From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
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"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco

**Lena:** Hey Miles, you know what's been on my mind lately? The French Revolution's Reign of Terror. I was reading about it and was shocked that in just ten months, between 30,000 and 50,000 people were killed!
**Miles:** It's absolutely staggering, Lena. And what makes it even more chilling is how systematically it was carried out. The Committee of Public Safety, which was basically running France at that point, turned paranoia into government policy.
**Lena:** Right! And wasn't Robespierre, the guy leading this committee, actually trying to create what he thought was a virtuous republic? It seems so contradictory.
**Miles:** Exactly. In Robespierre's own words, "terror without virtue is fatal, virtue without terror is impotent." He genuinely believed you couldn't have a moral society without first eliminating those who might corrupt it. It's a terrifying logic.
**Lena:** God, that's disturbing. And this wasn't just about executing aristocrats or royalty like Marie Antoinette, was it? They were arresting everyday citizens too.
**Miles:** Absolutely. Between 300,000 and half a million people were arrested as "suspects." You could be denounced for something as trivial as addressing someone as "monsieur" instead of "citizen." Let's explore how this machinery of terror actually operated and why it spiraled so dramatically out of control...