One of my favorite 2024 listens is 99% Invisible’s Power Broker Breakdown - a podcast series that functions as a distributed book club celebrating the book’s 50th anniversary. Hosts Roman Mars and Elliott Kalan break the 1200+ page book into 12 episodes that they released each month throughout the year. The format was great and I wonder what other book-host combos would benefit from it. 

Each episode is about 2.5 hours long. While I don’t usually listen to podcasts that long, they broke it up well. The first 90 minutes is Mars and Kalan summarizing what happens in the book with genuine passion and humorous camaraderie. In the last ~hour of each episode they’re joined by a guest who’s either a Power Broker super fan or has a unique perspective on the chapter. The guests are awesome. I particularly enjoyed the Caro, Bouie, Zadrozny, Schur, Buttigieg and Jeffrey conversations. 

As a native New Yorker who’s heard Robert Moses referenced many times throughout my life, I’ve always been curious about The Power Broker but never had the courage to tackle it. While I envy those who actually read along with the podcast over the course of the year, listening helped me understand Moses and the author Robert Caro in a deeper way that enriched my perspective of the city I’ve lived in my whole life. 

If you can read the book, do it; if not, this podcast is a great way to learn about a man who impacted New York City and the country. It’s a fascinating look into how someone commandeered the levers of power for over 40 years and lost it due to a wildly unlikely situation.

This show was a wonderful escape from the relentless news cycle this year (that looks like it’s only going to get worse next year). If you’re looking for a great story about a man who shaped New York City, I highly recommend it and finally for all the Power Broker super nerds out there, they have an awesome merch shop from the show.