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Code Switch Race and identity, remixed.

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Race. In your face.
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'Payback's A B****'

The new podcast from Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow. Courtesy of Color Farm Media hide caption

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Courtesy of Color Farm Media

Code Switch

'Payback's A B****'

We're ending Black history month where we started it...talking about reparations. On this episode, we're joined by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow, who have spent the past two years exploring how reparations could transform the United States — and all the struggles and possibilities that go along with that.

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A Shot In The Dark

Rev. Baums takes COVID Vaccine administered by nurse Anita Joy at the Zion AME Syracuse. Cherilyn Beckles for NPR hide caption

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Cherilyn Beckles for NPR

Code Switch

A Shot In The Dark

As the rollout of coronavirus vaccines unfolds, one big challenge for public health officials has been the skepticism many Black people have toward the vaccine. One notorious medical study — the Tuskegee experiment — has been cited as a reason. But should it be?

A Shot In The Dark

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The Queen Of Black Historical Romance Talks Race, Love And History

Beverly Jenkins author photo. Greg Anthony/Harper Collins hide caption

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Greg Anthony/Harper Collins

Code Switch

The Queen Of Black Historical Romance Talks Race, Love And History

Stories about Black history often focus on struggle and suffering—but Beverly Jenkins, the author of more than 40 historical romance novels, has spent her career telling stories about Black love.

The Queen Of Black Historical Romance Talks Race, Love And History

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Black Kiss-tory

Wild Rain is author Beverly Jenkins' newest steamy novel. Harper Collins hide caption

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Harper Collins

Code Switch

Black Kiss-tory

Too often, Black history is portrayed as a story of struggle and suffering, completely devoid of joy. So we called up some romance novelists whose work focuses on Black history. They told us that no matter how hard the times, there has always been room for love.

Black Kiss-tory

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Who's 'Black Enough' For Reparations?
Bee Harris for NPR

Opinion

Code Switch

Who's 'Black Enough' For Reparations?

Black History Month is here, which means we're diving into big, sticky questions about what exactly it means to be Black. So this week on the show: Who is 'Black enough' for reparations? Because you know...we got some bills to pay.

Who's 'Black Enough' For Reparations?

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Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of 'Killer King'

An ICU nurse helps a COVID-19 patient speak to their family over an iPad. Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR hide caption

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Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR

Code Switch

Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of 'Killer King'

For decades, residents of Compton and Watts in South Los Angeles had to rely on one particularly troubled hospital for their medical care. A new state-of-the-art hospital replaced it, but faced many of the same challenges: too few beds, too many patients who need serious help, not enough money. Then came the coronavirus.

Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of 'Killer King'

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The 'Racial Caste System' At The U.S. Capitol

Capitol workers remove damaged furniture on from the U.S. Capitol on January 7, 2021, following the riot at the Capitol the day before. Bill Clark/Getty Images hide caption

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Bill Clark/Getty Images

Code Switch

The 'Racial Caste System' At The U.S. Capitol

After the Capitol was cleared of insurrectionists on January 6, there was work to be done — and it wasn't lost on many that cleaning up the mess would fall largely to Black and Brown people.

From The Fringe To The Capitol
Jon Cherry / Getty / LA Johnson/NPR

Code Switch

From The Fringe To The Capitol

Like all of you, we are still trying to make sense of Wednesday, January 6, 2021. Because even after the past four years, there are still new iterations of WTF. So on this episode, we're talking police, "terrorism", and the symbols of white nationalism that made it to the floor of the Capitol.

From The Fringe To The Capitol

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How The Storming Of The Capitol Was — And Wasn't — About Police

Police hold back supporters of Donald Trump as they gather outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. Olivier Douliery/Getty Images hide caption

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Olivier Douliery/Getty Images

Code Switch

How The Storming Of The Capitol Was — And Wasn't — About Police

Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing, says it's a mistake to boil Wednesday's events down to questions of police force. He argues we need a broader conversation about race, politics and justice.

Finding 'A Perfect Match'

Terika Haughton and Ibby Caputo Courtesy of Ibby Caputo hide caption

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Courtesy of Ibby Caputo

Code Switch

Finding 'A Perfect Match'

Two close friends both suffered from the same aggressive form of cancer. After years of treatment, one lived and the other died. And while many variables factored into what happened, the woman who survived — reporter Ibby Caputo — couldn't help wondering what role race had played in the outcome.

Finding 'A Perfect Match'

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Black And Up In Arms

(From left) Dickson "Q" Amoah, Jon McDonald, Kourtney Redmond, Costia Harris and David Hayes are members and/or officers of the Chicago chapter of the National African American Gun Association. Olivia Obineme for NPR hide caption

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Olivia Obineme for NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

Black And Up In Arms

by Lakeidra Chavis

Guns. They're as American as apple pie. They represent independence and self-reliance. But ... not so much if you're Black. On this episode, we're getting into the complicated history of Black gun ownership and what it has to tell us about our present moment.

Black And Up In Arms

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The Books That Got Away
NPR

Review

Code Switch

The Books That Got Away

Listen, a lot has happened this year, and it's no shock that some things may have slipped under the radar. So our resident book expert, Karen Grigsby Bates, took a virtual trip around the country to talk to independent book store owners about their favorite underappreciated reads of 2020.

The Books That Got Away

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Stepping Back Inside Carmen Maria Machado's 'Dream House'

Carmen Maria Machado's new memoir is called "In The Dreamhouse." Art Streiber/AUGUST hide caption

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Art Streiber/AUGUST

Review

Code Switch

Stepping Back Inside Carmen Maria Machado's 'Dream House'

It's no secret that Code Switch is a team full of book nerds. So this week, we're revisiting one of our favorite book conversations, with author Carmen Maria Machado. Her genre-defying memoir, In the Dream House, tells the story of how she survived intimate partner violence, despite having few models of how to deal with, or even recognize abusive dynamics in queer relationships.

Stepping Back Inside Carmen Maria Machado's 'Dream House'

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Words Of Advice
Dion MBD for NPR

Code Switch

Words Of Advice

Let's face it — we could all use some help right now. So today on the pod, we're looking at a few of our favorite questions about race and identity from our "Ask Code Switch" series. We're getting into food, relationships, money, language, friendship and more, so you know it's about to get a little messy (in the best way.)

Words Of Advice

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Thank You, Next

Family tensions can bubble to the surface during the holidays, especially after a divisive election. Daniel Fishel for NPR hide caption

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Daniel Fishel for NPR

Code Switch

Thank You, Next

It's Thanksgiving week, and like basically everything else about 2020, this holiday is on track to be...let's call it "different." But while the world has changed in innumerable ways this year, one thing that hasn't changed is that the country is still deeply politically divided.

Thank You, Next

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The White Elephants In The Room

a photo collage of anti- and pro-Trump voters, with an elephant in the middle Tanganyika Zinzani for NPR hide caption

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Tanganyika Zinzani for NPR

Code Switch

The White Elephants In The Room

One of the biggest storylines from the 2020 presidential race has ... well, race at the center of it. If you paid attention to the stories about exit polling, you heard a lot of talk about how Latinx and Black voters showed up in bigger numbers this year than back in 2016. But on this week's episode, we also focus on a conversation that's not happening: The one about a group whose support for Donald Trump hasn't wavered. We're talking about the white vote, and in particular, white evangelical voters.

The White Elephants In The Room

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Claim Us If You're Famous

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris, front center, with, from left, her grandfather, sister, mother and grandmother in 1972. Twitter/ @mayaharris_ hide caption

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Twitter/ @mayaharris_

Code Switch

Claim Us If You're Famous

Kamala Harris is the vice president-elect, which marks an impressive list of firsts: woman in the White House; Black woman in the White House, Asian American in the White House; etc. Her Indian heritage has gotten much less attention than her Black identity, and in many ways, it has been complicated by her Black identity. On this episode, we look at what Harris's identities can tell us about dual-minority POCs, South Asian political representation in the U.S., and what it all means at the voting booth.

Claim Us If You're Famous

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