'Required reading': Ta-Nehisi Coates on race and racism

Every week, The Thread recommends a book that offers a fresh perspective on the news.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is having a spectacular year. His provocative new book, "Between the World and Me," has been hailed by Toni Morrison as "required reading." It's been on the bestseller list for weeks, and landed on the longlist for the National Book Award.

At the end of September, the MacArthur Foundation pronounced Coates a "genius" who is having "a profound impact on the discussion of race and racism in this country." (The MacArthur "genius" grants come with $625,000 over 5 years for recipients to continue their work.)

While Coates' new book has put him in the spotlight this summer and fall, you shouldn't miss his earlier magazine writing as well. His 2014 story in The Atlantic on slavery reparations was compelling, challenging and persuasive. It concludes, "Something more than moral pressure calls America to reparations. We cannot escape our history."

Last fall, Coates also wrote about his shame in believing — years ago — that the rape allegations against Bill Cosby were true, but still pulling his punches in a profile of Cosby. Coates wrote, "I have often thought about how those women would have felt had they read my piece. The subject was morality — and yet one of the biggest accusations of immorality was left for a few sentences, was rendered invisible."

This is just a taste of Coates' writing. Start with his articles and end with his book, and let his voice get in your head through his journalism.

Tell me what you're reading on Twitter @TheThreadMPR and @KerriMPR.