Today's episode features #1 Robert Caro superfan, Conan O'Brien.
The Power Broker by Robert Caro is a biography of Robert Moses, who is said to have built more structures and moved more earth than anyone in human history. And he did it without ever holding elected office. Outside of New York City, Robert Moses wasn't exceptionally well known. Inside of New York, he was mostly accepted by the media as simply the man who built all those nice parks. But The Power Broker, which is subtitled Robert Moses and The Fall of New York, changed all that. It is a tour de force of journalism, history, and biography. Roman also argues it's really fun to read and is strongly in contention for the best book ever written.
But there is something of a catch, which can hang readers up: the book is a daunting 1200 pages long. As influential and amazing as this bestseller is, many people own an unopened copy gathering dust on their bookshelf. But that is a crime because this book needs to be read or at least discussed at length on a podcast.
Roman Mars and Elliott Kalan (Flop House, Daily Show) are starting The Power Broker book club that will run through all of 2024 as bonus episodes and in this introductory episode, Conan O'Brien joins us to talk all things Robert Caro.
Breaking Down The Power Broker
Return of Oñate's Foot
Return of the Yokai
Instant Gramification
Wedding Dresses: Articles of Interest #12
Diamonds: Articles of Interest #11
Suits: Articles of Interest #10
Perfume: Articles of Interest #9
Knockoffs: Articles of Interest #8
A Fantasy of Fashion: Articles of Interest #7
The Natural Experiment
The Smell of Concrete After Rain
Masking for a Friend
Unsheltered in Place
Wipe Out
This Day in Esoteric Political History
This is Chance! Redux
Roman Mars Describes Things As They Are
Map Quests: Political, Physical and Digital
The Weather Machine
Over the Road
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It is Free
This is Love
Planet Money
Radiolab
Grimms’ Fairy Tales
The Art of War
Today, Explained
Stuff You Should Know