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What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for. Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor. We explore how race affects every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between. This podcast makes all of us part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story. Code Switch was named Apple Podcasts' first-ever Show of the Year in 2020.

Want to level up your Code Switch game? Try Code Switch Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/codeswitch

Code Switch

Latinos make up at least 50% of all Customs and Border Patrol agents and 20% of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — which has a lot of critics asking, why? We talk to Geraldo Cadava, professor of Latino Studies at Northwestern and contributor to the Atlantic, to break down some of the reasons Latinos join ICE, and he tells us, there are many people who believe in the mission of immigration enforcement.

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Why do Latinos join ICE?

Happy tenth birthday to us! In true Gemini fashion - we're that sign - we're celebrating by exploring our duality through astrology. Our intrepid Aquarius, B.A. Parker, talks to an astrologer and a science writer - a true believer and a real skeptic - about why Black and Latina women are twice as likely as men to believe in astrology. She also finds out what's written in the stars for the show. Spoiler alert: our birth chart is cute. And we are ready to be outside!

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Is astrology real? Depends who you ask

Ever heard of the Savannah Bananas? They're a baseball team with millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram — known as much for their dance routines and shenanigans as their actual baseball. Now their league, Banana Ball, has resurrected the Indianapolis Clowns, a Negro League team with a contentious history of racial minstrelsy. We chop it up with journalist Josh Levin, who followed the Clowns through their Banana Ball debut.

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What the Savannah Bananas have to do with race and baseball

The passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act marked what many historians mark as the actual beginning of democracy in the US. But last week the Supreme Court gutted what was left of the landmark civil rights law. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang joins us to talk through what it means for Black political power, especially in the South.

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How the Supreme Court gutted Black voting power

Parenting is one of the toughest jobs in the world. Between choosing a neighborhood to live in or whether to send your kid to public school, there are a lot of decisions that feel high stakes — and sticky, especially when it comes to race. We're here to help. This week we're digging into our archives to bring you some parenting advice around some of the parenting-and-race dilemmas our listeners have faced.

This episode features advice from Cassandra Harewood, child and adolescent psychiatrist, Amy Stuart Wells, professor emeritus of sociology and education at Teachers College at Columbia University, Jenn Jackson, professor of political science at Syracuse University focusing on Blackness and gender, Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University, and Gigliana Melzi, associate professor of applied psychology at New York University.

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The minefields of parenting and race

Motherhood in the U.S. is revered. Actual mothers? Not so much. So where's a bedraggled mom to turn when she feels overworked, overwhelmed, and underappreciated? Turns out, momfluencers are stepping in to fill that void, including a particular category of momfluencer: the tradwife. We dive into that world to understand how it might intersect with the Trump administration, what it has to do with white supremacy, and where moms of color fit in.

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Tradwives and the pressures of modern motherhood

Over the past few weeks, there have been multiple high-profile incidents of Black men committing acts of violence against their loved ones, from a man in Shreveport killing his children, to the former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia killing himself and his wife. On this episode, we're asking: What does this violence have to do with patriarchy? What does it have to do with mental health? What does it have to do with race and gender? And what would it take to create a culture that actually protects Black women and children?

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Are Black men facing a mental health crisis, a patriarchy crisis, or both?

At most elite colleges and universities, affirmative action is a thing of the past. But admissions offices are still interested in building racially diverse incoming classes — which can mean looking at students' essays to help determine their background. In those essays, Black students have been often been encouraged to write about experiences of overcoming trauma in order to help underscore their race. Our guest, the sociologist Aya Waller-Bey, says that practice has troubling implications for how we understand what it means to have an authentic Black experience.

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In college admission, trauma is shorthand for Blackness

The Trump administration has been very candid about their disdain for all things DEI. But it's not just conservatives who have critiques. On this episode, we're talking to Jennifer C. Pan, author of Selling Social Justice: Why the Rich Love Antiracism, about why she thinks people on the left should be skeptical of DEI programs as well. We get into how DEI programs are frequently used as a tool for large corporations to assert their moral authority — without actually sacrificing their bottom line, or improving conditions for workers writ large.

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Hate it or love it, is DEI a distraction?

The Trump administration's recent military actions have had certain observers asking... are we going full empire? But Daniel Immerwahr, a historian and the author of How to Hide an Empire, argues that the U.S. has engaged in empire building for hundreds of years — we've just been sneakier about it than other countries. So on today's show, we're breaking down what that history of colonization has looked like, and how President Trump's international escapades are scrambling the global order.

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Is the U.S. 'empire' beginning to show cracks?

Today on Ask Code Switch, we tackle a question about race, bike lanes and gentrification. Who are bike lanes serving? Are these safety measures protecting everyone equally, or are bike advocates on the wrong side of progress?

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Ask Code Switch: Do bike lanes cause gentrification?

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