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

• 'Wherever you go, there you are'

  July 6, 2022
• School Colors Episode 8: "The Only Way Out"

  July 1, 2022
• No Man's Land

  June 29, 2022
• School Colors Episode 7: "The Sleeping Giant"

  June 24, 2022
• On Food, Mattress Sales, and Juneteenth

  June 19, 2022
• School Colors Episode 6: "Below Liberty"

  June 17, 2022
• The impact of COVID-19, a million deaths in

  June 15, 2022
• Spilling the 'T'

  June 8, 2022
• School Colors Episode 5: "The Melting Pot"

  June 3, 2022
• Rethinking 'safety' in the wake of Uvalde

  June 1, 2022
• School Colors Episode 4: 'The Mason-Dixon Line'

  May 27, 2022
• How We Decide Who Is 'Worthy of Welcome'

  May 25, 2022
• School Colors Episode 3: "The Battle of Forest Hills"

  May 20, 2022
• The Utang Clan

  May 18, 2022
• A tale of two school districts: the making of the Southside

  May 11, 2022
• School Colors Episode 1: "There Is No Plan"

  May 4, 2022
• Coming Soon: Code Switch presents 'School Colors'

  May 2, 2022
• The LA Uprising, a generation later

  April 27, 2022
• Race, queerness, and superpowers in 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once'

  April 20, 2022
• A makeup company gets a facelift

  April 13, 2022
• A New Movement on Standing Rock

  April 6, 2022
• The dance that made its way from Harlem to Sweden

  March 30, 2022
• Why the N-word is so toxic

  March 23, 2022
• Screams and Silence

  March 16, 2022
• What's In A Dad?

  March 9, 2022
• Mabel Fairbanks: The Ice Breaker

  March 2, 2022
• The rise and fall of 'America's Dad'

  February 23, 2022
• Can therapy solve racism?

  February 16, 2022
• Humor, poetry and romance on Code Switch Live

  February 9, 2022
• Bonus Episode: Consider the Lobstermen

  February 7, 2022
• The 'double-edged sword' of being a Black first

  February 2, 2022
• Bonus: Getting real (like, really real) with Gabrielle Union

  January 30, 2022
• Playing Pretendian

  January 26, 2022
• Bonus: Remembering the iconic, complicated André Leon Talley

  January 23, 2022
• A whiteness that's only skin deep

  January 20, 2022
• They came, they saw, they reckoned?

  January 12, 2022
• Nikole Hannah-Jones on the power of collective memory

  January 5, 2022
• Ask Code Switch: What Does Race Have To Do With Beauty?

  December 29, 2021
• What We Watched in 2021

  December 22, 2021
• Bonus Episode: The blessing and curse of the '90s Latin Pop Explosion

  December 20, 2021
• What Is 'Latin Music' Anyway?

  December 15, 2021
• A Glimpse At 'How The Other Half Eats'

  December 8, 2021
• Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

  December 1, 2021
• Imagining A World Without Prisons Or Police

  December 1, 2021
• Ask Code Switch: Thought For Food

  November 24, 2021
• 'The Characters Are The Light'

  November 17, 2021
• 'Being Fly Is An Act Of Community'

  November 10, 2021
• Love And Blood Quantum

  November 3, 2021
• Ask Code Switch: Parents Just Don't Understand

  October 27, 2021
• Painting By Numbers

  October 20, 2021
• Painting By Numbers

  October 20, 2021
• Skeletons In The Closet

  October 13, 2021
• Skeletons In The Closet

  October 13, 2021
• The Once And Future 'Karen'

  October 6, 2021
• The Rise Of The BBL

  September 29, 2021
• The Dramatic Life Of The American Teenager

  September 25, 2021
• Who You Calling 'Hispanic'?

  September 22, 2021
• Who You Calling 'Hispanic'?

  September 22, 2021
• The Making And Remaking Of Afghanistan

  September 15, 2021
• The Lost Summer

  September 8, 2021
• The Folk Devil Made Me Do It

  September 1, 2021
• The Folk Devil Made Me Do It

  September 1, 2021
• 'Seeing Ghosts' Across Generations

  August 25, 2021
• Who Runs The World? Kids.

  August 18, 2021
• Who Runs The World? Kids.

  August 18, 2021
• Care To Explain Yourself?

  August 11, 2021
• Violence That Doesn't Go Viral

  August 4, 2021
• To Love And Not Forgive

  July 28, 2021
• Words To Set You Free

  July 21, 2021
• What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition

  July 14, 2021
• Égalité, Fraternité, And 'Libertie'

  July 7, 2021
• A Good ACT To Follow

  June 30, 2021
• 'Where We Come From': By Any Other Name

  June 27, 2021
• Ballers, Shot Callers

  June 23, 2021
• A Taste Of Freedom

  June 16, 2021
• The Racial Reckoning That Wasn't

  June 9, 2021
• The Racial Reckoning That Wasn't

  June 9, 2021
• Where Are You Really From?

  June 2, 2021
• Tulsa, 100 Years Later

  May 26, 2021
• Tulsa, 100 Years Later

  May 26, 2021
• The Sum Of Our Parts

  May 19, 2021
• The Sum Of Our Parts

  May 19, 2021
• The Kid Mero Talks 'What It Means To Be Latino'

  May 12, 2021
• 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
• 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