The ManuScript with Manu Edakkara
by the.manuscript
You write your manuscript. Every page counts.manuedakara.comHi, I'm Manu. I'm a founder, martial artist, stoic, adventurer, warrior, nomad, minimalist, educator, and bodybuilder.This is a reflective, analytical space for people interested in thinking seriously about how to live, what to build, and what responsibility looks like when the stakes are high. We examine how you can construct purpose, meaning, and identity.
Episodes
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81. Be a Hero
What does it actually mean to be a hero? The kind every civilization across history has tried to produce and that modern society has largely stopped making. This episode makes the case that we are in a heroism crisis. Not because people lack ability, but because we removed the structures, myths,...
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80. I'm a Dead Man Walking
We cover the biology of pancreatic cancer and why it's one of the most lethal diagnoses in medicine, what stage 4 actually means, and where the science is headed with KRAS inhibitors, BRCA2 targeted therapies, and clinical trials. Then we go deeper into something I think most people avoid: the...
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79. We Need Heroes
The Hero’s Journey is often treated as a Western storytelling trope—but it is far older, broader, and more psychologically grounded than that. In this episode, we strip the concept down to its fundamentals and examine it as a developmental framework, not a fantasy. Using the Mahābhārata—we…
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78. Find Your Purpose
https://www.manuedakara.com/purpose Purpose is often treated as motivation or inspiration, but in reality it functions as a structural force that organizes behavior, identity, and long-term decision making. This long-form exploration examines purpose as a psychological, biological, and...
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77. Philosophy & AgTech: Dr. Gabriel Price, Cofounder of Earnest Agriculture
Dr. Gabriel Price is a microbial ecologist and co-founder of Earnest Agriculture (earnest.ag). He discusses how biology, philosophy, and technology intersect at the foundation of civilization. Trained first in philosophy and then in ecology and evolutionary biology, Dr. Price studies how…
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76. Design Your Life: Tools & Frameworks
My code: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lrHUOG11vceYMbgeEXRSN?si=HA-RJ_11SQa6HThMhbmd3A Self-actualization: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2JjRwLjNm8w6U7krHLkDb3?si=bqhEO4JKS5GU1VDxXSFHuA 2025: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QXi7sNYB27scEw69UEqjH?si=oMNUlTxQQJKyP9ivFs25Sw Law of…
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75. Black Girl Uninterrupted: Singer & Artist LaJé
LaJé is a Chicago singer-songwriter, dancer, model, rapper, artist, producer, and vocalist whose work blends hip-hop, R&B, and spoken-word storytelling rooted in the city’s South Side tradition of lyrical introspection. Her music centers on identity, resilience, and interior life — often minimal,...
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74. Greenland and the American Empire
The United States was founded in opposition to empire—yet it expanded relentlessly across a continent, built overseas possessions, and later constructed a global system of power without formal colonies. We examine American expansionism and imperialism as a historical structure rather than a…
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73. Why AI Sounds Alive: What Happens When Machines Speak Without Us
Are AI agents becoming autonomous—or are we projecting our fears onto machines? Let's what’s actually happening in the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, using the emergence of multi-agent platforms like Moltbook.com as a case study. We explore what AI agents are and are not, how...
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72. Principles from my Code
Dharm explained: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Gev0p8pse2PkFZ4dvob70?si=uhuH3Vu4Sg6GES-51pdnEQ https://open.spotify.com/episode/06Dqt8tWxdxbLElHO7y0NP Discipline v motivation: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vB9Y2UyXOi46kF7QC44O9 Minimalism:...
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71. What are the World's Biggest Problems?
What are the world’s biggest problems—and how should we decide? In this episode, I examine two influential but very different frameworks for global priorities: the United Nations, which focuses on present human suffering and politically actionable goals, and 80,000 Hours, which prioritizes...
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70. RhythmHood Founder, Lâm “Sedechu” Nguyễn
Lâm “Sedechu” Nguyễn is a Vietnamese-born dancer, creative director, and community builder based in Chicago. He grew up in Da Nang, Vietnam, where his passion for dance began in early adolescence and developed into a professional and cultural mission as an adult. https://www.rhythmhood.com/…
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69. Dharm: Loyalty & Pride in the Mahābhārat of Karn
When does staying loyal become a failure of dharma? Karn is one of the most tragic figures in the Mahābhārat—not because he lacked virtue, but because he never revised his loyalty. Born with divine power and denied legitimacy, Karn grows into a warrior defined by gratitude, honor, and unwavering...
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68. Self-Actualization - Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow is best known for the “hierarchy of needs,” but that pyramid is one of the most misunderstood ideas in psychology. In this episode, we go deeper into what Abraham Maslow was actually trying to do: build a psychology that studied healthy, capable, ethically grounded human beings…
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67. 2025
2025 wasn’t a highlight reel year. It was a year of friction, recalibration, and clarity. In this episode, I reflect on the principles that survived pressure — the rules that held when comfort, certainty, and momentum disappeared. Not theories. Not platitudes. Lived frameworks. We explore:...
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66. Dharma Explained: Duty, Judgment, and the Cost of Doing Nothing
Dharma is often translated as “duty” or “righteousness.” That translation is incomplete—and dangerous. In this episode, we break down dharma as a decision framework, not a belief system. Using figures from the Mahābhārata—Bhīṣma, Kunti, Śantanu, and others—we explore what happens when loyalty...
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65. The Greatest Failed Expedition: Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition is one of the clearest real-world demonstrations of crisis leadership ever documented. When his ship Endurance was crushed by pack ice in 1915, every strategic plan collapsed. Shackleton transformed instantly from an explorer with an…
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64. Matt Gornick, CEO & Founder of Orange QC
Matt Gornick is the Founder & CEO of OrangeQC, a bootstrapped SaaS company that’s digitizing quality control for the janitorial and facilities industry. Matt founded OrangeQC in 2009 while he was a student at the University of Illinois, where he won the Cozad New Venture Challenge. Under his...
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63. Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
My interview with a 92 year old on his advice on living a happy life: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Vf7rlzQzGIbgQoqRyktIr?si=5K3BsTLUTDWeS__oP4ksEg
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62. Blue Zones - Live to 100
13 different components tied to human health and purpose.
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61. The Demon King's Festival: Onam
More context on episode 35 into what my name means and the cultural background of Dharmic faiths: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3fostRrQAW8lZAlaWxx8eH?si=pJBxUTvBRHiu_OrnqlGmpA
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60. Dhanashri Mandhani, CEO of Salam Kisan
salamakisan.com Salam Kisan is India's Leading AI & Drone-Based Agritech Platform. Salam Kisan is a multi-stack precision farming platform that helps farmers in making informed decisions. In less than a year, under Dhanashri's leadership, Salam Kisan has become one of the most disruptive business...
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59. Lieutenant Ulises Rodriguez
Ulises is a Cuban-Mexican fitness model, US Army veteran, and former software engineer, with a strong interest in dance, martial arts, and the political and social climate of America over the last decade.
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58. Englewood to Google to Muay Thai in Thailand
Clarence Elliott is a software engineer with experiences at Chase and Google. Raised in the South Side of Chicago, he is now training full-time in muay thai in Thailand.
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57. Making the Right Cultural Calls
9. Extreme ownership: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7dBrfND06CDEKxG3hnOUPc?si=RhCWkrRUR-WZdOXVtlj2Aw 11. Procrastination & motivation: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HGdOWMSDyhG6qthMU2Y3y?si=EvujxFapQa6K5tm2BK2lEg 16. Why our entrepreneurship programs succeed:...
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56. Men's Mental Health Month
Say something nice to a guy in your life.
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55. Discipline v. Motivation
The link between discipline, motivation, and goals, and how to utilize them all.
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54. Jacob Kinsey, Senior Director at Illinois VENTURES
Jake Kinsey is Senior Director at Illinois VENTURES, the public-private venture capital arm of the University of Illinois System. Kinsey spent over 10 years in industry working for an electronics manufacturing company before becoming a management consulting and technology mentor. In his role,...
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53. Brylan Donaldson, Associate Director at The Garage, Northwestern
Brylan is the Associate Director for The Garage, the entrepreneurship center for Northwestern University. He is focused on making complex ideas click so builders can think a little bit differently — and a little more clearly. Brylan inspires others to dream bigger and build bolder. He brings...
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52. Matt Rastovac, CEO & Founder at Respell AI
Matt is Founder + Wizard at Respell: automating boring work with AI agentic workflows. They're backed by Zapier & Craft Ventures and just were acquired by Salesforce. At Atmos he was Cofounder + Head of Eng, raising $20M to allow every American to build their dream home. Backed by YC (S20), Sam...
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51. Rohan Gupta: CEO at Quillbot.com
Rohan Gupta is the CEO of QuillBot, an AI-powered writing companion with over 30 million monthly active users. Rohan combined his passion for technology and artificial intelligence with his entrepreneurial drive to form QuillBot in 2017, and was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. In September...
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50. Minimalism
How much do you need?
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49. Dr. Ananya Tiwari: Co-founder of SwaTaleem Foundation
Dr. Ananya Tiwari is an assistant professor in Educational Psychology at Texas A & M. Her research interests lie at the nexus of educational psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and evaluation. She was named one of Google's Leaders to Watch and serves as Co-Chair at the Gender and Education...
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48. Lieutenant Commander Andrew Taylor of the United States Navy
Andrew Taylor is a nuclear engineer and commissioned officer of the United States Navy who serves on nuclear submarines. The opinions and views expressed here belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense (DoD) or its components.
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47. Jack Chen: CEO of SWIDIA
Jack is the CEO and co-founder of SWIDIA, an expert growth marketing team trusted by some of the fastest-growing startups. He has worked with some of the biggest influencers in the world such as the Paul Brothers and Amanda Cerny and has deep insight into the world of social media marketing.
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46. Pastor Oluseun Arowolaju, Founder of TentMakers
Seun is a former D1 football player from Nigeria who played as a safety for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During his Masters, he started working on hardware startups. Post graduation, he had a successful career in trading, venture, and product management. Currently he is…
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45. Erik Rothchild, Founder of WheyUp
Erik is an Army veteran and founder of the supplement brand, WheyUp, which focuses on pre-workout nutrition and trains from the Lift N Box Gym in Mesa, Arizona, which he owns, focused on both weight-lifting and boxing. https://wefunder.com/wheyup At the age of 54 he finished 2nd in the Western...
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44. The Bodybuilding Pornstar: Danny Steele
Danny is a graduate of Kinesiology at the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, a competitive men's physique bodybuilder, and a premier male adult film star based in Las Vegas. He lays out his thoughts on sex, relationships, the adult industry, bodybuilding, the…
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43. Mayank Mehta: Assistant Director of iVenture Accelerator
Mayank Mehta is the Assistant Director for Entrepreneurial Education at iVenture Accelerator, the educational program for top student startups at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He shares his thoughts on: Love The universal soul Discriminatory empathy in social media Strategic…
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42. Ashley Moy: CEO of Cast21
Ashley is the CEO and co-founder of Cast21.com, which creates waterproof cast and brace alternatives for patients with broken bones. Without heat, water, tools, or 3D printing, Cast21 is able to provide waterproof, lightweight, and comfortable devices for patients that are more efficient and…
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41. Manu Mixdown #2
If you've made it this far.
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40. Irtefa Mohd, Co-founder of Jam.dev
Fa is the co-founder of Jam.dev. Jam has raised $8.9M Series A, led by GGV Capital U.S., with participation from Figma Ventures and some of the world’s most prominent leaders in software development, including the founders of Vercel and Mixpanel. Jam enables everyone – no matter their technical...
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39. The Law of Attraction
Going into detail about the New Age thinking style known as the Law of Attraction - essentially you attract what you think.
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38. Avani Miriyala, CEO & Founder of Matcha Design Labs
Avani runs a 7-figure design agency from Austin, Texas. They're a full-stack product design & UX agency specializing in the design of Web2 Consumer-Facing Apps & Web3 Products. They've crafted a proven design process after 11+ years of design & working with 60+ clients in various industries. 🍵…
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37. Dreams & Obsession: Find Your Why
Become obsessed with your why and your dream.
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36. Stefan Djordjevic: CEO & Founder of the Martian Company
From center stage to the cutting edge of tech, Stefan Djordjevic is a creative maverick who refuses to stay in any lane. He's the rare breed who can electrify a crowd with explosive dance moves at midnight and push viral products by sunrise. As the mastermind behind The Martian Company, he's…
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35. What My Name Means - Manu
Some reconstructed Proto-Indo-European words: Family terms: méh₂tēr ("mother"), ph₂tḗr ("father"), dhugh₂tḗr ("daughter"), suHnús ("son"). Animals: gwóus ("cow"), éḱwos ("horse"), h₃rḗḱs ("king" or "ruler," originally "he who rules over cattle"). Natural world: dyḗws ("sky" or "daylight")…
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34. A 91-Year Old's Advice on Life: John Edakara
Watch his story here: https://youtu.be/WJ2s29wchVg?si=lVlEFLS9Dee3OT7q Learn more about John here: https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Kingdoms-Improbable-Journey-East/dp/1737450208 Learn about his family here: https://www.manuedakara.com/edakara
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33. Year in Review: 2024
A quick reflection on the year. Check out How to Plan Your Life at manuedakara.com.
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32. Congressional Candidate: Dr. Darnell Leatherwood
Dr. Darnell Leatherwood is an educator and community servant based in the south side of Chicago currently serving as faculty at the University of Chicago. He is one of the nation's leading experts on educating young black men. Community service, mentoring, and initiative are hallmarks that have...
About this show
You write your manuscript. Every page counts.manuedakara.comHi, I'm Manu. I'm a founder, martial artist, stoic, adventurer, warrior, nomad, minimalist, educator, and bodybuilder.This is a reflective, analytical space for people interested in thinking seriously about how to live, what to build, and what responsibility looks like when the stakes are high. We examine how you can construct purpose, meaning, and identity.
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