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Race. In your face.

Wednesday

Meet B.A. Parker — our new co-host!

The new voice — and face — of the Code Switch podcast! Courtesy of B.A. Parker hide caption

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Courtesy of B.A. Parker

Opinion

Code Switch

Meet B.A. Parker — our new co-host!

by  ,  ,  ,  , 

Fam: We finally have a new co-host of the Code Switch podcast! And we're just a *tiny bit* excited. So today on the show, we're introducing you to B.A. Parker. Gene chats with Parker about who she is, what drew her to the race beat, and how her encyclopedic knowledge of Oscars trivia will be an asset to Code Switch listeners.

Meet B.A. Parker — our new co-host!

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Wednesday

Who belongs in the Cherokee Nation?

Marilyn Vann, President of the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association and the African Indians Foundation Courtesy of Marilyn Vann hide caption

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Courtesy of Marilyn Vann

Analysis

Code Switch

Who belongs in the Cherokee Nation?

In 1866, the Cherokee Nation promised citizenship for Black "freedmen" and their descendants. But more than a century later, the descendants of the freedman are calling foul on that promise being fulfilled. This episode, from our friends at The Experiment podcast (produced by WNYC and the Atlantic) gets into the messy history and fraught present.

Who belongs in the Cherokee Nation?

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Friday

Code Switch

School Colors Episode 9: 'Water Under The Bridge'

by  ,  ,  Soraya Shockley ,  ,  Ilana Levinson

Over the course of this season, we've explored a rich history and complicated present, but what about the future? In the final episode, we catch up with parents who became activated on both sides of the debate over the diversity plan. And, since the diversity plan never came to fruition, we ask...what now?

School Colors Episode 9: 'Water Under The Bridge'

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Wednesday

Code Switch's playlist for a summer road trip
Aurélia Durand

Code Switch

Code Switch's playlist for a summer road trip

by  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

This week, we're talking about the podcasts that podcasters listen to. These are the shows that members of the Code Switch team cannot tear our ears away from. We think they'd be great for a long car ride, plane ride, or just regular day of vegging out. They get into everything from old people to food to the human body to Oprah. And — surprise, surprise — they all have a whole lot to do with race and identity.

Code Switch's playlist for a summer road trip

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Friday

School Colors Bonus: 'Ms. Mitchell's Pandemic Diary'

School Colors Bonus: "Ms. Mitchell's Pandemic Diary" Cassandra Giraldo hide caption

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Cassandra Giraldo

Code Switch

School Colors Bonus: 'Ms. Mitchell's Pandemic Diary'

by  ,  ,  Soraya Shockley ,  ,  Ilana Levinson

Pat Mitchell is the longtime principal of P.S. 48 – an elementary school in Jamaica, Queens. And while she cares deeply about her students and her work, she has struggled with the growing challenges faced by her school community. In this bonus episode, we look at the pandemic through the eyes of one elementary school principal, and how Covid-19 rocked education in the district – especially on the Southside.

School Colors Bonus: 'Ms. Mitchell's Pandemic Diary'

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Wednesday

'Wherever you go, there you are'

Miguel Macias at various stages of life. Courtesy of Miguel Macias hide caption

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Courtesy of Miguel Macias

Code Switch

'Wherever you go, there you are'

by 

Many immigrants have described the feeling of being different people in different places. Maybe in one country, you're a little goofy, a little wild. In another, you're more serious — more of a planner. In this episode, which originally aired on Latino USA, Miguel Macias explores how his identity has been shaped by both Spain and the United States, leaving him in a state of limbo.

'Wherever you go, there you are'

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Friday

School Colors Episode 8: 'The Only Way Out'

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NPR

Code Switch

School Colors Episode 8: 'The Only Way Out'

by  ,  ,  Soraya Shockley ,  ,  Ilana Levinson

When the District 28 diversity planning process came around, many Chinese parents had already been activated a year earlier by the fight to defend the Specialized High School Admissions Test.

School Colors Episode 8: 'The Only Way Out'

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Wednesday

Waiting In No Man's Land
Dion MBD for NPR

Code Switch

Waiting In No Man's Land

by  ,  ,  , 

Tens of thousands of children were adopted from other countries by parents in the U.S., only to discover as adults a quirk in federal law that meant they had never been guaranteed American citizenship. Much like the Dreamers, these adoptees are now fighting for legal status to ensure they can stay with the only homes and families they've ever known.

Waiting In No Man's Land

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Friday

School Colors Episode 7: 'The Sleeping Giant'

School Colors Episode 7: "The Sleeping Giant." LA Johnson hide caption

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LA Johnson

Code Switch

School Colors Episode 7: 'The Sleeping Giant'

by  ,  ,  Soraya Shockley ,  ,  Illana Levinson

In some ways, this entire season was prompted by the parents who organized against diversity planning in School District 28. So in this episode, we're going back to that one ugly meeting, where they unleashed their fear and anger into the rest of the community. So who are these parents, what do they believe and why? Moreover, why were they ready to fight so hard against a plan that didn't exist?

School Colors Episode 7: 'The Sleeping Giant'

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Sunday

On Food, Mattress Sales, and Juneteenth

Beloved Black cookbooks for Juneteenth. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

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LA Johnson/NPR

Analysis

Code Switch

On Food, Mattress Sales, and Juneteenth

by  ,  ,  , 

It's the second year that Juneteenth has been a federal holiday — which means it's getting the full summer holiday treatment: sales on appliances, branded merchandise, and for some, a day off of work. But on this episode, we're talking about the origin of the holiday — and the traditions that keep its history alive for Black folks around the country.

On Food, Mattress Sales, and Juneteenth

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Saturday

Friday

School Colors Episode 6: 'Below Liberty'
LA Johnson

Code Switch

School Colors Episode 6: 'Below Liberty'

by  ,  ,  Soraya Shockley ,  ,  Ilana Levinson

Though a lot of parents and educators agree there needs to be some change in District 28, the question remains: what kind of change? When we asked around, more diversity wasn't necessarily at the top of everybody's list. In fact, from the north and south, we heard a lot of the same kind of thing: "leave our kids where they are and give all the schools what they need."

School Colors Episode 6: 'Below Liberty'

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Wednesday

The impact of COVID-19, a million deaths in

Author Linda Villarosa pictured next to her book, Under the Skin. Nic Villarosa hide caption

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Nic Villarosa

Code Switch

The impact of COVID-19, a million deaths in

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A new book by Linda Villarosa looks at how racial bias in healthcare has costs for all Americans. Spoiler: Poverty counts — but not as much as you'd think.

The impact of COVID-19, a million deaths in

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Saturday

How 'A Strange Loop' fits into Black theater legacies

James Jackson, Jr., L. Morgan Lee, Antwayn Hopper, John-Andrew Morrison and Jason Veasey play the self-lacerating thoughts of Usher (Jaquel Spivey) in A Strange Loop. Teresa Castracane/Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Association with Playwrights Horizons and Page 73 Productions hide caption

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Teresa Castracane/Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Association with Playwrights Horizons and Page 73 Productions

Code Switch

How 'A Strange Loop' fits into Black theater legacies

by 

The musical — which is up for 11 Tony Awards this Sunday — subverts and reimagines decades of Black theater and pop culture.

Wednesday

Spilling the T

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

Spilling the T

by 

Code Switch's Kumari Devarajan found an unlikely demographic doppelganger in D'Lo, a comedian and playwright whose one-person show about growing up as a queer child of immigrants in the U.S. is reopening on a bigger theater stage. But when you share so much in common with a stranger who is putting their sometimes messy business on front street for the world to see, it can feel like they're also sharing your secrets, too.

Spilling the T

Listen · 31:22
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