So I just finished reading #thePowerBroker. I will be for ever thankful to @99percentinvisible for making me aware of this book. I had to make breaks as it was at times too depressing. But aside from being great history material, it is also just incredibly well written. Last sentence made me audibly gasp. What a perfect ending of a 1k pages adventure. #books #history

I'm personally neither a fan nor a critic of Brennan Lee Mulligan's roleplaying style. But I did enjoy The Power Broker episode where they interviewed Brendan, in part about his D&D campaign patterned as a sort of mythic NYC shaped by an esoteric version of Robert Moses, inspired directly by this book.

Potentially of interest to roleplayers, historians, and civics junkies.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-power-broker-11-brennan-lee-mulligan/

#ThePowerBroker
#99PercentInvisible
#RobertMoses
#DnD
#Dimension20
#BrennanLeeMulligan

I hopped aboard #99PercentInvisible's breakdown of #ThePowerBroker one year ago having no idea what I was getting myself into. One year later, this is the best biography I have ever read. It's a heck of a mountain to climb, but one well worth summiting

https://litcityblues.substack.com/p/the-power-broker-a-review

I finally finished reading The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro and while the book is extremely long, it paints an extremely detailed picture of Robert Moses' work in the City of New York. I read this as a part of the podcast 99% Invisible's book club, which went through all of 2024.

There are some chapters that feel like: 'here's a bunch of data'. There are other chapters that demonstrate how Moses would not help public transit, not on his watch, cars come first! One such example of that would be to run both sides of a highway far enough apart that you could run trains down the middle. Moses just wasn't interested.

And of course, there are examples of Moses pushing people out of their homes to make room for infrastructure. There are other examples where Moses is going to run a highway through some people's homes, even though there was a park one block south of there that would still work. Moses was having none of that. After all, he had the power – built up over decades.

And now that I'm done with The Power Broker, I need to read some more of the books on my shelf. I have such a backlog.

#thepowerbroker #99pi #Caro #reading #biographies #publicservice #RobertMoses

Anyone else following the 99% Invisible podcast covering #ThePowerBroker?

I’m listening to the last episode now. The whole series has been so good, it’s my fourth-most-listened-to podcast of 2024

https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/jane-jacobs-missing-chapter-robert-caro “There are two entire chapters that were cut out…One was on Jane Jacobs stopping the Lower Manhattan Expressway. And one was why the New York City Planning Commission has no power” #ThePowerBroker #JaneJacobs #urbanplanning #NYC #RobertMoses

Watching the first @notjustbikes video in a while, on Ontario's bike lanes. Wow, 9 mins of intro and it felt like most creators would've stopped there. Nice in-depth work!

It turns out, after 3 months of listening to the book, then the #99PI series about the book, I am left with just one question:

#NotJustBikes #ThePowerBroker summary series when? 😆 😇

2024: book seventy. #bookstodon #2024books #books2024 #books #urbanplanning #biography #thepowerbroker #robertmoses #robertacaro

I just finished reading #pavedparadise and would highly recommend it. I'm now onto the 3 part epic that is #ThePowerBroker. So far so good, but oh my word is this going to take a while to get through.

#transportation #newyorkcity

https://slate.com/business/2024/09/power-broker-robert-caro-moses-real-estate-new-york-jane-jacobs.html “we are living not in the world of Robert Moses but in the one that arose in his absence” Some interesting context and criticism here on #thepowerbroker , which I agree should not be the only book read about cities, race, and power. Sadly you will not find another that is better written, which is Moses’s curse and his blessing. #urbanhistory #nyc #housing #urbanplanning

Robert Caro Reflects on ‘The Power Broker’ and Its Legacy at 50

Caro’s book on Robert Moses, a city planner who reshaped New York, is also a reflection on “the dangers of unchecked power,” and remains more resonant and relevant than ever.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/books/robert-caro-the-power-broker-at-50.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KE4.krui.f7DFIiWNdlhT&smid=url-share

#NYC #RobertCaro #ThePowerBroker #Bookstodon

I present: the Robert A. Caro flowchart for biography editing.

#thePowerBroker #books

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/reading-the-power-broker-has-changed-my-life In case you need to read some jokes about #thepowerbroker

I gotta wonder, what would be the computer science or software architecture equivalent of The Power Broker? What person had an extremely large influence on our digital infrastructure? Where are the books about them?

@99percentinvisible
#computerscience #softwareengineering #robertcaro #thepowerbroker

A Couple Recent Interesting Podcast Episodes

First off, I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy listening to the science fiction short story podcast Escape Pod. Today I listened to episode 949, A Foundational Model for Talking to Girls. Large Language Models (LLMs), what we have colloquially called AI for the past few years, have been a giant source of wonder and consternation in the world. AI in general has long been a topic for science fiction, but this short story tackles the current LLM version of AIs. I found it to be a very fun episode that is a master class in providing a huge amount of backstory without an exposition dump. I don’t want to spoil anything about this story, but they naturally drop all these background details about the world that make me want more stories in this universe. It also has a fun, light tone to it. I highly recommend you either listen or read (the full text is available at the episode link above)

The other podcast episode I wanted to mention is actually a series of episodes. There have been a few times where I have come to the realization that I prefer the wikipedia summary of the story compared to the real thing. One example is Bioshock. I haven’t played it, but I know for a fact that I would not enjoy the story nearly as well as I enjoyed reading the summary of the story and all the backstory that led to the events of the game. The same is true of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker. I know myself and I know I would not nearly enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoy listening to Roman Mars, Elliott Kalan, and each episode’s guest discuss the contents of each chapter and provide color commentary. You can get to the archive of all the episodes here. It’s a fascinating story of one man’s transformation from working in the NYC parks department to becoming one of the most powerful men in NYC (able to challenge US presidents and win!).

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#99PI #AI #LLM #NYC #podcast #RobertMoses #scienceFiction #shortStories #ThePowerBroker

https://wp.me/p5cs3g-4LW

The new #99pi #thepowerbroker ep is already a banger from the start. Elliott Kalan, channeling #janeaustin on #induceddemand : “It is a truth universally acknowledged that the making of a bridge will lead to more cars on the bridge” https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-power-broker-07-sec-pete-buttigieg/

Oh, the series on The Power Broker by @99percentinvisible really is going the same way as the book. The episodes are LONG. The current one is just short of 3h. 🤯

Don't get me wrong. I'm loving every minute of it...

#ThePowerBroker #99pi

I'm about five months behind on my podcasts, so I'm just now joining #99pi's #ThePowerBroker #bookclub.

Just got this in the mail, and I'll try to keep up, with a five month delay!

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-power-broker-04-rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/ #thepowerbroker 4 from #99pi is live with NY politician #aoc . This Feather Duster guy sounds like trouble!