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Wednesday

Going back to the plantation where my ancestors were enslaved

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

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Code Switch

Going back to the plantation where my ancestors were enslaved

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In the second of two episodes, Code Switch co-host B.A. Parker is figuring out what kind of descendant she wants to be. Parker and her mom decide to go back to the plantation where their ancestors were enslaved, because despite the circumstances of slavery, this is where their family began.

Going back to the plantation where my ancestors were enslaved

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Wednesday

How do descendants of slavery honor their ancestors' legacy?

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Code Switch

How do descendants of slavery honor their ancestors' legacy?

by  ,  ,  , 

Code Switch co-host B.A. Parker digs into what it means to maintain the legacy of her ancestors. In part one of two episodes, Parker goes to a symposium for descendants of slavery and meets people who, like her, are caretakers of "culturally significant historical places."

How do descendants of slavery honor their ancestors' legacy?

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Wednesday

Black praise in white pews: When your church doesn't love you back
LA Johnson/Getty Images/NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

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 on 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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Wednesday

When your demographic clone tells their secrets, are they telling yours, too?

Actor and comedian D'Lo performing in his one-man play, "To T or Not to T." Mikel Darling hide caption

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Mikel Darling

Code Switch

When your demographic clone tells their secrets, are they telling yours, too?

by  ,  ,  ,  Alyssa Jeong Perry

On this week's Code Switch, producer Kumari Devarajan finds her demographic clone in actor and comedian D'Lo. Kumari found that when you share so much in common with a stranger who is putting their business on front street for the world to see, it can feel like they're sharing your secrets, too.

When your demographic clone tells their secrets, are they telling yours, too?

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Wednesday

Finding generations of family — and history — on Chinatown's 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

Finding generations of family — and history — on Chinatown's Mott Street

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Ava Chin's family has been in the U.S. for generations — but Ava was disheartened to learn that so much of what they had experienced was totally absent from American history books. So she embarked on a journey to learn more about her ancestors, and in doing so, to work toward correcting the historical record for all Americans.

Finding generations of family — and history — on Chinatown's Mott Street

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Wednesday

Across the ocean: a Japanese American story of war and homecoming

Joan Suzuki, the grandmother of reporter Kori Suzuki, who was born and raised in the U.S., but lived in Japan during World War II. Kori Suzuki hide caption

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Kori Suzuki

Code Switch

Across the ocean: a Japanese American story of war and homecoming

by  Kori Suzuki ,  ,  ,  , 

One of the most pivotal moments in Japanese American history was when the U.S. government uprooted more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry and forced them into incarceration camps. But there is another, less-known story about the tens of thousands of Japanese Americans who were living in Japan during World War II — and whose lives uprooted in a very different way.

Across the ocean: a Japanese American story of war and homecoming

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Wednesday

The implications of the case against ICWA

Rebecca Nagle is the host of the podcast "This Land." Sean Scheidt/Sean Scheidt hide caption

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Sean Scheidt/Sean Scheidt

Code Switch

The implications of the case against ICWA

by  ,  , 

The Supreme Court is about to decide on a case arguing that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) discriminates against white foster parents. Journalist Rebecca Nagle explains how this decision could reverse centuries of U.S. law protecting the rights of Indigenous nations. "Native kids have been the tip of the spear in attacks on tribal sovereignty for generations."

The implications of the case against ICWA

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Wednesday

Naomi Jackson talks 'losing and finding my mind'

Writer Naomi Jackson Lola Flash/Naomi Jackson hide caption

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Lola Flash/Naomi Jackson

Code Switch

Naomi Jackson talks 'losing and finding my mind'

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"Three springs ago, I lost the better part of my mind," Naomi Jackson wrote in an essay for Harper's Magazine. On this episode, Jackson reads from that essay about her experience with mental illness, including how she has had to decipher which of her fears stem from her illness and which are backed by the history of racism.

Naomi Jackson talks 'losing and finding my mind'

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Wednesday

K-Pop's Surprising B(l)ackstory

In LAist's podcast California Love: K-Pop Dreaming, host Vivian Yoon tells the story of the origins of K-Pop. LAist/NPR hide caption

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LAist/NPR

Code Switch

K-Pop's Surprising B(l)ackstory

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K-pop disrupted pop culture in South Korea in the early 1990s, and later found fans around the world. Vivian Yoon was one of those fans, growing up thousands of miles away in Koreatown, Los Angeles. This week, we're sharing an episode of In K-Pop Dreaming, the second season of LAist's California Love podcast. In it, Yoon takes listeners on a journey to learn about the history behind the music that had defined her childhood.

K-Pop's Surprising B(l)ackstory

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Wednesday

The Fallout of a Callout

Hank Azaria (left) and Hari Kondabolu speak with each other in public for the first time since their fallout in 2017. PR Agency/Designed by NPR hide caption

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PR Agency/Designed by NPR

Code Switch

The Fallout of a Callout

by  ,  ,  , 

In 2017, comedian Hari Kondabolu called out Hollywood's portrayals of South Asians with his documentary The Problem With Apu. The film was also a criticism of comedian Hank Azaria, who is white, for voicing the Indian character on The Simpsons. On this episode, Hari and Hank sit down to talk publicly for the first time about that callout and everything that has gone down since.

The Fallout of a Callout

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Wednesday

Real self-care takes real systemic change

Psychiatrist Pooja Lakshmin next to the cover of her new book, Real Self Care (Crystals, Cleanses and Bubble Baths Not Included.) Courtesy of the publisher hide caption

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Courtesy of the publisher

Code Switch

Real self-care takes real systemic change

by  ,  , 

"You can't meditate yourself out of a 40-hour work week with no childcare and no paid sick days," says Dr. Pooja Lakshmin. But when you're overworked and overwhelmed, what actually can you do? On this episode, host B.A. Parker asks: What are your options when a bubble bath won't cut it?

Real self-care takes real systemic change

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Wednesday

WTF does race have to do with taxes?

It may not seem like it at first, but race is also a part of our taxes and who gets audited. LA Johnson/Getty/design by NPR hide caption

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Code Switch

WTF does race have to do with taxes?

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You finally get through the confusing, stressful work of doing your taxes only to hear back from the IRS: you're being audited. And it turns out that your race plays a big role in whether you get that letter, how much you might owe the IRS, which tax breaks you can get, and even which benefits you can claim.

WTF does race have to do with taxes?

Listen · 30:05
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Wednesday

Women in hip-hop push back against the male gaze

Illustration of DreamDoll, Doechii and Baby Tate. Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR hide caption

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Amanda Howell Whitehurst for NPR

Code Switch

Women in hip-hop push back against the male gaze

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

The male gaze objectifies, consumes and shames people for not fitting into a mold. This week, we're looking at how that affects women in hip-hop. Our play cousins at Louder Than A Riot bring us the voices of artists who won't let the male gaze dominate their careers, stories and personal lives.

Women in hip-hop push back against the male gaze

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Wednesday

The tricky obligations of utang na loob
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The Code Switch Podcast

The tricky obligations of utang na loob

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Utang na loob is the Filipino concept of an eternal debt to others, be it family or friends, who do a favor for you. In this episode from 2022, we break down this "debt of the inner soul" — and discover a surprising side to this pre-colonial value.

The tricky obligations of utang na loob

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Wednesday

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott
NPR

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The Code Switch Podcast

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

by  ,  ,  Barrett Golding ,  ,  , 

We've heard about Rosa Parks and her crucial role in the Montgomery bus boycott. But Parks was just one of many women who organized for years. In this episode, those women tell their own story.

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

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