Last week, in my first newsletter back in a while, I went long on the essay part and submitted no links. Today, I’m flipping the script: short in the front, long in the back. The mullet of newsletters.

A quick note about the first five links: They’re all about Robert Caro and his Pulitzer-winning book, The Power Broker. At some point during my time at my newspaper in Wyoming, I received a gift from one of my favorite former editors: It was a copy of Caro’s memoir, Working.

It was one of the most touching gifts I could imagine. My work couldn’t have been more different from Caro’s, save for the fact that I also write long. (Did you know that The Power Broker, at 1,344 pages, is actually 350,000 words lighter than Caro actually turned in? The great Bob Gottlieb talked about cutting out that much of the book in the great documentary Turn Every Page.)

But the fact that I—my name, my work, my potential for future work, any of it—conjured a thought of Bob Caro and caused her to say, “Study this,” touches me deeply. (Although, maybe it shouldn’t, since he’s just a good role model, full stop.) He’s one of a kind, the last of a dying breed, and his dedication to getting things right remains the gold standard.

I’ve been so excited to see all this love for the man and his work in the news recently, and that’s why there’s so much of him in this newsletter. (You’re welcome.)

Ten Worth Your Time

1. It’s been 50 years since Robert Caro’s The Power Broker was published. New York magazine interviewed him for the occasion, as well as the New-York Historical Society’s exhibition dedicated to the book, and to try, if possible, to get the great writer to reveal what he’s working on. (Spoiler alert: He couldn’t really get that out of him.) Come for the details about his progress toward his final book on the life and times of Lyndon Johnson, and stay for the shots of him in his awesome little writer’s shed.
2. Today’s the day, those of you who’ve been putting off reading The Power Broker because it was something like 10 pounds and is tough to tote around: The book is finally available as an e-book. Might have to get one of these.
3. Keeping the Caro going: Here’s Jillian Hess’s excellent Substack on notes and note-taking called (what else?) Noted, on Caro’s excellent and meticulous researching skills and his use of a cork board.
4. The New York Times Book Review podcast is getting in on the on Caro celebration, running a recent interview about the 50-year lifespan of his great book.
5. One more entry under “Caro is awesome”: Here’s the first episode of 99% Invisible’s yearlong Power Broker book club, with Caro superfan, Conan O’Brien, giving you every reason you could possibly need to join in reading the book.
6. The Power Broker, is, among other things, a work of art. Ted Chiang’s piece in The New Yorker on why A.I. will never make art is equal parts reaffirming and depressing.
7. Here’s an interesting feature on the way Austin, Texas, is being remade in the image of Joe Rogan.
8. You know who else loves Austin? Elon Musk. But It’s my former city of Memphis, Tennessee, that’s dealing with the city-transforming footprint of Musk’s xAI.
9. Here’s even more on the theme of new-fangled tech transforming a town: WIRED on the Texas oil town that’s now a hub for one of the largest bitcoin mining operations in the world.
10. On the theme of humans ruining stuff, here’s a piece I’ve been thinking about since my vacation to Rocky Mountain National Park that I wrote about last week: The Defector’s Drew Magary writing for Outside on the scientific question of why Yellowstone National Park turns people into morons.

Culture Diary

Here’s a collection of what I’ve been consuming in the past week. (Since I took all summer off, I’m not going to bore you with all my watching and reading since I started my break.)

The legend for my list was stolen from Steven Soderbergh, where ALL CAPS represents a movie, Sentence Case is a TV show, ALL CAPS ITALICS is a short film, Italics is a book, and bold is a live performance or show. A number in parentheses after a TV show highlights how many episodes I watched. An asterisk after an entry means it’s a rewatch. The source of the movie or show, whether streaming service, physical media, or in theaters, is shown in parentheses as well.

9/9: Industry, S3 (Max)

9/10: Bad Monkey (AppleTV+); Presidential Debate (Max)

9/11: Slow Horses, S4

9/12: Only Murders in the Building, S4 (Hulu)

9/13: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, S11 (Max); English Teacher (3)(Hulu); Bad Monkey (2) (AppleTV+)

9/14: Industry, S3 (Max); THE PAPER (Netflix); THE WORLD’S END (Peacock)

9/15: