From LBJ to Robert Moses: Robert Caro on Writing About Political Power & Its Impact on the Powerless

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
  • Robert Caro is always working. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner published his first book, “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York,” 45 years ago and has spent the decades since meticulously chronicling the life and times of Lyndon B. Johnson. The result is four sweeping volumes that total more than 3,000 pages and offer an unprecedented window into the inner world of one of the country’s most influential presidents. And he’s not done yet-Caro is currently writing the fifth and final installment of the collection. Robert Caro has been described as “the greatest political biographer of our times,” but to reduce his work as simply biographies of great men misses the point. Caro uses both Moses and Johnson to show how political power works. Robert Caro has just released a new book-by far the smallest volume in his collection-titled “Working.” It offers an inside look into the author’s meticulous research and writing process. We speak with Robert Caro in our New York studio.
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ความคิดเห็น • 102

  • @somelucifrostguy9208
    @somelucifrostguy9208 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I'm from Florida, and I'm gen z, so I picked up The Power Broker partially for its size and also its premise. I'm nearly done with it, on the last four chapters, and I certainly felt the rage he felt. I cried reading about East Tremont and the other neighborhoods Moses destroyed. Caro really gets it. --Love from a Mexican-American

  • @ChristiaanHartNibbrig
    @ChristiaanHartNibbrig 5 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    Robert A. Caro, the greatest journalist/non-fiction writer of all-time. Thank you for interviewing this immensely talented man.

    • @vernpascal1531
      @vernpascal1531 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Well it should gall him that Roger Stone and I can't stand him, has the true story of The JFK Assassination. Makes Caro look like an idiot ,supporting the endless pack of lies known as The Warren Commission.

  • @scotgat
    @scotgat 5 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    I consider myself a very well read person: I have read Karl Marx's Das Kapital, Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit; yet, I have never even heard of Robert Caro and the titles of his books. It just goes to show you, you're never too old to learn something new (I'm pushing 60). A cliche, true; but oh so true.

    • @SevenFootPelican
      @SevenFootPelican 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Read Master of the Senate. Or better yet listen to the unabridged audiobook. You’ll understand what makes this man so magical.

  • @andymcgill29
    @andymcgill29 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I have read basically all of Caro’s work from The Power Broker to the 4th LBJ biography. He is the most careful researcher and incisive writer I have ever encountered. Can’t wait for the final installment!

  • @SevenFootPelican
    @SevenFootPelican 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Master of the Senate is the best book I’ve ever read.

  • @cozycomfy589
    @cozycomfy589 5 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    Thank you so much for this interview, so enjoyed Robert Caro and now interested in his book The Power broker, since I'm originally from the Bronx and Robert Moses destroyed my neighborhood.

    • @beachmom2001
      @beachmom2001 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It's a must read. I hope you get a chance to read it!

  • @kalishakta
    @kalishakta ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Caro is a 1st rate prose stylist. His books are both a joy to read and a data treasure house.

  • @tomhefner6344
    @tomhefner6344 5 ปีที่แล้ว +39

    Thanks for all that you do Amy, 20 years of following your work has made me a better and active citizen. In these days of need you are a foundation like no other.

    • @chioma3100
      @chioma3100 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      You are truly, extremely lucky. I've just come to RT and Amy Goodman within the last 4 months and I am now a paid monthly micro-dollar subscriber. I watch daily.

    • @tomhefner6344
      @tomhefner6344 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@chioma3100 Here is another of equal value Thom Hartman every good knowledge and information. but beware of RT You are aware that its Russian TV. I'am not sure where but they must be up to know good somewhere.

    • @chioma3100
      @chioma3100 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tomhefner6344 Through all sources we find the truth through critical thought. I'm very much aware that it is Russian TV. I'm also aware that MSM speaks for corporate, 1%ers. I'm hyper aware of propaganda and love how Amy Goodman, et al. report the news objectively and more completely than American news.

    • @tomhefner6344
      @tomhefner6344 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@chioma3100 Besure to look into Thom Hartman. MSNBC yeah they have mostly refugee republicans that are all middle of the road centralists that are molding format not in favor of the democratic ideas. Manipulating against everything that is left of center. Sanders doesn't even register in discussions. Haven't watched CNN since 2003 when they rolled over on two illegal wars. Needless to point out they are all owned by the evil doers, corporate billionaires

  • @nickbarcheck1019
    @nickbarcheck1019 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Power Broker and Master of the Senate are the two best nonfiction books I've ever read. Mr. Caro is a master.

  • @phyllishamilton165
    @phyllishamilton165 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Excellent interview, Amy. Caro is the most significant biographer in American history. No contest.

  • @CranesNotSkyHooks
    @CranesNotSkyHooks 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I'm reading The Power Broker because of this interview, thanks Amy and Juan!

  • @joniheisenberg6691
    @joniheisenberg6691 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Mr.Caro is a class act. Looking forward to the final volume in the LBJ series.

  • @yomamaluvsu1
    @yomamaluvsu1 5 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    This is a great interview.

  • @kendalson7817
    @kendalson7817 5 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Johnson was a complicated man. A mixture of good and bad and all things. An American. The Vietnam War was inexcusable, but The Civil Rights Act and the The War On Poverty were rare cases of Washington doing the right thing for all.

    • @65minimom
      @65minimom 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Ken Dalson - I remember VietNam began under IKE. tho this is the reason Johnson didn't run again, he was emotionally tortured by this war, died at 63. LBJ was a decent man & a great leader. Do'n't forget LBJ got Medicare passed & Right to Vote Act. If he had run again, we would have had single payer.
      Don''t think these were easy times. Integration may have been passed but it was not a smooth process esp in the South, lynchings still happened, boycotting schools & neighborhoods & other awful things but nothing like horrific violence & senseless killings today
      Rare cases when DC did the right thing??? Yes, I'm sure there was corruption & there were wars but don't look back with today's eyes.
      There was no Citizens United, taxes were high on the rich. Monopolies were regulated as were the banks. Press was free not corporate owned. The economy was strong & college was almost free but getting in was the hard part.
      The biggest difference was the people back then, everyone voted! We had the draft & peace protests. We read books & newspapers. It was not materialistic like now.
      Until Reagan, Nixon was the biggest bastard & scandal I can remember in recent history. Trump could never have gotten elected but neither could Obama. So? Evolution is a bumpy road.
      I''m 74 same generation as Bernie who is a truth-teller not a dreamer! He is the same FDR Democrat as Johnson.
      .

    • @kendalson7817
      @kendalson7817 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@65minimom Johnson definitely inherited Vietnam from both Ike and Kennedy, but he really ramped up our involvement. You're right, I'd forgotten about Medicare! It's not my place to judge, but as a President I think he had, on the whole, more positives than negatives. :-)

    • @patrickmcshane7658
      @patrickmcshane7658 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      His good doesn't absolve him.

    • @heeeresjohnny7503
      @heeeresjohnny7503 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Nope. LBJ was a simple man. He would do anything, as long as he got his cut...

    • @kendalson7817
      @kendalson7817 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@patrickmcshane7658 yeah it does. I've yet to meet anyone who is perfect.

  • @alwaysincentivestrumpethic6689
    @alwaysincentivestrumpethic6689 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Great interview !!! A great historian Robert Caro

  • @KLara-ig7fr
    @KLara-ig7fr 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Fascinating. Incredible. TY Caro for this incredible interview and amazing work.

  • @MagisterHenrik
    @MagisterHenrik 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wonderful reporting! Thanks a lot!

  • @philchoy1283
    @philchoy1283 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    AMY LOOKING GOOD.

  • @robbrown8483
    @robbrown8483 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    How can you write a book on LBJ on not mention Billy Sol Estes? Robert Caro did.

    • @Cyallaire
      @Cyallaire 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I would press LIKE multiple times if I could. Robert Caro applies a lot of white wash to LBJ's memory.

    • @jonahperelman
      @jonahperelman 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Maybe because Estes was a complete liar and fraud, none of whose allegations were ever proven.
      www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/us/billie-sol-estes-texas-con-man-dies-at-88.html

    • @fredschnerbert1238
      @fredschnerbert1238 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@jonahperelman Bernie Sanders on the street in front of the New York Times " You won't find the TRUTH in the NY Times...."

  • @WeltschmerzvonGavagai
    @WeltschmerzvonGavagai 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    what dark sorcery these ppl practice to be so smart&articulate when they are 80s or even 90s?

    • @scj3188
      @scj3188 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      your ageism just jumped out.

  • @spooky_zen
    @spooky_zen 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    very gud:)

  • @bernardheathaway9146
    @bernardheathaway9146 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Dr Martin Luther King, speaking on the phone with President Johnson, looks like he can't believe how well it goes lol xD

  • @Bingbang.1
    @Bingbang.1 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    no part one part two title??

  • @DynamicAllstarDuo
    @DynamicAllstarDuo ปีที่แล้ว +1

    East Tremont ah ah ah

  • @stevenwilliambaylessparks3730
    @stevenwilliambaylessparks3730 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    LBJ was an American Tragedy: his heart was in the right place, but the Military-Industrial Complex brought him down, and the rest of the country with him.

    • @heeeresjohnny7503
      @heeeresjohnny7503 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yeah, but he got rich off of them. By some estimates, he retired with around $25 mill, in 60's dollars....
      Not bad for someone who started off as a "broke" school teacher...

    • @jonahperelman
      @jonahperelman 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Well... can't rape the willing, as they say.

  • @patrickmcshane7658
    @patrickmcshane7658 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Vietnam was the biggest folly post ww2.

  • @nandi123
    @nandi123 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    If you asked black people today what they owe LBJ they would say "nothing".

  • @pismo10
    @pismo10 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    DemocracyNow! Thats funny when she stands for the exact opposite.

    • @stevensica89
      @stevensica89 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      How so? Can you explain that?

  • @sigridwalsh426
    @sigridwalsh426 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A

  • @jonahperelman
    @jonahperelman 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    The ignorance in the comments section sure provides one heck of a counterbalance to the erudition and deep knowledge in the video.

  • @ProgressiveVegan
    @ProgressiveVegan 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Excellent interview. A lot of new info for me, and great perspective. Thanks. However, it ignored LBJ's role in the JFK assassination, which is well documented.

    • @jonahperelman
      @jonahperelman 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Really? Can you provide any legitimate sources for this well-documented fact?

    • @ProgressiveVegan
      @ProgressiveVegan 5 ปีที่แล้ว

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      @ProgressiveVegan 5 ปีที่แล้ว

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      @ProgressiveVegan 5 ปีที่แล้ว

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  • @justmiming
    @justmiming 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I was such a fan of Robert Caro until this morning. I grew up in The Bronx and enjoyed Jones Beach. Caro's The Power Broker is a masterpiece which changed how I looked at my surroundings. During the ensuing decades I have encountered other material about Johnson. I have researched the JFK assassination. Watching this interview and then doing some research , I realized that Caro's work on Johnson is basically hagiography.

    • @jonahperelman
      @jonahperelman 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I see you haven't read it yet.

    • @Prof_Tickles92
      @Prof_Tickles92 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I implore you to check out Vincent Bugliosi’s book Reclaiming History. He definitively debunks the notion of a conspiracy once and for all.

    • @dragonfly1929
      @dragonfly1929 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      YOU SHOULD READ THE BOOK OF DOUGLAS VALENTINE 'THE CIA.A CRIMINAL ORGANISATION',BOOL 1/2/AND WHO RUNES THE GOVERNMENT.

  • @jimpikoulis6726
    @jimpikoulis6726 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    Democracy Later!

  • @p8entlyobvious383
    @p8entlyobvious383 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Caro trys to turn lbj into a demigod . Caro would have us believe that there would be no electricity in lbjs hometown to this day if it were not for his grand policies .the fact is it would of been done with or without johnson in similar time .

    • @p8entlyobvious383
      @p8entlyobvious383 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Johnson stole jfks whole agenda .johnson wanted kennedy dead .

    • @Prof_Tickles92
      @Prof_Tickles92 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      p8ently obvious Why? Johnson had more power in the senate. He was Mr. Senate in fact, the moment he becomes president the senate stops being prosperous.

    • @dragonfly1929
      @dragonfly1929 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@p8entlyobvious383HE WAS PART OF THE PLAN IN THE MURDER OF KENNEDY. HE WAS IN HOT WATERS,TO BE CONDEMNED FOR A BIG CRIME,AND BECOMING THE PRESIDENT WOULD HAVE SAVED HIM..AN IT DID.

  • @marcellustone
    @marcellustone 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Everybody is out with a new book. This is america, you can ride books on violations against a lot of amoral stuff, if you lucky u get rich, get famous and win a lot of prices. Although the author reveals strong evidence of malfeasance or else. But nothing changes. And me getting more n mor suicidal over this uncontrolling injustice that these people are talking about. So good luck Mr. with your book. No personal disrespect

    • @65minimom
      @65minimom 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Charles Bronsen - yes, I wish him luck on his 3rd Pulitzer too! How many do you have?

    • @marcellustone
      @marcellustone 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@65minimom you didn't understand my sarcasm. Writing a book at this level is awesome and beatiful. If I had somebody like him in the family it would be beautiful. Just read my first comment again

  • @nicenonya3
    @nicenonya3 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    LBJ passed the civil rights bill because he needed to make amends for killing JFK

    • @josephmurphy9723
      @josephmurphy9723 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Your tin foil hat is too tight. Calm down.

  • @kentasuzukisakamoto
    @kentasuzukisakamoto 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    LBJ was considered the Hillary Clinton of his time

    • @65minimom
      @65minimom 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      飛シャークWolffgang write your own book