Code Switch

Anali, a young woman from Los Angeles, wants to break into the film industry. A local program taught her the skills of the trade and the language, but will any of that that matter in an industry that runs mostly on connections?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Okay, news cycle: you win. We're talking about blackface. This week, we delve into the hidden history of "blackening up" in popular culture — from a certain iconic cartoon mouse's minstrel past to Instagram models trying to pass as black.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Another week of racial controversies, another week of calls to "start a dialogue on race." What does that even mean? We talk to two veterans of one high-profile attempt at a national conversation on race, who have different views of its effectiveness.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Some may think of beauty as frivolous and fun, but on this episode, we're examining a few of the ugly ways that its been used to project power.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Another day, another drama: Last week, a federal judge ruled against the Trump administration's decision to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census. But if the Justice Department has any say, the fight will go on...all the way to the Supreme Court.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jason Kim and his father were once very close, but drifted apart after the family came to the United States from Korea. They drifted even further after Jason came out to his parents as gay. But after a health crisis, Jason and his father try to reckon with the silence between them. This week, a story about a family's hopes, dreams, and obligations, brought to us by the dope folks at WNYC's Nancy podcast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Meet one of the people caught up in the Trump Administration's hard-line stance on immigration: Javier Zamora. He was living in the US legally under Temporary Protected Status but when the White House threatened to take it away, Javier went back to El Salvador to apply for a new visa. He didn't know if he'd ever return to the US, his home of nearly twenty years.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, we're uncovering the stories behind three American Anthems. First, we hear from two musical greats about their respective versions of "Fight the Power." Next, we learned about the transformation of the children's choir staple, "This Little Light of Mine." Finally, we took a trip down "Whittier Blvd."Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Spit into a tube and get in touch with your ancestors! Or not. This week we're revisiting a conversation about DNA, and what it tells us about who we are.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A professor at the University of Texas San Antonio designed a college course based around episodes of the Code Switch podcast! In it, her students learned how to have tough conversations about race and identity, using Shereen and Gene as an example. But after an incident on campus involving the police made national news, their theoretical classroom discussions stopped being polite and started getting real.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We checked in with authors, poets and great literary minds to see what books they think everyone should read this holiday season.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Reporter Julia Simon tells us about a radical miners' union in Birmingham, Alabama. It laid the foundation for civil rights organizers in the South, and holds lessons for the future of labor.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On this episode, we're hanging out with pups. First, is Kat's anxious dog Samson really just a little beagle bigot? Then, the author Bronwen Dickey and the political scientist Michael Tesler explain how the pitbull transformed from America's most beloved sidekick to a doggo non grata.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Gene and Shereen talk to poet Denice Frohman, percussionist Bobby Sanabria, chef Marcus Samuelsson and comedian Ashley Nicole Black at Harlem's World Famous Apollo Theater in New York City.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The news item about the shooting was bare: one man shot another 17 times in a dispute over drugs. The actual story — of a family that feared for its safety but who couldn't rely on the police for help — was far more complicated.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We know where your mind's going to be this week: midterm election results!!! So, we're handing the reins over to our play cousins from NPR's Politics Podcast. They'll tell you what happened and what it all means.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ron Brown High School was built on a novel notion: a school for boys of color, based on a model of restorative justice. We visited the school last year for several episodes to follow its first-ever freshman class. This week, we're going back to see whether the school's unique approach to education is bearing fruit.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week: why people don't vote, why people can't vote, and two state races that might have national implications for 2020.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

So "The Star-Spangled Banner" is kind of a mess: notoriously tough to sing and with some weird stanzas about slavery. This week, we're looking at two of the country's other anthems with their own messy histories to find out what those songs tell us about American ideals.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, we're handing the mic over to transracial adoptees. They told us what they think is missing from mainstream narratives about adoption, and how being an adoptee is an identity unto itself.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy