What podcasts say about Ada Palmer
Every statement, with the speaker, the exact quote and the moment it was said.
What Ada Palmer has said on podcasts
24 statements · 7 positive · 3 negative · 5 mixed · 9 neutral
Regime overthrow weakens legitimacy and increases the likelihood of repeated subsequent overthrows.
“when you break that, when you overthrow the ruler, when you dissolve the republic, when you put in a new thing, it doesn't have that same staying power”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 0:54
A hereditary regional power could have constrained papal turnover and stabilized Italy.
“The only Thing that could stop the turnover of popes would be one person gaining enough power and ascendancy near this region who has staying power, who has sons at heredity”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 5:04
People control at most half of the factors determining outcomes; fortune determines the rest.
“we have power over maximum half of what causes outcomes. The other half is always going to be fortune”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 13:57
Machiavelli’s analysis implies that leaders should imitate the Borgias’ methods despite their eventual failure.
“And therefore we should imitate them, because everything they did was right.”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 15:05
Political deception can work when the ruler’s power base supports it, but not universally.
“it's not just that lying is okay, it's that lying is sometimes okay if you check these other boxes and it's not if you don't”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 18:34
Machiavelli first argued in European political thought that multiple parties could coexist within one state.
“Machiavelli is the first person that we have ever, in the European tradition to suggest that it could be viable for there to be more than one political party in a state at the same time”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 20:02
Geographic distance makes the pope seem more abstract and respectable to political communities.
“from the perspective of if you're far from Rome, right, when you're Denmark or Iceland, and the Pope is all the way over there”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 24:20
The papacy became progressively more corrupt over successive generations.
“the papacy becomes gradually more corrupted over time”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 32:13
Familial patronage and nepotism were fundamental mechanisms holding Renaissance society together.
“patronage, which was also familial and therefore entangled with nepotism, was so fundamental that”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 36:35
Patronage explains why medieval severe legal penalties usually produced lighter actual sentences.
“Patronage is the answer.”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 39:36
Cesare Borgia’s political outsiders could administer more neutral justice than local factions.
“he implements neutral justice because he and his cronies have no side in that city”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 50:30
Neutral justice made Cesare Borgia’s violent conquering regime popular among ordinary residents.
“this makes Valentino's conquering and violent regime incredibly popular with the everyday people of these cities”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 52:27
Machiavelli equates vulnerability to arbitrary execution with political slavery.
“If you live in a state of where there is an arbitrary power who can have you put to death, you are a slave.”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 53:54
Internal conquerors are more likely than outsiders to preserve a city’s institutions and cultural assets.
“there is a huge difference between when the conqueror is from your city, loves your city and wants to take care of your city, and when the conqueror is from the outside”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 56:21
Diplomacy produces more conflict avoidance per dollar than military spending.
“that dollar for dollar diplomacy is cheaper than war”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 59:47
Renaissance societies treated imitation of ancient Rome as technological advancement.
“for them, cutting edge technology is imitating the past”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:02:49
Machiavelli was exceptionally patriotic and primarily motivated by service to Florence.
“Machiavelli, fundamentally, is possibly one of the most patriotic patriots in Earth's history”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:19:50
Machiavelli intended The Prince as proprietary political knowledge for Florence, not broad public circulation.
“The prince's secret proprietary, the secret sauce of how to maintain power. And he will not let any other power have that right.”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:20:27
Works with radical ideas gain readership when later societies find them relevant to contemporary questions.
“It is often the case that a work which contains radically unusual ideas will drift along, being not particularly zoomed in on by society and not widely read until it hits a moment that the new questions being asked in that century or that decade are answered by something in that text.”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:28:29
Machiavelli evaluated religion primarily for its psychological effects on citizens and political behavior.
“Machiavelli is absolutely thinking about the psychological effects of a religion on the people”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:38:37
Renaissance scholars often presented original ideas as commentaries on ancient authorities to gain credibility.
“if you realize that what it is, is their style guide requires original thought to be presented in the form of a commentary on an ancient”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:49:11
Early copyright emerged from the Inquisition’s licensing and monopolization of printed books.
“the very first version of copyright is the Inquisition”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:53:42
The Inquisition was decentralized and constrained by slow communication with the Vatican.
“The Inquisition is overseen by a whole bunch of isolated guys who are in isolated towns. And it takes weeks or months to even communicate with the Vatican.”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 1:56:22
The Prince is primarily a manual for preserving governmental power, not acquiring it.
“it's a manual not of how to gain power, but of how to keep power”
Open the episode · Ada Palmer – Machiavelli is the most misunderstood thinker of all timeListen at 2:03:34
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.