“Either writing and books are powerful, or they’re not. And if they are—and I’ve argued that they are—then the era made in The Case for Reparations had great power and was meaningful. It legitimized forces that for reasons of pure ancestry, for reasons of political tradition, I have to oppose. That deserves atonement. You have to make that right. I had to understand what happened and then find my way back. So, that’s what much of the reporting was. Writers are always in process.”
-Ta-Nehisi Coates, episode 392 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Few writers have examined the tension between history and morality more urgently than Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Last fall, on the heels of his new book The Message, Coates joined Sam for a conversation live in Los Angeles. At the top, they discuss how his Atlantic piece The Case for Reparations guided these three new essays (6:10), Coates’ early education growing up in West Baltimore (14:57), and his powerful dispatches from South Carolina (22:00) and the Middle East (29:30).
On the back-half, Coates unpacks why he believes the mainstream media prioritizes “factual complexity over self-evident morality” (37:47), his advocacy for Palestinian journalists (39:20), and his reflections about the U.S. election (47:28). To close, a formative passage from James Baldwin’s The Lost Generation (52:38) and a story about love and writing (57:45).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at talkeasypod@gmail.com.
Show-notes:
- Read The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
- Watch our full conversation at Live Talks LA.
- Find his books: The Water Dancer, We Were Eight Years in Power, Between the World and Me, and The Beautiful Struggle.
- Read The Case for Reparations in The Atlantic.
- Learn more about Ta-Nehisi on his website.
- For more episodes, hear our talks with David Remnick, Dr. Seema Jilani, and George Saunders.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
Illustrations by Krishna Shenoi. Reference photograph by Ethan Newmyer.
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