For hip-hop's not-official-but-kind-of-official 50th birthday, we dig into its many contradictions. From the legend of the South Bronx block party where hip-hop was born to the multi-billion-dollar global industry and tool for U.S. diplomacy it has become, America's relationship with hip-hop — and the people who make it — is complicated. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Aug 09, 2023•34 min•Ep. 415
Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most popular tabletop role-playing games of all time. But it has also helped cement some ideas about how we create and define race in fantasy — and in the tangible world. This week we revisit a deep dive into that game. What we find about racial stereotypes and colonialist supremacy is illuminating. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Aug 02, 2023•33 min•Ep. 414
There are race books, and there are beach reads, and never the twain shall meet. You know that old truism, right? Well, this is Code Switch (the show about race and identity and romance and drama from NPR), and we weren't willing to accept that dichotomy. So on this episode, we're bringing you a bouquet of our favorite summer thrillers, love stories, memoirs and more — all of which have something to say about race. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privac...
Jul 26, 2023•34 min•Ep. 413
Gene Demby and NPR's Huo Jingnan dive into a conspiracy theory about how "global elites" are forcing people to eat bugs. And no huge surprise — the theory's popularity is largely about its loudest proponents' racist fear-mongering. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jul 19, 2023•33 min•Ep. 412
Brian de los Santos always thought of Mexico as his "home" — despite not having been able to return to his country of birth for three decades. But when he finally got a chance to visit, his conception of what home was and where he belonged totally shifted. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jul 12, 2023•37 min•Ep. 411
This week, we're sharing the first episode of "Buffalo Extreme," a three-part series from our play cousins at NPR's Embedded. The series follows a Black cheer squad, their moms and their coaches in the year after the racist massacre at the Jefferson Street Tops in Buffalo, New York, just blocks from their gym. NPR hands the mic to the girls and women in that community as they navigate the complicated path to recovery in the year after. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com...
Jul 05, 2023•33 min•Ep. 410
In the second of two episodes, Code Switch co-host B.A. Parker is figuring out what kind of descendant she wants to be. Parker and her mom decide to go back to the plantation where their ancestors were enslaved, because despite the circumstances of slavery, this is where their family began. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 28, 2023•34 min•Ep. 409
Code Switch co-host B.A. Parker digs into what it means to maintain the legacy of her ancestors. In part one of two episodes, Parker goes to a symposium for descendants of slavery and meets people who, like her, are caretakers of "culturally significant historical places." Note: A technical error with a previous version of this episode resulted in an audio mix that may have been difficult to listen to. Please check out the new mix! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adc...
Jun 21, 2023•34 min•Ep. 408
How do you participate in a faith practice that has a rough track record with racism? That's what our play-cousin J.C. Howard gets into on this week's episode of Code Switch . He talks to us about Black Christians who, like him for a time, found their spiritual homes in white evangelical churches. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 14, 2023•38 min•Ep. 407
On this week's Code Switch , producer Kumari Devarajan finds her demographic clone in actor and comedian D'Lo. Kumari found that when you share so much in common with a stranger who is putting their business on front street for the world to see, it can feel like they're sharing your secrets, too. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jun 07, 2023•30 min•Ep. 406
Ava Chin's family has been in the U.S. for generations — but Ava was disheartened to learn that so much of what they had experienced was totally absent from American history books. So she embarked on a journey to learn more about her ancestors, and in doing so, to work toward correcting the historical record for all Americans. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 31, 2023•30 min•Ep. 405
One of the most pivotal moments in Japanese American history was when the U.S. government uprooted more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry and forced them into incarceration camps. But there is another, less-known story about the tens of thousands of Japanese Americans who were living in Japan during World War II — and whose lives uprooted in a very different way. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 24, 2023•35 min•Ep. 404
The Supreme Court is about to decide on a case arguing that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) discriminates against white foster parents. Journalist Rebecca Nagle explains how this decision could reverse centuries of U.S. law protecting the rights of Indigenous nations. "Native kids have been the tip of the spear in attacks on tribal sovereignty for generations." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 17, 2023•33 min•Ep. 403
"Three springs ago, I lost the better part of my mind," Naomi Jackson wrote in an essay for Harper's Magazine. On this episode, Jackson reads from that essay about her experience with mental illness, including how she has had to decipher which of her fears stem from her illness and which are backed by the history of racism. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
May 10, 2023•30 min•Ep. 402
K-pop disrupted pop culture in South Korea in the early 1990s, and later found fans around the world. Vivian Yoon was one of those fans, growing up thousands of miles away in Koreatown, Los Angeles. This week, we're sharing an episode of In K-Pop Dreaming, the second season of LAist's California Love podcast. In it, Yoon takes listeners on a journey to learn about the history behind the music that had defined her childhood. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices N...
May 03, 2023•45 min•Ep. 401
In 2017, comedian Hari Kondabolu called out Hollywood's portrayals of South Asians with his documentary The Problem With Apu. The film was also a criticism of comedian Hank Azaria, who is white, for voicing the Indian character on The Simpsons. On this episode, Hari and Hank sit down to talk publicly for the first time about that callout and everything that has gone down since. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 26, 2023•29 min•Ep. 400
"You can't meditate yourself out of a 40-hour work week with no childcare and no paid sick days," says Dr. Pooja Lakshmin. But when you're overworked and overwhelmed, what actually can you do? On this episode, host B.A. Parker asks: What are your options when a bubble bath won't cut it? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 19, 2023•35 min•Ep. 399
You finally get through the confusing, stressful work of doing your taxes only to hear back from the IRS: you're being audited . And it turns out that your race plays a big role in whether you get that letter, how much you might owe the IRS, which tax breaks you can get, and even which benefits you can claim. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 12, 2023•30 min•Ep. 398
The male gaze objectifies, consumes and shames people for not fitting into a mold. This week, we're looking at how that affects women in hip-hop. Our play cousins at Louder Than A Riot bring us the voices of artists who won't let the male gaze dominate their careers, stories and personal lives. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Apr 05, 2023•34 min•Ep. 397
Utang na loob is the Filipino concept of an eternal debt to others, be it family or friends, who do a favor for you. In this episode from 2022, we break down this "debt of the inner soul" — and discover a surprising side to this pre-colonial value. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Mar 29, 2023•39 min•Ep. 396
We've all heard about Rosa Parks and her crucial role in the Montgomery bus boycott. But Parks was just one of the many women who organized for years to make that boycott a reality. In this episode, the women behind the boycott tell their own story. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Mar 22, 2023•35 min•Ep. 395
Host B.A. Parker talks to Jasmin Savoy Brown, of the recently-released Scream 6, about playing a queer Black girl who lives. And film critics Richard Newby and Mallory Yu discuss how horror movies can actually help us empathize with each other Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Mar 15, 2023•34 min•Ep. 394
For decades, the ingredients, dishes and chefs that are popularized have been filtered through the narrow lens of a food and publishing world dominated by mostly white, mostly male decision-makers. But with more food authors of color taking center stage, is that changing? In this episode, we dive deep into food publishing, past and present. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Mar 08, 2023•32 min•Ep. 393
This week, we revisit an episode from 2018 that looks into how discrimination not only degrades your health, but can cost you your life. We hear the story of Shalon Irving, who died after giving birth to her daughter. Black women like her are 243 percent more likely than white women to die of pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes in the United States. And the latest evidence further supports that this gap is caused by the "weathering" effects of racism. Learn more about sponsor message choices...
Mar 01, 2023•29 min•Ep. 392
Brett Woodson Bailey grew up knowing he was the descendant of "the father of Black history," Carter G. Woodson. He also grew up with the support and guidance of his "cousin" Craig Woodson, who is white. In this week's Code Switch, what it means when a Black family and a white family share a last name, and how the Black and white Woodsons became family. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Feb 22, 2023•35 min•Ep. 391
From the dance floors of weddings and bar mitzvahs to the Billboard Hot 100, chances are, you've enjoyed some merengue music – think about the 1998 Puerto Rican hit 'Suavemente,' which topped charts across the globe. But did you know that merengue's path to global fame started in the Dominican Republic, before it made its way to Puerto Rico? In this episode, we hand the mic to our friends at La Brega to unpack the story behind that famous merengue single and how it sums up a complicated and tens...
Feb 15, 2023•43 min•Ep. 390
The large majority of NFL players are people of color. The coaches on the sidelines? Not so much. In this episode, we're looking at the NFL's famous diversity plan and what it might tells us about why so many corporate initiatives like it don't work. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Feb 08, 2023•35 min•Ep. 389
In this week's episode, we dive into the traditions and stories that shape Lunar New Year, and why violence and tragedy in the U.S. on the eve of the holiday cuts deep for celebrants. We also visit Monterey Park, California, and talk to its Asian American residents and neighbors about what the "ethnoburb" means to them beyond the shooting on January 21. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Feb 01, 2023•35 min•Ep. 388
In this episode we turn to late 1960s Chicago, when three unlikely groups came together to form a coalition based on interracial solidarity. It's hard to imagine this kind of collaboration today, but we dove into how a group of Black radicals, Confederate flag-waving white Southerners, and street-gang-turned-activist Puerto Ricans found common ground. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 25, 2023•24 min•Ep. 387
Bad Bunny, the genre- and gender norm-defying Puerto Rican rapper, is one of the biggest music stars on the planet. He has also provided a global megaphone for Puerto Rican discontent. In this episode, we take a look at how Bad Bunny became the unlikely voice of resistance in Puerto Rico. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 18, 2023•39 min•Ep. 386
