Snapshot · Dwarkesh Podcast
Ada Palmer described Machiavelli as definitively bisexual, citing his homoerotic and heterosexual poetry and the documented fact that he had both boyfriends and girlfriends throughout his life.
Where this was said
At 1:47:20 · chapter starts 1:41:39
The Inquisition depended entirely on local government for jails, funding, and arrest power. Liberal dukes could protect heretics and gay scholars. Machiavelli and bisexual artist friends used patronage as a shield.
The Inquisition had no jails, no arrest power, and no funding of its own. Everything depended on the local Duke. If the Duke liked heretics, the Inquisitor couldn't touch them. In Florence, a city of radical Platonists under radical Medici dukes, the Inquisition was nearly toothless.
The Inquisition required pre-publication approval for all books. In exchange, it granted printers a monopoly — the first copyright. England saw this, wanted the same mechanism, and copied it. The entire modern copyright system descends from Inquisition censorship licensing.
The first version of authorial copyright emerged from Inquisition censorship licensing: printers who cleared pre-publication review gained monopoly printing rights, which England later imitated.
Joel de la Garza noted that the CISO role is a relatively recent invention, with Steve Katz widely credited as the first-ever CISO.
Superficial adoption of electricity gave factories only 6% efficiency gains; fully redesigning factories around it delivered a 3x productivity improvement that powered 20th-century US growth.
Harold Ramis recounted that during Caddyshack filming, storms kept the cast cooped up in a Florida hotel for days, during which they partied and did drugs all day and night.
In the 1820s, China accounted for 25% of global economic output, making it the world's largest economic machine — a historical precedent for its current AI superpower ambitions.
66 Americans held hostage at the US Embassy in Iran were released after 444 days, within hours of Reagan's inauguration.
In the first round of the secret arms deal, 508 TOW missiles were transferred from Israel to Iran in exchange for hostage releases.
America secretly transferred 2,000 missiles and missile parts to Iran across 8 separate shipments over just over a year.
Despite all the missile sales, only 3 of the 7 American hostages held by Lebanese terrorists were ultimately released.
The CIA supply plane that blew open the scandal was flying at only 2,500 feet in broad daylight when it was shot down on October 5, 1986.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.