Code Switch

Twenty-First Century Blackface

13 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We have one story of how blackface was alive and well on network television in Colombia until 2015.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastch...

What We Inherit

06 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode, the story of one family's struggle to end a toxic cycle of inter-generational trauma from forced assimilation. Getting back to their ...

A Thousand Ways To Kneel And Kiss The Ground

30 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, the NFL announced a new policy to penalize players who kneel during the national anthem. The announcement drew fresh attention to the centu...

Of Bloodlines and Conquistadors

23 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Hispanos have lived side by side the Pueblo people for centuries—mixing cultures, identities and even bloodlines. But recently, tensions have risen ...

What's Black And Gray And Inked All Over?

16 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Black-and-gray tattoos have become increasingly popular over the last four decades. But many people don't realize that the style has its roots in Chic...

Tough Questions For The World's Toughest Job

09 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mother's Day is coming up, so we're taking on your most difficult questions around parenting. We'll talk about choosing a school, raising bilingual ch...

Code Switch Census Watch 2020

02 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We've said it before: The U.S. Census is way more than cold, hard data. It informs what we call ourselves and how we're represented. On this episode, ...

It's Bigger Than The Ban

25 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Muslims make up a little over one percent of the U.S. population, but they seem to take up an outsized space in the American imagination. On this epis...

Members of Whose Tribe?

18 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Americans tend to think of Jewish people as white folks, but it wasn't always that way. On this episode, we dig into the complex role Jewish id...

Location! Location! Location!

11 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It's the force that animates so much of what we cover on Code Switch. And on the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, we take a look at some ways...

The Road To The Promised Land, 50 Years Later

04 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tenn. This week, we have two stories about the aftermath of his death. The...

Amara La Negra: Too Black To Be Latina? Too Latina To Be Black?

28 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

People are constantly telling Amara La Negra that she doesn't fit anywhere. Sometimes, she's "too black to be Latina." Other times, she's "too Latina ...

The Madness Of March

21 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is going on right now and will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. The coaches and commissioners...

Who Is 'Us,' Anyway?

14 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

"Shouldn't you help out your own community first?" That's the question we're exploring this week via our play-cousins at Latino USA. A black celebrity...

Searching For A Home After Hate

07 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In February 2017, Srinivas Kutchibhotla fell victim to an alleged hate crime. In the aftermath, his widow, Sunayana Dumala, had her life and her immig...

A House Divided By Immigration Status

28 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

All four of the Gonzalez kids grew up under one roof, in Los Angeles, Calif. But when the oldest was in middle school, she realized that she and her s...

Throw Some Respeck On My Name

21 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It's Alabama, 1963. A black woman stands before a judge, but she refuses to acknowledge him until he addresses her by an honorific given to white wome...

Feelings, Finances And Fetishes: Love Is A Racial Battlefield

14 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

To get y'all in the mood for Valentine's Day, we're exploring some of our juiciest listener love questions. Should your race and gender affect how muc...

It's Not Just About The Blood

07 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

If you're Native American, who or what gets to define your identity? We dive into an old system intended to measure the amount of "Indian blood" a per...

The State Of Our Union Is...Uh, How Much Time You Got?

31 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On the occasion of President Trump's first State of the Union speech, we're looking at where things stand on civil rights at the Justice Department, t...

The 'R-Word' In The Age Of Trump

24 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When Donald Trump allegedly referred to Haiti, El Salvador and some African countries as "shitholes," we called his comments r-...rr-...really really ...

A Racial Impostor Epidemic

17 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Our episode about multi-racial people and their search for identity struck a nerve. Now we're asking, "What other stories do you want to hear?"Learn m...

This Racism Is Killing Me Inside

10 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On this weeks episode we hear the story of Shalon Irving, who passed away after giving birth to her daughter. Black women in the United States are 243...

Before We Give 2017 The Middle Finger, Part 2

03 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Gene Demby talks with ESPN's Jemele Hill. The SportsCenter anchor discusses becoming a lightning rod in the culture wars and the flimsy par...

Before We Give 2017 The Middle Finger, Part 1

27 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode: lessons learned post-Charlottesville, the Latinas who said "me, too" before it went viral, race-and-rep wins in pop-culture and some ...

Black Atheists, White Santas, And A Feast For The Deceased

20 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We're answering your holiday race questions: Why do we still think of Santa as white? Are POCs responsible for calling-out the racism at holiday parti...

With Dope, There's High Hope

13 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As of January 1, it will be legal to sell recreational cannabis in California. But as the legal weed market gains traction, people of color who were t...

17,000 Islands, 700 Languages, And A Superhero

06 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Indonesia is one of the most ethnically diverse countries on Earth. And while that pluralism is embraced in the country's founding documents, its ethn...

Disrespect To Miss-Respect

29 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's Alabama, 1963. A black woman stands before a judge, but she refuses to acknowledge him until he addresses her by an honorific given to white wome...

A Code Switch Thanksgiving Feast

22 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's a Thanksgiving mashup episode! We speak to Lin-Manuel Miranda about Puerto Rico, a parenting expert about tense family gatherings, and a Native p...

Live From Chicago...It's Code Switch!

15 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hosts Shereen and Gene take on Chi-City with help from Chicago-natives Eve Ewing and Natalie Y. Moore, plus Code Switch's play cousin, Hari Kondabolu....

Reflections On A Year At Ron Brown High

08 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We spent the past three episodes looking at the first year of a high school for black boys in Washington, D.C. Now, we're taking a look back on our re...

To Fail Or Not To Fail: The Fierce Debate Over High Standards

01 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

With 40 percent of its students at risk of failing, one radical new high school in Washington, D.C. wrestles with whether to lower its own high expect...

'They Can't Just Be Average,' Lifting Students Up Without Lowering The Bar

25 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In a radical new high school in Washington, D.C., the push for academic success sometimes clashes with providing young men the love and support they n...

A Year Of Love And Struggle In A New High School

18 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Too many young, black men struggle in America's education system. Washington D.C. is trying to do something about it with a new, boys-only high school...

The Passing Of A "Failing" School

11 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When a school shuts down, students lose more than a place of learning; they lose friends, mentors and a community. This is an experience that dispropo...

Puerto Rico, My Heart's Devotion

04 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The haphazard response to Hurricane Maria has underscored the tricky, in-between space that Puerto Ricans occupy. They're U.S. citizens — although n...

Befuddled By Babies, Love And Ice Pops? Ask Code Switch

27 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When social interactions become racially charged, sometimes even the most woke among us are prone to faux pas. So this week, we're taking on our liste...

A Weed Boom, But For Whom?

18 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The history of cannabis in the U.S. ― and its criminalization ― is deeply interwoven with race. As the legal cannabis market gains traction, peopl...

It's Getting (Dangerously) Hot in Herre

13 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's episode we talk about why certain communities are more vulnerable to catastrophic weather events like hurricanes and heat waves. Saying...

An Advertising Revolution: "Black People Are Not Dark-Skinned White People"

06 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How do you get black people to buy cigarettes made for cowboys and antebellum-style beer? Turns out, you don't. On this episode: Tom Burrell, who tran...

'I'm Not A Racist, I'm Argentine!'

30 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's episode, a viral video gives us the opportunity to talk about racism towards and within the Latino community. When a Latino flipped ove...

The Unfinished Battle In the Capital Of The Confederacy

23 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As calls to remove Confederate memorials grow louder, we head to Richmond, Va., where the veneration of Confederate leaders has been a source of local...

Charlottesville

16 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

After a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville spiraled into deadly violence, residents of the Virginia town do some soul-searching. Plus: a schol...

Who's Your Great-Great-Great-Great Granddaddy?

09 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Spit into a tube and get in touch with your ancestors! Or not. On this episode we interview the founder of a project that uses DNA tests to talk about...

The U.S. Census and Our Sense of Us

02 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Census is so much more than cold, hard data. It's about what we call ourselves, the ways we see ourselves and how we're represented. On this episo...

What's Good? Talking Hip-Hop and Race With Stretch & Bobbito

26 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene mix it up with the pioneering hip-hop radio hosts Stretch and Bobbito. These impresarios ran a legendary show in New York City during...

What's So Wrong With African Americans Wearing African Clothes?

19 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Leila Day and Hana Baba are hosts of a new podcast called The Stoop. It features conversations black people have amongst themselves — but rarely in ...

A Police Video From Charlotte

12 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This encore presentation goes deep on a case involving a white police officer and an unarmed black man in Charlotte, NC. Videos in police-involved sho...

The Supreme Court Decides In Favor Of A Racial Slur...Now What?

05 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided in favor of Simon Tam, front man of the band The Slants. The group has been fighting the U.S. Patent and Trade...

It's Our Anniversary

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene celebrate our first year on the podcast. We take a look back to some memorable stories with updates from the team and some of our gue...

What To Make Of Philando Castile's Death, One Year Later

21 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the aftermath of the acquittal of the officer who shot and killed Philando Castile, Gene and Shereen speak to a reporter who has followed the case ...

Encore: 'You're A Grand Old Flag'

14 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why do some people of color embrace the American flag while others refuse to wave it? In this episode from the Code Switch archives, Gene Demby and Ad...

A Prescription For "Racial Imposter Syndrome"

07 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene look at "racial imposter syndrome." It's what one listener described as feeling fake, or inauthentic, in her identity. We invited lis...

'Give It Up For DJ Blackface!'

01 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we follow the strange trend of white dance-music DJs who pass themselves off as black artists. Gene talks to legendary House music DJ Ron T...

We're Still Talking About "My Family's Slave"

24 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we join the global conversation on The Atlantic's essay "My Family's Slave," in which Alex Tizon writes about Eudocia Tomas Pulido, who was...

Japanese Americans Exiled In Utah

20 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The story of over 100,000 Japanese Americans enduring life in internment camps during WW II is well known, but a few thousand avoided the camps, entir...

Master of None's Alan Yang Unpacks Season 2

17 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gene and guest co-host Lenika Cruz, who covers culture at The Atlantic, welcome Alan Yang. He and comedian Aziz Ansari created an Emmy-winning comedy ...

The Blessing (And Curse?) Of Miss Saigon

10 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Miss Saigon has returned to Broadway. When the hit musical was first performed was controversial for its stereotypes and story and casting choices. Sh...

Talking Black-ish With Star Yara Shahidi And Creator Kenya Barris

03 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Black-ish creator (Kenya) and the show's 17-year-old star (Yara) talk about what's next for them on TV and in real life. Kenya explains why he's never...

The LA Unrest (Or Riots) 25 Years Later

29 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We hear from a Latino city councilman who was there when it all went down, a Korean-American who worked at her family's gas station in Compton and a p...

John Leguizamo, Still In Search Of John Leguizamo

26 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Gene welcomes NPR's Audie Cornish to talk about multi-talented writer, producer and comedian John Leguizamo. As a performer, he's mined his...

Mailbag! Listener Questions and Comments That Got Us Thinking

19 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene tackle listeners' reactions to recent episodes. One wants to know the difference between Persian and Iranian. (It's complicated.) Ano...

How One Inmate Changed The Prison System From The Inside

15 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In this Podcast Extra, NPR correspondent Joe Shapiro recalls the life and legacy of Martin Sostre, someone he first reported on as a student in the 19...

The Beef Over Native American Hunting Rights

12 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene welcome reporter Nate Hegyi, who spent a day in Montana with a Nez Perce hunting party, a tribe that faces strong opposition from som...

Changing Colors In Comics

05 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gene and guest host Glen Weldon (our play cousin from Pop Culture Happy Hour) explore how comics are used as spaces for mapping race and identity. Gen...

Podcast Extra En Español: Jeanette Vizguerra

01 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Jeanette Vizguerra speaks with Adrian Florido about her experience living in the church where she's taken sanctuary as she fights her deportation case...

Sanctuary Churches: Who Controls The Story?

29 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Code Switch's Adrian Florido has been covering the new sanctuary movement for us. For this episode, he spoke to key players to understand why hundreds...

A Bittersweet Persian New Year

22 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's springtime, and the celebration of rebirth and the New Year in Iranian-American communities is tempered by the recent rise in Islamaphobic incide...

The 80-Year Mystery Around 'Fred Douglas' Park

18 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In Nashville, there was a time when the idea of a "Negro park" ruffled feathers. For more than 80 years, there's been confusion about whether a park o...

Not-So-Simple Questions From Code Switch Listeners

15 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gene and Shereen tackle some Code Switch listeners' questions about race and identity with a voice coach, a professor of children's literature, and tw...

Safety-Pin Solidarity: With Allies, Who Benefits?

08 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Does wearing safety pins and giving speeches at awards shows make you an ally? On this episode we explore the conundrums of ally-ship with activist an...

In Search Of Puerto Rican Identity In Small-Town America

01 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Puerto Ricans are migrants not immigrants, Spanish and English, domestic yet foreign — as we like to say on Code Switch, it's complicated. A hundred...

The Horror, The Horror: "Get Out" And The Place of Race in Scary Movies

22 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's one of the oldest clichés of horror movies: the black guy dies first. But that's not the case in the new film "Get Out," written and directed by...

Ten Thousand Writers... and Two Intrepid Podcast Hosts

15 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Gene welcomes Code Switch reporter Kat Chow as guest host and they camp out at one of the biggest conferences for writers on the planet, held by the A...

Oscars So Black...At Least, In Documentaries

08 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A filmmaker of color is almost certain to win this year's Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. In fact, for the first time, African-American documentar...

Encore Plus: Who Is A Good Immigrant, Anyway?

01 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene are joined by Code Switch's own Adrian Florido to revisit a conversation about how advocates are challenging the narrative of the "go...

So, What Are You Afraid of Now?

26 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Code Switch listeners join Shereen and Gene in talking about their concerns and frustrations during the first hundred days of President Trump's admini...

Obama's Legacy: Did He Remix Race?

18 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We conclude our three part series of conversations on President Obama's racial legacy. It's likely that Barack Obama will be known not only as the fir...

Obama's Legacy: Callouts and Fallouts

11 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Shereen and Gene continue our conversation on President Barack Obama's racial legacy. Where did the president fall short — or fail — people of col...

Obama's Legacy: Diss-ent or Diss-respect?

04 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the first of three conversations about President Barack Obama's racial legacy,Code Switch asks how much race or racism drove the way the first blac...

Encore: Everyone Is Talking To Barry Jenkins, But Our Interview Is (Still) the Best!

28 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We revisit Gene's conversation with filmmaker Barry Jenkins to close out 2016. Jenkins' latest movie is Moonlight. There's buzz for awards nomination...

A Chitlins Christmas: Bah Humbug!

21 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You know it when you see it or, maybe by the smell. It's the holiday dish no one really likes but someone always makes "because it's tradition." Not a...

Hold Up! Time For An Explanatory Comma

14 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gene and Shereen ask how much cultural context to give when talking about race and culture. So, how much context should you have to provide? Comedian ...

Audie and the Not-So-Magic School Bus

07 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

NPR's Audie Cornish was bused to an affluent suburban school outside Boston in a voluntary integration program. She reflects on her experiences with G...

Encore: Asian American Letter on Behalf of Black Lives

30 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We present an encore episode from Summer 2016: Shereen Marisol Meraji and Kat Chow talk with Christina Xu about her project to open up a difficult rac...

Want Some Gravy With Those Grievances?

23 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

For families of color, the recent Presidential campaign season and election results may affect the tone of conversations at Thanksgiving and throughou...

Another Black President Says Goodbye To Washington

16 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Christopher Jackson steps down this week from his role as George Washington in the award-winning Broadway show Hamilton. Gene gets an exit inter...

A Muslim and A Mexican Walk Into A Bar....

10 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gene and Shereen digest the surprising results of the presidential election with help from a comedian and a columnist. Negin Farsad hosts the podcast ...

Apocalypse Or Racial Kumbaya? America After Nov. 8

02 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In just a few days, the election will be over. But the racism, anger and fear that have surfaced will still be with us. Gene and Shereen talk with Car...

Everyone Is Talking To Barry Jenkins But Our Interview Is The Best

26 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Just kidding. But seriously, "Moonlight," Jenkins' new film, is the movie of the moment. Gene talks with him about what it took to get the movie made,...

Encore: "I'm Not Black I'm O.J."

12 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

From the Code Switch archives: Gene talks with Ezra Edelman, director of the ESPN documentary "OJ: Made in America." For a long time, O.J. Simpson see...

Who Is A Good Immigrant, Anyway?

05 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You might call "Dreamers" the most sympathetic characters in the immigration reform drama. But what happens when advocates try to champion an illegal ...

The Code Switch Guide To Handling Casual Racism

28 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Awkward comments. Rude questions. Casual racism. What do you do when it happens in your presence? The mental calculus is hard enough. It gets even har...

Warning! This Episode May Trigger Debate

21 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

It's time for some real talk on trigger warnings. Gene and Shereen dig into it with two college professors. What really happens in the classroom when ...

Why Do We Still Care About Tupac?

14 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Tupac Shakur died 20 years ago this week. Gene Demby and Shereen Marisol Meraji debate his legacy with the writer Kevin Powell, who covered the rapper...

The Dangers Of Life As An American 'Nobody'

08 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Marc Lamont Hill untangles the decades of dysfunction that have led to recent racial flash-points in his latest book, Nobody: Casualties of America's ...

Code Switch Extra: Singer Juan Gabriel's Sexuality Was 'Open Secret'

04 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Many Mexican and Mexican Americans loved Juan Gabriel's music, but ridiculed his sexuality. Can his death open a new conversation about gay identity i...

What's So Funny About The Indian Accent?

31 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

From Apu to Ashton Kutcher, mimicking the Indian accent is still widely seen as fair game. Even lots of ABCD's — American-born confused desis — do...

Code Switch Extra: "Southside" and Black Love at the Movies

26 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Code Switch's Karen Grigsby Bates and NPR movie critic Bob Mondello discuss "Southside With You," a fictionalized version of Barack and Michelle Obama...