Accessibility links
Code Switch Ever find yourself in a conversation about race and identity where you just get...stuck? Code Switch can help. We're all journalists of color, and this isn't just the work we do. It's the lives we lead. Sometimes, we'll make you laugh. Other times, you'll get uncomfortable. But we'll always be unflinchingly honest and empathetic. Come mix it up with us.
Code Switch

Podcast Directory
Code Switch
NPR

Code Switch

From NPR

Ever find yourself in a conversation about race and identity where you just get...stuck? Code Switch can help. We're all journalists of color, and this isn't just the work we do. It's the lives we lead. Sometimes, we'll make you laugh. Other times, you'll get uncomfortable. But we'll always be unflinchingly honest and empathetic. Come mix it up with us.

Most Recent Episodes

"On Strike! Blow It Up!"

Lisa Rae Gutierrez was one of the students at San Francisco State who took part in the longest student strike in the nation's history fifty years ago. Shereen Marisol Meraji hide caption

toggle caption
Shereen Marisol Meraji

"On Strike! Blow It Up!"

Fifty years ago a multi-racial 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.

"On Strike! Blow It Up!"

Listen · 37:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/704988020/704998809" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Respect Yourself
LA Johnson/NPR

Respect Yourself

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.

Respect Yourself

Listen · 32:13
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/692206390/702868819" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
When Disaster Strikes

A boy rides his bike through still water after a thunderstorm in the Lakewood area of East Houston, which flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Claire Harbage/NPR

When Disaster Strikes

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.

When Disaster Strikes

Listen · 22:23
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/700539867/700574008" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
On The Shoulders Of Giants

3 AUG 1960: Wilma Rudolph of the USA, on the awards stand after winning the gold medal in the 200 meter spring at the Summer Olympics in Rome. Hulton Deutsch/All Hulton Deutsch/Getty hide caption

toggle caption
Hulton Deutsch/Getty

On The Shoulders Of Giants

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.

On The Shoulders Of Giants

Listen · 40:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/698102193/698591292" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Getting A Foot In the Door

Leonissa Duarte, 18, left, and Freddy Tijerino, 18, star in director Anali Cabrera's film Luna at Moonlight, set at the Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale, CA. Courtesy of Anali Cabrera hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Anali Cabrera

Getting A Foot In the Door

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?

Getting A Foot In the Door

Listen · 23:51
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/696421720/696506761" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
From Blackface To Blackfishing

A sheet music poster from 1937 of Amos 'n' Andy, a popular radio show. Ric Francis/Associated Press hide caption

toggle caption
Ric Francis/Associated Press

From Blackface To Blackfishing

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.

From Blackface To Blackfishing

Listen · 28:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/694149912/694170263" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
We're Going To Start A Dialogue...Again.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam speaks during a news conference in the governor's mansion in Richmond, Va. Steve Helber/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Steve Helber/AP

We're Going To Start A Dialogue...Again.

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.

We're Going To Start A Dialogue...Again.

Listen · 27:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/692237314/692238256" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Pretty Hurts

It's not easy being beautiful. No matter what they say. LA Johnson hide caption

toggle caption
LA Johnson

Pretty Hurts

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.

Pretty Hurts

Listen · 47:32
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/689687288/689857186" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Intrigue At The Census Bureau

Steven Dillingham is the newly appointed director of the Census. He has his work cut out for him. Bill Clark/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Bill Clark/Getty Images

Intrigue At The Census Bureau

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.

Intrigue At The Census Bureau

Listen · 29:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/687956867/688099450" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Perfect Son

Jason Kim and his father. Jason Kim hide caption

toggle caption
Jason Kim

Perfect Son

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.

Perfect Son

Listen · 38:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/683023132/685705824" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Related Podcasts

Code Switch

Podcast Directory
Back To Top
or search npr.org