The Power Broker, Live on Stage Next Weekend

Robert Moses, Robert Caro, and me

Morning, everyone!

Next Saturday, June 7, at 4 PM, I’m performing the first of three shows based on Robert Caro’s extraordinary biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker:

As Caro demonstrates in his 1,300-page epic, and I bring to life on stage, we’re still living in the world Moses built. He was, in Caro’s words, “a genius of public works”—a Picasso, almost, in his own way—and yet one of the most racist people Caro has ever encountered. In New York, our decaying subway system, the affordable housing crisis, the NYPD’s recent crackdown on cyclists—all of it connects back to Moses. And lest you think Moses’ legacy is only felt in New York, he inspired construction projects around the U.S. and the globe.

I hope to see you at the show! This first installment traces Moses’s upbringing and rise to power. Picture it like a John Oliver bit on arguably the most powerful unelected official in American history. There’s also a livestream if you can’t make it in person. I’ll share some clips here afterward, as well as the full filmed performance for paying Skippies.

There’s a reason the only statue of Robert Moses in or close to NYC is in Babylon, Long Island…

Also coming up: I’ll publish my next interview in two weeks. One of my favorite historians and I will chat about how Latin America might hold the key to all of America’s future—and how, in fact, maybe it long has.

Have a nice weekend,

Ben