laughter laughter cheers and applause its the late show with Stephen Colbert. Tonight, impeachykeen. Plus, stephen welcomes Whoopi Goldberg. And Tanehisi Coates. Featuring jon batiste and stay human. And now, live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, its Stephen Colbert cheers and applause stephen come on wooo wow wow cheers and applause please, have a seat sit thank you very much welcome to the late show. Ladies and gentlemen, im your host, Stephen Colbert. Oh, good cheers and applause lordy. What a day. You really feel the ground shifting under your feet. But if youre at home and youve got a seatbelt on your couch, uh, number one why . laughter number two buckle up, becauseln unnamed coconspirator to Campaign Finance violations, lying about the moscow trump tower, stealing money to pay for the border wall, faking the weather with a sharpie. laughter every time every time none of those are made up. Every time, people have asked, is this the thing . Surely, this must be the thing. And every time, it wasnt the thing. laughter but heres the thing theres a new thing, and it might be the thing. cheers and applause because piano riff cheers and applause because this afternoon, nancy pelosi did this thing today, im announcing the house of representatives moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. cheers and applause cheers and applause cheers and applause stephen laughs cheers and applause aaahhh okay okay okay, but how do you feel . laughter ill say this finally, a check on the president up until now, weve only had a check from the president to a porn star. laughter now, to make her case, nancy pelosi reached back to the earliest days of the republic. On the final day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when our constitution was adopted, americans gathered on the steps of Independence Hall to await the news of the government our founders had crafted. Stephen and a Young Bernie Sanders was there to complain about it. laughter as bernie the top 1 of the landowners are represented by 45 of the legislature and they refuse to adopt my universal leechcraft. laughter all leeches are covered leeches, bleeding, releasing the demons from the skull. laughter and she quoted she quoted the words of one of our founders. They asked benjamin franklin, what do we have, a republic or a monarchy . Franklin replied, a republic, if you can keep it. Stephen wise words. From a man who then took his kite and went outside to invent getting hit by lightning. laughter now, she announced that she would be giving the impeachment inquiry to members of different committees. Im directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella. Stephen smart. They found trumps greatest weakness umbrella. laughter applause so so jon he cant deal with that. Stephen so, why is this the thing . Well, longtime viewers of america know that last week a mysterious whistleblower accused trump of making a troubling promise to an unnamed foreign leader. Then, friday, it was reported that trump tried to extort ukraine into a political probe of joe biden and his son. No wonder pelosis launching an impeachment investigation. This makes watergate look like nixon tried to pass an expired coupon at the kroger. as nixon i had no idea that these yogurt coupons i had no idea that these yogurt coupons were no longer valid. And, furthermore, i believe that when the president redeems it, a coupon is never expired. laughter fruit on the bottom. But for the details cheers and applause a little carrot carrot in the throat. For the details, lets go to our brandnew, ongoing segment wherhe worlds donacolludwith wh . Oh, no stephen according to this whistleblower, on one phone call in july, trump pressured ukrainian president , volodymyr zelensky, to investigate the bidens about eight times. Eight times . In one phone call . Those are numbers you normally see with a toddler asking for a balloon. as trump hello, volodymyr. Yeah, this is donald trump. Im just calling to say i want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. laughter no . No . Okay, i understand. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. I want a balloon. cheers and applause i want a balloooon. Hello . Hello . Oh, and fun fact if the end of democracy sounds like fun to you, trumps phone call with ukraines leader took place literally the day after the special counsel robert s. Mueller iii testified to congress abo so the idea that a foreign power like russia shouldnt interfere in our elections is the only thing everyone agreed on everyone but trump, because he just moved one country over. as trump okay, no collusion with russia. Okay. Hello, ukraine . laughter you up for interfering with our election . applause no . No, you dont want to do that . Okay, do you have polands number . laughter yesterday, trump was at the u. N. And issued this denial there was no pressure put on them whatsoever. I put no pressure on them whatsoever. I could have. I think it would probably, possibly, have been okay if i did. But i didnt. Stephen wow. You wouldnt want him as your lawyer. as judge how does the defendant plead . as lawyer the defendant pleads not guilty, your honor. I mean, he could have done it, he might have done it, and it might have been fine. So, probably possibly guilty. Who knows . You know what . Guilty. Lets see what happens. laughter probably fine. Jon roll the dice. Stephen then, this afternoon is this this afternoon . cheers and applause so guilty. So guilty. Then, this afternoon, trump announced that he was going to release the full, unredacted transcript of the phone call, promising, you will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike joe biden and his son, no quid pro quo as trump it wasnt a quid pro quo. It was much more of a tit for tat. That way, i get to say tit. laughter so the president so the president claims that there was no pressure. He says there was no pressure. But trump ordered a hold on military aid to ukraine days before calling the ukrainian president. Okay, that sounds like pressure. Cause ukraine is fighting an undeclared war with russia at their eastern border, and you withhold our military aid. as trump look, if you want our help stopping them from taking more than crimea, youve got to do crime with mea. cheers and applause do you understand . Hello . Hello, mabel . Hello . laughter applause of course, heres the thing constitutionally it is not up to trump to allocate Foreign Military aid. That is congress job solely. So to allay suspicion, Administration Officials were instructed to tell lawmakers that the delays were part of an interagency process. Yes, its a complex interagency process where the administration commits crimes and. Okay, its much simpler than i thought. Its just laughter and its not just the transcript, its not just the transcript of the phone call, because this afternoon, the Senate Unanimously agreed to schumers resolution calling for the whistleblower complaint to be turned over to the intelligence committees immediately. cheers and applause unanimous jon yeah, baby stephen republicans democrats everybody turn it over jon come on piano riff stephen wow, i feel like i just had my whistle blown laughter and i am ready to release the full transcript. Plus is it adam schiff . Adam schiff, chairman of the house intelligence committee, tweeted we have been informed by the whistleblowers counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the acting d. N. I. As to how to do so. Were in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblowers testimony as soon as this week. a s oric. Histo. Itsriric,igh stakes testimony in congress from someone with intimate knowledge of trumps criminal wrongdoing. We havent had one of those in days laughter now, we dont know who this whistleblower is yet, but based on their high placement in the Trump Administration and ongoing disgust with the president s behavior, we have generated this computer model. laughter applause we dont know. Thats all thats all those are fractals. piano riff this evening this evening, trump responded to pelosis announcement, calling it a democratic plot. Our country is doing the best its ever done, and theyre going to lose the election, and they figure this is a thing to do. Were in the election. And i mean, if she does that, they all say thats a positive for me for the election. Stephen you know, mr. President , i heard the same thing. Impeachment could be very positive for you. So, logically, it would be even more positive if you just stepped down now. You cheers and applause jon come on get on stephen you could run as an outsider for a second first term, okay . laughter think about it, but not too hard. cause weve got a great show for you tonight. Whoopi goldberg is here. cheers and applause but when we return, meanwhile. cheers and applause band playing only tylenol® rapid release gels tylenol®. Only tylenol® rapid release gels 3 after trying it for a week, dovlike crystal. Ials underarms are so smooth to the touch i vefrell i feel amazingly protected im definitely feeling more confident would you switch . This is excitement. Ahhhh isin we just got off hagrid, and it is by far the best ride. This is universal. Home of tripadvisors number one park in the world. So come join us. Get all three parks for just 53 a day, restrictions apply. [growling] mail slice. Fishrisotto. Buffalo. Buffalo Wild Wings gelato. Cheesecake. Cheesecake Factory mi brseprout. Ke. Cheesecake Factory sauerkraut. Freshcaught trout. Alfalfa sprout. Curry. Fried turkey. Mcflurry. mcdonalds adlib inhale . Spiral ham. Blackberry jam. Rack of lamb. Candied yams. Pokes. Smokeys. Gnocchis. And them banging raviolis. We are americas kitchen. Doordash. Every flavor welcome. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. band playing cheers and applause Stephen Jon Batiste and stay human, everybody give it up for the band right there hey, everybody jon, two great guests tonight. Two fantastic guests tonight. Jon amazing guests tonight. Stephen in just a minute Whoopi Goldberg will be out here in just a minute. cheers and applause jon my goodness. Stephen and then the great the great Tanehisi Coates is going to be out here. He has his first novel, extraordinary, extraordinary, beautiful, beautiful work of art. Jon yeah, brilliant guy. Stephen folks, i spend a lot of time right over there, sanding and lacquering the intoleek, hyictories of the day doubleskull rower that is my monologue. But sometimes i like to sift through the junkyard, haul out an old pickup truck, knock the wheels off, strap some oil barrels and use a tennis racket to paddle out to sea laughter on the juryrigged survival raft of news that is my segment meanwhile cheers and applause meanwhile. Sometimes you dont get a chance. Sometimes youre shooting from the hip. Shooting from the hip. This is one of those times. Lets see what survived. I have no idea. Meanwhile, this footage has gone viral of a Philadelphia Eagles fan being super angry about the eagles loss to the lions on sunday. Plot twist turns out that man is eric furda, the university of pennsylvanias dean of admissions. laughter yes. And when you dont get into u penn, his rejection letters are brutal. laughter meanwhile, meanwhile im kind of surprised im kind of surprised that joke survived into the show. laughter im a little surprised that joke made it into the show. Meanwhile, just in time for halloween, theres a new sexy Mister Rogers costume. Excuse me, we already have a sexy Mister RogersMister Rogers, okay . cheers and applause the man the man was erotic napalm. Oh, he would take you to the land of makebelieve. laughter meow laughter as henrietta pussycat meow, meow, horny meow. laughter another joke i wasnt sure was going to make it into the show. No do not cut that joke meanwhile, the new Downton Abbey movie dominated the box office this weekend. And as part of the films promotion, you can now book the Downton Abbey castle on airbnb. Other movies have done this before. There have been limitedtime listings for tony starks cabin from Avengers Endgame and bella swans family home from twilight. And my personal favorite, the hole from silence of the lambs. laughter note to renters, before leaving, it puts the lotion in the basket. laughter and it loads the dishwasher. Meanwhile, in Restful Slumber news, these new earthquake resistant beds are making the rounds online. Aww, yeah laughter wooo who knew that being buried alive in a cold metal casket could be so funky . laughter now, as you can thank you, funksters. Now, as you can see in the video, the device acts as a normal bed until an earthquake is detected, whereupon, it becomes a minifortress, which can be stocked with food, emergency supplies, and plenty of water. There is no toilet, however, so make sure to bring a pillow case you dont care about. laughter but why do i need to wait for an earthquake . Im ready to go now. Give me a selflubricating catheter, and im all about that box life. laughter heck, ill do the show in there. But, stephen, you say, interrupting me, how could you do your show in there . Im glad you asked. Check it out. Welcome to the late box. Im Stephen Colbert. Today, donald trump ordered red hellfire air strikes to iran. I think. If i put it up to my ear, i can hear the tv in the next room. It might be ncis new orleans or peppa pig. Anyway, next story. What did the sky look like . Do you remember, jon . Jon yeah. Also how did i get here . I fell asleep on my couch and i ended up in this box. Stephen read your contract, jon. You agreed wed be buried together in my tv box. Its under the pharaoh clause. Jon is there water in here . Stephen yeah, its under the mattress, though. We have to eat our way through the memory foam. Stop hogging the oxygen. We have to save enough for the musical guests imagine dragons. Guys . Guys, are you about ready . Dan . They dont look so good. Jon im getting dizzy. Stephen well, that solves the food problem. Lalalala go into the light laughter stephen stick around for james corden. Good night laughter well be right back with Whoopi Goldberg. cheers and applause to look at me now, you dont see psoriasis. You see clear skin. You see me. But if you saw me before cosentyx. I was covered. It was awful. But i didnt give up. I kept fighting. I got clear skin with cosentyx. 3 years and counting. Clear skin can last. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you. Cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. See me now. Im still clear. How sexy are these elbows . Get clear skin that can last. Ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. Get clear skin that can last. Halloween is awesome. [trick or treat] yes, yes, yes, yes. [screaming in fear] yay. [laughter] yes thank you. [woof] band playing cheers and applause stephen hey, everybody welcome back ladies and gentlemen, folks, my first guest tonight is an egot winner and a cohost of the view. Shes written a new book called the unqualified hostess. Please welcome back to the late show, Whoopi Goldberg band playing cheers and applause band playing cheers and applause thats my cousin over there at your piano. Stephen wait, wait. Jon is my cousin. Stephen you guys are cousins . It turns out we are. Stephen did you guys have your d. N. A. Done or something . He had his done. They didnt tell me about him. They told him about me. Stephen how close are we talking here . Henry louis gates did our d. N. A. , and we are distant cousins, like third cousins. Stephen wow. He did that for me. I got queen noor of jordan, and meryl streep, and elizabeth alexander. Yeah. None of us . Stephen what . None of us . Stephen ahh. None of you, like the two of you . Yeah. I think you should look deeper. Stephen i think so. Just to see stephen i might hit you up for cash if i find out im related, you know. laughter i got you covered. Stephen well, okay, before we do anything else. What, babe . Stephen nancy pelosi at 5 00 this afternoon said that she is finally going to green light an impeachment inquiry against the United States. What are your thoughts on this . What do you think about this . I dont really give a bleep . laughter stephen you you you do not give a flying flag about that she did it or about him or about the inquiry or my question . laughter i dont really care because at this point, i want to have some fun. I just want to talk about something that isnt the ridiculousness that goes on in washington. So i just really care about my book right now, stephen. Stephen really . Yeah. Because you know stephen you dont think thats in any way thats not selfish in any way, that the president of the United States might be pressuring other countries and you think im being selfish . You know this guy has been doing this. Listen, you know what . You can run, take this ball with you, and run with it. I run with this ball every day, and tonight i dont care. Tonight, i wrote a great book. I did and let me let me stephen whoopi, whoopi, dont get me wrong. Were going to talk about the book. Theres no fear. laughter yes stephen but you do have opinions about this cat sometimes. But i have to do this tomorrow, man. I do this all day long. Stephen i have to do this tomorrow, too laughter i know, i know. Stephen and right now, id like someone on the show to have an opinion. But you know what . Whats your opinion . Stephen i mean, i can give you my opinion. Dont you watch the show . No stephen you dont watch what were you watching backstage . Listen, you had the coffin with peppa pig in it. Stephen i did. I saw that. Stephen your cousin was in the scene. Thats why you watched it. The truth is you know what . Because people have forgotten how to just have a conversation, it is how people approach me all day long what do you think of this . He did this you know this happened. And its like, yeah, i know, but it doesnt matter what i think. What are you going to do about it . I know what im going to do . Stephen you mean me or them . Everybody. This is applause listen, im sorry, if youre okay with all of this stuff thats going on, then dont vote if you dont like whats going on, then get your behinds out there and change it. Thats what this little girl is doing, this little greta girl. Stephen greta thunberg, yeah. cheers and applause this girl is saying, listen, dont tell me how sad you feelmt thats where im at now. He has talked to all kinds of despots. He has pretty much done every despicable thing you can do. And people go, well, you know. Thats just how he is. Well, okay. Now thats what you got. What you going to do with it . But in the interim, i wrote an amazing book cheers and applause stephen you know what, i have heard a rumor and i hope you can verify this or not. Okay. Stephen um, i heard you wrote a book. laughter just on the street. Right. Stephen i heard on the street, you wrote a book. Its called the unqualified hostess. Yes. Stephen okay. You have hosted so many things. What like, the oscars, the view, fundraisers. Why are you in what world are you the unqualified hostess . Im the unqualified hostess in the world of most peoples thinking. No one expects a book like this from me, because theyre like, thats whoopi. Shes probably just sucking down some beer and smoking a joint, laughter you know . You know . Stephen sorry, im not into that scene. No, thats not your thing, i know, i know. And i try to be respectful of that. Thats why i didnt bring you anything. Stephen thank you very much. laughter you have in the past, though. Thats right, i have. Stephen exactly. But the idea is that people should have a good time. I wanted people to think about all the stuff that they knew as kids. I was my mother taught us how to set the table. Not because we had any fancy stuff, but because it was the way we sat down and talk to each other. And so, washing dishes, you know. People have dishwashers. I dont know how to use them. I only know how to hand wash dishes. Stephen oh, really . Thats what my mom taught me. And so, i have lots of crazy things in my house and i put them on the dinner table because i like to im not very social, and so its taken me a while to learn how to start conversations with people and be im very, sort of, singular. Stephen well, in this you talk about tablescapes in this book. This is stephen whats a table scape . I have no idea. Stephen its your damn book laughter i have never called anything a tablescape in my life. Other people call stuff table scapes. That wasnt me. What that is, is thats a table that i liked. To me, the most interesting thing they love about this, is i i dont want stuff to be perfect. I just want to learn some stuff. Stephen you say you dont want perfection. You want the table to tell a story. Yeah, you know . And so i also want people to know that if they really are having a rough day, take yourself make set your table. Make it nice for you. Because why shouldnt you have a nice dinner . Why shouldnt you do it . You know . applause stephen best double barreled question. Like, best party youve ever thrown, and if youre hosting a party who do you invite to make it a fun party . Well, the best guest i ever got to sat with sit with at my table was Neil Degrasse tyson. Stephen oh, yes, i have been to a dinner party at his house, i have had him to my house, i have been to somebody elses dinner party. I mean, everybody wants to know stephen bring your own oxygen supply, though, because he will talk for three hours, and youll enjoy all three hours. Yes, and you know whats even crazier . Youll remember a lot of it. And thats the thing, i want people to come to my house who are not going to feel like, oh, i cant talk to this guy, you know he cant talk to me. Im not smart enough to. Everybody at the table is smart enough to be there. And so, i always feel like when neil is at the table, people feel like, wow, i didnt know this. Im really interested in this. And they didnt know they were interested in it. Stephen thats what its like to hang out with him all the time. Yeah, i love it. Stephen any subjects not to bring up at your dinner table . Well, you know stephen other than nancy pelosi and the impeachment. That whole thing. Theres not a lot of people i would say dont bring up. I just what happens to me is i just i want to hear something new. Remember when people told, like, stories about their day . I want to know stuff like that. Like, what happened to you today . What . Oh, you werent ducking b. S. And trying to figure out if the president was telling you the truth or not . That didnt happen to you . No you just had stephen yeah, yeah. I would like to have at least one day a month like that where i dont have to think about what hes doing. I dont care what hes doing. Tonight, lets party. Stephen well, im hoping applause im hoping im hoping you get what you want on january 22 of 2021. cheers and applause because thats the next day he doesnt matter. But heres the thing. Im hoping everyone is paying attention to whats going on. Because if youre not, its going to sneak up on you in a way that youre not expecting. Because you have to listen to what this gentleman has been saying. Oh, it would be great to be the president for life. Or, maybe i wont go. All that kind of stuff. You know, you have to be prepared. And the only way youre going to be prepared is if youre paying attention. Put the phone down. Put the phone down. But the b. S. Down. Take one day for b. S. , but just know, just know that unless you get out and vote, its not going to change. Its up to us, individual its that cheers and applause you know . And, you know. Stephen put the phone down. Put the phone down. Stephen and pick up the book the unqualified hostess, available now. Yes. Stephen Whoopi Goldberg, everybody well be right back with bestselling author Tanehisi Coates. Kortreat happy halloween. Thank you what do ya got . Yawn yeah woo pleasure doing business with you. Ever since you brought me home, that day. Ive been plotting to destroy you. Sizing you up. Calculating your every move. You think this is love . This is a billion years of tiger dna just ready to pounce. An you d up ong home ca for this. So get allstate and be better protected from mayhem, like meow. Keep being you. And ask your doctor about biktarvy. Biktarvy is a complete onepill, onceaday treatment used for hiv in certain adults. Its not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv with three different medicines to help you get to undetectable. That means the amount of virus is so low it cant be measured in lab tests. Serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. Rare, lifethreatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. 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Hey paul, do you love it . paul yeah. sprintern do you love it . paul i do. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com. Goldi knows to never compromise. Too shabby too much too perfect i can rent this . For that price . Absolutely. What is this, some kind of fairy tale . Its just right book your just right rental at thrifty. Com. Oh baby bear stephen hey, everybody, welcome back ladies and gentlemen, my next guest is the bestselling author of between the world and me and we were eight years in power. Please welcome back to the late show, Tanehisi Coates band playing cheers and applause stephen welcome back. Nice to see you again. Thanks for having me back. Stephen now, ive interviewed you two or three times before. Yes. Stephen and of course the thing ive interviewed you before are your works of journalism and your essays, like your book between the world and me which won the National Book award. Those are essays and journalism. Now youve written your first piece of fiction, a novel, the water dancer. Which is its a beautiful book. As i was talking to you backstage this is my readers copy back here. Im about that far into it. So please dont tell me how all the beauty and sadness ends. No spoilers. Stephen no spoilers, please. No spoilers tonight. Stephen but why did you decide to write fiction . What story can you tell in fiction that you cant or what power does that have that nonfiction doesnt . Yeah, so the shorter answer is my editor and my agent, said, you should try fiction. So i did. laughter stephen really . Yeah, thats actually true, im not joking. Stephen wow. I wrote a book in 2000, the beautiful struggle and when both of them were done they thought that i could try this and this took 10 years to actually get done. This is older than between the world and me. Stephen this is 10 years old . This is the older work. It took 10 years to really get it right. But you hint at something i think very, very important, and that is what are the things that can be gotten across in fiction that maybe cant be in nonfiction . And this is just for me. One of the things i got during my time working at the atlantic, where i was able to do some of the most fulfilling work of my career, was that you could state verifiable facts to people and they would just bounce right off. So, in my case the one i think about all the time is i would say, the civil war was fought over slavery, and people would just say, no, its not. And you would go and dig up the documents of the people who started the civil war where they said, were starting this war because of slavery. And they would say, where did you get that . Who actually said that . There was always a way out, even if you had the math. One plus one somehow always equaled three. And when i realized that what they were actually resisting were not the facts but the implications of the facts. That if they accepted the civil war, for instance, was about slavery that meant they had to look at robert e. Lee differently, who they had revered, they had to look at the dukes of hazard different, and the myths that had existed in society would come under question. And so it wasnt an actual factual argument. An argument of and one of the things i realized is the way you get to that is through storytelling. Stephen very quickly, to tell the people out there, tell them the basic outlines, without giving away any of the surprises and there are beautiful and amazing sort of magical realist surprises in here. So, its the story of an enslaved black man, hiram walker, gifted with this photographic memory, can remember all sorts of details, except those things that are most intimate to him in this case, his mother. He is the child of an enslaved woman and a white man who is the enslaver and the master of the plantation who sold off his mother. And hiram is in this search like, you know, all enslaved people of the period, for freedom. O ta that that search is actually connected to many more things and many more people than he thought, and to his memory, or lack thereof. Stephen you say you worked on this for 10 years. Tell me about the research that goes into this. Because i grew up in the south. I grew up in charleston, south carolina. And there are aspects of did you go to plantations . Stephen what . Did you visit plantations . Was that a thing you did . Stephen oh, sure we went to boon hall and middleton and drayton. Yeah, it was a field trip. Did they talk about slaves . Stephen yeah. But there werent, like, examples. When i was a child, there wasnt much. Wasnt much pointing at it. Got it. Stephen it was mostly like architecture and gardens and things like that. Yes, yes. Stephen they didnt talk much about who ground the corn or why the gardens were so fancy, and who did all that landscaping. It was mostly just, look at this sort of cultural artifact that is left over. And a lot of talk about how the yankees burned it down. laughter so, i did that. I went to a number of plantations in the course of research. I went to the whitney plantation in new orleans. I went to monticello in virginia, i went to montpelier, i went to the Shirley Plantation in virginia just to get some sense of how folks would have lived. And whats happening at a lot of those plantations, not all of them, is they are beginning to reincorporate enslavement and acknowledge the fact that all of those resources and those riches derived from the fact from people there who were property. In many ways, the reason why i asked you that question, is because that gets back to the whole thing i was talking about with myth. Once you acknowledge that the war was about slavery, slavery was a big deal, that plantation looks really, really different. And the people feel kind of different about the architecture. And they have to talk about the architecture a little differently. In fact they might wonder if they even want to talk about the architecture at all at that point. Stephen you know, when i went to monticello the last time, i heard something that was obvious, but wasnt expressed this way, they were only referring to the enslaved people there, not the slaves. Not the slaves, yes. Stephen it was a very important change of attitude or tone toward these people. Because slave is an identity. Yes. Ph eve ispped to this persohas eir ownr entity. Hi calls the people in her 0 sr no, you dont. Stephen you hear the word tasked. Where does that come from . If slave is in there, its a mistake. If i had done this right it would not have appeared in there at all. Stephen im about 250 pages in its only appeared three times. My bad. laughter the reason in my mind, one of the things you have to do as a fiction writer is you cant write a novel about slavery, even when youre writing about slavery. It has to be your slavery. It has to be your picture of it. It has to be your particular thing. Because you say the word slavery and images automatically come to mind, whether you want to focus on those or not for instance, whips, chains, rape, all of that is immediately what is conjured up. But actually, and this was a big theme in the novel, i was very interested in how enslavement destroyed families. Stephen family separation was a huge part of this. Huge thing. Stephen and were you writing was that the focus of this, what its doing to hi or psychologically doing to all the people who were enslaved. Was that the theme before our present National Focus and our own heartbreak in certain ways about the family separation going on at the border . It was, it was. Its one of the oldest it was one of the first things i keyed on when i, again, was doing that research and reading some of the narratives. What people mourned about the most was, you know, a son being sold off, a daughter, wife, husband. Thats where you saw some of the most heartbreaking stuff. And i think the fact that its resonant with the politics right now is more about the fact that when you want to be cruel to, you know, other people, as a policy, family is often the place where that happens. Its not uncommon, even if some of the earliest examples originate with black people. Stephen we have to take a little bit of a break, but well be back with more Tanehisi Coates, everybody. Stick around. Fish roe. Risotto. Buffalo. Buffalo Wild Wings gelato. Curry. Cacciatori. Chimichurri. Fried turkey. Blueberry. Mcflurry. mcdonalds cheese cake. Cheesecake Factory grilled steak. Clam bake. Milkshake. We are americas kitchen. Doordash. Every flavor welcome. 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And unlike sonicare, oralb is the First Electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. What an amazing clean ill only use an oralb oralb. Brush like a pro. Of flavor. Color. Full of. Woo full of good. So you can be too. Try our new warm grain bowls today. Order now on doordash. Try our new warm grain bowls today. 3 after trying it for a week, dovlike crystal. Ials underarms are so smooth to the touch and i love that fresh smell i feel amazingly protected im definitely feeling more confident would you switch . Tthe bad news . Our so will this recital. Day. New depend® fitflex underwear offers your best comfort and protection guaranteed. Because, perfect or not, lifes better when youre in it. Be there with depend®. Stephen hey, everybody we are here with the author of the new novel the water dancer, Tanehisi Coates. One of the things that is hinted at for a long time in the novel is a special ability that hiram has, which i dont think im giving anything away when i say its a supernatural ability. Yes. Stephen and has any of your work writing for marvel influenced your or are there commonalities between your work on black panther and your work on this novel . Yeah, yeah. Stephen because people may not know that you have written for marvel for the black panther storyline. So, it is two things. Its not the writing so much as the reading of comic books, which i started at a very young age. But i think the thing is a, the supernatural is present in slave narratives very often. Its present in frederick douglass, w. P. A. Narrative. It was already there youre a d d guy, arent you . Stephen yes. Im a d d guy, too. cheers and applause stephen dungeons and dragons for those who dont know. cheers and applause so, i mean, my first game of dungeons and dragons was when i was like seven. Stephen sure. So this is like, in my bones. So when i went to write something i had all of that in me already, so even though it was in the slave narratives, it was the thing i would be automatically already attracted to. Stephen um, well, thank you for the book. Thank you for being here. Dont tell me how it ends. I wont. Stephen its nice to see you again tanehisi. Thank you so much. Thank you. cheers and applause stephen the water dancer is available now. Tanehisi coates, everybody. Well be right back. Stephen hello hey, thats it for the late show. Now stick around for james corden. Good night captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org are you ready yall to have some fun feel the love tonight dont you worry where it is you come from reggie ladies and gentlemen, all the way from lake geneva,