David Simon is known for his stark yet nuanced portrayals of race, class, violence, and other issues in America: he's best known for The Wire but created other critical successes like Generation Kill (set in the 2003 invasion of Iraq) and and Treme (set in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.) The latter ended late last year, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, Simon is moving ahead with another show, this one a six-hour HBO miniseries called Show Me a Hero.

Show Me a Hero is based on a 1999 nonfiction book by former New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin. The book follows Nicholas Wasicsko, who became the youngest mayor in America when he won a campaign in Yonkers, New York in 1987. But when Wasicsko had to oversee the building of low-cost housing — which would be occupied by minorities — in predominantly white parts of Yonkers, Belkin writes, the city nearly fell apart under his watch.