Ta-Nehisi Coates Has a Message to Deliver. Can We Hear It?

<p>Few writers have examined the tension between history and morality more urgently than Ta-Nehisi Coates.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Last fall, on the heels of his new book <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653438/the-message-by-ta-nehisi-coates/"><em>The Message</em></a>, Coates joined Sam for a conversation live in Los Angeles. At the top, they discuss how his Atlantic piece <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/"><em>The Case for Reparations</em></a> guided these three new essays (6:10), Coates&rsquo; early education growing up in West Baltimore (14:57), and his powerful dispatches from South Carolina (22:00) and the Middle East (29:30).</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>On the back-half, Coates unpacks why he believes the mainstream media prioritizes &ldquo;factual complexity over self-evident morality&rdquo; (37:47), his advocacy for Palestinian journalists (39:20), and his reflections about the U.S. election (47:28). To close,...