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Who You Calling 'Hispanic'?
Chelsea Beck/NPR

Code Switch

Who You Calling 'Hispanic'?

But seriously, who? Because while it is Hispanic Heritage Month, the notion of a multiracial, multinational, pan-ethnic identity called "Hispanic" is a relatively recent — and somewhat haphazard invention — in the United States. So on this episode, we're digging into how the term got created and why it continues to both unite and bewilder.

Who You Calling 'Hispanic'?

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The Making And Remaking Of Afghanistan
Isabel Seliger for NPR

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The Making And Remaking Of Afghanistan

For two decades, many Americans have seen Afghanistan depicted primarily through the lens of war. But that's not the full story — not even close. Afghanistan has a long, rich, complex history and culture. A lot of it flies in the face of the images those of us in the U.S. are exposed to. So this week, our friends at Throughline are helping us understand the fuller story.

The Making And Remaking Of Afghanistan

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Little Women Remixed, But Not Reimagined

The cover of Bethany C. Morrow's new book, So Many Beginnings. Jonathan Barkat hide caption

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Jonathan Barkat

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Little Women Remixed, But Not Reimagined

When Bethany Morrow was asked to write a new take on the beloved classic, she agreed on one condition: The new March family would look nothing like the old.

Little Women Remixed, But Not Reimagined

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Meet Alexis Nikole Nelson, The Wildly Popular 'Black Forager'

Alexis Nikole Nelson is behind the popular TikTok and Instagram videos based on her experience and advice on foraging. (Photo by Tim Johnson) Tim Johnson/Columbus Monthly Magazine hide caption

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Tim Johnson/Columbus Monthly Magazine

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Meet Alexis Nikole Nelson, The Wildly Popular 'Black Forager'

Nelson has brought in a TikTok following of more than 2 million people by talking about food, culture, and how to "eat plants that do not belong to [her.]"

The Lost Summer
Photo illustration by LA Johnson/NPR

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The Lost Summer

Twenty years ago, during the dog days of summer , a fledgling journalist named Shereen Marisol Meraji — maybe you've heard of her? — headed to Durban, South Africa. Her mission: to report on a meeting of thousands of organizers and ambassadors gathered at a global conference on racism. The conference filled Shereen with hope and optimism — all of which would soon be wiped away.

The Lost Summer

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Indian Boarding Schools' Traumatic Legacy, And The Fight To Get Native Ancestors Back

This cemetery on the grounds of Carlisle Barracks holds the remains of students from the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Scott Finger/U.S. Army War College Photo Lab hide caption

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Scott Finger/U.S. Army War College Photo Lab

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Indian Boarding Schools' Traumatic Legacy, And The Fight To Get Native Ancestors Back

After discoveries of more than 1,300 bodies at Canada's residential schools, the U.S. is now facing a crucial moment of reckoning with its own history of Native American boarding schools.

Indian Boarding Schools' Traumatic Legacy, And The Fight To Get Native Ancestors Back

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'Seeing Ghosts' Across Generations

Seeing Ghosts, a memoir by Kat Chow. Grand Central Publishing hide caption

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Grand Central Publishing

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'Seeing Ghosts' Across Generations

Kat Chow was 13 when her mother died, and with that loss came profound and lasting questions about identity, family and history. In her memoir, Seeing Ghosts, the author and former Code Switch reporter explores how her mother's death has haunted her through the years, in ways that are profound, tragic and, sometimes, darkly hilarious.

'Seeing Ghosts' Across Generations

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Who Runs The World? Kids.

High schoolers Ethan Lincoln, Kaylee King and Jamin Crow's podcast about their experiences subsistence hunting is a finalist in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. The students are pictured here at the KYUK radio transmitter site in Bethel, Alaska. Katie Basile/KYUK hide caption

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Katie Basile/KYUK

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Who Runs The World? Kids.

OK, they're not all kids. But they're all students, they're all amazing, and frankly, we're concerned that they might be coming for our jobs. That's right — the Student Podcast Challenge is back, and this year, the stories are more powerful than ever.

Who Runs The World? Kids.

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Care To Explain Yourself?
Chelsea Beck/NPR

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Care To Explain Yourself?

It's hot out, places are shutting down again, and things might just be feeling a little bit slow. So in the spirit of spicing things up, we wanted to give you all a question to fight about: How much context should you have to give when talking about race and culture? Is it better to explain every reference, or ask people to Google as they go? Comedian Hari Kondabolu joins us to hash it out.

Care To Explain Yourself?

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Violence That Doesn't Go Viral
Nicole Xu for NPR

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Violence That Doesn't Go Viral

We talk a lot on this show about people who have been killed by police officers. But there is so much police violence that falls short of being fatal, but forever alters the lives of the people on the business end of it. So this week, we're turning things over to the "On Our Watch" podcast, out of KQED and NPR's Investigations Team.

Violence That Doesn't Go Viral

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To Love And Not Forgive

Somebody's Daughter, by Ashley C. Ford. Sylvie Rosokoff/Flatiron hide caption

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Sylvie Rosokoff/Flatiron

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To Love And Not Forgive

For much of her childhood, Ashley Ford's father was incarcerated, and her mother struggled to raise her while grappling with her own upended life plans. In her new memoir, Somebody's Daughter, Ford looks at how her upbringing shaped her understanding of childhood, authority, forgiveness and freedom.

To Love And Not Forgive

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Words To Set You Free
NPR

Review

Code Switch

Words To Set You Free

Some of the best books can make you feel free — free from your daily grind, free to imagine a new reality, free to explore different facets of your identity. This month, the Code Switch team is highlighting books that dig deep into what freedom really means.

Words To Set You Free

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What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

Maria Hinojosa (left) and Maria Garcia. Krystal Quiles for NPR hide caption

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Krystal Quiles for NPR

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What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

Maria Garcia and Maria Hinojosa are both Mexican American, both mestiza, and both relatively light-skinned. But Maria Hinojosa strongly identifies as a woman of color, whereas Maria Garcia has stopped doing so. So in this episode, we're asking: How did they arrive at such different places?

What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

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Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

Kaitlyn Greenidge Syreeta McFadden/Workman hide caption

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Syreeta McFadden/Workman

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Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

This month on Code Switch, we're talking about books — new and old — that have deepened our understandings of what it means to be free. First up, a conversation with author Kaitlyn Greenidge about her new novel, Libertie, which tells the story of a young woman pushing back against her mother's expectations of what her life should look like.

Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

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