Episode · Dwarkesh Podcast · 2026-03-06
Books mentioned on Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada Palmer
Renaissance history is so much wilder and weirder than you would have expected. Very fun chatting with Ada Palmer (historian, novelist, and composer based at the University of Chicago).
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Inventing the Renaissance
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.
Discussed“Today we're discussing your book, Inventing the Renaissance.”
Where to get it
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Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a timeless tragedy about two young lovers from feuding families whose deaths ultimately reconcile their households.
Discussed“This is where Romeo and Juliet is really helpful for us to understand.”
Where to get it
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The prince
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is a classic sixteenth-century political treatise that offers pragmatic, often ruthless advice on how rulers can acquire, maintain, and wield political power.
Discussed“We now have read more documents of the period and realize how people use these words.”
Where to get it
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The Gentleman's Magazine
Discussed“That's a copy of The Gentleman's Magazine, another example of technology taking a leap forward in the 18th century.”
Where to get it
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The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment
The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment by Anton M.
Recommended“There's a brilliant analysis in Anton Matytsin's book, The Specter of Skepticism in the Age of Enlightenment.”
Where to get it
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The swerve
The swerve by Stephen Greenblatt is an acclaimed historical non-fiction work examining how the rediscovery of a long-lost Latin codex by Lucretius helped shape the emergence of the modern world.
Discussed“Many people are familiar with Greenblatt's book, The Swerve, which credits a lot of change to the materialist science that this poem articulates.”
Where to get it
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Areopagitica
Areopagitica by John Milton is a historically significant prose tract defending freedom of speech and opposing government licensing of the press.
Discussed“Milton writes this big treatise about why freedom of the press is important, the Areopagitica.”
Where to get it
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Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost by John Milton is an epic blank-verse poem published in the seventeenth century that recounts the biblical fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan.
Discussed“Paradise Lost is published under the censorious regime.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Or we would say Lucretius's De rerum natura, which I did my dissertation on...”
“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.”
“Milton of Paradise Lost fame wrote our first big defense of the free press.”