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Race. In your face.
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Ask Code Switch: What does race have to do with beauty?
LA Johnson/NPR

Ask Code Switch

Ask Code Switch: What does race have to do with beauty?

This time of year, folks are being inundated with messages about how to become more beautiful. But beauty is an ever-changing goalpost that has everything do with race, class and power.

Ask Code Switch: What does race have to do with beauty?

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What We Watched in 2021

Clockwise from top left: We Are Lady Parts, City of Ghosts, Bachelorette (Season 18), The Wonder Years, and Reservation Dogs. NPR hide caption

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What We Watched in 2021

Y'all, 2021 brought us a lot of TV. Some of it was even good! So this week, we're talking about the shows that had something interesting to say about race, from We Are Lady Parts to Reservation Dogs to City of Ghosts.

What We Watched in 2021

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The many contradictions of 'Latin Music'

A truck carrying Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin and Residente joins with thousands of other people as they call on Puerto Rican Gov. Rosselló to step down. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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The many contradictions of 'Latin Music'

For some, the term 'Latin music' is too broad to be meaningful. For others, it invokes a sense of pride and resistance. To help break it down, we spoke to an expert on race and music and pop culture.

Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

In the third part of our series exploring crossover in pop music, we reexamine the so-called "Latin explosion" of the '90s: what it was supposed to be for audiences across the U.S., and what it actually came to represent. Blake Cale for NPR hide caption

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Blake Cale for NPR

Code Switch

Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

Our play cousins at NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast reexamine the so-called "Latin explosion" of the late '90s: What it was supposed to be for audiences across the U.S., and what it actually came to represent.

Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

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What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?
LA Johnson/NPR

Code Switch

What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?

The term 'Latin Music' can encompass everything from Celia Cruz to Bad Bunny to Selena Gomez to Los Tigres del Norte. It's rock, pop, hip hop, salsa, bachata, reggaeton, and so much more. So...what exactly is the connective tissue? Language? The ethnicity of the artist? Pure vibes? Or is it something else entirely?

What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?

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A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'
Little, Brown and Company

The Code Switch Podcast

A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'

How do race and class affect the way we eat? What makes dollar store junk food different from organic junk food? And when did Whole Foods become such a polarizing grocery store? We're getting into all those questions and more with Priya Fielding-Singh, author of the new book, How the Other Half Eats.

A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'

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Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

Derecka Purnell Allysa Lisbon/Astra Publishing hide caption

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Allysa Lisbon/Astra Publishing

Perspective

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Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

When Derecka Purnell was growing up, the police were a regular presence in her life. Years later, the lawyer, activist, and author of the new book, Becoming Abolitionists, realized that her vision of a just society was radically different from the world in which she'd been socialized.

Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

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Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food
LA Johnson

Ask Code Switch

Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food

It's Thanksgiving week, so we're bringing you a second helping of one of our favorite episodes, where we answer your questions about race and food. We're getting into the perceived whiteness of vegetarianism, what it means when H-Mart becomes a little too mainstream, and the etiquette around bringing pungent-smelling food to the (proverbial) office.

Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food

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'The Characters Are The Light'

The covers of Fire Keeper's Daughter, Hunting by Stars, The Barren Grounds, and The Sentence. LA Johnson hide caption

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LA Johnson

Code Switch

'The Characters Are The Light'

You already know we love books here on Code Switch — and given that we're smack dab in the middle of Native American Heritage month, we thought we'd introduce you to some of our favorite recent books by Indigenous authors.

'The Characters Are The Light'

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'Being Fly Is An Act Of Community'

Soul Train made its national television premiere 50 years ago, in October 1971. Blake Cale for NPR hide caption

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Blake Cale for NPR

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'Being Fly Is An Act Of Community'

When 'Soul Train' first aired in 1971, there had never been a show like it. Fifty years later, that's still true. So this week, we're passing the mic to our friends at NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast, who did a deep dive into the age of Black joy — and Black flyness — that Soul Train kicked off.

'Being Fly Is An Act Of Community'

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Love And Blood Quantum

One thing I know now that I didn't three years ago: If we have kids together someday, it won't be their blood that makes them Wampanoag. Purestock/Getty Images hide caption

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Love And Blood Quantum

If you're Native American, there's a good chance that you've thought a lot about blood quantum — a highly controversial measurement of the amount of "Indian blood" you have. It can affect your identity, your relationships and whether or not you — or your children — may become a citizen of your tribe.

Love And Blood Quantum

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Ask Code Switch: Parents Just Don't Understand
Jasjyot Singh Hans for NPR

Ask Code Switch

Ask Code Switch: Parents Just Don't Understand

Or do they? This week, we're answering some of your toughest questions about race and your parents. How do you create boundaries with immigrant parents? What dynamics might interracial couples bring to families? And why do so many Black parents want to prevent their kids from looking "too grown"?

Ask Code Switch: Parents Just Don't Understand

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Painting By Numbers

An artistic portrayal of the changing demographics of the United States. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

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Painting By Numbers

The 2020 census data is finally here! At first glance, it paints a surprising portrait of a changing United States: The number of people who identify as white and no other race is smaller; the share of multiracial people has shot up; and the country's second-largest racial group is... "some other race." But resident census-expert Hansi Lo Wang told us that when you start to unpack the data, you quickly find that those numbers don't tell the whole story.

Painting By Numbers

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Skeletons In The Closet

A young Native American woman sits in a museum display case alongside artifacts and human remains. Gabriella Trujillo for NPR hide caption

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Gabriella Trujillo for NPR

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Skeletons In The Closet

In a small suburb of Washington, D.C., a non-descript beige building houses thousands of Native human remains. The remains are currently in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution. But for the past decade, the Seminole Tribe of Florida has been fighting to get some of them back to Florida to be buried. The controversy over who should decide the fate of these remains has raised questions about identity, history, and the nature of archaeology.

Skeletons In The Closet

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The Once And Future 'Karen'

The evolution of a nickname for a certain type of white woman. Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR hide caption

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Connie Hanzhang Jin/NPR

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The Once And Future 'Karen'

If you've been paying attention to the news over the past couple years, you know what a so-called 'Karen' is: a white woman who uses her race and gender to wield power over someone more vulnerable. But long before most people became familiar with the term Karen, POCs have been calling out Karen-esque behavior.

The Once And Future 'Karen'

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You Are What You Cook

Michelle Zauner (L) of Japanese Breakfast performs with drummer Craig Hendrix at the Intersect music festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on December 07, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images hide caption

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Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

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You Are What You Cook

In her memoir, Crying In H Mart, released earlier this year, author and musician Michelle Zauner explores how cooking helped her understand her identity as a Korean American after her mother's death.

You Are What You Cook

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