‘Code Switch’ is having nuanced conversations on race, identity, and culture
Unflinching, outspoken, and deeply empathetic, NPR’s “Code Switch” has only grown in popularity as audiences search for more nuanced conversations about race. What started as a blog and evolved into a podcast in 2016, “Code Switch” faces the uncomfortable head-on to talk about relevant racial issues. Through their warm humor, thoughtful discussions, and incredible journalistic prowess, they have become one of the most important (and popular) podcasts today.
With over 350 episodes, “Code Switch” has shown that it is here to stay. Episodes are typically just 35 minutes long, but they have been known to reach the 50-minute mark on occasion. With a rotating cast of journalists of color including Gene Demby, Karen Grigsby Bates, and the newest co-host Lori Lizarraga, each episode dives into new territory – whether it’s music, food, television, community, overcoming trauma, systemic violence, or panic over Critical Race Theory.
“Code Switch” features a variety of perspectives from their journalists and producers, focusing on all areas of race, diversity, and cultural issues. Recent episodes explored the original Rainbow Coalition, Reggaeton, Merengue, cumbia, gaming, and race in “Dungeons & Dragons” – just to name a few.
Original co-host and senior producer Shereen Marisol Meraji left the show in September of 2021 to join the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, but her contributions to the show cannot be overstated. Her last episode on “Code Switch” looked back on her early days as a journalist two decades ago in the summer of 2001. While media at the time had fully focused their attention on the tragic disappearance (later assumed murder), of Chandra Levy, a congressional intern with whom Congressman George Condit had been having an affair.
But Meraji wasn’t reporting on that. She had traveled to Durban, South Africa to report on a global conference on racism that had attracted thousands. For the majority of the episode, she told us the details of the conference, what was being laid out, and why it had filled her with hope before all of that hope was swept away once that first plane hit the World Trade Center. It’s a shocking but fascinating and deeply informational episode.
See for yourself why “Code Switch” has earned nothing but praise. The show has an all-encompassing warmth around it, making it feel like each episode is an intimate conversation despite its thousands upon thousands of listeners, but it does not shy away from directness. Be sure to check out this NPR classic to be a part of the narrative.
Discover
