A Rundown of the Live Show on The Power Broker Tomorrow
Robert Moses has never been made fun of quite like this
Good morning, everyone!
I’m super excited for tomorrow’s live show on Robert Moses and The Power Broker. It’s my first solo show since 2020! Huge thanks to everyone who’s purchased tickets.
Robert Moses shaped modern-day New York more than anyone else, holding power for over 40 years starting in the 1920s. He also inspired construction projects across the U.S. and around the world—and not always for the better. One of Robert Caro’s central arguments in The Power Broker, the book behind the show, is that Moses tilted democracy off course through sheer force of personality. If that description sounds familiar, you begin to see why I thought this project might be more topical than ever.
Tomorrow, in the first installment of a three-part trilogy on Moses, we’ll begin with his upbringing and his studies…
…before turning to the problem of space New York faced in the early 1900s.
We’ll then explore how Moses first accrued power on Long Island…
…and how he used his power to solve the problem of space. Moses was brilliant—arguably one of the sharpest political minds in U.S. history—but also deeply, deeply elitist and bigoted. We’ll dig into how he accepted bribes from the richest people in the country and restricted access to public works, with consequences to this day.
As you’ll hear in video clips from Robert Caro, Moses contained multitudes.
See you tomorrow!
-Ben
P.S. My next interview with a historian will go out next week!