I'm almost interested to extract lessons from that for leaders of today. Like how hard is it? Is it that Stalin is evil? Or can you just delude yourself gradually into where you don't have a sense of the effect of your policies in the populace? I think the receipts are when Elena Ceausescu, who's one of the four women on the cover, when she's being taken away to be executed in 1989,. So she at least believed her own bullshit. With Stalin, he was obviously extremely intelligent. At a certain point, the human mind wants to believe how great it is, especially someone in that vaunted position.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode