Code Switch

NPR

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

  • 35 minutes 17 seconds
    How race science shows up at the doctor's office
    We've probably said it a hundred times on Code Switch — biological race is not a real thing. So why is race still used to help diagnose certain conditions, like keloids or cystic fibrosis? On this episode, Dr. Andrea Deyrup breaks it down for us, and unpacks the problems she sees with practicing race-based medicine, from delayed diagnoses to ignoring environmental factors that lead to different health outcomes.

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    21 May 2025, 7:00 am
  • 28 minutes 18 seconds
    Arab and Black communities are trying to reconcile after Trump's election
    Trump's win exposed political tensions between Arab-American voters — who were critical of Democratic support of Israel's war in Gaza, and Black voters — who remain the Democrats' most loyal supporters. That friction is especially pronounced in the majority Arab city of Dearborn, Michigan, and its majority Black neighbor, Detroit. This week, we go to a testy iftar dinner where Arab and Black folks sat down to begin having tough conversations.

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    14 May 2025, 7:00 am
  • 36 minutes 20 seconds
    40 years ago, Philadelphia police bombed this Black neighborhood on live TV
    We're looking back on the day a Philadelphia police department helicopter dropped a bomb on a rowhouse in a middle-class neighborhood. Even though that bombing and the fire it set off killed eleven people and left hundreds homeless, it's been largely forgotten. So how did we collectively memory-hole an event this big? And what does that tell us about race and policing even today?

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    7 May 2025, 7:00 am
  • 31 minutes 30 seconds
    In the face of trans erasure, what can we learn from Marsha P. Johnson?
    Marsha P. Johnson was a trailblazer in the fight for gay rights. But Johnson's legacy extends beyond her activism: "Marsha was a really full person who lived a vibrant life. She was a muse and model for Andy Warhol," and a performer in New York City and London. In this episode, we talk to activist and author Tourmaline about what we can all learn from Johnson's legacy in times of adversity.

    Tourmaline's two books about Marsha P. Johnson — Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson and One Day in June — are out on May 20, 2025.

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    30 April 2025, 7:00 am
  • 31 minutes 22 seconds
    Why now is the time to find power in "otherness"
    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.

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    23 April 2025, 7:00 am
  • 41 minutes 32 seconds
    Revisiting the fight over the Lakota language as Trump targets "divisive narratives"
    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.

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    16 April 2025, 7:00 am
  • 37 minutes 49 seconds
    Why Trump is sending Venezuelans to El Salvador
    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.

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    9 April 2025, 7:00 am
  • 32 minutes 7 seconds
    What's lost in Trump's DEI ban?
    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.

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    2 April 2025, 7:00 am
  • 29 minutes 51 seconds
    With measles on the rise, what we can learn from past epidemics
    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.

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    26 March 2025, 7:00 am
  • 36 minutes 30 seconds
    What Mahmoud Khalil's arrest means for ... everyone
    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.

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    19 March 2025, 7:00 am
  • 32 minutes 26 seconds
    This Palestinian-American's debut novel may not be political — but her existence is
    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.

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    12 March 2025, 7:00 am
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