#758 - Steven Hannum - Machiavelli Nation | The Collapse of Modern Power Structures
The Grimerica Show
Darren Grimes
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 April 2026
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- Stephen Hannum shares the inspiration behind "Machiavelli Nation" and the five-year journey to bring it to life
- Exploration of the book's structure, narrative style, and character development inspired by series like "The Expanse" and "Game of Thrones"
- Insights into the themes of power, shadow organizations, and societal manipulation reflected through the story's plot
- The significance of self-publishing and the creative process, including editing and visual planning with Post-it notes on cardboard
- How the story mirrors real-world issues like political corruption, societal division, and covert operations
- Discussion of the book as a modern "1984" and its potential as a screenplay for film adaptation
- Stephen's thoughts on the current geopolitical landscape, societal tyranny, and the importance of critical thinking and research
- The future project: a sequel exploring ancient civilizations, pre-flood society, and hidden histories
- Practical ideas for societal reform through innovative concepts like "PostParty," a political matching app
- Personal favorites: Stephen's preferred authors including Chuck Palahniuk and George R. R. Martin
- How the book aligns with themes of awakening, deception, and the battle for truth in today's world
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If more of you supported the show, it would be less sick a podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm here. |
| 0:04.1 | You guys next. Goodbye. Mother need breaths of deep gratitude and prayers for guidance and protection. |
| 0:22.6 | And put on a didgeridoo and shamanic drumming track, shivers or vibrations and stuff like that. We're live with Stephen Hammarica. |
| 0:43.3 | Welcome to Grimerica. |
| 0:44.3 | Thanks for joining us. |
| 0:45.5 | And congratulations on McEvelli Nation. |
| 0:49.0 | Thank you, Graham. |
| 0:50.3 | Thanks for having me. |
| 0:51.3 | I'm super excited to be here. |
| 0:54.0 | Oh, yeah, we're excited to have you, too. I mean, this has been great. This has been a great experience. |
| 1:00.1 | Getting your book on audio and, you know, Darren and you worked on that mainly. But congratulations, man. |
| 1:08.2 | You know, it's funny because we have people coming to us with books and stuff |
| 1:10.9 | like that and it's like it's hard to fit in reading and all but as soon as i started |
| 1:14.4 | reading it and listening to it i was like i was kind of like just caught with it and i was like |
| 1:20.1 | this seems really good this seems good like it's more you know more professional than expected |
| 1:25.7 | so i mean it got to ask you what, how long did it take you? |
| 1:29.4 | And, and what? And, uh, it seemed to take a lot of deep research, too. So it's kind of fascinating. |
| 1:37.4 | Well, it took me about five years of actual writing, but it's kind of built out of things that I've been thinking about, you know, |
| 1:47.9 | apart from a book, just ideas that I have that come into my mind and I think, well, that'd be |
| 1:52.9 | a really awesome idea. Never follow through with it because the next idea always comes in |
| 1:58.9 | the very next day. And then I just put it on a shelf |
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