What Robert Caro learned about power after studying it for 50 years
Biographer Robert Caro joins Dwarkesh Patel to discuss the nature of political power, examining the careers and ruthless determination of Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. Caro reflects on his exhaustive research process, cutting hundreds of thousands of words from manuscripts, and how the isolation required for long-form biographical work has shaped his life.
- Robert Caro and editor Robert Gottlieb removed 350,000 words from the original 1,050,000-word draft of The Power Broker to physically fit the book into a single binding. Read →
- Robert Caro refuses to draft a single word of a multi-year biography until he visualizes the complete arc of the book from start to finish. Read →