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.
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Episodes
Latest Episode
June 5, 2026 · 22m
It’s no secret that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has embraced the idea of crusading for American dominance — he published a book titled American Crusade and has several tattoos of crusader iconography. And that language has become a part of how Hegseth talks about the U.S. war with Iran. B.A. Parker talks to the religion scholar Matthew Taylor about Hegseth’s corner of Christianity and its connection with Christian nationalism. See pcm. for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
More Episodes
Jun 2 · 34m
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has been around for almost 14 years — long enough that the so-called "DACA kids" are now middle-aged adults with jobs, mortgages and families. But the Trump administration is making it harder to hold onto the only legal status they've ever had: slowing down processing, stripping benefits, and detaining and even deporting some recipients. This week, NPR's Ximena Bustillo takes us to Arizona to meet people living in limbo, and asks what it means to build an entire life on a permit that expires every two years.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 30 · 31m
The Supreme Court is about to rule on whether states can ban transfeminine student athletes from playing on girls' and women's teams. But we're talking to journalist Imara Jones about why these cases aren't just about school sports. They come out of a massive wave of state-level anti-trans legislation that Imara says is part of a broader movement to undermine discrimination protections — by going after the small, vulnerable minority of trans girls.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 27 · 24m
How have recommendation algorithms affected language? Linguist Adam Aleksic — aka the Etymology Nerd — says most “Gen-Z slang” is either appropriated from Black people or incels. This week, we trace how -maxxing went from the eugenicist looksmaxxing subculture to trending TikToks to the Pentagon tweeting about “lethality maxxing.” And we ask what’s actually at stake when we use words without knowing where they come from.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 23 · 35m
In the U.S., roughly 8 in 10 kids from lower-income households grow up with few or no swimming skills — and Black and Latino children lag behind their white peers. Those gaps aren't an accident. They trace back to a long history of segregated public pools, and to fears of the water that have been passed down through generations. This week, we follow Jasmine Romero, who in her mid-thirties walked into a room full of four- and five-year-olds to take her first swim class, determined to break the cycle before her own child is born.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 20 · 32m
Latinos make up at least 50% of all Customs and Border Patrol agents and 20% of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — which has a lot of critics asking, why? We talk to Geraldo Cadava, professor of Latino Studies at Northwestern and contributor to the Atlantic, to break down some of the reasons Latinos join ICE, and he tells us, there are many people who believe in the mission of immigration enforcement.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 16 · 31m
Happy tenth birthday to us! In true Gemini fashion - we're that sign - we're celebrating by exploring our duality through astrology. Our intrepid Aquarius, B.A. Parker, talks to an astrologer and a science writer - a true believer and a real skeptic - about why Black and Latina women are twice as likely as men to believe in astrology. She also finds out what's written in the stars for the show. Spoiler alert: our birth chart is cute. And we are ready to be outside!See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 13 · 27m
Ever heard of the Savannah Bananas? They're a baseball team with millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram — known as much for their dance routines and shenanigans as their actual baseball. Now their league, Banana Ball, has resurrected the Indianapolis Clowns, a Negro League team with a contentious history of racial minstrelsy. We chop it up with journalist Josh Levin, who followed the Clowns through their Banana Ball debut.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 9 · 22m
The passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act marked what many historians mark as the actual beginning of democracy in the US. But last week the Supreme Court gutted what was left of the landmark civil rights law. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang joins us to talk through what it means for Black political power, especially in the South.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
May 6 · 32m
Parenting is one of the toughest jobs in the world. Between choosing a neighborhood to live in or whether to send your kid to public school, there are a lot of decisions that feel high stakes — and sticky, especially when it comes to race. We're here to help. This week we're digging into our archives to bring you some parenting advice around some of the parenting-and-race dilemmas our listeners have faced.This episode features advice from Cassandra Harewood, child and adolescent psychiatrist, Amy Stuart Wells, professor emeritus of sociology and education at Teachers College at Columbia University, Jenn Jackson, professor of political science at Syracuse University focusing on Blackness and gender, Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University, and Gigliana Melzi, associate professor of applied psychology at New York University.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy