Ta-Nehisi Coates

This week, we're listening back to some favorite Fresh Air interviews from the past decade. In 2015 Coates spoke about growing up in Baltimore and facing threats from both the streets and the police.

After writing three non-fiction books dealing with race and identity, and relaunching Marvel's black superhero series Black Panther, Ta-Nehisi Coates has written his first novel. Set during slave times, it re-imagines leaders of the underground railroad as having a magical power to help people out of slavery.