Censorship is often associated with authoritarian governments. But throughout history, efforts to control ideas have taken many different forms — and they haven’t always come from the state.
In this episode, Nico sits down with University of Chicago professor Ada Palmer to explore the history of censorship from the Renaissance to the present day. They discuss what motivates censorship, why it evolves alongside new communication technologies, how effective it has been throughout history, and what historical patterns can teach us about today’s free speech debates.
Ada Palmer is a professor of early modern European history at the University of Chicago and the author of Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age. She is also an acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author, composer, singer, and expert on anime and Japanese popular culture. Visit her website to read her blog and explore her other projects.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:29 Palmer’s interest in censorship
03:13 Renaissance censorship
13:15 The Inquisition and Jansenism
22:50 The blurry line between state and private censorship
31:35 Fear and self-censorship
35:12 Does America hide its censorship efforts?
38:45 The case of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
43:50 Will AI change censorship?
53:36 Censorship will always be with us
01:06:47 Are you a free speech absolutist?
01:13:46 Outro
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