Skip Navigation
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

Some thoughts on cable talk

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Jan 22 2009, 7:41 AM ET Comment

I noticed a lot of citations of Morning Joe and Hannity, below, as evidence of outrage at Lowery. I'm still in D.C., and this morning I cut on the TV to see what the talking heads were saying. In short order, I was treated to the morning show people over at Fox replaying a Joe Biden joke in slow motion and attempting to read Barack Obama's body language, and Scarborough asking Andrea Mitchell if Obama was more likely to listen to career CIA professional or a "left-wing law professor from Berkeley."

Cable talk is alluring--much like Hostess cupcakes are alluring, but more like how gossip mags are alluring. I get caught up all the time. In fact, one of the reasons I don't have TV is because I was consuming too much of the stuff.  A significant portion of these folks' livelihood is based on the threat of loony left-wingers at Berkeley, Upper West Side salon-holders, and Georgetown socialites. It's half journalism, and half drama class. In discussion, let's treat it as such. Also, I'll do my part and stop linking to the stuff.


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Revenge of the Rust Belt: How the Midwest Got Its Groove Back The Revenge of the Rust Belt
It's Not Just Porn: Why Ultra-Orthodox Jews Fear the Internet Why America's Ultra-Orthodox Jews Fear the Internet
Plan a Trip Through History With ORBIS, a Google Maps for Ancient Rome Travel Through History With a Google Maps for Ancient Rome
If 10 Berkeley Cops Can't Get the Chief's Son's Phone Back, Your Vigilante Recovery Won't Work Either The Perils of Tracking Down a Stolen Phone
SNL Is Hopelessly Stuck in the Past SNL Is Hopelessly Stuck in the Past

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

One Year Since the Joplin Tornado

May 23, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

Ta-Nehisi Coates
from the Magazine

Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an Atlantic senior editor.

Fade to White

A filmmaker maps Austin’s shifting ethnic landscape.

The Legacy of Malcolm X

Why his vision lives on in Barack Obama