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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.
Code Switch

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NPR Code Switch 2020
NPR

Code Switch

From 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.

Most Recent Episodes

A whiteness that's only skin deep

Destiny O. Birdsong, Meredith Talusan and Torey Alford. NPR hide caption

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NPR

A whiteness that's only skin deep

We use words related to color to describe different racial categories all the time — Black, white, brown. But how much of race and identity actually has to do with the color of your skin? What if what appears to be "whiteness" is only skin deep? Today we're sharing stories from people of color with albinism whose experiences challenge what many people think they know about race.

A whiteness that's only skin deep

Listen · 24:57
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They came, they saw, they reckoned?

Friends Jennifer Chudy, an assistant professor of political science at Wellesley College who studies white public opinion around race, and Hakeem Jefferson, an assistant professor at Stanford University, scoured public opinion data together in order to write an essay for the New York Times last May called: "Support for the Black Lives Matter Movement Surged Last Year: Did It Last?" NPR hide caption

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NPR

They came, they saw, they reckoned?

It's now been more than a year since the so-called "racial reckoning" that marked the summer of 2020. The country, some said confidently, was having the biggest racial reckoning since the civil rights movement. But since then, the Code Switch team has been wondering...what was actually being reckoned with? And by whom? And what would the backlash be?

They came, they saw, they reckoned?

Listen · 35:22
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Nikole Hannah-Jones on the power of collective memory

A painting by artist Sidney King depicting a Dutch ship with 20 enslaved African people arriving at Point Comfort, VA in 1619, marking the beginning of slavery in America. Associated Press hide caption

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Associated Press

Nikole Hannah-Jones on the power of collective memory

What stories do we learn about the history of the United States? Who dreamed up those stories? And what happens when we challenge them? This week on the pod, our play cousins at NPR's Throughline podcast talk to journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones about the historical argument she tried to make with the 1619 project.

Nikole Hannah-Jones on the power of collective memory

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Ask Code Switch: What does race have to do with beauty?
NPR

Ask Code Switch: What does race have to do with beauty?

This time of year, folks are being inundated with messages about how to become more beautiful. But beauty is an ever-changing goalpost that has everything do with race, class and power.

Ask Code Switch: What does race have to do with beauty?

Listen · 48:09
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What We Watched in 2021

Clockwise from top left: We Are Lady Parts, City of Ghosts, Bachelorette (Season 18), The Wonder Years, and Reservation Dogs. NPR hide caption

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NPR

What We Watched in 2021

Y'all, 2021 brought us a lot of TV. Some of it was even good! So this week, we're talking about the shows that had something interesting to say about race, from We Are Lady Parts to Reservation Dogs to City of Ghosts.

What We Watched in 2021

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Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

In the third part of our series exploring crossover in pop music, we reexamine the so-called "Latin explosion" of the '90s: what it was supposed to be for audiences across the U.S., and what it actually came to represent. Blake Cale for NPR hide caption

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Blake Cale for NPR

Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

Our play cousins at NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast reexamine the so-called "Latin explosion" of the late '90s: What it was supposed to be for audiences across the U.S., and what it actually came to represent.

Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

Listen · 34:36
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What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?
NPR

What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?

The term 'Latin Music' can encompass everything from Celia Cruz to Bad Bunny to Selena Gomez to Los Tigres del Norte. It's rock, pop, hip hop, salsa, bachata, reggaeton, and so much more. So...what exactly is the connective tissue? Language? The ethnicity of the artist? Pure vibes? Or is it something else entirely?

What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?

Listen · 36:22
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A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'
Little, Brown and Company

A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'

How do race and class affect the way we eat? What makes dollar store junk food different from organic junk food? And when did Whole Foods become such a polarizing grocery store? We're getting into all those questions and more with Priya Fielding-Singh, author of the new book, How the Other Half Eats.

A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'

Listen · 33:23
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Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

Derecka Purnell Astra Publishing hide caption

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Astra Publishing

Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

When Derecka Purnell was growing up, the police were a regular presence in her life. Years later, the lawyer, activist, and author of the new book, Becoming Abolitionists, realized that her vision of a just society was radically different from the world in which she'd been socialized.

Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

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Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food
LA Johnson

Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food

It's Thanksgiving week, so we're bringing you a second helping of one of our favorite episodes, where we answer your questions about race and food. We're getting into the perceived whiteness of vegetarianism, what it means when H-Mart becomes a little too mainstream, and the etiquette around bringing pungent-smelling food to the (proverbial) office.

Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food

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