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
Episodes
January 24, 2026 • 17 mins
What does the humble, boring quarter-zip sweater have to do with respectability politics and Blackness? Apparently, a lot! When two young Black men on TikTok brought the quarter-zip into vogue for young folks, they unknowingly waded into some very long-lived discourse on Black fashion and looking "respectable." Today on the pod, we chop it up with Jonathan Square, professor of Black visual culture at Parsons School of Design, about...
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January 21, 2026 • 39 mins
Sanctuary policies have been described on both sides of the aisle as protecting immigrants. But in many ways, in practice, they have given rise to a specific kind of policing that gives ICE a much wider reach than it might otherwise have. We talk to anthropologist Peter Mancina, who is the author of a recent book, On the Side of Ice: Policing Immigrants in a Sanctuary State about his on-the-ground research embedding with police in...
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January 17, 2026 • 22 mins
In honor of MLK Day, we sit down with historian Nicholas Buccola, author of One Man’s Freedom, to re-examine the concept of "freedom" by comparing the legacies of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and conservative politician Barry Goldwater. In our conversation, Buccola reveals the profound gulf between Goldwater's abstract view of freedom and King's focus on the daily fight for dignity and individual liberty– and he helps us underst...
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January 14, 2026 • 33 mins
The U.S. ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is just the latest chapter in a long, troubling history of American intervention in Latin America. NPR immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd brings us to the New York courthouse where President Maduro was indicted by the U.S. government. We also talk to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Greg Grandin, who explains how the modern concept of national sovereignty — a country’s ri...
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January 10, 2026 • 18 mins
2026 is off to an intense start, but many of the events we're seeing play out today come out of dynamics that have been building for years. Jelani Cobb, a journalist, historian, and the Dean of Columbia's journalism school, talks to us about his new book, Three of More is a Riot (Notes on How We Got Here: 2012-2025), which analyzes some of the major events of the United States' past decade and a half, and how they've set the ground...
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January 7, 2026 • 34 mins
Connecting across generations can be tough, even in the same family. This is at the heart of Amy Tan’s 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club. This week, we're bringing you an episode from NPR's Books We Loved series, where our very own B. A. Parker, along with Andrew Limbong and The Indicator’s Wailin Wong, discuss how miscommunication and misunderstandings between parents and their children continues to be a theme in stories of immigrant f...
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January 3, 2026 • 34 mins
Among the American public, support for Israel has fallen among almost every demographic group. But for many White Evangelical Christians over the age of 35, support has remained steadfast. And that support continues to be a major shaper of U.S. policy in the region. So today, in our final installment of the Code Switch History Class series, we're looking into the history and theology behind how White Evangelicals became so connecte...
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December 31, 2025 • 39 mins
A few years back, many politicians were raising the alarm about the dangers of "CRT" in schools. Today, the new risk to public education is "DEI." What do both of these moments have in common? They have all the elements of a moral panic. So in this installment of Code Switch History Class, we're looking at the history of moral panics in the U.S., and why they so often invoke fears about race and integration.
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December 27, 2025 • 18 mins
In 2018, in light of some pretty aggressive rhetoric and policies being enacted by the Trump administration, many people were asking a pretty direct question: Should ICE be abolished? Seven years later, amidst arguably even harsher policies and language, many are still asking that same question. So today, on the second installment in our Code Switch History Class series, we're taking a look at where ICE came from, and talking to an...
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December 24, 2025 • 40 mins
The fight over the soul of higher education is very alive right now, with the Trump administration engaged in dozens of investigations and multiple lawsuits against colleges and universities around the country. Billions of research dollars at those schools have been frozen, too. So today, in a special series called Code Switch History Class, we're looking back at another time of upheaval — a long, bloody strike at San Francisco Sta...
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December 20, 2025 • 17 mins
How do we keep family traditions alive? For some people, it's by speaking their heritage language, or learning how to cook family recipes. For Nicole Wong, it was through games — specifically, learning the ins and outs of Mahjong. Her research led her to start the Mahjong Project, and to write a book about what she was learning called Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora. So this week, we talk to Nicole about what it...
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December 17, 2025 • 38 mins
For months, the Trump administration has been making moves to dismantle the Department of Education — with mixed success. But when it comes to the fight over public education, some of the most significant dustups are happening on the local level, with school boards around the country. Today, we're looking at one of those fights, which played out in a rapidly changing suburb of Dallas called Southlake.
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December 13, 2025 • 15 mins
With AI image and video generators, it's become easier than ever to create hyper-realistic clips of almost anything. Today, we're looking at the landscape of AI influencers that depict Black people in various ways, from the mildly stereotypical to the ultra-demeaning. And we're talking to writer Zeba Blay about why she thinks these types of videos can erode the our society's ability to take the problems of IRL, human Black people s...
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December 10, 2025 • 30 mins
Over the past few weeks, President Trump has amplified derogatory and stereotypical comments about people from Afghanistan. He's derided Somalians as a whole, and specifically targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. And he's said he will end immigration from "Third World countries." So in a political climate where rhetoric like this has become normalized, is there still use to calling any particular phrase or policy racist?
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December 6, 2025 • 16 mins
Alice Wong was a major force in disability activism. She passed away last month at the age of 51. For Here and Now, reporter Elissa Nadworny speaks with Yomi Young about Wong’s impact as a fellow activist, and what she leaves behind as a friend.
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December 3, 2025 • 40 mins
The Trump administration has been firing immigration judges, despite the fact that there’s a massive backlog of immigration cases that need rulings. Ximena Bustillo, NPR’s immigration and DHS reporter, has spotted a trend: many of the judges let go have previous experience in immigration defense. At the same time, the Trump administration has allocated $30 billion to beef up ICE as an agency and hire “deportation judges.”
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November 29, 2025 • 16 mins
For the millions of Americans that celebrate Thanksgiving, it's a time when many people reflect on the things and the people in our lives that they appreciate. But according to Dr. Laurie Santos, psychology professor at Yale and host of the podcast, The Happiness Lab, a practice of gratitude can improve our lives year-round. This week on the pod, we're bringing you a conversation from our friends over at It's Been A Minute. Host Br...
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November 26, 2025 • 35 mins
As we enter "cozy season," we're revisiting our conversation with Ada Limon, who just wrapped up her tenure as the U.S. Poet Laureate. She talks to us about loss and grief and evolving identity -- like becoming a "fall person" after a lifetime of identifying as a "summer person" -- and the power of poetry to navigate it all.
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November 22, 2025 • 11 mins
Today on the show, NPR immigration reporter Jasmine Garsd introduces us to two families in Washington, D.C.. One has made the difficult decision to set up "emergency guardianship" for their son, in the case that the parents are deported to Guatemala. The other has agreed to take that son in, should anything happen. It's the second part in Jasmine's reporting series looking into how immigrant families are preparing for the worst und...
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November 19, 2025 • 31 mins
Today on the show, NPR immigration reporter Jasmine Garsd takes us into the dimly lit living rooms of immigrant families — families trying to figure out how to stay safe as they navigate the overwhelming fear of being detained by ICE. These fears have long existed, but for many, they've become stronger and more omnipresent during this Trump administration, with its strong focus on deportation. So parents across the country are find...
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