Ada Palmer is a Renaissance historian at the University of Chicago who studies radical free thought and censorship, composes music, consults on anime and manga, and is the author of the acclaimed Terra Ignota sci-fi series, among many other things.
Tyler sat down with Ada to discuss why living in the Renaissance was worse than living during the Middle Ages, how art protected Florence, why she’s reluctant to travel back in time, which method of doing history is currently the most underrated, whose biography she’ll write, how we know what old Norse music was like, why women scholars helped us understand Viking metaphysics, why Diderot's Jacques the Fatalist is an interesting work, what people misunderstand about the inquisition(s), why science fiction doesn’t have higher social and literary status, which hive she would belong to in Terra Ignota, what the new novel she’s writing is about, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded June 28th, 2023.
Other ways to connect
Photo Credit: Jason Smith
Paul Romer on the Unrivaled Joy of Scholarship
John Nye on Revisionist Economic History and Having Too Many Hobbies
Eric Schmidt on the Life-Changing Magic of Systematizing, Scaling, and Saying "Thanks" (Live)
Ben Thompson on Business and Tech
Rob Wiblin interviews Tyler on *Stubborn Attachments*
Paul Krugman on Politics, Inequality, and Following Your Curiosity
Bruno Maçães on the Spirit of Adventure
Michele Gelfand on Tight and Loose Cultures
Claire Lehmann on Speaking Freely
Michael Pollan on the Science and Sublimity of Psychedelics
Michelle Dawson on Autism and Atypicality
Vitalik Buterin on Cryptoeconomics and Markets in Everything
Juan Pablo Villarino on Travel and Trust
Elisa New on Poetry in America and Beyond
David Brooks on Youth, Morality, and Loneliness (Live at Mason)
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Self-Education and Doing the Math (Plus special guest Bryan Caplan)
Bryan Caplan on Learning across Disciplines (Live at Mason Econ)
Balaji Srinivasan on the Power and Promise of the Blockchain
Agnes Callard on the Theory of Everything
Martina Navratilova on Shaping Herself (Live at Mason)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast