Why people recommend it
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is a foundational political treatise that examines how rulers acquire, consolidate, and wield power through pragmatism, strategy, and realism. The classic work is frequently referenced by podcast guests and hosts analyzing historical events, political theory, and human behavior. On The Diary Of A CEO, Dr. Leanne ten Brinke cited Machiavelli while discussing the psychological origins of Machiavellianism and the manual-like nature of his writings on power dynamics. On The Tucker Carlson Show, guests invoked Machiavelli's political philosophy to contextualize historical nation-states and power structures. Spencer Klavan discussed the author on The Megyn Kelly Show, noting that while many associate Machiavelli purely with cynical realpolitik scheming, he was also a profound theorist of republics. Similarly, Dr. Del Paulhus discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast how classic statements extracted from Machiavelli's writings were instrumental in developing modern psychological assessments for manipulative personality traits. On The Jordan Harbinger Show, the book was compared to modern geopolitical strategies, viewed as a political counterpart to military texts like Sun Tzu's teachings. Finally, on The Daily Stoic, the host humorously likened contemporary political memoirs to a potential second volume of Machiavelli's work. Across these discussions, Machiavelli's enduring masterpiece continues to serve as an essential lens through which thinkers evaluate the mechanics of leadership and ambition.
Who recommended it
- Leanne ten Brinke Discussed
Leanne ten Brinke — 1 mention
“And that is named after Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote "The Prince", which is kind of how-to manuals like a gain and wield power, collectively.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 11
“Because when you think about it, if you go back to think about like, in Machiavelli's The Prince, right?”
“She nearly cried when we showed her the whiteness contract from that children's book, and I got her to inadvertently argue that Derrick Chauvin should've should have never been convicted and should be released from prison!”
“He said, 'The Tree of Liberty must be fertilized with the blood of tyrants and patriots.'”
“Machiavelli who's somebody that not maybe not everybody will be familiar with as you know the the great theorist of republics they think of him as the kind of real politics scheming you know author of The Prince”
“He did something very clever; he went into the books of Nicolo Machiavelli, who was an advisor to politicians way back when, and he took the statements, administered them to undergraduate students, and simply asked them how much they agreed with these statements.”
“Anyway, even as they say even Sun Tzu is not Machiavelli, is really the Prince, is really where I think they think that they're trying to kind of, it's a modern version of the Prince because the Prince was much more about politics and much less about warfare.”
“These are extraordinary skills, and sometimes I felt like I was writing Machiavelli volume two called 'The Princess.'”
“She just doesn't think it's anybody's business, and that, in fact, here's another lesson from Machiavelli volume two is if you don't give it all away to the public, you know, that liberates a large part of you; that frees a large part of you to actually maintain life as a normal human, which she's about as normal a human”
“so in the prince um his most famous work i should say historious work he suggests that it is a prince who wishes to stay in power should as well as having um an independent military force of his own citizens”
“it was only after that that he wrote his his books the books for which he's most famous the prince for example”
“so I definitely can identify with that last but not least you've mentioned that you would eventually someday maybe like to rewrite Machiavelli the prince for modern day Silicon Valley what would some of the big changes be from that book”