Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Temptations of Narrative October 15, 2024

It is a truth only fitfully acknowledged that whom the gods wish to destroy, they first give an opinion column. “A live coffin,” a former newspaper colleague of mine once called hers. (She quit.) Such a space seems an impossible remit, created to coa...

Why Ta-Nehisi Coates Hates Israel October 14, 2024

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s fundamental problem is that he is a narcissist. Other people interest him only insofar as they reflect his own thoughts and feelings. That is what makes him such a bad reporter, a shortcoming he freely admits to. “Part of me would ...

The End of the Public Intellectual October 09, 2024

In August, the celebrated writer Ta-Nehisi Coates published a new column in Vanity Fair. It was his first piece for the magazine in four years, and his first anywhere in a very long time. In every sense, it marked his return: his fourth nonfiction bo...

The Fantasy World of Ta-Nehisi Coates October 04, 2024

Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of those journalists treated by the left-of-center establishment more like a prophet than a writer. There are few accolades he hasn’t been granted, few prizes he’s yet to win. He’s received a “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur ...