The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
by Robert Caro
Mentioned 2 times across 1 show · first heard Aug 2025 on My First Million.
The general take
Lloyd Blankfein rereads The Power Broker and finds it fascinating as a historical account of how Robert Moses essentially built New York. He acknowledges the book is obscure enough that most people wouldn't know about Moses, but clearly values understanding the figure behind the city's infrastructure.
About
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A modern American classic, this huge and galvanizing biography of Robert Moses reveals not only the saga of one man’s incredible accumulation of power but the story of his shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York. One of the Modern Library’s hundred greatest books of the twentieth century, Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V.
Who said what
Lloyd Blankfein👍 Recommends
…lloyd discussing influential biography books he has reread multiple times
“I also liked, totally different, I liked reading The Power Broker. About Robert Moses. By Robert Caro. Robert Caro. And I'll tell you, the interesting thing is, the reason why I reread that, I read that book once when I was starting, and there's no reason why they should know him, but it was a guy who basically built New York.”
My First Million — How the Ex-Goldman CEO actually invests his own moneyat 48:28
Sam Parr👍 Recommends
…exploring robert caro's writing process and greatest biography work
“His big world famous bit of writing was called The Power Broker. And it was on a New York politician called Robert Moses. And Obama has since written like the foreword for the most recent edition of The Power Broker, just to give it an idea of how influential this book is. Many people regard The Power Broker as the greatest biography of all time.”
My First Million — Brainstorming $100M AI-Proof Businessesat 36:46
Listener reviews
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