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Manifesto!

Manifesto!

Manifesto! A Podcast 90 Episodes Sep 24, 2026

A podcast that explores historical manifestos and the people behind them, hosted by writers Phil Klay and Jacob Siegel. Each episode delves into the archives of vanity, examining how individuals who stopped creating myths turned to issuing commandments. The show is sponsored by Fairfield University, where Phil Klay teaches. It aims to provoke thought about the nature of belief and ideology.

Episodes

Episode 92: The Church and the Fiction Writer on the Ladder of Divine Ascent
Episode 92: The Church and the Fiction Writer on the Ladder of Divine Ascent Sep 24, 2026 57:22 Phil Klay is joined by Kathleen Kilcup, author of Between the Light and Me: A Memoir of Beauty and Violence, to discuss Flannery O'Connor's The Church and the Fiction Writer and the 12th century icon The Ladder of Divine Ascent The Manifesto: https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/1957/03/30/flannery-oconnor-church-fiction-writer-148496/ The Art: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lad
Episode 91: The Left Case for Great Books
Episode 91: The Left Case for Great Books Aug 27, 2026 1:05:27 Phil is joined by Dan Walden, formerly a professor in the honors college at the University of Tulsa, to discuss Dan's essay "The Left Case for Great Books," alongside Plato's Symposium. The Manifesto: Dan Walden "The Left Case for Great Books" https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/the-left-case-for-great-books/ The Art: Plato's Symposium https://hackettpublishing.com/symposium
Episode 90: Belonging in the Modern World
Episode 90: Belonging in the Modern World Jun 16, 2026 1:16:23 Phil and Jake are joined by the philosopher Ian Marcus Corbin, whose new book To Arrive Where We Started: Belonging in the Modern World, is out today. We discuss Nancy Fraser and bell hooks. The Manifesto: Nancy Fraser, "From Progressive Neoliberalism to Trump--and Beyond" https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2017/11/progressive-neoliberalism-trump-beyond/ The Art: bell hooks, "Habits of
Episode 89: Madame Murdoch
Episode 89: Madame Murdoch May 28, 2026 1:12:58 Jake and Phil are joined by Jenn Frey, a philosopher at the University of Virginia, to discuss Iris Murdoch and Madame Bovary The Manifesto: Iris Murdoch - The Sovereignty of Good https://eganphilosophy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Murdoch-The-Sovereignty-of-Good-Over-Other-Concepts.pdf The Art: Flaubert - Madame Bovary Manifesto! A Podcast is sponsored by Fairfield University
Episode 88: Suprematism and the poetry of Ukraine
Episode 88: Suprematism and the poetry of Ukraine Apr 29, 2026 1:12:28 Jake and Phil are joined by Vladislav Davidzon to discuss Kazimir Malevich's The Manifesto of Suprematism and the poetry of Serhiy Zhadan. The Manifesto: Malevich, The Manifesto of Suprematism https://designmanifestos.org/kazimir-malevich-the-manifesto-of-suprematism/ The Art: Serhiy Zhadan https://poetrysociety.org/poems/three-poems-by-serhiy-zhadan https://www.wordsforwar.com/take-on
Episode 87: The Information State
Episode 87: The Information State Mar 25, 2026 1:14:53 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
Episode 86: Spacers, Fictosexuals and Freaks Mar 3, 2026 1:18:32 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
Episode 85: Zarathustra and Judge Holden Nov 20, 2025 1:42:52 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.c
Episode 84: Philip Roth and Ecclesiastes
Episode 84: Philip Roth and Ecclesiastes Oct 27, 2025 1:04:10 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
Episode 83: Resist and Howl Sep 29, 2025 1:20:14 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
Episode 82: The Dark Mountains of Madness
Episode 82: The Dark Mountains of Madness Aug 28, 2025 1:40:19 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/writi
Episode 81: In the Moral Wilderness with MacIntyre and Camus
Episode 81: In the Moral Wilderness with MacIntyre and Camus Jul 29, 2025 1:07:33 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/

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