Chapter 26: Angie Thomas on righting racist wrongs and remembering radicals

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co  Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still lives in Jackson, Mississippi. A former teen rapper, she holds a BFA in creative writing from Belhaven University. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is on sale now and is already a #1 New York Times bestseller as well. Chapter Description: No one gets it like Angie. Her books are putting their fingers right on the pulse of America today. Racial tensions, police shootings, citizen uprisings. Does this sound like the setting of a YA novel? How about two of them? Well, as I write this her debut The Hate U Give and her sophomore release On The Come Up are #1 and #2 on The New York Times bestseller list. We sat down together at the busiest hotel in downtown Toronto on the tail end of Angie’s 15-city book tour to discuss how we find the truth for ourselves, when do we bring up harsh realities to kids, and what place media and religion have in society today. We dive deep into the heightened racial and political tensions today and we search for a way out… And, as always, we get to learn Angie Thomas’s three most formative books. I hope you enjoy. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How and when do we expose children to harsh political realities Why can we no longer trust the media to give us the honest truth? How can we build BS-meters to filter out fake news? What lawsuit did Martin Luther King Jr’s family win against the US government? Was Jesus a radical? What’s the potential first step needed in the US today to help start to sow deep racial divisions?  Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/26  Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/