Ada Palmer

And they're the ones who made it.

So it would be pretty insane if you could figure it out.

Beyond the ragging rights, Jane Street is offering $50,000 to the top write-ups and attempts.

Separately, Jane Street is currently accepting applications for their summer ML internships in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

You'll be paired with mentors, and you will be contributing to real ML projects.

So go to janestreet.com slash thwarkash to check out the puzzle and the internship.

Oh, it's not even a majority vote, it's consensus.

Okay.

So, and can I ask how, previously you describing kill the nobles, salt the earth, I'm almost thinking early communists, but then you say, well, no, it's the heads of the merchant guilds who are in charge.

And so I want to understand why merchants, entrepreneurs have...

Notable status in Florence.

What is it about the culture that makes it so?

And also the Medici, the most powerful people, their job is usury, right?

Right.

But the culture is getting started where somebody like that could be respected.

So how does that happen?

OK, so Florence in this period goes through like five different forms of government.

So it's this republic of nine dues in a tower, as you were saying, before 1434.

It's actually doubly ironic because when the Roman Republic turns into the Roman Empire, they still have the Senate.

They still have all these old institutions that even though it's no longer a republic.