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From 'fight the power' to advertising for the power: hip-hop turns 50
Islen Milien for NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

From 'fight the power' to advertising for the power: hip-hop turns 50

For hip-hop's not-official-but-kind-of-official 50th birthday, we dig into its many contradictions. From the legend of the South Bronx block party where hip-hop was born to the multi-billion-dollar global industry and tool for U.S. diplomacy it has become, America's relationship with hip-hop — and the people who make it — is complicated.

From 'fight the power' to advertising for the power: hip-hop turns 50

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Rolling the dice on race in Dungeons & Dragons
Thumy Phan for NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

Rolling the dice on race in Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most popular tabletop role-playing games of all time. But it has also helped cement some ideas about how we create and define race in fantasy — and in the tangible world. This week we revisit a deep dive into that game. What we find about racial stereotypes and colonialist supremacy is illuminating.

Rolling the dice on race in Dungeons & Dragons

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Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back
LA Johnson/Getty Images/NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back

How do you participate in a faith practice that has a rough track record with racism? That's what our play-cousin J.C. Howard gets into on this week's episode of Code Switch. He talks to us about Black Christians who, like him for a time, found their spiritual homes in white evangelical churches.

Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back

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The tricky obligations of utang na loob
Malaka Gharib/NPR

Perspective

The Code Switch Podcast

The tricky obligations of utang na loob

Utang na loob is the Filipino concept of an eternal debt to others, be it family or friends, who do a favor for you. In this episode from 2022, we break down this "debt of the inner soul" — and discover a surprising side to this pre-colonial value.

The tricky obligations of utang na loob

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The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott
NPR

Perspective

The Code Switch Podcast

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

We've heard about Rosa Parks and her crucial role in the Montgomery bus boycott. But Parks was just one of many women who organized for years. In this episode, those women tell their own story.

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

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Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color

Jasmin Savoy Brown stars in Scream 6 and Yellowjackets. photo by Robb Klassen/design by NPR hide caption

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photo by Robb Klassen/design by NPR

Perspective

The Code Switch Podcast

Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color

Host B.A. Parker talks to Jasmin Savoy Brown, of the recently-released Scream 6, about playing a queer Black girl who lives. And film critics Richard Newby and Mallory Yu discuss how horror movies can actually help us empathize with each other

Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color

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We owe women of color for the foods we love to eat

Chefs Von Diaz, Mayukh Sen, Reem Assil and Priya Krishna. NPR hide caption

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NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

We owe women of color for the foods we love to eat

For decades, the ingredients, dishes and chefs that are popularized have been filtered through the narrow lens of a food and publishing world dominated by mostly white, mostly male decision-makers. But with more food authors of color taking center stage, is that changing? In this episode, we dive deep into food publishing, past and present.

We owe women of color for the foods we love to eat

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Reckoning With The NFL's Rooney Rule
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The Code Switch Podcast

Reckoning With The NFL's Rooney Rule

The large majority of NFL players are people of color. The coaches on the sidelines? Not so much. In this episode, we're looking at the NFL's famous diversity plan and what it might tells us about why so many corporate initiatives like it don't work.

Reckoning With The NFL's Rooney Rule

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The Utang Clan
Malaka Gharib/NPR

Perspective

The Code Switch Podcast

The Utang Clan

Utang na loob is the Filipino concept of an eternal debt to others, be it family or friends, who do a favor for you. It goes back to pre-colonial times in the Philippines, and can pass from one generation to another. And some Filipino-Americans want to do away with utang all together, especially when it butts up against "American" values of independence and self-reliance. On this week's episode, we break down this "debt of the inner soul" — and discover a surprising side to this value.

The Utang Clan

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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

The Code Switch Podcast

Can therapy solve racism?

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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A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'
Little, Brown and Company

The Code Switch Podcast

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'

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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

Analysis

The Code Switch Podcast

Black And Up In Arms

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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Opinion: Report On Racism, But Ditch The Labels

President Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Oliver Contreras/Getty Images hide caption

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Oliver Contreras/Getty Images

Opinion

The Code Switch Podcast

Opinion: Report On Racism, But Ditch The Labels

I understand the moral outrage behind wanting to call the president's tweets racist. But I disagree.

Opinion: Report On Racism, But Ditch The Labels

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Is 'Race Science' Making A Comeback?

Angela Saini, author of Superior: The Return of Race Science. Henrietta Garden hide caption

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Henrietta Garden

The Code Switch Podcast

Is 'Race Science' Making A Comeback?

We talked to Angela Saini, author of the new book Superior: The Return of Race Science, about how race isn't real (but you know ... still is) and how race science crept its way into the 21st century.

Is 'Race Science' Making A Comeback?

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The Hawaiian Language Nearly Died. A Radio Show Sparked Its Revival

Hawaiian language activist Larry Kimura led the charge in the 1970s in getting Hawaii's Department of Education to sanction Hawaiian-language immersion schools. The state, however, did not offer any support or curriculum, Kimura said. So they did it on their own — starting with preschool — where kids could absorb the language from the start. Shereen Marisol Meraji hide caption

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Shereen Marisol Meraji

The Code Switch Podcast

The Hawaiian Language Nearly Died. A Radio Show Sparked Its Revival

In Hawaii today, nearly everyone knows how to speak a few words and phrases of Hawaiian. But the practice of primarily speaking the Hawaiian language from birth nearly died two generations ago.

The Hawaiian Language Nearly Died. A Radio Show Sparked Its Revival

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Samin Nosrat Is Making Space At The Table

Samin Nosrat, author of the cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR hide caption

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Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

Samin Nosrat Is Making Space At The Table

Nosrat is that rare thing: a woman of color in the upper echelons of the hypercompetitive food world. She is acutely aware of her unicorn status — and taking steps to try to change that.

Samin Nosrat Is Making Space At The Table

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Will Your Melanin Protect You From The Sun?
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Analysis

The Code Switch Podcast

Will Your Melanin Protect You From The Sun?

There are lots of misconceptions about dark skin and sunshine. One of the most common? That black people can't get skin cancer.

Will Your Melanin Protect You From The Sun?

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Why Shouldn't We Pay Student-Athletes?

Clemson's Aamir Simms (25) shoots against Auburn's Malik Dunbar (14) during a second round game of the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament last week. The NCAA will make $771 million from this year's tournament. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images hide caption

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Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

The Code Switch Podcast

Why Shouldn't We Pay Student-Athletes?

The NCAA men's basketball tournament will bring in about $770 million in revenue this year. A writer argues that paying black student-athletes might have unforeseen consequences.

Why Shouldn't We Pay Student-Athletes?

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