Code Switch

"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?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We've all heard about Rosa Parks and her crucial role in the Montgomery bus boycott. But Parks was just one of the many women who organized for years to make that boycott a reality. In this episode, the women behind the boycott tell their own story.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Host B.A. Parker talks to Jasmin Savoy Brown, of the recently-released Scream 6, about playing a queer Black girl who lives. And film critics Richard Newby and Mallory Yu discuss how horror movies can actually help us empathize with each otherLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

For decades, the ingredients, dishes and chefs that are popularized have been filtered through the narrow lens of a food and publishing world dominated by mostly white, mostly male decision-makers. But with more food authors of color taking center stage, is that changing? In this episode, we dive deep into food publishing, past and present.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, we revisit an episode from 2018 that looks into how discrimination not only degrades your health, but can cost you your life. We hear the story of Shalon Irving, who died after giving birth to her daughter. Black women like her are 243 percent more likely than white women to die of pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes in the United States. And the latest evidence further supports that this gap is caused by the "weathering" effects of racism.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Brett Woodson Bailey grew up knowing he was the descendant of "the father of Black history," Carter G. Woodson. He also grew up with the support and guidance of his "cousin" Craig Woodson, who is white. In this week's Code Switch, what it means when a Black family and a white family share a last name, and how the Black and white Woodsons became family.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From the dance floors of weddings and bar mitzvahs to the Billboard Hot 100, chances are, you've enjoyed some merengue music – think about the 1998 Puerto Rican hit 'Suavemente,' which topped charts across the globe. But did you know that merengue's path to global fame started in the Dominican Republic, before it made its way to Puerto Rico? In this episode, we hand the mic to our friends at La Brega to unpack the story behind that famous merengue single and how it sums up a complicated and tense history of cultural exchange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The large majority of NFL players are people of color. The coaches on the sidelines? Not so much. In this episode, we're looking at the NFL's famous diversity plan and what it might tells us about why so many corporate initiatives like it don't work.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this week's episode, we dive into the traditions and stories that shape Lunar New Year, and why violence and tragedy in the U.S. on the eve of the holiday cuts deep for celebrants. We also visit Monterey Park, California, and talk to its Asian American residents and neighbors about what the "ethnoburb" means to them beyond the shooting on January 21.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this episode we turn to late 1960s Chicago, when three unlikely groups came together to form a coalition based on interracial solidarity. It's hard to imagine this kind of collaboration today, but we dove into how a group of Black radicals, Confederate flag-waving white Southerners, and street-gang-turned-activist Puerto Ricans found common ground.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Bad Bunny, the genre- and gender norm-defying Puerto Rican rapper, is one of the biggest music stars on the planet. He has also provided a global megaphone for Puerto Rican discontent. In this episode, we take a look at how Bad Bunny became the unlikely voice of resistance in Puerto Rico.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From the world of local TV news, meet Code Switch's newest co-host, Lori Lizarraga! Before she was born, her mother had the nickname "Lori" ready for her, even though her legal name is Laura. The story behind why starts more than a decade before she was born, when Lori's mom came to the U.S. as a kid and had to make a difficult decision.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How do race and class affect the way we eat? What does it mean to "eat like a white person?" And if food inequality isn't about "food deserts," what is it really about? We're getting into all those questions and more with Priya Fielding-Singh, author of the book, How the Other Half Eats.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Whether you're from Ushuaia or East Los Angeles, you've likely heard cumbia blaring from a stereo. From our play friends at NPR's Alt.Latino, Jasmine Garsd and Felix Contreras talk about their common love of the musical backbone of Latin America.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It wasn't until Lisa Phu had her own child that she started unlocking her mother's history. In her new 5-part series called Before Me, Lisa asks her mother, Lan, the questions she should have asked years ago. Lisa tells us what she learned in getting to know Lan in this way.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There are a lot of TV shows to watch out there - so the Code Switch team isn't trying to bring you a list of the "best." Instead, we're chatting about the shows we watched this year that we loved, and gave us something bigger to think about, from Abbott Elementary to Bel-Air.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Republican officials in Louisiana want to change how Black people are counted in voting maps. If their plan is successful, it could shrink the power of Black voters across the country — and further gut the Voting Rights Act.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy