Manifesto!
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.
Episode 85: Zarathustra and Judge Holden
21 Nov 2025
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
Episode 84: Philip Roth and Ecclesiastes
27 Oct 2025
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"
Episode 52: True Believers and the Case of the Writer Turned Congressman
13 Apr 2023
Jake and Phil are joined by former Michigan Congressman Peter Meijer to discuss longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer’s 1951 book, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, and
Episode 51: A Public Address, A Colloquium, or Maybe Just a Q&A
21 Mar 2023
Jake and Phil answer questions from our listeners.
Episode 50: El Greco, Picasso, and The Pleasures of Ignorance
22 Feb 2023
Jake and Phil discuss Aldous Huxley's "Meditation on El Greco", and Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. The Manifesto: Aldous Huxley - "Meditation on El Greco"
Episode 49: Angry Popes and Architecture
26 Jan 2023
Jake and Phil are joined by John Davis, an environmental and architectural historian at the Knowlton School at Ohio State, to discuss Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Pope Pius X's encyclical against the
Episode 48: The Ultimate Revolution
22 Nov 2022
Jake and Phil are joined by Becca Rothfeld (https://www.beccarothfeld.com/) to discuss Shulamith Firestone's The Dialectic of Sex and Sheila Heti's That Longing for a Holy Completeness (from her
Episode 47: The Democracy Engineering Complex
18 Oct 2022
Phil is joined by Sam Kimbriel, the founding director of Aspen's Philosophy & Society Initiative, to discuss Sam's essay "What the Democracy Engineering Complex Misses" The Manifesto: Sam Kimbriel,
Episode 46: Sunday Morning and God's Grandeur
19 Sep 2022
Jake and Phil discuss Wallace Stevens' "Sunday Morning" and Gerard Manley Hopkins' "God's Grandeur." The Manifesto: Wallace Stevens' "Sunday Morning"
Episode 45: Spielberg and Roxy Music
21 Jul 2022
Jake and Phil are joined by culture critic Armond White to discuss Make Spielberg Great Again and Roxy Music's 1979 album Manifesto The Manifesto: Make Spielberg Great Again (specifically focusing
Episode 44: We're All Stars Now In the Dope Show
17 Jun 2022
Jake and Phil are joined by James Poulos, author of Human Forever: The Digital Politics of Spiritual War, to discuss Jacques Ellul and Marilyn Manson. The Manifesto: Jacques Ellul, Propaganda -
Episode 43: Tradition and the Individual Talent
28 May 2022
Jake and Phil discuss T.S. Eliot's "Tradition and the Individual Talent", and James Joyce's "A Mother" The Manifesto: T.S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent"
Episode 42: The Transmogrifications of Gary Leib
11 Apr 2022
Phil is joined by Peter Catapano, of the New York Times, and graphic novelist Jess Ruliffson to discuss Peter's essay on the life and work of cartoonist Gary Leib The Manifesto: Peter Catapano,
Episode 41: To Be Incarnational
5 Mar 2022
Jake and Phil are joined by the great poet Tom Sleigh to discuss his essay "To Be Incarnational," on the World War I poetry of David Jones, as well as Tom's poem "In Which a Spider Weaves a Web on My
Episode 40: Flannery O'Connor versus Andre Dubus II
4 Feb 2022
Jake and Phil (finally) discuss Flannery O'Connor's Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction, alongside Andre Dubus II's short story Killings The Manifesto: Flannery O'Connor, Some Aspects
Episode 39: What Jazz Is and Isn't
6 Jan 2022
Jake and Phil are joined by jazz pianist and composer Ethan Iverson to discuss Wynton Marsalis' "What Jazz Is—and Isn't", as well as Marsalis' 1985 album J Mood. The Manifesto: Wynton Marsalis -
Episode 38: My Quarrel with Authentic Reactionaries
10 Nov 2021
Jake and Phil are joined by Joseph Keegin to discuss Nicolás Gómez Dávila‘s “The Authentic Reactionary,” and Chaim Grade’s classic of Yiddish literature: “My Quarrel with Hersh
Episode 37: Humane War
7 Oct 2021
Phil is joined by Samuel Moyn to discuss his new book, Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, alongside Kathe Kollwitz's The Survivors The Manifesto: Samuel Moyn - Humane:
Episode 36: The Simple Art of Murder
15 Sep 2021
Jake and Phil discuss Raymond Chandler's The Simple Art of Murder, alongside Ross MacDonald's novel Black Money. The Manifesto:
Episode 35: Did You Kill Anyone?
17 Jul 2021
Jake and Phil are joined by Scott Beauchamp to discuss his new book, Did You Kill Anyone? Reunderstanding My Military Experience as a Critique of Modern Culture, and Alistair Macleod's "The Closing
Episode 34: Fratelli Tutti and Fairview
19 May 2021
A special live episode of Manifesto! A Podcast courtesy of Fairfield University's Inspired Writers Series. Jake and Phil are joined by Vinson Cunningham, a theater critic and staff writer at the New
Episode 33: The Dream of Meritocracy Produces Monsters
13 Apr 2021
Phil is joined by Eugene McCarraher, Professor of the Humanities and History at Villanova University, to discuss his article "A Providentialism Without God: The Case Against Meritocracy" as well as
Episode 32: Repressive Tolerance and The Judgement
16 Mar 2021
Jake and Phil are joined by Geoff Shullenberg of Outsider Theory (https://outsidertheory.com/) to discuss Herbert Marcuse's "Repressive Tolerance" and Franz Kafka's "The Judgement". The Manifesto:
Episode 31: Everything is Broken
12 Feb 2021
Jake and Phil are joined by Alana Newhouse to discuss her essay “Everything Is Broken” and the Ani DiFranco live album “Living in Clip.” The Manifesto: Alana Newhouse, Everything is Broken
Episode 30: King Lear or Endgame or Psalm
4 Jan 2021
Jake and Phil discuss Jan Kott's "King Lear or Endgame" and George Oppen's "Psalm." The Manifesto: Jan Kott, "King Lear or Endgame" https://t.co/L9FRGoRD3L?amp=1 The Art: George Oppen's "Psalm"
Episode 29: What Were We Thinking
3 Dec 2020
Jake and Phil are joined by Carlos Lozada to discuss his new book, What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era, and the chapter "Decent People" from Garth Greenwell's
Episode 28: They Will Eat the CIA Men First
29 Sep 2020
This week Jake and Phil are joined by special guest Jesse Walker of Reason Magazine to discuss William S. Burroughs The Revised Boy Scout Manual and Charles Ridley's short anti-Nazi propaganda film,
Episode 27: The Owl of Minerva Trots at Dusk
13 Aug 2020
Phil and Jake are joined by Ian Marcus Corbin to discuss Joseph Conrad's Preface and Saul Bellow's "Mosby's Memoirs" The Manifesto: Conrad, The Preface
Episode 26: On Pain and on Fallujah Revisited
6 Jul 2020
Jake and Phil are joined by Elliot Ackerman to discuss Ernst Junger’s 1934 essay On Pain, alongside Elliot’s A Battle in Fallujah, Revisited, an excerpt of his memoir, Places and Names. The
Episode 25: The Plague
6 Jun 2020
Jake and Phil are joined by Paul Berman to discuss The Plague, by Albert Camus. The Manifesto: Albert Camus, The Plague (the second half of Part II) The Art: Albert Camus, The Plague (the second
Episode 24: Vietnam Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry
20 Apr 2020
Jake and Phil are joined by novelist, essayist, and Penthouse Magazine national security columnist Matt Gallagher to discuss Gustav Hasford’s June 1987 article in Penthouse Magazine, Vietnam Means
Episode 23: Lord Jim and the Absurd
4 Apr 2020
The Art: Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5658/5658-h/5658-h.htm Other works discussed: Thomas Nagel, The Absurd
Episode 22: Reluctant Prophets
4 Mar 2020
Jake and Phil are joined by novelist Daniel Torday to discuss Robert Alter's “A Literary Approach to the Bible,” alongside The Book of Jonah. The Manifesto: Robert Alter, “A Literary Approach
Episode 21: Class War and Auden
17 Feb 2020
Phil is out today, so Jake talks with Michael Lind about his book, The New Class War, as well as Auden's The Fall of Rome Manifesto: Michael Lind, The New Class War
Episode 19: Stuckists and Bebop
16 Dec 2019
Jake and Phil are joined by Alex Brook Lynn to discuss the Stuckists’ Manifesto and Julio Cortázar’s The Pursuer Manifesto: The Stuckists Manifesto
Episode 18: Omni-Americans and Unlearning Race
16 Oct 2019
Jake and Phil are joined by Thomas Chatterton Williams to discuss Albert Murray’s The Omni-Americans and Thomas’ new memoir, Self-Portrait in Black and White Manifesto: Albert Murray, The
Episode 17: The Unabomber and OK Computer
5 Sep 2019
Jake and Phil talk with Jake Hanrahan of Popular Front (https://www.popularfront.co/) about Ted Kaczynski’s Unabomber Manifesto: Industrial Society and It’s Future and Radiohead’s OK Computer.
Episode 16: Walcott's New Adam and Gallant's Latehomecoming
1 Aug 2019
Jake and Phil are joined by essayist and fiction-writer Victoria Brown of Rollins College to discuss Derek Walcott’s The Muse of History alongside Mavis Gallant’s The Latehomecomer The Manifesto:
Episode 15: Dadism and Public Enemy
3 Jul 2019
Jake and Phil discuss Hugo Ball's 1916 Dada Manifesto, as well as Public Enemy's 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The Manifesto: Hugo Ball, Dada Manifesto
Episode 14: New Conservative Manifestos and My Father Left Me Ireland
4 Jun 2019
A new episode of Manifesto! A Podcast with special guest Michael Brendan Dougherty Jake, Phil and Michael discuss three new conservative manifestos and Michael’s memoir, My Father Left Me Ireland.
Episode 13: Personism and Ellen West
6 May 2019
Jake and Phil discuss America's greatest poets named Frank, with Frank O’Hara’s "Personism Manifesto" and Frank Bidart’s “Ellen West” Frank O’Hara, “Personism”
Episode 12: Accelerationism and Big Sex Object Mirrorfaces
28 Feb 2019
Jake and Phil discuss several accelerationist manifestos along with the video American Reflexxx, by Alli Coates and Signe Pierce. Works referenced: Nick Land, A Quick and Dirty Introduction to
Episode 11: The Modern Essay and the Decline of Civilization
5 Jan 2019
Park MacDougald joins Phil and Jake to discuss Virginia Woolf’s “The Modern Essay” and VS Naipaul’s “Jacques Soustelle and the Decline of the West.” Works referenced: Virginia Woolf,
Episode 10: Violence according to Hannah Arendt and Frank Miller
6 Dec 2018
Jake and Phil discuss Hannah Arendt's "Reflections on Violence" and Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns." Works referenced Hannah Arendt, “Reflections on Violence”
Episode 9: The Oulipo and the Naked City
8 Nov 2018
Jake and Phil are joined by Olivia Garard (@teaandtactics) of The Strategy Bridge (https://thestrategybridge.org/editorial-team/2016/8/16/olivia-a-garard) to discuss Oulipo member Anne Garréta's "On
Episode 8: Resentments, Justice, and the Sins of the Father
10 Oct 2018
Jake and Phil overcome audio difficulties to discuss Jean Amery's "Resentments" and Andre Dubus II's short story "A Father's Story." Works cited: Jean Amery, At the Mind’s Limits
Episode 7: Patriotism and the Unknown Soldier
10 Sep 2018
Jake and Phil discuss Alasdair MacIntyre's "Is Patriotism a Virtue?" and the story of the November 11, 1921 burial of the Unknown Soldier, as told by Jonathan Ebel in his book GI Messiahs Works
Episode 6: Revolution, Entropy, and Abstract Art
7 Aug 2018
Jake and Phil side with the madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels and skeptics on this episode, discussing Yevgeny Zamyatin's “On Literature, Revolution, Entropy, and Other Matters,”
Episode 5: Everybody's Protest Novel and the Responsibilities of Art
10 Jul 2018
Jake and Phil talk about the political and social obligations of art. To set the stage they discuss W.E.B. Du Bois' "Criteria for Negro Art" originally delivered as a speech to the 1926 Conference of
Episode 4: My Twisted World and Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver
12 Jun 2018
Special Guest: Harry Seigel.