Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all time – Ada Palmer
A Dwarkesh Podcast conversation with Ada Palmer, a historian at the University of Chicago and science fiction author, about Machiavelli and The Prince: why Italy was so unstable in 1513, how the papacy and city-state governments worked, and what Machiavelli meant by liberty and fair justice. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the episode runs about 128 minutes and the available caption text is cut off, so this summary covers the opening historical context and the discussion of Cesare Borgia (called Valentino), and not later topics. This is a historical discussion of 16th-century Italy and Palmer's interpretation, not a view on current politics.
Executive Summary (TL;DR)
A Dwarkesh Podcast conversation with Ada Palmer, a historian at the University of Chicago and science fiction author, about Machiavelli and The Prince: why Italy was so unstable in 1513, how the papacy and city-state governments worked, and what Machiavelli meant by liberty and fair justice. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the episode runs about 128 minutes and the available caption text is cut off, so this summary covers the opening historical context and the discussion of Cesare Borgia (called Valentino), and not later topics. This is a historical discussion of 16th-century Italy and Palmer's interpretation, not a view on current politics.
Key Takeaways
Why The Prince was urgent
Palmer says Machiavelli wrote to Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici in 1513, in an Italy he saw as ruined and in need of a ruler.