Guest
Si Sheppard
Associate professor of political science, Long Island University
Real Alpha has cut 2 moments of Si Sheppard (Associate professor of political science, Long Island University) talking, from an interview on Dwarkesh Podcast published Oct 1, 2026.
What Si Sheppard said
The natives adapted fast, but the learning curve was too steep
“They took captured enemy weapons. They learned to fix conquistador swords to the end of long wooden poles, improvising pike tactics.”
Si Sheppard33:23 The Tlaxcalans used Cortés, not the other way around
“the force that marches on Tenochtitlan, the total numbers, the conquistadors were maybe one-half of one percent in raw numbers of that force.”
Si Sheppard19:33
The episode
Dwarkesh PodcastHow did a few hundred Spanish soldiers topple two empires? – Si Sheppard
Si Sheppard · Military Historian
31:56of 1:37:24 · Oct 1
