My guest tonight, Tanehisi Coates hes written this incredible bach. Well get a chance to talk about that. But first the democratic process. laughter it is one of our most sacred obligations to protecting the integrity and the health of the great nation that we love so dealer. Dearly. laughter the primaries the elections for the presidency of the United States of america it is a task we must undertake with great discretion and seriousness of purpose. bleep laughter this guy is so much fun then then i see rick perry the other day. He put glasses on so people will think hes smart and it just doesnt work jon watching this man run for president its like eating ice cream on a roller coaster made of blowjobs laughter it is so much fun. By the way, youre welcome, great adventure. laughter i expect by summer 2017 to ride your new Great American filatiator. laughter but it cant just be trump weve got to be responsible and turn our heads back and im sure as the coverage has been dominated by trump that we are missing new and exciting candidates for president. Governor john kasich, popular, governor. Experience on the senate armedarmed services committee. Jon there you go former congressman, legislative experience, may not agree with everything, but interested. Its the challenges that make you better. I have lived through them, and i have become stronger for them and america has become stronger for them, and heres how weve done it, by staying together. Jon so is it governor going to speak yet . Or is it i guess before senator kasich comes on, the brides father is going to say something. laughter holy bleep that was the base model generic white guy. I dont know where his hands end and the lawn mower begins. laughter hey there no, dont do it focus, focus kasich has something important to say about our country. Go we are going to take the lessons of the heartland and straighten out washington, d. C. And fix our country. cheers and applause jon i cant bleep do it. I cant do it. Im out. Hes, like, a picture hanging up in a hotel room. You dont notice it. Its only really there because how weird would bit if there were no pictures on the wall come on theres got to be Something Interesting happening in the president ial race Hillary Clinton by the way, was the worth secretary of state in the history of this country. I couldnt care less about lindsey graham. The people dont trust you and dont trust the media. Jon i watch you all the time im not just letting myself down but the forefathers of this nation who trusted us but they never came up against anything like this guy john hancock, hes a loser. laughter hey this kind of loser needs to put his name in giant letters on everything. John hancock, what a loser no no i wont do it hit me with anything not trump anything all five Democratic Candidates breaking bread at a hall of fame dinner in iowa tonight. Jon there we go, important swing state all five Democratic CandidatesHillary Clinton and the other ones laughter and all the excitement of bread being broken at some kind of bread hall of fame. Lets do it. Im proud of my long support for beneficial social programs that help build the middle class. My lone support for tax structure where the wealthy pay their fair share. My long support for a womens right to choose, for lgbt rights jon Lincoln Chafee just decided to bore the people in a state where theyre guessing which ear of corn the crow will land on. laughter the corn actually reminds me of something. The yellowy, unnatural complex the unwieldy thatch of the top its reminding me of no laughter be strong. Im seeing things. Be strong. Wake up. There are other democrats to hear from. Im also the only statewide candidate ever elected to office with a union card, two purple hearts and three tattoos. Jon okay okay. Team web former secretary of the navy says we should vote for him with love on one hand hate on the other and a tramp stamp. Get me somebody with pazazz no president can bring about the changes we need in this country unless there is a Political Revolution jon inflammatory, said with a bruceic accent he has passion but lacks the dickishness ive come to expect now that trump is in the race. Maybe chafee is cranking it up to 11 now. My long support for raising the minimumwage my long support for protecting the environment and addressing climate change. Jon its like the White Noise Machine is running for president. I mean the words, hes saying words, the words have meanings they describe policies that might even benefit our country, help enormous numbers of people even save lives but listening to him is like lickic a lick licking a picture of food, it should taste like something but its paper what does that remind me of . Oh no its everywhere dont tempt me i wont theyre losers. Jon no youre jon youre right murdered bird, theyre losers. We rail at the press for covering the flashy stupid stories instead of the important stuff, but sometimes you have to say ride the blowjob coaster. I found the card for lindsey graham. I dont know if its right. The number is 202 jon trump giving out Lindsey Grahams cell phone, good news for lindsey graham. No matter how he responds seems like a reasonable candidate. Grahams response wednesday was to release a video showing him destroying cell phones in various ways. Jon i guess im probably late to this, but you know you just have to change your number. I mean, what you did seems leak you thought your tmobile was cursed by a gypsy. I must drive away the evil spirits and put a stake in my phone hes not just entertaining hes also crushing everyone in the polls, maybe because hes filling all the roles everyones supposed to fill. The guy who says crazy bleep the dumb guy, bully the hair. Its like the Breakfast Club was rolled into just one guy. 15 bad meals in one donald trump is the candidate version of the hot dogcrust pizza. You dont want it you never ordered it you cant believe someone came up with it but now its all you want and you know what . Im tired of fighting it. Its the summer. Why cant we have fun . Well get serious in the fall about our future. But until then whats the harm in a little summer fling . cheers and applause summer jumping truth i cant hide wonder what well do when he goes back to the apprentice what a blow to the right cheers and applause cheesy bites with new crust flavors flavor pizza huts cheesy bites pizza is back with your choice of 1 of 7 crust flavors, like bbq and ranch. No one has more flavor. Only at pizza hut this summer you could win tickets every hour to concerts of your choice cool alright but only with pepsi. You still got the polar bear. Pop open music every hour with pepsi if you cant stand the heat, get off the test track. Get the mercedesbenz youve been burning for at the summer event, going on now at your authorized mercedesbenz dealer. Hurry, before this opportunity cools off. Share your summer moments in your mercedesbenz with us. When you travel, we help you make all kinds of connections. Connections you almost miss. And ones you never thought youd make. We help connect where you are. To places you never thought youd go. This, is why we travel. And why we continue to create new technology to connect you to the people and places that matter. Watch as these magnificent creatures take flight, soaring away from home towards the promise of a better existence. But these birds are suffering. Because this better place turned out to have an unreliable Cell Phone Network and the videos on their little bird phones kept buffering. Birds hate that. So they came back home. Because they get 300 from switching back to verizon. And so can you verizon, come home to a better network. cheers and applause jon we spend so much time focusing on politics speeches, ideas we rarely explore what weve done with our hands. I think its high time we do a little crafting. Today i hope you will join me. I would like to take you through a simple craft. All you need is yarn popsicle sticks and a good household glue. Well put this together in a manner cheers and applause jon look at this senator schumer, wait applause what are you doing here . Thats all the welcome i get . Not, hello, senator schumer. Not, how are you threeterm senator from the great state of new york. Im sorry, h hello, senator schuman. Jon to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit . What . No coffee cake no cup of tea . Jon tell us why youre here last night, you were so interested in my diner tip i thought i would share more of my breakfast wisdom with you. Jon im going to tell you something, im surprisingly interested in that, so please. Of course you are jon youre jewish jon how did you know i was jewish . For years i have gone out of my way to avoid displaying any of the stereotypical characteristics of our shared heritage. Then, john, you have failed spectacularly cheers and applause so tonight i would actually like to celebrate your membership in the tribe. About illness. Im a jew. I cant dunk. Nothing to complain about but juice asjews, as comedians you are a jew . Jon yes, sir. Let me explain something about the hebrew people, its all about the hair, all natural jew oil right there. Happy yom kippur basket filled with candy and jelly beans or horseradish still in root form dont make me break out the yiddish. Shalom. Mosul to have. Listen to me. Circumdescion screaming oh, my cheers and applause jon i guess i did dip into the jewish well quite a bit. John, its a miracle. Jon thanks. You took one days worth of schtick and kept it going for 15 years. Jon thank you. Youre welcome now would you show up at tmobile now extends your coverage beyond the borders at no extra charge. Get 4g lte data, unlimited calls and texts in mexico and canada just like in the u. S. Thats coverage in three countries for the price of one. Only from tmobile. This is smith forge hard cider. Its like buford here. Strong. Sturdy. But not too sweet. Buford built from apples. Built to refresh. Smith forge hard cider. Now on draft. Applebees hit the streets to invite people to try their bold new handheld sandwiches. Ive never really tasted anything like this. The maple is just like a really nice touch to it. This is my second one actually man. Applebees rocks yeah, what he said. The new maple bacon chicken piadini. Only at applebees. Ooh thats hot. Take it off amore take it off no you dont want me any more . Youre a pizza, ok . and were done dont let food hang around. Nooo for that just brushed clean feeling, eat, drink chew. Orbit. This summer you could win tickets every hour to concerts of your choice oh, awesome yeah but only with pepsi. Yes oh, at least your names on the bottle. Do i look like a larry to you . Pop open music every hour with pepsi my name is kieran griffin. I work here at five star auto care in rocklin california. A lot of thought was put into the change to solar and we couldnt have done it without pg e. Pg e is very committed to clean energy. Working with five star auto care we looked at how we could make their business more Energy Efficient and save them money in the long run. With solar we have saved about 85 on our energy cost. With this extreme drought were using the savings from our solar system to save every last drop of water. If you are looking for ways to save energy your first step is to call pg e. Together, were building a better california. cheers and applause jon welcome back my guest tonight National Correspondent for the atlantic magazine, an author new best selling book is called between the world and me. Please welcome to the show Tanehisi Coates cheers and applause hello hello. Jon i greet you laughter you always get a quick i love you before you come on. Between the world and me, what a powerful work. Congratulations. Its really a wonderful challenging read. You wrote this is as a letter to your son. I did, but now i have to break everybodys heart and reveal that that was actually a literary convention. I was working on the book jon im sorry. laughter nothing in this book will be a surprise to my son. This is how we talk. Jon all the time . Yeah, there is nothing new in here for him. Jon really . Yeah. Jon it makes me feel better because i want to do something. How old is he. 15 next month. Jon it scares me as a father that the best way you thought to communicate was through a book. Made me nervous about my children. Wife to become an avatar in a mind craft game to have this conversation. When did you start . Because i think what is revelatory about this reading for me is the underlying feeling of fear that you express throughout the book. Fear for yourself growing up in baltimore, fear for your son, fear for other men, other people. Well yeah, thats definitely it. Its always tough to tell when you begin a book like this that people actually see it reaches back to my earliest memories, but i would have to say the beginning would be the murder of my good friend prince jones went to howard university, trailed three gurges dictions by a Police Officer who mistook him for somebody else and shot him down. That was horrific. I dont know ive made my peace with it. I dont know his family or mothers made their peace with it. Writing is something that we need to try to do, try to make some sort of sense out of it. That was 15 years ago. That was the beginning and i have been carrying it with me ever since. Jon i thought it was interesting because its not revealed until later on in the book. Right. Jon and when it comes out, its devastating to begin with but what a devastating blow for Everything Else that you had set up foundationally up to that point. One of the difficult things is what they tell us africanamericans is if we work hard, play by the rules, we do start, you know back a little ways, but if we can be twice as good, somehow we can escape history and heritage and legacy, and princes mother mabel jones is a woman from appaloosa louisiana born into poverty, sharecropper, worked her way up became a radiologist, went to l. S. U. , went in the navy, did everything youre supposed to do. Almost killed. Theres no real difference. Jon she talks about it. She says they had a life of privilege. Right. Jon they did all the right things. And she talks about its all gone in one racist moment. Right. And you know the really sad thing that she reveals is the fact they were chasing another criminal who was driving a jeep. Jon who was 54. Right, i think prince was 64. The only difference is they were black. She bought him the car. They ran the tags and they came back in pennsylvania and they thought it was stolen, never occurred to them his mother bought it, and they treated him like a criminal. Its very sad. Jon why do you think its so difficult when you bring this up as your experience, as the experience of a community that its very difficult for the White Community the power structure in place, to not get angry about that . Why is it such a hard conversation to have . Because it insults many of our deepest notions. If you accept, as i argue in this book, that the plunder of black communities is not a bump along the road. It is the road itself that you cant have in america anything about slavery, jim crow about the terrorism and everything that came after that it makes it hard to preach the other countries and say, listen we are the city the shining city on a hill. It reveals us to be not necessarily worse than other countries but quite more tall. Jon and not exceptional. Thats exactly it, yep. Jon and there is a disconnect between direct responsibility and malevolence and ignorance. Right. Jon ignorance is the hardest part because empathy understanding what people are going through, is the hardest thing, especially for people who think how do i have privilege when my life is hard . Right. One of the things im going through, i cant figure this out, how much of ignorance is willful . Jon right. How many people dont its not hard to know what the Confederate Flag meant laughter i mean, they said it they said it, you know cheers and applause jon right. Its, no youre confused jon right. Its, like, trying to not know. Im not sure yet, you know. But thats the thing i wonder a lot about. Jon its interesting you get criticized a bit because they say youre more malcolm than martin, that you identify a little in that way. Its not as optimistic for you. You dont have that feeling that maybe the arc of history long bends toward justice. I dont. I think it bends toward chaos and i think the record of history is actually behind me. When we talk about arc, i think its important to respect every individuals arc. If you were someone killed in ashauschwitz, thats the end of your arc. Its devastating and tragic and we should not make ourselves feel bad about that. When aragons life was killed, we should kind of sit with that pain. Jon i would love to talk about it more. Its interesting when you tack about not comforting your son after that. Can you stick around . Yes. Jon between the world and me is on the shelves now. Tanehisi coates. Well come right back. cheers and applause mum. Just tap it. I did Yo Gabba Gabba this is smith forge hard cider. Its like jasper here. Strong. Sturdy. But not too sweet. [ male announcer ] built from apples. Built to refresh. Smith forge hard cider. Made strong. Crispy m ms® are baaaack. What are you doing . You said to tell our fans crispy m ms® are back. Not those fans did you mean this fan . No. annoyed grumbles what about that one . Theres a fan in the break room, oh and in the. trails off so good, theyre back. Cheesy bites with new crust flavors flavor pizza huts cheesy bites pizza is back with your choice of 1 of 7 crust flavors, like bbq and ranch. No one has more flavor. Only at pizza hut this summer you could win tickets every hour to concerts of your choice cool alright but only with pepsi. You still got the polar bear. Pop open music every hour with pepsi jon before we go, we are, as offnow shoot auctioning off 19 suits previously worn by me with the wonderful stewart smell, going to the Achilles Freedom Team who run races all over the country, they do incredible work. Ill never need those suits again. When im out of here, onepiece swimsuits. Here it is your moment of zen. I do not want to sell the mother house and the receiptng sponsored by Comedy Central tonightly everyones asking, what really happened to sandra bland . And at this point, the police have about as much credibility as taylor swift on black twitter. laughter seriously, this story is so depressing, im watching the Mckinney Pool Party video just to cheer myself up. laughter