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Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast

By Manuel L. Quezon III

What was my show on ANC from 2006-10 and again 2016-18 is now a home-grown podcast. Back then, as now, I felt it was important to explain why issues are issues. A dive into not only the topics of the day, but topics that come back from time to time. Join me for conversations or reveries on topics of the moment, or things, trends, even places, I'd like to talk to you about.
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Philippine Czech Up: A pre-election talk With Journalist Pavel Vondra

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer PodcastMay 05, 2022

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49:20
Philippine Czech Up: A pre-election talk With Journalist Pavel Vondra

Philippine Czech Up: A pre-election talk With Journalist Pavel Vondra

After a long hiatus, the podcast has a conversation with a journalist from the Czech Republic, Pavel Vondra, who is an old friend. He is editor at Zaminutusest podcast, and has been a journalist since 1994. Having spent nearly two decades in public service media, he is now with SeznamZpravy. He is currently in the Philippines for the 2022 elections and has written the first book in the Czech language about the Philippines. The 2022 election will be the fourth Philippine election he's observed at close-hand. We discussed how he ended up interested in, and repeatedly visiting, the Philippines, and some surprising parallels between the Czech and Philippine democratic experiences, ranging from the time it took to tire of being a newly-restored democracy (about seven years), to the political effect of populism and the decline of mass media.

May 05, 202249:20
Manolo Quezon is The Explainer Podcast:: Three Reflections on #EDSA36

Manolo Quezon is The Explainer Podcast:: Three Reflections on #EDSA36

An Audio Long Read Omnibus: three reflections on the EDSA Revolution:

1. A FaceBook entry I wrote on February 25, 2016, the thirtieth anniversary of the People Power Revolution.

2. To Be Born Free: My Long View column on February 23, 2004.

3. Understanding the Way My Father Rejected the Marcos Dictatorship: My Arab News column for September 13, 2006.

A personal take, from three angles, on one of he defining events of my generation.


Feb 25, 202218:33
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 20: I Can Hear It Now
Dec 23, 202102:24:24
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 19 Bonifacio Is Your Cubicle Seatmate

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 19 Bonifacio Is Your Cubicle Seatmate

This is an audio long read of my Spot.ph article, "Bonifacio Is Your Cubicle Seatmate," originally published on November 30, 2017. 

Nov 24, 202123:19
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 18 Why Isn’t Independence Day in August?

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 18 Why Isn’t Independence Day in August?

This is an audio long read adaption of my Spot.ph article, "Why Isn’t Independence Day in August?" published on August 31, 2017. It's slightly diffierent because it only refers to the visual aids used in the original article.

Nov 24, 202122:20
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 17 The end of social mobility

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 17 The end of social mobility

This is an audio long read of a Long View column of mine, "The end of social mobility," published on February 26, 2009 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For the sake of context, I've included the first four paragraphs from a previous column, "Permanently poor," published on February 22, 2009. I ventured a thesis I have returned to time and again, since then: the implications of the rise of a "new" middle class, and the inability of our political system to reform itself. So it was in this piece, from 2009, that I suggested the restoration of the Marcoses was not just a possibility, but an increasing probability.

Nov 24, 202109:36
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 16 Manna from Marcos

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 16 Manna from Marcos

This is an audio long read of "Manna from Marcos." It originally came out in my The Explainer column in ABs-CBN Online on September 26, 2017. In it, I discuss Cargo Cults and how the Marcoses benefit from a kind of Cargo Cult.

My interest in Cargo Cults was first sparked a decade earlier, when I was co-writing a blog, "Inquirer Current," on Inquirer.net with John Nery. My entry from 2008, entitled, "A lack of ambition, a Cargo Cult culture, and gaming the system," is also a Podcast Episode. 

In my pieces in anticipation of the 2022 elections, I've returned to the theme of the Cargo Cult, which provides an important insight, I believe, into an important subset of the Marcos constituency.

Nov 05, 202110:19
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 15 September 23 not 21 and Time bandit

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 15 September 23 not 21 and Time bandit

This is an audio long read of two of my The Long View columns published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. "September 23, not 21" was originally published on September 19, 2018, while "Time bandit" was published on September 23, 2020. These are the second and third, respectively, of my three pieces on the proper date for commemorating martial law. 

Sep 19, 202113:20
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 14 The big lie

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 14 The big lie

This audio long read is a recording of my The Explainer on ANC piece, "The big lie," published on September 18, 2017. This is the first of three explorations of the wrongness of commemorating martial law on September 21 that I've published.

Sep 16, 202108:15
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 13 Showdown with the Supremes

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 13 Showdown with the Supremes

This audio long read is a recording of my Rogue Magazine September 2014 article, "Showdown with the Supremes," on Ferdinand Marcos, martial law, and how the Supreme Court surrendered to him. 

Sep 15, 202109:24
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 12 Imelda, Stage Mother: Thoughts on The Kingmaker

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 12 Imelda, Stage Mother: Thoughts on The Kingmaker

This is the audio long read version of my article, published in Spot.PH on February 14, 2020. I have been following the Marcos restoration effort for over a decade and a half; and it seemed to me that in reviewing a documentary on Imelda, an earlier one had to be brought into the picture, because both documentaries book-end that restoration effort.

Sep 11, 202110:48
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 11 Ferdinand Marcos and Us

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 11 Ferdinand Marcos and Us

Originally published in Spot.PH on September 11, 2017, the centenary of Marcos' birth. The blurb for it stated, "We are far from being able to take stock of his life." Which is true. F. Sionil Jose sent me a note to compliment me on this piece, which I appreciated very much, since he was old enough to have known Marcos personally. This article was the product of three stories told me by contemporaries of Marcos.

Sep 11, 202114:35
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 10 Marcos in Retrospect

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 10 Marcos in Retrospect

This audio long read is a recording of my two-part series, "Marcos in retrospect," which came out in my Philippine Daily Inquirer column on September 17 and 20, 2007. September 11, the birth anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos, kicks in an annual opportunity to reflect on his life and time, followed, as it is, by the (real) anniversary of Martial Law, September 23, and his death anniversary on September 28. 

Sep 10, 202114:42
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast No. 9: Conventions, Convenors, and Impresarios Part 2

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast No. 9: Conventions, Convenors, and Impresarios Part 2

The era when presidential candidates slugged it out for their party's endorsement in a national convention are almost beyond living memory. In 1992, when Fidel V. Ramos pledged to participate in his party's convention, only to bolt his party when he lost, he killed the chances for political party conventions to matter in picking presidential candidates. One of his advisers, Antonio Carpio, is now a Convenor of 1Sambayanan which is trying to unify the opposition on a different model from party conventions: the Convenors Group of 1984-85. This two-episode series looks at both models and why both have ended up failures. This is Part 2, focusing on convenors' groups --and political impresarios.

Aug 22, 202124:20
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast No. 8: Conventions, Convenors, and Impresarios Part 1

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast No. 8: Conventions, Convenors, and Impresarios Part 1

The era when presidential candidates slugged it out for their party's endorsement in a national convention are almost beyond living memory. In 1992, when Fidel V. Ramos pledged to participate in his party's convention, only to bolt his party when he lost, he killed the chances for political party conventions to matter in picking presidential candidates. One of his advisers, Antonio Carpio, is now a Convenor of 1Sambayanan which is trying to unify the opposition on a different model from party conventions: the Convenors Group of 1984-85. This two-episode series looks at both models and why both have ended up failures. This is Part 1, focusing on political party conventions.

Aug 22, 202123:34
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 6 Bullet-ridden Conscience

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 6 Bullet-ridden Conscience

This audio long read is a recording of my The Explainer commentary broadcast on ANC on August 22, 2017. August 21 is an annual opportunity to reflect on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino; in 2017, it also invited a reflection the killing of a until-then anonymous youngster named Kian delos Santos.

Aug 17, 202110:06
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 5 Enter the Dragon

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 5 Enter the Dragon

This is Audio Long Read No. 4. Originally published in Spot.PH on October 21, 2016 as "Enter the Dragon." Written on the occasion of President Rodrigo Duterte's state visit to the People's Republic of China, the generosity and friendliness of his reception was in marked contrast to the modest, stiff, and cold reception President Benigno S. Aquino received in 2011. I was part of his official delegation at the time.

This is the third and last of three Audio Long Reads to mark the 40th day since the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Aug 02, 202117:54
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 4 The Impossible Dreamer

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 4 The Impossible Dreamer

This is Audio Long Read No. 3. Originally published in Spot.PH on June 26, 2021 as "The Impossible Dreamer." It serves as my obituary on the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III, whom I worked for, from 2010 to 2016.

This is the second of three Audio Long Reads to mark the 40th day since the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Aug 02, 202133:50
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 3 The Mourning After

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 3 The Mourning After

This is Audio Long Read No. 2. Originally published in Rogue Magazine in March, 2015, as "The Mourning After." This was soon after the Mamasapano clash, and a historic backlash against then-President Benigno S. Aquino III for not attending the arrival honors for the bodies of the slain SAF commandos. In this piece, I inquired into his reasons for not going, and what they said about him, his era and upbringing, and a nation that underwent a kind of traumatic divorce from the President and his family. 

This is the first of three Audio Long Reads to mark the 40th day since the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Aug 02, 202111:35
Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 2 Today Began Yesterday

Manolo Quezon is #TheExplainer Podcast: Episode 2 Today Began Yesterday

Audio Long Read #1: On July 6, 2021, the Philippine Daily Inquirer came out with a special focus section on the coming elections which includes this overview, by me, on the trends and realities of our national elections that we tend to overlook or not pay enough attention to. This is the first Audio Long Read of one of my articles. It was recorded during a stormy afternoon, as you'll hear from time to time in the background.

Jul 06, 202111:32
Manolo Quezon is The Explainer Podcast No. 1: Time is Music

Manolo Quezon is The Explainer Podcast No. 1: Time is Music

Welcome to the first episode of The Explainer Podcast with Manolo Quezon. This is latest iteration of a show that began back in 2006 on ANC, and again in 2016. Now we're on our own and exploring an audio format. I'm covering a topic I've lectured and even Tweeted about --political music. No better day than Independence Day, which also happens to be the birthday of our National Anthem, to encounter some music, some of it perhaps familiar, and much of it likely unfamiliar, to you. But together they form one of the soundtracks to our story as a nation. 

Jun 11, 202149:43