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
Subscribe to Code Switch feed
5 years 8 months ago
This week, we tackle reader questions on vegetarianism, the specter of grocery store Columbuses, and the quiet opprobrium directed at "smelly ethnic foods" in the workplace.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 8 months ago
Fifty years ago, a multiracial coalition of students at a commuter college in San Francisco went on strike. And while their bloody, bitter standoff has been largely forgotten, it forever changed higher education in the United States.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 8 months ago
What does "civility" look like and who gets to define it? What about "respectable" behavior? This week, we're looking at how behavior gets policed in public.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 8 months ago
A deadly tornado ripped through Lee County Alabama this past Sunday. An NPR investigation found that white Americans and those with safety nets often receive more federal dollars after a disaster than people of color and Americans with less wealth.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 9 months ago
When Colin Kaepernick stopped standing for the national anthem at NFL games it sparked a nationwide conversation about patriotism and police brutality. Black athletes using their platform to protest injustice has long been a tradition in American history. In this episode we tap in our friends at Throughline to explore three stories of protest that are rarely told but essential to understanding the current debate: the heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson, the sprinter Wilma Rudolph, and the basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 9 months ago
Anali, a young woman from Los Angeles, wants to break into the film industry. A local program taught her the skills of the trade and the language, but will any of that that matter in an industry that runs mostly on connections?
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 9 months ago
Okay, news cycle: you win. We're talking about blackface. This week, we delve into the hidden history of "blackening up" in popular culture — from a certain iconic cartoon mouse's minstrel past to Instagram models trying to pass as black.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 9 months ago
Another week of racial controversies, another week of calls to "start a dialogue on race." What does that even mean? We talk to two veterans of one high-profile attempt at a national conversation on race, who have different views of its effectiveness.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 10 months ago
Some may think of beauty as frivolous and fun, but on this episode, we're examining a few of the ugly ways that its been used to project power.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 10 months ago
Another day, another drama: Last week, a federal judge ruled against the Trump administration's decision to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census. But if the Justice Department has any say, the fight will go on...all the way to the Supreme Court.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 10 months ago
Jason Kim and his father were once very close, but drifted apart after the family came to the United States from Korea. They drifted even further after Jason came out to his parents as gay. But after a health crisis, Jason and his father try to reckon with the silence between them. This week, a story about a family's hopes, dreams, and obligations, brought to us by the dope folks at WNYC's Nancy podcast.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 10 months ago
Meet one of the people caught up in the Trump Administration's hard-line stance on immigration: Javier Zamora. He was living in the US legally under Temporary Protected Status but when the White House threatened to take it away, Javier went back to El Salvador to apply for a new visa. He didn't know if he'd ever return to the US, his home of nearly twenty years.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 11 months ago
This week, we're uncovering the stories behind three American Anthems. First, we hear from two musical greats about their respective versions of "Fight the Power." Next, we learned about the transformation of the children's choir staple, "This Little Light of Mine." Finally, we took a trip down "Whittier Blvd."
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 11 months ago
Spit into a tube and get in touch with your ancestors! Or not. This week we're revisiting a conversation about DNA, and what it tells us about who we are.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 11 months ago
A professor at the University of Texas San Antonio designed a college course based around episodes of the Code Switch podcast! In it, her students learned how to have tough conversations about race and identity, using Shereen and Gene as an example. But after an incident on campus involving the police made national news, their theoretical classroom discussions stopped being polite and started getting real.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy5 years 11 months ago
5 years 11 months ago
Reporter Julia Simon tells us about a radical miners' union in Birmingham, Alabama. It laid the foundation for civil rights organizers in the South, and holds lessons for the future of labor.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy6 years ago
On this episode, we're hanging out with pups. First, is Kat's anxious dog Samson really just a little beagle bigot? Then, the author Bronwen Dickey and the political scientist Michael Tesler explain how the pitbull transformed from America's most beloved sidekick to a doggo non grata.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy6 years ago
Gene and Shereen talk to poet Denice Frohman, percussionist Bobby Sanabria, chef Marcus Samuelsson and comedian Ashley Nicole Black at Harlem's World Famous Apollo Theater in New York City.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy6 years ago
The news item about the shooting was bare: one man shot another 17 times in a dispute over drugs. The actual story — of a family that feared for its safety but who couldn't rely on the police for help — was far more complicated.
Learn more about sponsor message choices:
podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy