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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

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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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

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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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

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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Naomi Jackson talks 'losing and finding my mind'

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Lola Flash/Naomi Jackson

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Naomi Jackson talks 'losing and finding my mind'

"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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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

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K-Pop's Surprising B(l)ackstory

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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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

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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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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LA Johnson/Getty/design by NPR

Code Switch

WTF does race have to do with taxes?

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?

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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

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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The tricky obligations of utang na loob
Malaka Gharib/NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

The tricky obligations of utang na loob

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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The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott
NPR

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The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

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.

The Women Behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott

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Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color

Jasmin Savoy Brown stars in Scream 6 and Yellowjackets. photo by Robb Klassen/design by NPR hide caption

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photo by Robb Klassen/design by NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color

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 other

Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color

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We owe women of color for the foods we love to eat

Chefs Von Diaz, Mayukh Sen, Reem Assil and Priya Krishna. NPR hide caption

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NPR

The Code Switch Podcast

We owe women of color for the foods we love to eat

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.

We owe women of color for the foods we love to eat

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This Racism Is Killing Me Inside

Wanda Irving holds her granddaughter, Soleil, in front of a portrait of Soleil's mother, Shalon, at her home in Sandy Springs, Ga. Wanda is raising Soleil since Shalon died of complications due to hypertension a few weeks after giving birth. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption

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Becky Harlan/NPR

Code Switch

This Racism Is Killing Me Inside

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.

This Racism Is Killing Me Inside

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1 side owned slaves. The other side started Black History Month. How a family heals

The Woodson family members at the Woodson reconciliation ceremony in 1998. Courtesy of Craig Woodson hide caption

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Courtesy of Craig Woodson

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1 side owned slaves. The other side started Black History Month. How a family heals

In the U.S., what does it mean when a white family and a Black family share a last name — and one of their ancestors is a pioneer of Black history? How Black and white Woodsons became one family.

1 side owned slaves. The other side started Black History Month. How a family heals

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Reckoning With The NFL's Rooney Rule
NPR/Getty Images

The Code Switch Podcast

Reckoning With The NFL's Rooney Rule

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.

Reckoning With The NFL's Rooney Rule

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Celebrating Lunar New Year in a time of grief

MONTEREY PARK, CA - JANUARY 23: A mourner attends a candlelight vigil for victims of a mass shooting on January 23, 2023 in Monterey Park, California. At least 10 people were killed and another 10 people were injured during a mass shooting that took place at a dance studio in Monterey Park. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images) VCG/VCG via Getty Images hide caption

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VCG/VCG via Getty Images

This Week In Race

Celebrating Lunar New Year in a time of grief

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.

Celebrating Lunar New Year in a time of grief

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How three unlikely groups worked together to achieve interracial solidarity

The original Rainbow Coalition NPR/DailyHerald hide caption

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NPR/DailyHerald

Code Switch

How three unlikely groups worked together to achieve interracial solidarity

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.

How three unlikely groups worked together to achieve interracial solidarity

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Bad Bunny, Reggaeton, and Resistance

Bad Bunny exalts Puerto Rico in his music of resistance. Getty Images hide caption

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Getty Images

Code Switch

Bad Bunny, Reggaeton, and Resistance

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.

Bad Bunny, Reggaeton, and Resistance

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Meet Lori Lizarraga—Our Newest Co-host

Lori Lizarraga JerSean Golatt/NPR hide caption

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JerSean Golatt/NPR

Code Switch

Meet Lori Lizarraga—Our Newest Co-host

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.

Meet Lori Lizarraga—Our Newest Co-host

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Revisiting 'How The Other Half Eats'
Little, Brown and Company

Code Switch

Revisiting 'How The Other Half Eats'

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.

Revisiting 'How The Other Half Eats'

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Cumbia: The musical backbone of Latin America

Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto on the cover of its 2006 album Un Fuego de Sangre Pura. Jorge Mario Múnera/Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways hide caption

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Jorge Mario Múnera/Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways

Code Switch

Cumbia: The musical backbone of Latin America

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.

Cumbia: The musical backbone of Latin America

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