Code Switch
NPR
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
Mentioned books
Aug 26, 2020 • 24min
The United States' Pre-Existing Conditions
How was the the richest and most powerful country in the world laid low by a virus only nanometers in size? Ed Yong, a science reporter for The Atlantic, says it's the inequities that have been with us for generations that made our body politic such opportunistic targets.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Aug 19, 2020 • 49min
Keep Your Friends Closer
As part of our Ask Code Switch series, we're tackling your toughest questions about race and friendship. We help our listeners understand how race and and its evil play cousin, racism, affect how we make friends, keep friends, and deal with friend breakups. And we're doing it with help from WNYC's Death, Sex & Money podcast. Be a pal and listen.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Aug 12, 2020 • 43min
Kamala, Joe, And The Fissures In The Base
Black voters are the Democrats' most reliable and influential voting bloc. But this election has underscored the tensions between those Black voters, along generational and ideological lines — which could have major consequences on turnout this fall.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Aug 8, 2020 • 29min
Bonus Episode: Katrina, 15 Years Later
It's hurricane season, so this week, we're bringing you a bonus episode, from the Atlantic's Floodlines podcast. On this episode, "Through the Looking Glass," host Vann R. Newkirk II looks at the way the media distorted what was happening in New Orleans in the days after the storm, scapegoating Black people for the devastation they were subjected to.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Aug 5, 2020 • 37min
The Long, Bloody Strike For Ethnic Studies
The largest public university system in the country, the Cal State system, just announced a new graduation requirement: students must take an ethnic studies or social justice course. But ethnic studies might not even exist if it weren't for some students at a small commuter college in San Francisco. Fifty years ago, they 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 Policy
Jul 29, 2020 • 25min
One Korean American's Reckoning
At a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles, a young Korean American man named Edmond Hong decided to grab a megaphone. Addressing other Asian Americans in the crowd, he described the need to stop being quiet and complacent in the fight against racism. On this episode, we talk to Edmond about why he decided to speak out. And we check in with a historian about why so many people mistakenly believe that Asian Americans aren't political.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jul 22, 2020 • 42min
Un-HolyLand? An Arab Muslim Reckoning With Racism
After his daughter's racist and anti-LGBTQ social media posts became public, an Arab-Muslim entrepreneur is fighting to keep his once-burgeoning business alive in the middle of a national — and personal — reckoning with anti-blackness.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jul 17, 2020 • 17min
Remembering The 'Divine Diahann Carroll'
On what would have been Diahann Carroll's 85th birthday, we're celebrating the legacy of the actress, model and singer. Reporter Sonari Glinton went to her estate sale and took a tour of some of the objects that represent important moments in Ms. Carroll's life. And because Diahann Carroll achieved so many firsts, the exhibit was more like a civil rights exhibit than an auction.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jul 15, 2020 • 23min
What's In A 'Karen'?
"Karen" has become cultural shorthand for a white woman who wields her race as a cudgel. And look, we all love to hate a good Karen. But where did this archetype come from? What will the next iteration of Karen be? And what are we missing by focusing on the Karens of the world?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Jul 8, 2020 • 20min
An Immune System
While it's technically possible to win a civil lawsuit against police officers for wrongdoing, there's a reason it almost never happens: a legal technicality called qualified immunity. On this episode, we look at how a law meant to protect Black people from racist violence gave way to a legal doctrine that many people see as the biggest obstacle to police reform.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
