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Code Switch

What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for. Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor. We explore how race affects every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between. This podcast makes all of us part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story. Code Switch was named Apple Podcasts' first-ever Show of the Year in 2020.

Want to level up your Code Switch game? Try Code Switch Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/codeswitch

Episodes

In Michigan, Arab Americans weigh the power of a vote

We travel to Dearborn, aka the "capital of Arab America." The Dearbornites we met said that the war in Gaza is the key issue on their minds as they consider how to cast their ballots. What these voters ultimately decide could have huge consequences for the whole country. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Oct 16, 202442 min

Ask Code Switch: Am I the "token" at work?

This week on Ask Code Switch, we're getting into the question a lot of minorities face when climbing the ladder at work – am I rising because I'm talented or because I'm tokenized? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Oct 14, 202411 min

Two Palestinian writers on the right to share their stories

In the year since the devastating Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Even more have been injured or displaced. Still, many Palestinians across the diaspora feel that they aren't allowed to share their stories — that the fullness of their humanity is too often reduced to a few soundbites on the news, or images of people dying. So on this episode, we're revisiting conversations with Fady Joudah and Tariq Luthun — two Palestinian American poets who have tr...

Oct 09, 202433 min

Ask Code Switch: Is it a preference or fetish?

This week on Ask Code Switch, when it comes to race and dating, how important is diversity in your dating history? What does the race of our past romances say about us? And how do we know when we've crossed the line from preference to fetish? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Oct 07, 202413 min

The Trump campaign strategy to demonize Haitian immigrants

This week, we're looking into the endgame of the racist and false rumors targeting Haitian immigrants. Are the lies being told about migrants across the country part of a strategy to land a bigger lie: that undocumented immigrants could steal the election? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Oct 02, 202434 min

Ask Code Switch: Is picky eating about taste or race?

Today on Ask Code Switch, we're talking about taste. How we eat, why we prefer certain foods, and where those preferences come from. We're getting into all the things that shape and change our taste buds, from the genes you inherit to falling in love. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Sep 30, 202413 min

Latinos are moving to the far right. Paola Ramos thinks she knows why

As we close in on the election, it's Trump-supporting Latinos that some pollsters believe could decide this race. So how did we get here? In her new book, Defectors , Paola Ramos explains that part of the story of being Latino has always been this temptation to defect. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Sep 25, 202433 min

Ask Code Switch: Do bike lanes cause gentrification?

Today on Ask Code Switch , we tackle a question about race, bike lanes and gentrification. Who are bike lanes serving? Are these safety measures protecting everyone equally, or are bike advocates on the wrong side of progress? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Sep 23, 202412 min

Fighting back on book bans

B.A. Parker brings us around the country to see what access to books is looking like for students in Texas, librarians in Idaho and her own high school English teacher in Pennsylvania. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Sep 18, 202430 min

Ask Code Switch: The racial politics of washing dishes?

This week on Ask Code Switch, we're getting into the politics and power dynamics of race and dishes in the workplace (which is more fraught than you might think). When no one is "technically" the "dishwasher" at work...who's washing the dishes and should you feel some type of way about it? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Sep 16, 202413 min

The park. Sunday. Queens, New York.

This week on Code Switch, we're doing a different kind of immigration coverage. We're telling a New York story: one that celebrates the beautiful, everyday life of the immigrant. Code Switch producer, Xavier Lopez and NPR immigration reporter, Jasmine Garsd spend a day at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Sep 11, 202438 min

Ask Code Switch: Is this a racist question?

Ask Code Switch is back! Lori Lizarraga and the Code Switch team tackle all new listener questions this fall. From the tacky and tricky to the cringe and candid – we're bringing our race advice to the questions you're scared to ask. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Sep 09, 202413 min

Going back to school with schizoaffective disorder

Michael Vargas Arango was having a fairly typical day — hanging out at his home in Medellín, playing Xbox with one of his friends. Only, when he spoke to his mom during the day, he realized that she had no idea what "friend" he was talking about — she hadn't seen or heard anyone besides her son in the house all day. That was the first inkling either of them had that Michael was dealing with something unusual. It was the beginning of the long road toward Michael being diagnosed with schizoaffecti...

Sep 04, 202431 min

What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

It's been more than ten months since devastating violence began unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And in the midst of all the death, so many people are trying to better understand what's going on in that region, and how the United States is implicated in it. So on this episode, we're looking back to the writing of James Baldwin, whose views on the country transformed significantly over the course of his life. His thoughts offer some ideas about how to grapple with trauma, and how to bridge the gap b...

Aug 28, 202439 min

Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back

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 in 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...

Aug 21, 202438 min

Race, Romance and Reality TV

Reality TV has been referred to as a funhouse mirror of our culture. But even with its distortions, it can reflect back to us what we accept as a society – especially when it comes to things like gender, sexuality and race. On today's episode we get into all of that, zeroing in on the Bachelorette, but also looking at a dating show that's trying to do it differently. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Aug 14, 202434 min

Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports

Why are some female athletes asked to prove her womanhood? To understand how we got here, we're bringing you episode one of Tested , a new podcast series by our play cousins over at Embedded, made in partnership with CBC in Canada. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Aug 09, 202441 min

The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

Summer is a time when many Americans are taking off from work and setting their sights on far-off vacation destinations: tropical beaches, fairy-tale cities, sun-drenched countrysides. But in her book Airplane Mode, the reluctant travel writer Shahnaz Habib warns of recklessly embracing what she calls "passport privilege," — and how that can skew peoples' images of what the world is and who it belongs to. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Aug 07, 202433 min

'Not a badge of honor': how book bans affect Indigenous literature

For some authors, finding their book on a "banned" list can feel almost like an accolade, putting them right there with classics like The Bluest Eye and To Kill a Mockingbird. But the reality is, most banned books never get the kind of recognition or readership that the most famous ones do. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jul 31, 202434 min

Kamala Harris, Revisited

With Kamala Harris entering the presidential race, we look back at what has shaped her personally and politically —from being the self-described "top cop" of California, to taking on a former president with dozens of felony convictions. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jul 26, 202441 min

The return of the U.S.'s oldest drag king

For decades now, drag queens have captured the national imagination. Drag kings, on the other hand, have been relegated to a less prominent position in pop culture. But today on the show, we're telling the story of one Elsie Saldaña — aka El Daña. As someone who started performing in drag in 1965, she's now considered one of the oldest drag kings still performing in the U.S. Over the course of her long performance career, many forces have converged that could have stopped her from taking to the ...

Jul 24, 202431 min

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

Every summer B.A. Parker returns to Creswell, North Carolina, where her family still has a farm. But she's mostly avoided actually going to the nearby site where her ancestors were enslaved. This week, we revisit the second of two episodes, where Parker and her mom decide to go back to the plantation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jul 17, 202434 min

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 1

In part one of two episodes, B.A. Parker meets people who, like her, are grappling with how to honor their enslaved ancestors. She asks herself: what kind of descendant does she want to be? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Jul 10, 202434 min

How one event in history can ripple through generations of a family

This week we're bringing you the first episode in a new series called Inheriting , created in collaboration with our friends at LAist Studios. In each episode, NPR's Emily Kwong sits down with Asian American and Pacific Islander families and explores how one event in history can ripple through generations. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jul 03, 202445 min

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

Author Mike Curato wrote Flamer as a way to help young queer kids, like he once was, better understand and accept themselves. It was met with immediate praise and accolades — until it wasn't. When the book got caught up in a wave of Texas-based book bans, suddenly the narrative changed. And like so many books that address queer identity, Flamer quickly became a flashpoint in a long, messy culture war that tried to distort the nature of the book. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastc...

Jun 26, 202431 min

Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

The promise of "40 acres and a mule", is often thought of as a broken one. But it turns out, some freed people actually received land as reparations after the Civil War. And what happened to that land and the families it was given to is the subject of a new series, 40 Acres and a Lie, by our colleagues at Reveal and the Center for Public Integrity. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jun 24, 202450 min

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

As anti-trans legislation has ramped up, historian Jules Gill-Peterson turns the lens to the past in her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny . This week, we talk about how panics around trans femininity are shaped by wider forces of colonialism, segregation and class interests. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jun 19, 202436 min

Should we stop using the word "felon"?

This week, we're turning our sights on the word "felon", and looking into what it tells us (and can't tell us) about the 19 million people in the U.S. — like Donald Trump and Hunter Biden — carrying that designation around. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Jun 12, 202434 min

100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

President Biden just issued an executive order that can temporarily shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers once a daily threshold of crossings is exceeded. On this episode, we dig into how the political panic surrounding what many are calling an immigration "crisis" at the border, isn't new. And in fact...it's a problem of our own creation . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...

Jun 05, 202443 min

White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

As war continues to rage in the Middle East, attention has been turned to how American Jews, Muslims, and Palestinians relate to the state of Israel. But when we talk about the region, American Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, are often not part of that story. But their political support for Israel is a major driver for U.S. policy — in part because Evangelicals make up an organized, dedicated constituency with the numbers to exert major influence on U.S. politics. Learn more abo...

May 29, 202438 min