Joel Anderson of The Ringer Tailgate: My Top Black Books of All Time!

Joel Anderson knows how to tell a story. As co-host of The Ringer Tailgate, he's spent years breaking down the culture — sports, politics, race, identity — with the kind of clarity and heat that makes you lean in. But behind every sharp take is a reader. And in this episode, he finally shows his hand. We asked Joel to sit down and share the 10 Black books that shaped the way he sees the world. What came back was exactly what you'd expect from someone who thinks as hard as he talks: a list that doesn't fit neatly into any one category. History. Memoir. Politics. Fiction. The kind of reading list that tells you more about a person than any bio ever could. This is My 10 Fave Black Books — the series where we invite writers, thinkers, journalists, athletes, and public figures to share the Black books that moved them, marked them, or simply wouldn't let them go. 00:00 Intro 04:14 Book #10 09:43 Book #9 18:09 Book #8 23:01 Book #7 29:38 Book #6 35:14 Book #5 37:33 Book #4 43:56 Book #3 55:20 Book #2 01:00:29 Book #1 01:07:49 Outro