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What Showed Robert Moses Had Lost Power? · Dwarkesh Podcast

Dwarkesh Podcast

Robert Caro – The master biographer reflects at 91

The Robert Caro interview. Watch on YouTube ; read the transcript . Sponsors * Antithesis lets you run thorough simulation tests on every PR your coding agents ship. That’s because Antithesis is FAST. On a recent project, it packed fifteen hours of simulation into each fifteen-minute run: every change could be tested in thousands of hostile worlds before…

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Notes

  1. How Does Robert Caro Get People to Talk? at 2:50

    Robert Caro gets people to talk by refusing a no when that person is the only one who knows the story. Full answer

  2. Does America Need a Little More Robert Moses? at 11:00

    Robert Caro says no. He does not want another Robert Moses, a builder who is ruthless and who disregards public opinion. Full answer

  3. How Did Robert Moses Lose His Early Idealism? at 13:54

    Robert Caro says Robert Moses did change from a young idealist into a builder who would not listen. Full answer

  4. What Showed Robert Moses Had Lost Power? at 17:58

    Robert Caro knew Robert Moses had lost power when a long interview ended and the secretary brought no telephone calls. Full answer

  5. Did Robert Moses Realize He Was Changing? at 25:26

    Robert Caro says Robert Moses did not realize he was changing. Full answer

  6. How Did the Great Depression Help Robert Moses Build? at 28:15

    Robert Caro says the Great Depression played a big role in what Robert Moses was able to build. Full answer

  7. What Was the Source of Lyndon Johnson's Power? at 33:24

    Robert Caro says the source of Lyndon Johnson's power was the power behind his persuasion. Full answer

  8. Could John Kennedy Have Passed Lyndon Johnson's Laws? at 36:10

    Robert Caro says no. Full answer

  9. Why Does Robert Caro Reduce a Book to One Sentence? at 41:39

    Robert Caro reduces a new book to one sentence, or at most a paragraph, before he starts writing, so he still knows what he is trying to do years later. Full answer

  10. What Never Made It Into Robert Caro's Books? at 47:13

    A lot of what Robert Caro researched never made it into his books. He had to cut so much from The Power Broker that he still thinks should have stayed. Full answer

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