About this podcast

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 head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story. We're talking to people who have been marginalized and underrepresented for so long, who are so hungry to see themselves represented fully and with nuance and complexity, says Shereen Marisol Meraji, co-host of Code Switch, Apple Podcasts' first-ever Show of the Year for 2020. People recognize that, because we had been having these conversations for so many years in advance, we're a trusted place where they could go to better understand all the stories about race filling up their newsfeeds and social channels. Their weekly podcast launched in 2016 but truly came into its own during this historic, transformative year, as Meraji and co-host Gene Demby examine issues of racial, ethnic, and cultural identity through frank one-on-one discussions and incisive non-fiction. In a year dominated by discourse about race, this indispensable show furthered them by providing powerful and timely insight, offering diverse and empathetic personal perspectives to a broad audience. There are certain lenses that we are bringing into, both as journalists and the people that we're bringing to these stories, Demby says. But also, we are specific people with specific fascinations and broad curiosity. If we're telling these stories, you should assume that they're going to look and sound like us.

Latest episodes

• Show Me The Money

  May 5, 2021
• Live From Philly*: A Code Switch Jawn

  April 28, 2021
• A Utopia For Black Capitalism

  April 21, 2021
• Do The Golden Arches Bend Toward Justice?

  April 14, 2021
• Spit A Verse, Drop Some Knowledge

  April 7, 2021
• Why Are We Here?

  March 31, 2021
• Screams And Silence

  March 24, 2021
• Lonnie Bunch And The 'Museum Of No'

  March 17, 2021
• Saving A Language You're Learning To Speak

  March 10, 2021
• David (Pronounced dah-VEED) Versus Goliath

  March 3, 2021
• 'Payback's A B****'

  February 26, 2021
• A Shot In The Dark

  February 24, 2021
• Becoming 'Black Moses'

  February 17, 2021
• Black Kiss-tory

  February 10, 2021
• Who's 'Black Enough' For Reparations?

  February 3, 2021
• Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of 'Killer King'

  January 27, 2021
• The Last Four Years

  January 20, 2021
• From The Fringe To The Capitol

  January 13, 2021
• Finding 'A Perfect Match'

  January 6, 2021
• The Fire Still Burning

  December 30, 2020
• From Generation To Generation

  December 28, 2020
• Family Stories, Family Lies

  December 23, 2020
• Black And Up In Arms

  December 16, 2020
• The Books That Got Away

  December 14, 2020
• Stepping Back Inside Carmen Maria Machado's 'Dream House'

  December 9, 2020
• Words Of Advice

  December 2, 2020
• Thank You, Next

  November 25, 2020
• The White Elephants In The Room

  November 19, 2020
• Claim Us If You're Famous

  November 11, 2020
• We ... Don't Know Anything Yet

  November 5, 2020
• An Historic Vote, Among Many

  October 31, 2020
• The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

  October 28, 2020
• Is Trump Really That Racist?

  October 21, 2020
• Let's Talk About Kamala Harris

  October 14, 2020
• Hip-Hop, Mass Incarceration, And A Conspiracy Theory For The Ages

  October 9, 2020
• A Treaty Right For Cherokee Representation

  October 7, 2020
• A New Look For The Fashion Industry?

  October 3, 2020
• Is It Time To Say R.I.P. To 'POC'?

  September 30, 2020
• Battle Of The Books

  September 23, 2020
• The Protests Heard 'Round The World

  September 17, 2020
• The Kids Are All Right

  September 9, 2020
• Balls And Strikes

  September 3, 2020
• The United States' Pre-Existing Conditions

  August 26, 2020
• Keep Your Friends Closer

  August 19, 2020
• Kamala, Joe, And The Fissures In The Base

  August 13, 2020
• Bonus Episode: Katrina, 15 Years Later

  August 8, 2020
• The Long, Bloody Strike For Ethnic Studies

  August 5, 2020
• One Korean American's Reckoning

  July 29, 2020
• Un-HolyLand? An Arab Muslim Reckoning With Racism

  July 22, 2020
• Remembering The 'Divine Diahann Carroll'

  July 18, 2020
• What's In A 'Karen'?

  July 16, 2020
• An Immune System

  July 8, 2020
• We Aren't Who We Think We Are

  July 2, 2020
• They Don't Say Our Names Enough

  June 27, 2020
• Author Karla Cornejo Villavicencio Talks 'The Undocumented Americans'

  June 24, 2020
• DACA Decision: Check-In with Miriam Gonzalez

  June 20, 2020
• Why Now, White People?

  June 17, 2020
• Bonus Episode: 'Not Just Another Protest'

  June 12, 2020
• Unmasking The 'Outside Agitator'

  June 10, 2020
• A Decade Of Watching Black People Die

  May 31, 2020
• Songs Giving Us (Much Needed) Life

  May 27, 2020
• COVID Diaries: Jessica And Sean Apply For A Loan

  May 21, 2020
• Ask Code Switch: The Coronavirus Edition

  May 13, 2020
• What Does 'Hood Feminism' Mean For A Pandemic?

  May 7, 2020
• When Poets Decide Who Counts

  April 29, 2020
• Puerto Rico, Island Of Racial Harmony?

  April 24, 2020
• The News Beyond The COVID Numbers

  April 22, 2020
• Black Like Who?

  April 16, 2020
• Why The Coronavirus Is Hitting Black Communities Hardest

  April 11, 2020
• A Treacherous Choice And A Treaty Right

  April 8, 2020
• Mother, Should I Trust The Census Bureau?

  April 1, 2020
• Code Switch: Race. In Your Face.

  March 25, 2020
• Sex, Friendship And Aging: 'It's Not All Downhill From Here'

  March 25, 2020
• The All-Women Mariachi Group That's Lifting Our Spirits

  March 18, 2020
• The Limits Of Empathy

  March 11, 2020
• When Fear Of The Coronavirus Turns Into Racism And Xenophobia

  March 4, 2020
• Claude Neal: A Strange And Bitter Crop

  February 26, 2020
• Blexodus: The Black Exodus From The GOP

  February 19, 2020
• Pt. 2: Black Parents Take Control, Teachers Strike Back

  February 12, 2020
• Black Parents Take Control, Teachers Strike Back

  February 5, 2020
• Books For Your Mind, Belly And Soul

  January 29, 2020
• Bonus Episode: 'Between Friends' From WNYC

  January 23, 2020
• Ask Code Switch: What About Your Friends?

  January 22, 2020
• Is The Door To Iran Closed Forever?

  January 15, 2020
• Carmen Maria Machado Takes Us 'In The Dream House'

  January 8, 2020
• Beautiful Lies

  January 1, 2020
• The Birth Of A 'New Negro'

  December 25, 2019
• Slow Burn

  December 18, 2019
• The Reverse Freedom Rides

  December 12, 2019
• Death Of A Blood Sport

  December 4, 2019
• Sometimes Explain, Always Complain

  November 27, 2019
• Sex, Lies And Audio Tape

  November 20, 2019
• Status Update

  November 13, 2019
• Is This What It Means To Be White?

  November 6, 2019
• Fear In An Age Of Real-Life Horror

  October 30, 2019
• A Strange And Bitter Crop

  October 23, 2019
• President Trump's (Anti-)Social Media

  October 16, 2019
• That's The Anthem, Get Your [Dang] Hands Up!

  October 9, 2019
• Political Prisoners?

  October 2, 2019
• The Original Blexit

  September 25, 2019
• The Black Table In The Big Tent

  September 18, 2019
• A Tale Of Two School Districts

  September 11, 2019
• Searching For Punks

  September 4, 2019
• '20 And Odd. Negroes'

  August 29, 2019
• All That Glisters Is Not Gold

  August 21, 2019
• Dora's Lasting Magic

  August 14, 2019
• After The Cameras Leave

  August 7, 2019
• Puerto Ricans Stand Up

  July 31, 2019
• Chicago's Red Summer

  July 24, 2019
• Oh So Now It's Racist?

  July 17, 2019
• The Return Of Race Science

  July 10, 2019
• America's Concentration Camps?

  July 3, 2019
• Some Of The People Knew Magic

  June 26, 2019
• Code Switch Book Club: Summer 2019

  June 19, 2019
• E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawai'i

  June 12, 2019
• The Original 'Welfare Queen'

  June 5, 2019
• Salt Fat Acid Race

  May 29, 2019
• Dispatches From The Schoolyard

  May 22, 2019
• Anger: The Black Woman's 'Superpower'

  May 15, 2019
• We Don't Say That

  May 8, 2019
• You Say Chicano, I Say...

  May 1, 2019
• Poets, The Life Boats

  April 24, 2019
• Can the Go-Go Go On?

  April 17, 2019
• Love & Walkouts

  April 10, 2019
• Why Is It So Hard To Talk About Israel?

  April 5, 2019
• Ask Code Switch: You Are What You Eat

  March 27, 2019
• "On Strike! Blow It Up!"

  March 20, 2019
• Respect Yourself

  March 13, 2019
• When Disaster Strikes

  March 6, 2019
• On The Shoulders Of Giants

  February 28, 2019
• Getting A Foot In the Door

  February 21, 2019
• From Blackface To Blackfishing

  February 13, 2019
• We're Going To Start A Dialogue...Again.

  February 7, 2019
• Pretty Hurts

  January 30, 2019
• Intrigue At The Census Bureau

  January 24, 2019
• Perfect Son

  January 16, 2019
• The Return

  January 9, 2019
• America's Other Anthems

  January 2, 2019
• Race Underneath The Skin

  December 26, 2018
• Code Switch Goes To College

  December 19, 2018
• Code Switch Book Club

  December 12, 2018
• The Story Of Mine Mill

  December 5, 2018
• Dog Show!

  November 28, 2018
• Live From The Apollo...It's Code Switch!

  November 21, 2018
• The House On The Corner

  November 14, 2018
• Politics Podcast Pop Up

  November 7, 2018
• Is Ron Brown High School Working?

  October 31, 2018
• The Cost To Cast A Ballot

  October 24, 2018
• What So Proudly We Hail

  October 17, 2018
• Our Homeland Is Each Other

  October 10, 2018
• Deja Vu All Over Again

  October 3, 2018
• #CriticsSoWhite

  September 26, 2018
• Puerto Rico's Other Storm

  September 19, 2018
• Ask Code Switch: School Daze

  September 12, 2018
• Update: Looking For Marriage In All The Wrong Places

  September 7, 2018
• Stuck Off The Realness

  September 5, 2018
• So What If He Said It?

  August 29, 2018
• Live From Birmingham...It's Code Switch!

  August 22, 2018
• Behind The Lies My Teacher Told Me

  August 15, 2018
• Talk American

  August 8, 2018
• Word Watch, The Sequel: 2Watch 2Wordiest

  August 1, 2018
• Word Watch: A Code Switch Game Show

  July 25, 2018
• Rap On Trial

  July 18, 2018
• Word Up

  July 11, 2018
• Code Switch's Summer Vacation

  July 4, 2018
• Immigration Nation

  June 27, 2018
• Looking For Marriage In All The Wrong Places

  June 20, 2018
• Twenty-First Century Blackface

  June 13, 2018
• What We Inherit

  June 6, 2018
• A Thousand Ways To Kneel And Kiss The Ground

  May 30, 2018
• Of Bloodlines and Conquistadors

  May 23, 2018
• What's Black And Gray And Inked All Over?

  May 16, 2018
• Tough Questions For The World's Toughest Job

  May 9, 2018
• Code Switch Census Watch 2020

  May 2, 2018
• It's Bigger Than The Ban

  April 25, 2018
• Members of Whose Tribe?

  April 18, 2018
• Location! Location! Location!

  April 11, 2018
• The Road To The Promised Land, 50 Years Later

  April 4, 2018
• Amara La Negra: Too Black To Be Latina? Too Latina To Be Black?

  March 28, 2018
• The Madness Of March

  March 21, 2018
• Who Is 'Us,' Anyway?

  March 14, 2018
• Searching For A Home After Hate

  March 7, 2018
• A House Divided By Immigration Status

  February 28, 2018
• Throw Some Respeck On My Name

  February 21, 2018
• Feelings, Finances And Fetishes: Love Is A Racial Battlefield

  February 14, 2018
• It's Not Just About The Blood

  February 7, 2018
• The State Of Our Union Is...Uh, How Much Time You Got?

  January 31, 2018
• The 'R-Word' In The Age Of Trump

  January 24, 2018
• A Racial Impostor Epidemic

  January 17, 2018
• This Racism Is Killing Me Inside

  January 10, 2018
• Before We Give 2017 The Middle Finger, Part 2

  January 3, 2018
• Before We Give 2017 The Middle Finger, Part 1

  December 27, 2017
• Black Atheists, White Santas, And A Feast For The Deceased

  December 20, 2017
• With Dope, There's High Hope

  December 13, 2017
• 17,000 Islands, 700 Languages, And A Superhero

  December 6, 2017
• Disrespect To Miss-Respect

  November 29, 2017
• A Code Switch Thanksgiving Feast

  November 22, 2017
• Live From Chicago...It's Code Switch!

  November 15, 2017
• Reflections On A Year At Ron Brown High

  November 8, 2017
• To Fail Or Not To Fail: The Fierce Debate Over High Standards

  November 1, 2017