Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. His latest book, Between the World and Me, just won the National Book Award. “When I first came to New York, I couldn't see any of this. I felt like a complete washout. I was in my little apartment, eating donuts and playing video games. The only thing I was doing good with my life was being a father and a husband. That was it. David [Carr] was a big shot. And he would call me in, just out of the blue, to have lunch. I was so low at that point. ... He said, ​I think you're a great bet. ... He was remembering people who had invested in him when he was low. That more than anything is why I'm sad he's not here for all of this. Because it's for him. It's to say to him, ​you were right​.” Please become a Longform Supporter. Make your contribution here. Thanks to MailChimp, Casper, Squarespace, MasterClass, and "The Message" for sponsoring this week's episode. Show Notes: @tanehisicoates Longform Podcast #7: Ta-Nehisi Coates Longform Podcast #97: Ta-Nehisi Coates Coates on Longform Coates' The Atlantic archive [5:00] "A Letter To My Son" (The Atlantic • Jul 2015) [12:00] "To Raise, Love, and Lose a Black Child" (The Atlantic • Oct 2014) [12:00] "The Case for Reparations" (The Atlantic • June 2014) [31:00] Ragtime (E.L. Doctorow • Random House • 1975) [33:00] The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin • Dial Press • 1963) [38:00] "The Really Big One" (Kathryn Schulz • New Yorker • July 2015) [40:00] "The Black Experience Isn't Just About Men" (Shani O. Hilton • Buzzfeed • July 2015) [42:00] "The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration" (The Atlantic • Oct 2015) [47:00] "Ta-Nehisi Coates to Write Black Panther Comic for Marvel" (George Gene Gustines • New York Times • Sept 2015) [53:00] "'This Is How We Lost to the White Man': The Audacity of Bill Cosby's Black Conservatism" (The Atlantic • May 2008) [54:00] "American Girl" (The Atlantic • Jan/Feb 2009) [59:00] "How ESPN's Fear Of The Truth Defeated 'Black Grantland'" (Greg Howard • Deadspin • Oct 2015) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices