Accessibility links
Code Switch Race and identity, remixed.

Code SwitchCode Switch

Race. In your face.
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

toggle caption
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

Listen · 32:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/955673514/956289096" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
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

toggle caption
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

toggle caption
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'

Listen · 31:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/953674992/953760093" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
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

toggle caption
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

Listen · 48:54
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/944615029/947007469" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
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

Listen · 21:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/945433640/946102084" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
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

toggle caption
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'

Listen · 36:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/944409653/944486048" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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

Listen · 56:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/940547250/940690403" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Thank You, Next

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

toggle caption
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

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/938633514/938643368" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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

toggle caption
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

Listen · 37:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/935910276/936528272" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
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

toggle caption
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

Listen · 36:34
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/933631207/933738052" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
In Harris, Black Sororities And Fraternities Celebrate One Of Their Own

Sen. Kamala Harris stands with attendees and participates in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. hymn at their Annual Pink Ice Gala in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Code Switch

In Harris, Black Sororities And Fraternities Celebrate One Of Their Own

Lawrence C. Ross, author of The Divine Nine, explains why Black sororities showed up and showed out for Kamala Harris—and how Black Greek organizations have long pushed for enfranchisement.

The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

Victor Samuel Martinez-Rivera, Fernanda Ruiz Martinez, Heber Toscano and Alejandro Vasquez are voting for president for the very first time. Eve Edelheit, Deanna Dent and Xueying Chang/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Eve Edelheit, Deanna Dent and Xueying Chang/NPR

Code Switch

The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

For the first time in election history, Latinos are projected to be the second-largest voting demographic in the country. The reason? Gen Z Latinx voters, many of whom are casting a ballot for the first time in 2020. So we asked a bunch of them: Who do you plan to vote for? What issues do you care about? And what do you want the rest of the country to know about you?

The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

Listen · 30:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/926678395/928654242" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Is Trump Really That Racist?
LA Johnson/NPR/Getty

Code Switch

Is Trump Really That Racist?

We know his rhetoric has been described as boundary breaking when it comes to race. But U.S. presidents have been enacting racist policies forever. So as President Trump wraps up his first (and maybe only) term in office, we're asking: In terms of racism, how does he stack up to others when it comes to both words and deeds?

Is Trump Really That Racist?

Listen · 35:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/925385389/926039887" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org