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What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

An illustrated portrait of the famous intellectual and writer James Baldwin. Jackie Lay hide caption

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Jackie Lay

Code Switch

What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  Jasmine Romero

It's been more than ten months since devastating violence began unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And in the midst of all the death, so many people are trying to better understand what's going on in that region, and how the United States is implicated in it. So on this episode, we're looking back to the writing of James Baldwin, whose views on the country transformed significantly over the course of his life. His thoughts offer some ideas about how to grapple with trauma, and how to bridge the gap between places and ideas that, on their surface, might seem oceans apart.

What James Baldwin can teach us about Israel, and ourselves

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Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back
Alan Lagadu/Getty Images

Code Switch

Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

How do you participate in a faith practice that has a rough track record with racism? That's what our play-cousin J.C. Howard gets into in this week's episode of Code Switch. He talks to us about Black Christians who, like him for a time, found their spiritual homes in white evangelical churches.

Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back

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Race, Romance and Reality TV
Jackie Lay

The Code Switch Podcast

Race, Romance and Reality TV

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Reality TV has been referred to as a funhouse mirror of our culture. But even with its distortions, it can reflect back to us what we accept as a society – especially when it comes to things like gender, sexuality and race.

Race, Romance and Reality TV

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Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports
Dani Pendergast

The Code Switch Podcast

Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports

by 

Why are some female athletes asked to prove her womanhood? To understand how we got here, we're bringing you episode one of Tested, a new podcast series by our play cousins over at Embedded, made in partnership with CBC in Canada.

Who's "woman" enough: The long history of sex testing in sports

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The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

Author Shahnaz Habib next to the cover of her new book, Airplane Mode. Author photo by Eva Garmendia hide caption

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Author photo by Eva Garmendia

Code Switch

The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Summer is a time when many Americans are taking off from work and setting their sights on far-off vacation destinations: tropical beaches, fairy-tale cities, sun-drenched countrysides. But in her book Airplane Mode, the reluctant travel writer Shahnaz Habib warns of recklessly embracing what she calls "passport privilege," — and how that can skew peoples' images of what the world is and who it belongs to.

The beauty and entitlement of traveling as a tourist

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'Not a badge of honor': how book bans affect Indigenous literature
Jackie Lay

Code Switch

'Not a badge of honor': how book bans affect Indigenous literature

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

For some authors, finding their book on a "banned" list can feel almost like an accolade, putting them right there with classics like The Bluest Eye and To Kill a Mockingbird. But the reality is, most banned books never get the kind of recognition or readership that the most famous ones do.

'Not a badge of honor': how book bans affect Indigenous literature

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Kamala Harris, Revisited
Chris duMond/Getty Images

The Code Switch Podcast

Kamala Harris, Revisited

by  ,  Shereen Marisol Meraji ,  Kumari Devarajan ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

With Kamala Harris entering the presidential race, we look back at what has shaped her personally and politically —from being the self-described "top cop" of California, to taking on a former president with dozens of felony convictions.

Kamala Harris, Revisited

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Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

B.A. Parker at Somerset Place plantation as a child. Courtesy of B.A. Parker hide caption

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Courtesy of B.A. Parker

The Code Switch Podcast

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Every summer B.A. Parker returns to Creswell, North Carolina, where her family still has a farm. But she's mostly avoided actually going to the nearby site where her ancestors were enslaved. This week, we revisit the second of two episodes, where Parker and her mom decide to go back to the plantation.

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 2

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Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 1

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B.A. Parker

The Code Switch Podcast

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 1

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

In part one of two episodes, B.A. Parker meets people who, like her, are grappling with how to honor their enslaved ancestors. She asks herself: what kind of descendant does she want to be?

Honoring my enslaved ancestors: Episode 1

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How one event in history can ripple through generations of a family
Show art by Christina Chung

The Code Switch Podcast

How one event in history can ripple through generations of a family

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  Minju Park ,  ,  Sara Sarasohn ,  Catherine Mailhouse

This week we're bringing you the first episode in a new series called Inheriting, created in collaboration with our friends at LAist Studios. In each episode, NPR's Emily Kwong sits down with Asian American and Pacific Islander families and explores how one event in history can ripple through generations.

How one event in history can ripple through generations of a family

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The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America
Jackie Lay

Code Switch

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Author Mike Curato wrote Flamer as a way to help young queer kids, like he once was, better understand and accept themselves. It was met with immediate praise and accolades — until it wasn't. When the book got caught up in a wave of Texas-based book bans, suddenly the narrative changed. And like so many books that address queer identity, Flamer quickly became a flashpoint in a long, messy culture war that tried to distort the nature of the book.

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

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Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

Reveal's 40 Acres and a Lie Part 1 Illustration by Michael Johnson for Mother Jones hide caption

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Illustration by Michael Johnson for Mother Jones

The Code Switch Podcast

Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

The promise of "40 acres and a mule", is often thought of as a broken one. But it turns out, some freed people actually received land as reparations after the Civil War. And what happened to that land and the families it was given to is the subject of a new series, 40 Acres and a Lie, by our colleagues at Reveal and the Center for Public Integrity.

Some freed people actually received '40 acres and a mule.' Then it got taken away.

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The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

Author Jules Gill-Peterson poses next to her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny Headshot by Kadji Amin and book cover design by Angela Lorenzo for Verso hide caption

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Headshot by Kadji Amin and book cover design by Angela Lorenzo for Verso

The Code Switch Podcast

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

As anti-trans legislation has ramped up, historian Jules Gill-Peterson turns the lens to the past in her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny. This week, we talk about how panics around trans femininity are shaped by wider forces of colonialism, segregation and class interests.

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

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Should we stop using the word "felon"?

What the reaction to Trump's felony conviction tells us about the word "felon" Jackie Lay hide caption

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Jackie Lay

Analysis

Word Watch

Should we stop using the word "felon"?

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

This week, we're turning our sights on the word "felon", and looking into what it tells us (and can't tell us) about the 19 million people in the U.S. — like Donald Trump and Hunter Biden — carrying that designation around.

Should we stop using the word "felon"?

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100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

Putting the immigration "crisis" in historical perspective Jackie Lay hide caption

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Jackie Lay

The Code Switch Podcast

100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

President Biden just issued an executive order that can temporarily shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers once a daily threshold of crossings is exceeded. On this episode, we dig into how the political panic surrounding what many are calling an immigration "crisis" at the border, isn't new. And in fact...it's a problem of our own creation.

100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants

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White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

At a march in support of Israel, one woman holds a sign saying, "Christians Stand with Israel." Getty Images hide caption

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Getty Images

Code Switch

White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

As war continues to rage in the Middle East, attention has been turned to how American Jews, Muslims, and Palestinians relate to the state of Israel. But when we talk about the region, American Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, are often not part of that story. But their political support for Israel is a major driver for U.S. policy — in part because Evangelicals make up an organized, dedicated constituency with the numbers to exert major influence on U.S. politics.

White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why?

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Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer
NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

This week Code Switch digs into The Ministry of Time, a new book that author Kailene Bradley describes as a "romance about imperialism." It focuses on real-life Victorian explorer Graham Gore, who died on a doomed Arctic expedition in 1847. But in this novel, time travel is possible and Gore is brought to the 21st century where he's confronted with the fact that everyone he's ever known is dead, that the British Empire has collapsed, and that perhaps he was a colonizer.

Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer

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Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

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LA Johnson/NPR

Code Switch

Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

by  Shereen Marisol Meraji ,  ,  ,  ,  Alyssa Jeong Perry ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

As protests continue to rock the campuses of colleges and universities, a familiar set of questions is being raised: Are these protests really being led by students? Or are the real drivers of the civil disobedience outsiders, seizing on an opportunity to wreak chaos and stir up trouble?

Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists

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In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

Author Daniel A. Olivas poses next to the cover of his recent book, Chicano Frankenstein Author headshot via publisher hide caption

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Author headshot via publisher

Code Switch

In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  Courtney Stein , 

Daniel Olivas's novel puts a new spin on the age-old Frankenstein story. In this retelling, 12 million "reanimated" people provide a cheap workforce for the United States...and face a very familiar type of bigotry.

In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force

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Jerry Seinfeld and the fraught history of comedians and 'political correctness'

In an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee called "Larry Eats A Pancake," Jerry Seinfeld has coffee with Larry David. YouTube hide caption

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Perspective

Code Switch

Jerry Seinfeld and the fraught history of comedians and 'political correctness'

by 

Jerry Seinfeld has the become the latest in a string of public figures to blame "political correctness" for the death of comedy (among other societal ills). But what does the term actually refer to?

Exclusion, resilience and the Chinese American experience on 'Mott Street'

Author Ava Chin poses next to the cover of her recent book, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming Author headshot via Tommy Kha hide caption

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Author headshot via Tommy Kha

Code Switch

Exclusion, resilience and the Chinese American experience on 'Mott Street'

by  ,  ,  , 

This week on the podcast, we're revisiting a conversation we had with Ava Chin about her book, Mott Street. Through decades of painstaking research, the fifth-generation New Yorker discovered the stories of how her ancestors bore and resisted the weight of the Chinese Exclusion laws in the U.S. – and how the legacy of that history still affects her family today.

Exclusion, resilience and the Chinese American experience on 'Mott Street'

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