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An Independent Archive · Established 2025
The Manifest Archive
By Jerry
Jerry van der Laan
Author · Chapters

Jerry van der Laan

Jerry van der Laan is an independent analyst and the author of The Manifest Archive. He reconstructs how energy, money and state power interact from public data and primary documents.

Netherlands

Public Enemy and the Prophecy of Power
№ 1

Public Enemy and the Prophecy of Power

How one song exposed the media machine long before the age of algorithms.

Manufactured Culture Nov 2, 2025
Songs That Stopped the World, and Why None Do Now
№ 2

Songs That Stopped the World, and Why None Do Now

Once, music spoke for the streets. Today, it sells silence.

Manufactured Culture Nov 1, 2025
The Return of the Right: How Europe’s Fear Became a Movement
№ 3

The Return of the Right: How Europe’s Fear Became a Movement

Across the continent, anger once dismissed as fringe has turned mainstream: protests, elections and silence all speaking the same…

Surveillance, Tech & Intelligence Oct 31, 2025
The Age of Engineered Life
№ 4

The Age of Engineered Life

What we built when we were trying to survive.

Surveillance, Tech & Intelligence Oct 30, 2025
The Deep State: The System That Never Stands for Election
№ 5

The Deep State: The System That Never Stands for Election

How power learned to survive democracy.

Surveillance, Tech & Intelligence Oct 29, 2025
The Sky That Stopped Evolving: Why Aviation Froze While the World Accelerated
№ 6

The Sky That Stopped Evolving: Why Aviation Froze While the World Accelerated

Progress didn’t vanish. It was grounded.

Surveillance, Tech & Intelligence Oct 28, 2025
The Ukraine War That Never Had to Happen, and Why It Did
№ 7

The Ukraine War That Never Had to Happen, and Why It Did

The insider who helped design globalisation now exposes the illusions that keep the war alive.

Geopolitics Oct 27, 2025
Whitney Houston: The Voice the Machine Could Not Switch Off
№ 8

Whitney Houston: The Voice the Machine Could Not Switch Off

How the purest voice in pop became the instrument of her own undoing

Manufactured Culture Oct 26, 2025
The Wrecking Crew: The Greatest Band You Never Saw
№ 9

The Wrecking Crew: The Greatest Band You Never Saw

They played for everyone, yet no one knew their names. The secret architects of pop still shape today’s sound, only the tools have changed.

Manufactured Culture Oct 25, 2025
The New Gods of Silicon: How AI Became a Religion
№ 10

The New Gods of Silicon: How AI Became a Religion

How artificial intelligence became humanity’s most powerful belief system.

Surveillance, Tech & Intelligence Oct 24, 2025
The Betrayal That Changed Europe Forever
№ 11

The Betrayal That Changed Europe Forever

Europe trusted its greatest friend, and woke up to find its industry crippled, its energy cut, and its future mortgaged to Washington.

Geopolitics Oct 23, 2025
Max Verstappen and the Art of Engineered Drama
№ 12

Max Verstappen and the Art of Engineered Drama

When dominance stops selling drama, the fastest man alive becomes the sport’s biggest threat.

Manufactured Culture Oct 22, 2025