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The dance that made its way from Harlem to Sweden

LaTasha Barnes is a tradition-bearer of Black social dances, including the Lindy Hop. Cassidy Araiza for NPR hide caption

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Cassidy Araiza for NPR

Code Switch

The dance that made its way from Harlem to Sweden

Lindy Hop is a dance that was born in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s — created and performed by African Americans in segregated clubs and dance halls. But today, one of the world's most vibrant Lindy Hop communities is in Sweden. So what happens when a Black American wants to learn the art form that she first encountered at the hands of her great-grandmother?

The dance that made its way from Harlem to Sweden

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Wherefore art thou, N-word?
LA Johnson/NPR

Code Switch

Wherefore art thou, N-word?

It is probably the most radioactive word in the English language. At the same time, the N-word is kind of everywhere: books, movies, music, comedy (not to mention the mouths of people who use it frequently, whether as a slur or a term of endearment.) So on this episode, we're talking about what makes the word unique — and how the rules about its use line up with other words.

Wherefore art thou, N-word?

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Unlearning anti-Blackness in therapy: 'The Buck Stops Here'
Islenia Milien for NPR

Code Switch

Unlearning anti-Blackness in therapy: 'The Buck Stops Here'

by Isabeth Mendoza

Twenty percent of American adults sought out therapy in 2020. But Grisell Valencia faced a challenge; she wanted a therapist who could respond to experiences she was dealing with as an Afro-Latina.

Unlearning anti-Blackness in therapy: 'The Buck Stops Here'

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Screams and Silence, Revisited

Anti Asian-American hate has been on the rise, but is nothing new to the people who experience it. Hokyoung Kim for NPR hide caption

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Hokyoung Kim for NPR

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Screams and Silence, Revisited

This week marks the one year anniversary of a deadly shooting spree in Atlanta, where eight people were killed. Six of those people were Asian American. That violence came after Asian American organizers had been trying, for months, to sound the alarm over a dramatic spike in reports of anti-Asian racism.

Screams and Silence, Revisited

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What's In A Dad?

Comedian Hari Kondabolu with his son Arjun. Antoine Didienne/Courtesy of Hari Kondabolu hide caption

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Antoine Didienne/Courtesy of Hari Kondabolu

Code Switch

What's In A Dad?

Gene Demby and comedian Hari Kondabolu are both new fathers, and they're both learning to raise kids who will have very different identities and upbringings than their own. It's left both of them reflecting on some big questions: How will they teach their children about race? What are the elements of their childhoods that they want to pass on? And what, exactly, is a father anyway?

What's In A Dad?

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Ice Breaker
Alaina Murphy/Blind Landing

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Ice Breaker

Figure skating has always been about flair and drama. But what happens on the ice is nothing compared to what goes on behind the scenes. This week, with the help of our friends at the Blind Landing podcast, we're telling the story of Mabel Fairbanks. Fairbanks was a Black and Seminole figure skater who spent her career training figure skaters of color — while navigating the complicated racial and social dynamics that characterized the sport.

Ice Breaker

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The rise and fall of 'America's Dad'
Michelle Rohn for NPR

Perspective

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The rise and fall of 'America's Dad'

At the height of his career, Bill Cosby was one of the most famous men in the United States. He was the biggest and highest paid star in the country, and with his image plastered on billboards, advertisements and television, many people felt like they knew him. Of course, few people really knew Bill Cosby. And many of the people who had seen who he was up close would be traumatized for the rest of their lives.

The rise and fall of 'America's Dad'

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Can therapy solve racism?

Can therapy erase racism? What are the limits of how it can be used to combat anti-Blackness? Islenia Milien for NPR hide caption

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Islenia Milien for NPR

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Can therapy solve racism?

by Isabeth Mendoza , ,

In 2020, nearly 20% of Americans turned to therapy. Many of those people were looking for a space to process some of the big, painful events they were living through, including the pandemic, a contentious election cycle, and of course, the summer's racial reckoning. But that had us wondering: What exactly can therapy accomplish? Can it mitigate the effects of racism? Help us undo how we internalize racial trauma? Today, we're sharing the stories of two Latinx people who tried to use therapy as a means to understand and combat anti-Blackness in their own lives.

Can therapy solve racism?

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What internet outrage reveals about race and TikTok's algorithm

West Elm Caleb went from a local Hinge player to dating supervillain, the target of a massive, righteous internet investigation. An audience of millions helped uncover and blow up his personal information. Nicole Xu for NPR hide caption

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Nicole Xu for NPR

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What internet outrage reveals about race and TikTok's algorithm

While it's good that many called out the overstep in reaction, it also made us think about the ways that these outrage cycles happen, and often get ignored, when people of color are involved.

Humor, poetry and romance on Code Switch Live

Clockwise from top left: Paul Tran, Ayesha Roscoe, Hari Kondabolu and Denice Frohman. NPR hide caption

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Humor, poetry and romance on Code Switch Live

by , Denice Frohman ,

Live from your computer screens, it's Code Switch! Guest hosts Ayesha Rascoe and Denice Frohman joined us to talk poetry and humor with special guests Paul Tran and Hari Kondabolu. Then, Ayesha and Denice answered your questions about race and love.

Humor, poetry and romance on Code Switch Live

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Bonus Episode: Consider the Lobstermen

Photo of lobster caught in the Canadian province, Nova Scotia. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR hide caption

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Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR

Code Switch

Bonus Episode: Consider the Lobstermen

In Canada, tensions between indigenous fishermen and commercial fishermen have been simmering for decades. On today's bonus episode, from our friends at NPR's Planet Money team, we travel to Nova Scotia to figure out how a group of Mi'kmaw fishermen asserted their rights to fish and what happened when commercial lobsterman struck back hard.

Bonus Episode: Consider the Lobstermen

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The 'double-edged sword' of being a Black first

Constance Baker Motley, nominated to be judge of the southern district of New York, poses in Washington during confirmation hearings, April 4, 1966. Henry Griffin/AP Photo hide caption

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Henry Griffin/AP Photo

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The 'double-edged sword' of being a Black first

It's Black History Month, which is likely to bring boundless stories of Black Excellence and Black Firsts. So today on the show, we're talking about Constance Baker Motley — a trailblazing civil rights judge who paved the way for many to come after her (including, perhaps, the next Supreme Court justice?) But, as we learned, Motley's life was full of contradictions, and her many achievements also came with many costs.

The 'double-edged sword' of being a Black first

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Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

Gabrielle Union. Photo illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR hide caption

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Photo illustration by Renee Klahr/NPR

Perspective

Code Switch

Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

We hear the phrase "unapologetically Black" thrown around a lot. But what does it actually mean? In this bonus episode from our newest play cousins at NPR's The Limits podcast, actress, businessperson, and author Gabrielle Union talks about what it meant for her to stop paying so much attention to what white people wanted from her.

Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

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Playing Pretendian
Alex Bowman for NPR

Code Switch

Playing Pretendian

People lie about being Native American all the time – on college applications, on job applications, in casual conversation. But how do "Pretendians" hurt real Indigenous people and communities? And what does all that mean for people who aren't quite sure if they're claiming or reclaiming?

Playing Pretendian

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Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

Andre Leon Talley speaks during a Q&A during the 21st SCAD Savannah Film Festival on November 2, 2018 in Savannah, Georgia. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD hide caption

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Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD

Code Switch

Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

Since he died this week, André Leon Talley has been described over and over again as "larger than life." But on this episode, brought to us by our friends at NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast, three queer Black men talk about the smaller, more personal moments that made Talley such an icon in the fashion world — and in the broader culture.

Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

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A whiteness that's only skin deep

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

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Perspective

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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

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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?" Lisa Abitbol; Harrison Truong/NPR hide caption

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Lisa Abitbol; Harrison Truong/NPR

Code Switch

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?

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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. Sidney King/Associated Press hide caption

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Sidney King/Associated Press

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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?
LA Johnson/NPR

Ask Code Switch

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?

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