Show overview
Manifesto! has been publishing since 2018, and across the 8 years since has built a catalogue of 88 episodes. That works out to roughly 130 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a monthly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 1h 12m and 1h 39m — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Society & Culture show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 weeks ago, with 3 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2023, with 14 episodes published. Published by Manifesto! A Podcast.
From the publisher
Your regular visit to the archives of vanity, where men and women who stopped making myths turned to issuing commandments. Your guides for this journey are the writers Phil Klay and Jacob Siegel, along with their trusty engineer, Jacqui Rigazio May you continue to be a person. Manifesto! Is now sponsored by Fairfield University, a Jesuit University in Fairfield Connecticut. Fairfield’s mission is to develop the creative intellectual potential of students and to foster in them ethical and religious values and a sense of social responsibility. Phil also teaches at Fairfield, in both their undergraduate English department and in their Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. We’re very pleased to be associated with Fairfield, and thank them for their sponsorship.
Latest Episodes
View all 88 episodesEpisode 88: Suprematism and the poetry of Ukraine
Episode 87: The Information State
Jake and Phil discuss Jake's new book, THE DISINFORMATION STATE, where he argues that the technological infrastructure we've built to make society safer and more rational has steadily replaced democratic freedoms with systems of digital control. To buy the book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250363121/theinformationstate/
Episode 86: Spacers, Fictosexuals and Freaks
Jake and Phil are joined by internet culture reporter Katherine Dee to discuss The Fictosexual Manifesto and "Aye and Gomorrah..." by Samuel Delany The Manifesto: The Fictosexual Manifesto https://vocal.media/humans/fictosexual-manifesto The Art: Samuel Delany, "Aye and Gomorrah..." https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fiction/aye-and-gomorrah/
Episode 85: Zarathustra and Judge Holden
Phil and Jake are joined by Aaron Gwyn, an author and associate professor of English at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, to discuss Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. The Manifesto: Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1998/1998-h/1998-h.htm The Art: McCarthy, Blood Meridian https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/110472/blood-meridian-by-cormac-mccarthy/ Other Links: Aaron Gwyn's The Cannibal Owl https://bellepointpress.com/products/the-cannibal-owl
Episode 84: Philip Roth and Ecclesiastes
Jake and Phil discuss Philip Roth's 1961 essay "Writing American Fiction" and the Qohelet, also known as the Book of Ecclesiastes The Manifesto: Philip Roth, "Writing American Fiction" https://www.commentary.org/articles/philip-roth/writing-american-fiction/ The Qohelet https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%201&version=KJV
Episode 83: Resist and Howl
Jake and Phil are joined by Amy Sohn, author of The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age, to discuss the 1967 anti-war manifesto A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority and Allen Ginsberg's 1956 poem Howl. The Manifesto: A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority https://vietnamwar.lib.umb.edu/warHome/docs/1967CallToResistIllegit.html The Art: Allen Ginsberg, Howl https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl
Episode 82: The Dark Mountains of Madness
Jake and Phil are joined by Roy Scranton, author of Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress, to discuss the Dark Mountain Manifesto by Paul Kingsnorth and Dougald Hine and The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft. The Manifesto: The Dark Mountain Manifesto https://dark-mountain.net/about/manifesto/ The Art: HP Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cc.aspx Roy Scranton, Impasse https://www.sup.org/books/literary-studies-and-literature/impasse
Episode 81: In the Moral Wilderness with MacIntyre and Camus
Jake and Phil discuss Alasdair MacIntyre’s Notes from the Moral Wilderness and Camus’ short story The Guest The Manifesto: Alasdair MacIntyre, Notes from the Moral Wilderness https://www.scribd.com/document/123091458/Notes-from-the-Moral-Wilderness-Alasdair-MacIntyre The Art: Camus, The Guest https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1957/12/the-guest/642533/
Episode 80: Thomas Mann and Abraham Lincoln in Wartime
Phil is joined by Morten Hoi Jensen, literary critic and author of the forthcoming "The Master of Contradictions Thomas Mann and the Making of The Magic Mountain," to discuss Thomas Mann's 1914 "Thoughts in Wartime" and Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address The Manifesto: Thomas Mann, "Thoughts in Wartime" https://www.nyrb.com/products/reflections-of-a-nonpolitical-man The Art: Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address https://www.nps.gov/linc/learn/historyculture/lincoln-second-inaugural.htm To pre-order Morten's book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300233742/the-master-of-contradictions/
Episode 79: Kitsch, Pop, and Democratic Art
Jake and Phil discuss Clement Greenberg's 1939 "Kitsch and the Avant-Garde" alongside Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" and Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" The Manifesto: Clement Greenberg, "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1606923282/slcschoolsorg/wumlyaskvhhzawsvbbzc/Avant-GardeandKitsch.pdf The Art: Taylor Swift, "I Knew You Were Trouble" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y Leonard Cohen, "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWZo7UmCbBc
Episode 78: Reflections on the Atom Bomb
Jake and Phil discuss Teilhard de Chardin's 1946 Some Reflections on the Spiritual Repercussions of the Atom Bomb and Charles Mingus' "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me," off of his 1962 album Oh Yeah. The Manifesto: Teilhard de Chardin - "Some Reflections on the Spiritual Repercussions of the Atom Bomb" https://www.religion-online.org/book-chapter/chapter-8-some-reflections-on-the-spiritual-repercussions-of-the-atom-bomb/ The Art: Charles Mingus - "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaeVLd4G1Zg
Episode 77: Fascist Apologetics and the Memoirs of an Anti-Semite
Jake and Phil discuss David Jones 1939 essay on Hitler, courtesy of Thomas Dilworth's "David Jones and Fascism," alongside Gregor von Rezzori's "Troth," from his Memoirs of an Anti-Semite The Manifesto: Thomas Dilworth, "David Jones and Fascism" https://www.jstor.org/stable/3831437 The Art: Gregor von Rezzori, "Troth," from his Memoirs of an Anti-Semite https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1969/04/26/memoirs-of-an-anti-semite
Episode 76: Against Poets
Phil and Jake discuss Witold Gombrowicz's "Against Poets" and Czeslaw Milosz's "Ars Poetica?" The Manifesto: Witold Gombrowicz, "Against Poets" https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300183399-006/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOopUFE9LX61sfmOAYszduQw78uOlvfHGgFOUPvi-0afjm9eQ2nhI The Art: Czeslaw Milosz, "Ars Poetica?" https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49455/ars-poetica-56d22b8f31558
Episode 75: American Honor and the Iliad
Jake and Phil discuss Phil's New York Times essay "Trump, Hegseth, and the Honor of the American Military" and Homer's "Embassy to Achilles" The Manifesto: Phil Klay, "Trump, Hegseth, and the Honor of the American Military" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/opinion/trump-hegseth-military-morality.html The Art: Homer, "Embassy to Achilles" https://www.penguinbookshop.com/book/9780140275360
Episode 74: Christmas Poetry and the Pogues
Jake and Phil discuss Thomas Hardy’s The Oxen, TS Eliot’s Journey of the Magi, and The Pogues Fairytale of New York Thomas Hardy - The Oxen https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53215/the-oxen-56d232503c32d TS Eliot - Journey of the Magi https://poetryarchive.org/poem/journey-magi/ The Pogues - Fairytale of New York https://youtu.be/j9jbdgZidu8?si=AWYk4ya5bFPUyFtd
Episode 73: Is America Ready for a Religious Revival?
Jake and Phil are joined by Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and author of the forthcoming Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, to discuss Ross' essay "Is the World Ready for a Religious Comeback" and Christian Wiman's 2008 essay in the American Scholar, "My Bright Abyss" The Manifesto: Ross Douthat, "Is the World Ready for a Religious Comeback" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/opinion/religion-atheism-books.html The Art: Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss https://theamericanscholar.org/my-bright-abyss/ Pre-order Ross' book https://www.zondervan.com/9780310367604/believe/
Episode 72: Revolutionary Art and Coat-Snatching Ghosts
Jake and Phil discuss Leon Trotsky's "Communist Policy Toward Art" and Gogol's "The Overcoat" The Manifesto: Leon Trotsky - "Communist Policy Toward Art" https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1924/lit_revo/ch07.htm The Art Gogol - "The Overcoat" https://www.fountainheadpress.com/expandingthearc/assets/gogolovercoat.pdf
Episode 71: Politics and Merciless Nature
Phil and Jake discuss Joan Didion's "Politics in the New Normal America" and Robinson Jeffers "Fire on the Hills" The Manifesto: Joan Didion, Politics in the New Normal America https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2004/10/21/politics-in-the-new-normal-america/ The Art: Robinson Jeffers, Fire on the Hills https://ronnowpoetry.com/contents/jeffers/FireontheHills.html For more on Jeffers in Czechoslovakia, see The Warm Reception of Robinson Jeffers’s Poetry in Cold War Czechoslovakia, by Petr Kopecky https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/169/edited_volume/chapter/1524695/pdf
Episode 70: Punk and Metal
Jake and Phil are joined by Nate DiMeo, podcaster and author of the forthcoming The Memory Palace, to discuss the Riot Grrrl Manifesto, Steve Albini's The Problem with Music, and The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years The Manifestos: Kathleen Hanna, The Riot Grrrl Manifesto https://actipedia.org/project/riot-grrrl-manifesto Steve Albini, The Problem with Music https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-problem-with-music The Art: Penelope Spheeris - The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DZu6T8aDCA Nate's podcast: https://thememorypalace.us/ Nate's book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706914/the-memory-palace-by-nate-dimeo/
Episode 69: Should We Bring Children Into Existence?
Phil and Jake are joined by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman, the authors of What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice, to discuss David Benatar's 1997 paper "Why It Is Better Never to Come into Existence," alongside Paul Schrader's 2017 film First Reformed. The Manifesto: David Benatar - "Why It Is Better Never to Come into Existence" https://www.jstor.org/stable/20009904 The Art: Paul Schrader - First Reformed https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6053438/ Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman - What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250276131/whatarechildrenfor For more of Anastasia's work https://www.anastasiaberg.com/ Rachel's work at The Point https://thepointmag.com/author/rwiseman/