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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
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Code Switch

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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

Most Recent Episodes

A person stands at a rainy protest holding a sign that reads "HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED"
IfNotNow LA/IfNotNow LA

What does Israel mean to American Jews?

Even since before October 7, 2023, American Jews have found themselves grappling with what it means to speak out against Israel and the rifts in their communities over their political views. And despite a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the division among Jews in the U.S. about Zionism and anti-Zionism could go on for years to come. In this episode, we revisit our conversations with some people experiencing that division first hand, and we dive deep into the long history of Jewish criticism of Israel with Marjorie Feld, professor of history at Babson College, and author of Threshold of Dissent, A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism.

RR WW ANTI ZIONIST

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Stacey Abrams on how voter suppression threatens democracy
Jackie Lay

Stacey Abrams on how voter suppression threatens democracy

Stacey Abrams is one of the most high-profile voting rights activists in the U.S. She says whether we have an actual democracy might literally depend on protecting voting rights in the next election cycle or two. How to prevent that? Keep an eye on the 10 steps from democracy to autocracy.

Code Switch-10.10.2025

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Voting rights are at risk. Here's why.
Jackie Lay

Voting rights are at risk. Here's why.

Next Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears a case that could further weaken the Voting Rights Act, which was passed to ensure fair districting and voting practices across different racial groups. Meanwhile, lawmakers across states are taking other paths to limit who can vote, from redrawing districts in order to favor a single party to limiting which government-issued IDs are permitted at the ballot box. And with election day just a few weeks a day, we’re asking, who will be able to vote — and whose votes will really count?

Voting rights are at risk. Here's why.

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Why Malala Yousafzai is a hero in the West but not back home

Why Malala Yousafzai is a hero in the West but not back home

Why is Malala Yousafzai so revered in the West while being much less popular in her home country of Pakistan? On this week's Code Switch, we unpack how Pakistani skepticism of Malala extends from a suspicion of U.S. and other foreign interests.

CS MALALA

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Is the American dream a scam?

Is the American dream a scam?

This week on the pod: author Edgar Gomez talks about what it was like growing up poor, queer, and Nicaraguan Puerto Rican in Florida. His new memoir, Alligator Tears, chronicles his dreams of making it big, the various mini-scams he got into along the way, and his realization that a rich life might not ever come with bundles of money.

Alligator Tears

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The stakes of calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide
UN Photo

The stakes of calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide

This week: why the term "genocide" matters when talking about Israel's actions against Palestinians in Gaza. On Tuesday, a UN commission said it found that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, as more people, groups and countries are alleging the same. We break down what the word genocide means on both a personal and geopolitical level, why it’s understood very differently by different people, and what that designation requires of the rest of the world.

The stakes of calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide

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How calls for mass deportations went mainstream

How calls for mass deportations went mainstream

Calls to ban “third world immigration” in favor of “remigration” -- or, mass deportation -- went from fringe ideas in far right circles to ones pedaled by mainstream conservatives. Now, those ideas are mirrored in government policy. On this week's Code Switch, we track how these ideas got their start among white nationalists and neo-Nazis in the U.S. and Europe and found their way into the language of popular right-wing influencers and Trump administration advisers. Note: This episode makes references to Charlie Kirk, and it was reported and recorded before he was shot in Utah.

How calls for mass deportations went mainstream

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Digging into our ancestors' drama

Podcast art for Our Ancestors Were Messy Courtesy of Nichole Hill/Courtesy of Nichole Hill hide caption

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Courtesy of Nichole Hill/Courtesy of Nichole Hill

Digging into our ancestors' drama

This week, we're bringing you a special episode from our play cousins over at the podcast "Our Ancestors Were Messy." We hear about how Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes went from being best friends to not friends.

Digging into our ancestors' drama

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How racism kept Americans out of pools
Jackie Lay

How racism kept Americans out of pools

This week, we're looking into the history of public swimming pools in the U.S., and the legacy that pool segregation has had on swimming skills in the country today. Earlier this year, Jasmine Romero found herself surrounded by four- and five-year-olds, ready to take her first ever swim class. Jasmine, who is in her mid-thirties, has had a fear of swimming all her life. It's a fear that was passed down from her mother, and spread to all of her sisters, too. But the Romero family isn't alone. People of color have long been afraid of the water — and with good reason.

How racism kept Americans out of pools

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An encampment for the unhoused in Washington D.C. near the Kennedy Center was cleared by employees of the city's Department of Health and Human Services. The residents of the encampment packed up their belongings and left with the help of city outreach workers as well as non-profit employees and volunteers.

An encampment for the unhoused in Washington D.C. near the Kennedy Center was cleared by employees of the city's Department of Health and Human Services. The residents of the encampment packed up their belongings and left with the help of city outreach workers as well as non-profit employees and volunteers. Tyrone Turner/WAMU for NPR hide caption

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Tyrone Turner/WAMU for NPR

How Trump's D.C. takeover criminalizes homelessness

On August 11, President Trump announced his intention to "rescue" the nation's capital. A central feature of his plan involved using federal officials to remove people experiencing homelessness from the city — people that he listed alongside "violent gangs, bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, and drugged out maniacs." On this episode, we're diving into what it means to criminalize homelessness, what it looks like when police officers are used to solve social problems, and what this D.C. takeover might portend for the rest of the country.

"Crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor."

Listen · 39:27
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