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Code Switch What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for. Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor. We explore how race affects every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between. This podcast makes all of us part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story. Code Switch was named Apple Podcasts' first-ever Show of the Year in 2020.

Want to level up your Code Switch game? Try Code Switch Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/codeswitch
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Code Switch

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What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for. Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor. We explore how race affects every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between. This podcast makes all of us part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story. Code Switch was named Apple Podcasts' first-ever Show of the Year in 2020.

Want to level up your Code Switch game? Try Code Switch Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/codeswitch

Most Recent Episodes

How one event in history can ripple through generations of a family

This week we're bringing you the first episode in a new series called Inheriting, created in collaboration with our friends at LAist Studios. In each episode, NPR's Emily Kwong sits down with Asian American and Pacific Islander families and explores how one event in history can ripple through generations.

How one event in history can ripple through generations of a family

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The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America
Jackie Lay

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

Author Mike Curato wrote Flamer as a way to help young queer kids, like he once was, better understand and accept themselves. It was met with immediate praise and accolades — until it wasn't. When the book got caught up in a wave of Texas-based book bans, suddenly the narrative changed. And like so many books that address queer identity, Flamer quickly became a flashpoint in a long, messy culture war that tried to distort the nature of the book.

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

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Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

Reveal's 40 Acres and a Lie Part 1 Illustration by Michael Johnson for Mother Jones hide caption

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Illustration by Michael Johnson for Mother Jones

Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

The promise of "40 acres and a mule", is often thought of as a broken one. But it turns out, some freed people actually received land as reparations after the Civil War. And what happened to that land and the families it was given to is the subject of a new series, 40 Acres and a Lie, by our colleagues at Reveal and the Center for Public Integrity.

Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

Listen · 50:08
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The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

Author Jules Gill-Peterson poses next to her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny Headshot by Kadji Amin and book cover design by Angela Lorenzo for Verso hide caption

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Headshot by Kadji Amin and book cover design by Angela Lorenzo for Verso

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

As anti-trans legislation has ramped up, historian Jules Gill-Peterson turns the lens to the past in her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny. This week, we talk about how panics around trans femininity are shaped by wider forces of colonialism, segregation and class interests.

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

Listen · 36:27
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Should we stop using the word "felon"?

What the reaction to Trump's felony conviction tells us about the word "felon" Jackie Lay hide caption

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Jackie Lay

Should we stop using the word "felon"?

This week, we're turning our sights on the word "felon", and looking into what it tells us (and can't tell us) about the 19 million people in the U.S. — like Donald Trump and Hunter Biden — carrying that designation around.

Should we stop using the word "felon"?

Listen · 33:58
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100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

Putting the immigration "crisis" in historical perspective Jackie Lay hide caption

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Jackie Lay

100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

President Biden just issued an executive order that can temporarily shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers once a daily threshold of crossings is exceeded. On this episode, we dig into how the political panic surrounding what many are calling an immigration "crisis" at the border, isn't new. And in fact...it's a problem of our own creation.

100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

Listen · 42:32
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White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

At a march in support of Israel, one woman holds a sign saying, "Christians Stand with Israel." Getty Images hide caption

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Getty Images

White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

As war continues to rage in the Middle East, attention has been turned to how American Jews, Muslims, and Palestinians relate to the state of Israel. But when we talk about the region, American Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, are often not part of that story. But their political support for Israel is a major driver for U.S. policy — in part because Evangelicals make up an organized, dedicated constituency with the numbers to exert major influence on U.S. politics.

White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

Listen · 38:17
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Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer
NPR

Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer

This week Code Switch digs into The Ministry of Time, a new book that author Kailene Bradley describes as a "romance about imperialism." It focuses on real-life Victorian explorer Graham Gore, who died on a doomed Arctic expedition in 1847. But in this novel, time travel is possible and Gore is brought to the 21st century where he's confronted with the fact that everyone he's ever known is dead, that the British Empire has collapsed, and that perhaps he was a colonizer.

Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer

Listen · 31:12
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Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

Illustration of a rally where "peaceful protesters" march alongside "violent looters." LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

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LA Johnson/NPR

Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

As protests continue to rock the campuses of colleges and universities, a familiar set of questions is being raised: Are these protests really being led by students? Or are the real drivers of the civil disobedience outsiders, seizing on an opportunity to wreak chaos and stir up trouble?

Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

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In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

Author Daniel A. Olivas poses next to the cover of his recent book, Chicano Frankenstein Author headshot via publisher hide caption

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Author headshot via publisher

In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

Daniel Olivas's novel puts a new spin on the age-old Frankenstein story. In this retelling, 12 million "reanimated" people provide a cheap workforce for the United States...and face a very familiar type of bigotry.

In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

Listen · 33:59
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