Book · 2025 · History
Inventing the Renaissance
The Myth of a Golden Age
- mentions
- 3
- people
- 2
- podcasts
- 3
- episodes
- 3
- recommendations
- 0
Today we're discussing your book, Inventing the Renaissance.
The best things said about it
I've been reading about the Renaissance recently. Um, Ada Palmer's great book on inventing the Renaissance.
Ezra Klein Interesting Times · Aug 2025 Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
Why people recommend it
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer is a historical exploration of how early modern scholars, poets, and printers consciously constructed the myth of the Renaissance as a distinct rebirth of classical learning separate from the medieval era. Dwarkesh Patel opened an episode of the Dwarkesh Podcast by discussing this book with the author herself, using it as the foundational framework to examine why historical innovation flourished in places like Florence, how Gutenberg's printing press changed society, and the ways historical narratives are intentionally shaped. The book also drew praise from Ezra Klein on Interesting Times and The Ezra Klein Show, where Klein mentioned reading Palmer's work while exploring the complex historical relationships between organized religion, state power, and cultural transformation. Klein highlighted the book as a valuable resource for understanding how institutional practices and intellectual movements evolve over centuries. Through these conversations, hosts and guests used Palmer's meticulous historical research to challenge common assumptions about cultural epochs, intellectual progress, and the ways societies deliberately rewrite their own histories to forge new cultural identities and intellectual paradigms.
Every mention
Ezra Klein I've been reading about the Renaissance recently. Um, Ada Palmer's great book on inventing the Renaissance. 2
“I've been reading about the Renaissance recently. Um, Ada Palmer's great book on inventing the Renaissance.”
“I've been reading about the Renaissance recently. Ada Palmer's great book on inventing the Renaissance.”
Dwarkesh Patel Today we're discussing your book, Inventing the Renaissance. 1
“Today we're discussing your book, Inventing the Renaissance.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“There's a much more complex story, which you know is told in my book, which refers to Greenblatt's. If anyone enjoyed The Swerve, you would really enjoy the more detailed zoom-in that Inventing the Renaissance has.”
“I've been reading about the Renaissance recently. Um Ada Palmer's great book on inventing the Renaissance.”