Code Switch

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We continue our conversation about the hellscape of modern motherhood, and look into an alternative to the tradwife lifestyle.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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy