 and 06:32)

  • Taberski frames this as the proto-manifesto moment, where emotion becomes real-world action:

    “That space right there where emotion becomes action... That is the stuff of manifestos.” (A, 06:33)

5. Manifestos as Catalysts for Change

• Historical Examples: The Black Panther Manifesto (06:51–07:23)
  • In a powerful excerpt, Bobby Seale’s reading of the 1968 Black Panther Ten Point Program is featured:

    “Number seven. We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.” (E, 06:51) “We want all black men held in counties, states, federal jails and prisons to be released because they have not had a fair trial…” (E, 07:06)

  • Taberski reflects on the duality 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. But when it happens, when a manifesto catches fire, it can change our world. It can rewrite our future.” (A, 07:23)

6. Closing Reflection and Cliffhanger

• Taberski teases the core questions of his series:
  • Can we be inspired by manifestos, and can we do so nonviolently?
  • “But there’s a hitch...” (A, 07:40)—setting up the tension for the full series.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the power of manifestos:

  “Individuals, groups, entire swathes of society use it as the funnel to focus their erupting rage.” (A, 06:33)

• On violence and inspiration:

  “I compare notes with radicals, secessionists …all trying to turn their anger into the world that they want to see… 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?” (A, 00:11–00:51)

• Historical resonance:

  “Manifestos aren't just pretty poems. They are, in a sense, a threat… But when it happens, when a manifesto catches fire, it can change our world. It can rewrite our future.” (A, 07:23)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00-01:55: Taberski introduces himself, his past work, and the idea behind "Manifesto."
• 01:55-04:08: The Christopher Dorner case and his criminal manifesto.
• 04:08-05:34: Taberski reflects on personal anger and the search for purpose.
• 05:34-06:32: Anecdote about resisting the shopping cart coin system—a metaphor for resistance.
• 06:51-07:23: Audio of Bobby Seale reading the Black Panther Manifesto.
• 07:23–End: Reflections on the dangerous potential and transformative power of manifestos.

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Conclusion

This Lawless Planet episode is a gripping preview of Dan Taberski’s "Manifesto," blending true crime, historical activism, and psychological insight. Taberski frames the manifesto as both a spark for societal progress and a potential source of destruction—leaving listeners to contemplate: How can we harness our collective anger for good, and can we truly avoid tipping into violence in the process?

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For those intrigued by the power and peril of manifestos, the full series is available ad-free for Audible subscribers.

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.