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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

Ask Code Switch: The racial politics of washing dishes?
Luke Medina

Ask Code Switch: The racial politics of washing dishes?

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?

Ask Code Switch: The racial politics of washing dishes?

Listen · 13:16
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Ask Code Switch: Is this a racist question?
Luke Medina

Ask Code Switch: Is this a racist question?

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.

Ask Code Switch: Is this a racist question?

Listen · 12:59
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Fighting back on book bans
Jackie Lay

Fighting back on book bans

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.

Fighting back on book bans

Listen · 29:47
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The park. Sunday. Queens, New York.

Shot of the Unisphere, the 140 foot-tall metal sculpture in the middle of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Unisphere was originally commissioned for the 1964-1965 World's Fair and has since become an icon for the borough of Queens. Wendy Correa for NPR hide caption

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Wendy Correa for NPR

The park. Sunday. Queens, New York.

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.

The park. Sunday. Queens, New York.

Listen · 38:21
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Going back to school with schizoaffective disorder

Michael Vargas Arango, 22, is a second-year student at Miami Dade College, studying business and psychology. Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR hide caption

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Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR

Going back to school with schizoaffective disorder

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.

Going back to school with schizoaffective disorder

Listen · 30:33
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What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

An illustrated portrait of the famous intellectual and writer James Baldwin. Jackie Lay hide caption

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Jackie Lay

What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

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.

What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

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Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back
Alan Lagadu/Getty Images

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 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.

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

Listen · 38:16
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Race, Romance and Reality TV
Jackie Lay

Race, Romance and Reality TV

Reality TV has been referred to as a funhouse mirror of our culture. But even with its distortions, it can reflect back to us what we accept as a society – especially when it comes to things like gender, sexuality and race.

Race, Romance and Reality TV

Listen · 33:54
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Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports
Dani Pendergast

Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports

Why are some female athletes asked to prove her womanhood? To understand how we got here, we're bringing you episode one of Tested, a new podcast series by our play cousins over at Embedded, made in partnership with CBC in Canada.

Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports

Listen · 40:31
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The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

Author Shahnaz Habib next to the cover of her new book, Airplane Mode. Author photo by Eva Garmendia hide caption

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Author photo by Eva Garmendia

The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

Summer is a time when many Americans are taking off from work and setting their sights on far-off vacation destinations: tropical beaches, fairy-tale cities, sun-drenched countrysides. But in her book Airplane Mode, the reluctant travel writer Shahnaz Habib warns of recklessly embracing what she calls "passport privilege," — and how that can skew peoples' images of what the world is and who it belongs to.

The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

Listen · 32:33
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