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Stephen Kotkin

Published podcast speaker

Claims
20
Episodes
2
Shows
2
Named items
2

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book / likes

Seville and the Atlantic

“I like Chaunu’s Seville and the Atlantic much more than I like Braudel’s Philip in the Mediterranean.”

Conversations with Tyler · 4 Dec 2024

Evidence receipt · Source ↗

book / likes

Philip in the Mediterranean

“I like Chaunu’s Seville and the Atlantic much more than I like Braudel’s Philip in the Mediterranean.”

Conversations with Tyler · 4 Dec 2024

Evidence receipt · Source ↗

Claim ledger

What Stephen said.

20 transcript-backed records

01 / uncertainty

Is Xi Jinping a true believer? That's a difficult argument to win because the evidence is contradictory and because we don't know the inside of the system.

“Is Xi Jinping a true believer? That's a difficult argument to win because the evidence is contradictory and because we don't know the inside of the system.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Dwarkesh Podcast

02 / evaluation

Because those people who were killing under communism and collectivizing those villages and dekulakizing and killing the people in their native village that they had grown up with… If they hadn't done that, the regime couldn't have done this.

“Because those people who were killing under communism and collectivizing those villages and dekulakizing and killing the people in their native village that they had grown up with… If they hadn't done that, the regime couldn't have done this.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Dwarkesh Podcast

04 / evaluation

It needs to be able to compete in the international system. That means it needs a modern military and modern industry to underwrite that modern military.

“It needs to be able to compete in the international system. That means it needs a modern military and modern industry to underwrite that modern military.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Dwarkesh Podcast

05 / evaluation

The only reason China has Hong Kong is because after World War II—when Truman announced that Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists were going to accept the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong—the British sent their boats in and took Hong Kong back themselves, so that when Mao defeated Chiang Kai-shek he didn't have Hong Kong.

“The only reason China has Hong Kong is because after World War II—when Truman announced that Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists were going to accept the Japanese surrender in Hong Kong—the British sent their boats in and took Hong Kong back themselves, so that when Mao defeated Chiang Kai-shek he didn't have Hong Kong.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Dwarkesh Podcast

11 / evaluation

The problem with arguments like that, Tyler, is that I got into fights in the schoolyard when I was his age. People beat me up because I was a half Catholic, half Jew at a Catholic school.

“The problem with arguments like that, Tyler, is that I got into fights in the schoolyard when I was his age. People beat me up because I was a half Catholic, half Jew at a Catholic school.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

12 / evaluation

He loved Chekhov the most because the heroes in Chekhov were not the only main characters — also the villains, and Stalin would remark that Chekhov’s villains were credible.

“He loved Chekhov the most because the heroes in Chekhov were not the only main characters — also the villains, and Stalin would remark that Chekhov’s villains were credible.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

13 / evaluation

One percent, meaning that the people who couldn’t farm themselves, individually or as a household, as a family — they went into collectives voluntarily because they were incapable of managing on their own.

“One percent, meaning that the people who couldn’t farm themselves, individually or as a household, as a family — they went into collectives voluntarily because they were incapable of managing on their own.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

14 / evaluation

The Soviets were interested in cybernetics because it was about more efficient ways of gathering and using information — the planned economy at core, which was a fantasy, never a reality.

“The Soviets were interested in cybernetics because it was about more efficient ways of gathering and using information — the planned economy at core, which was a fantasy, never a reality.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

15 / evaluation

You have these four partitions, two of which happened — Korea and Indochina — both of which led to war, and two partitions that didn’t happen, one because the Communists won in China, and one because the Communists got nowhere near power in Japan.

“You have these four partitions, two of which happened — Korea and Indochina — both of which led to war, and two partitions that didn’t happen, one because the Communists won in China, and one because the Communists got nowhere near power in Japan.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

16 / evaluation

I learned how power works in everyday life, and how the language that you use, and the practices like denunciation that you enact or partake in, help form those totalitarian structures, because the secret police are not there every minute of every day, so what’s in your head?

“I learned how power works in everyday life, and how the language that you use, and the practices like denunciation that you enact or partake in, help form those totalitarian structures, because the secret police are not there every minute of every day, so what’s in your head?”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

19 / evaluation

It was a one-company town, one-industry town. They had a gigantic integrated steel plant, and they had next to no pollution controls because they had installed pollution controls, but they didn’t use them because it lowered their output, and they were paid and got their bonuses based on quantitative output.

“It was a one-company town, one-industry town. They had a gigantic integrated steel plant, and they had next to no pollution controls because they had installed pollution controls, but they didn’t use them because it lowered their output, and they were paid and got their bonuses based on quantitative output.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

20 / evaluation

That’s why I said totalitarianism is using your agency to destroy your own agency. That means denouncing your neighbors, being encouraged to denounce your neighbors for heresies, and participating in that culture of denunciation, which loosens all social trust and social bonds and puts you in a situation of dependency on the state.

“That’s why I said totalitarianism is using your agency to destroy your own agency. That means denouncing your neighbors, being encouraged to denounce your neighbors for heresies, and participating in that culture of denunciation, which loosens all social trust and social bonds and puts you in a situation of dependency on the state.”
Speaker
Stephen Kotkin
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler
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