Code Switch

Viet Thanh Nguyen came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam when he was four years old. Growing up in San Jose, California, Nguyen remembers the moment he understood he was Asian-American. In his latest book, To Save and To Destroy: Writing as an Other, Nguyen examines the power in finding solidarity with other Others, especially in today's America. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2025

As the Trump administration targets the Smithsonian Institute for "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," it got us thinking about how we preserve our history and everything that builds it, like language. So we're revisiting an episode from last year from the Lakota Nation in South Dakota over language — who preserves it, who has the right to the stories told in it, and who (literally) owns it. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2025

One of President Trump's main campaign promises was carrying out mass deportations. We look at how the Trump administration is testing the U.S. legal system to make good on its promise, starting with the story of one family trying to find their 18-year-old son after immigration agents showed up at their doorstep. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2025

President Trump has put diversity, equity, and inclusion in his crosshairs — but there's no consensus on what DEI even means. Some say that that fuzziness is the point, and that the current anti-DEI push is part of a larger plan to undo the gains made by the Civil Rights Movement. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2025

As the U.S. health system grapples with new outbreaks and the risk of old diseases making a comeback, we're looking to the past to inform how people in marginalized communities can prepare themselves for how the current administration might handle an epidemic. On this episode, a conversation with historian and author Edna Bonhomme, about her latest book A History of the World in Six Plagues. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2025

Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia alum, was detained by ICE for his role in leading pro-Palestinian protests at his former university last year. As Khalil's case has captured the nation's attention, free speech advocates see it as a test of the First Amendment. Meanwhile, the Trump administration argues they have the right to deport Khalil without charging him with a crime. On this episode, why Khalil's arrest should worry all of us. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2025

To be a Palestinian-American writer right now can lead to a lot of expectation to focus on identity and devastation, but in her debut novel, Too Soon, Betty Shamieh shares the story of three generations of Palestinian women trying to find love, purpose and liberation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

To be a Palestinian-American writer right now can lead to a lot of expectation to focus on identity and devastation, but in her debut novel, Too Soon, Betty Shamieh shares the story of three generations of Palestinian women trying to find love, purpose and liberation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

The Panama Canal's impact on the geopolitical stage far outreaches its roughly 51-mile stretch of land and water. This week, we're trying to understand the canal's murky future - from climate change to President Trump's threat to take it for the U.S. - by looking at its turbulent, cataclysmic birth. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2025

B.A. Parker digs into the historical connection between Black Americans and soap operas with the launching of "Beyond the Gates," the first ever soap focused primarily on a Black family. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2025

In 2015, the NFL agreed to an uncapped settlement to pay former players diagnosed with brain disease. The agreement came after players sued the league for covering what it knew about the links between brain disease and football. But who's gotten paid and how much is affected by their race. On the final episode of our series on race and football, we speak with Will Hobson, investigative sports reporter at The Washington Post. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2025

Altadena was the site of the Eaton fire, one of two major wildfires in Los Angeles County in January. The wind and flames destroyed more than 9,000 structures — and with them, the long-tenured Black community in the town. As efforts to recover and rebuild the town are underway, many residents are left wondering, what of their community will remain? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2025

Dominique Foxworth played in the NFL from 2005 to 2011. After he retired, he went on to become the head of the NFL Players' Association, the union that represents players in the league. In this conversation, he describes what it was like sitting across from the league's lawyers, advocating for things like players' health care at a time when the risks of playing football were becoming clearer. NOTE: This episode includes discussions of suicide. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9 8 8 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 17 February 2025

How the criminal legal system considers who is and isn't Native, and what that means for the Black people who are members of tribal nations. This reporting is part of an audio documentary from Audible called Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2025

The way football is played and who plays it — from the pee-wees to the pros — tells us so much about race, labor and power in the United States. In a conversation with cultural anthropologist Tracie Canada we explore how starting from young ages, Black players are nudged towards more physically taxing positions that require more strength, athleticism, speed. That affects who gets injured, how they're cared for and how they get paid. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2025

Critics point out the apparent hypocrisy of a pro-Black rapper like Kendrick Lamar headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, since the NFL isn't exactly an institution that's known for its support of Black lives. So on this episode, we're digging into the history of hip hop and how it's been co-opted. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 5 February 2025

Parker has been trying to find her place in the banjo world. So this week, she talks to Black banjo players like Grammy nominee Rhiannon Giddens about creating community and reclaiming an instrument that's historically already theirs. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2025

Martin Luther King Jr. was relatively unpopular when he was assassinated. But the way Americans of all political stripes invoke his memory today, you'd think he was held up as a hero. In this episode, we hear how King's legacy got co-opted. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2025

Comedian Youngmi Mayer talks about how her Korean family uses humor as a tool for survival. She gets into the Korean comedic tradition and why the saddest stuff is what makes them laugh the hardest. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2025

How should Black parents talk to their kids about the police? Gene gets into it with his friend Chenjerai Kumanyika, host of Empire City, a podcast about the history of the NYPD. Chenjerai's show sprang out of his own attempts to talk with his young daughter about the police and what they do. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2025

Happy New Year, fam! This year, we're celebrating Ecuadorian style: by burning away what we want to let go of from last year and creating space for moving ahead with this year. Code Switch producer Xavier Lopez takes us on his journey to explore the tradition of his childhood, learn its origins, and honor it in his life in New York today. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2025

Happy New Year, fam! This year, we're celebrating Ecuadorian style: by burning away what we want to let go of from last year and creating space for moving ahead with this year. Code Switch producer Xavier Lopez takes us on his journey to explore the tradition of his childhood, learn its origins, and honor it in his life in New York today. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2025

Shot and severely injured while visiting family in Vermont in 2023, Hisham Awartani grapples with his recovery in the U.S., and the unfolding war at home in the West Bank. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 25 December 2024

Even before Luigi Mangione was arrested for killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the reaction to the shooter was far different than other instances of gun violence. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 20 December 2024

Twenty-five years ago, a boy named Eliaán Gonzaález appeared — remarkably alive — in the waters off the coast of Miami. Immediately, his fate became the subject of an international debate: Should he stay in the U.S.? Or should he be returned to Cuba, to live with his father? From our play cousins at Futuro Studios, this is part of their series Chess Piece: The Elián González Story. We want to hear from you! Please tell us what you think about Code Switch by taking our short survey. Thank you! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 18 December 2024

In his new book, The Black Utopians, author Aaron Robertson tells the story of how Black folks have created many different versions of utopian communities throughout history — and why those communities tend to be especially meaningful during times of political tension and racial unrest. We want to hear from our listeners about what you like about Code Switch and how we could do better. Please tell us what you think by taking our short survey, and thank you! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 11 December 2024

We continue our conversation about the hellscape of modern motherhood, and look into an alternative to the tradwife lifestyle. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 7 December 2024

Motherhood in the U.S. is revered. Actual mothers? Not so much. But momfluencers and tradwives are stepping in to fill that void. We dive into that world to understand how it intersects with the incoming presidential administration, what it has to do with white supremacy, and where moms of color fit in. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2024

Motherhood in the U.S. is revered. Actual mothers? Not so much. But momfluencers and tradwives are stepping in to fill that void. We dive into that world to understand how it intersects with the incoming presidential administration, what it has to do with white supremacy, and where moms of color fit in. We want to hear from our listeners about what you like about Code Switch and how we could do better. Please tell us what you think by taking our short survey, and thank you! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2024

What lessons should we all be taking from the historic match-up between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris? New York Times political correspondent Astead Herndon says the big takeaway from this election isn't the divide between Republicans and Democrats, it's the divide between political elites and the American public. And he says it may be time to rethink our presumptions about how much voters care about representation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2024

There are wild stories about the fraudsters who pretend to be Indigenous, but sometimes casting doubt on people's indigeneity can cause more harm than good. On this episode we hear from the person behind the "Alleged Pretendians List" and someone whose name appeared on that controversial list. The problem? He's legitimately Native. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2024

The Code Switch team spent Election Day talking to folks about how the outcome might impact them. From green card holding Trump supporters in Queens, to first-time voters at Harris' watch party in DC, we bring you this time capsule of the day before we knew. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 13 November 2024

As we take in the news of another Donald Trump administration, we thought who better to turn the mic over to than the hosts of NPR's Politics Podcast. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 6 November 2024

The manosphere is a sprawling online ecosystem aimed at disgruntled men. Now a subset of the manosphere aimed at Black men is exposing cracks in Black voters' steadfast support of Democrats. On this episode, we take a look at how the Black manosphere came to be and wonder: could this loose community of aggrieved dudes swing the election? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 30 October 2024

That's how Nagle begins her new book and how she frames the version of history she's telling. The book digs into the past and future of Native sovereignty through the lens of one of the most significant Supreme Court rulings for Native Americans in over 100 years. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 23 October 2024

We travel to Dearborn, AKA the "capital of Arab America." The Dearbornites we met said that the war in Gaza is the key issue on their minds as they consider how to cast their ballots. What these voters ultimately decide could have huge consequences for the whole country. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 16 October 2024

This week on Ask Code Switch, we're getting into the question a lot of minorities face when climbing the ladder at work – am I rising because I'm talented or because I'm tokenized? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2024

In the year since the devastating Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Even more have been injured or displaced. Still, many Palestinians across the diaspora feel that they aren't allowed to share their stories — that the fullness of their humanity is too often reduced to a few soundbites on the news, or images of people dying. So on this episode, we're revisiting conversations with Fady Joudah and Tariq Luthun — two Palestinian American poets who have tried to carve out space to expand the kind of stories that Palestinians are allowed to tell. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2024

This week on Ask Code Switch, when it comes to race and dating, how important is diversity in your dating history? What does the race of our past romances say about us? And how do we know when we've crossed the line from preference to fetish? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 7 October 2024

This week, we're looking into the endgame of the racist and false rumors targeting Haitian immigrants. Are the lies being told about migrants across the country part of a strategy to land a bigger lie: that undocumented immigrants could steal the election? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2024

Today on Ask Code Switch, we're talking about taste. How we eat, why we prefer certain foods, and where those preferences come from. We're getting into all the things that shape and change our taste buds, from the genes you inherit to falling in love. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2024

As we close in on the election, it's Trump-supporting Latinos that some pollsters believe could decide this race. So how did we get here? In her new book, Defectors, Paola Ramos explains that part of the story of being Latino has always been this temptation to defect. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2024

Today on Ask Code Switch, we tackle a question about race, bike lanes and gentrification. Who are bike lanes serving? Are these safety measures protecting everyone equally, or are bike advocates on the wrong side of progress? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 23 September 2024

B.A. Parker brings us around the country to see what access to books is looking like for students in Texas, librarians in Idaho and her own high school English teacher in Pennsylvania. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 18 September 2024

This week on Ask Code Switch, we're getting into the politics and power dynamics of race and dishes in the workplace (which is more fraught than you might think). When no one is "technically" the "dishwasher" at work...who's washing the dishes and should you feel some type of way about it? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2024

This week on Code Switch, we're doing a different kind of immigration coverage. We're telling a New York story: one that celebrates the beautiful, everyday life of the immigrant. Code Switch producer, Xavier Lopez and NPR immigration reporter, Jasmine Garsd spend a day at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 11 September 2024

Ask Code Switch is back! Lori Lizarraga and the Code Switch team tackle all new listener questions this fall. From the tacky and tricky to the cringe and candid – we're bringing our race advice to the questions you're scared to ask. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 9 September 2024

Michael Vargas Arango was having a fairly typical day — hanging out at his home in Medellín, playing Xbox with one of his friends. Only, when he spoke to his mom during the day, he realized that she had no idea what "friend" he was talking about — she hadn't seen or heard anyone besides her son in the house all day. That was the first inkling either of them had that Michael was dealing with something unusual. It was the beginning of the long road toward Michael being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. On this episode, we're talking to Michael about how he experiences the world, and how he's helping to educate people about what it really means to live with a rare, stigmatized, and widely misunderstood mental health condition. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 4 September 2024

It's been more than ten months since devastating violence began unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And in the midst of all the death, so many people are trying to better understand what's going on in that region, and how the United States is implicated in it. So on this episode, we're looking back to the writing of James Baldwin, whose views on the country transformed significantly over the course of his life. His thoughts offer some ideas about how to grapple with trauma, and how to bridge the gap between places and ideas that, on their surface, might seem oceans apart. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 28 August 2024

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 in 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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Transcribed - Published: 21 August 2024