B.A. Parker is learning the banjo

Code Switch

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51:57

On the Season 2 debut of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies , we travel to Bermuda, an Atlantic island whose history spans centuries and continents. Once uninhabited, Bermuda became a vital stop in transatlantic trade, a maritime stronghold, and a cultural crossroads shaped by African, European, Caribbean, and Native American influences. Guests Dr. Kristy Warren and Dr. Edward Harris trace its transformation from an uninhabited island to a strategic outpost shaped by shipwrecks, colonization, the transatlantic slave trade, and the rise and fall of empires. Plus, former Director of Tourism Gary Phillips shares the story of the Gombey tradition, a vibrant performance art rooted in resistance, migration, and cultural fusion. Together, they reveal how Bermuda’s layered past continues to shape its people, culture, and identity today. You can also find us online at ⁠travelandleisure.com/lostcultures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

about a year ago 30:53

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Parker has been trying to find her place in the banjo world. So this week, she talks to Black banjo players like Grammy nominee Rhiannon Giddens about creating community and reclaiming an instrument that's historically already theirs.
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531 episodes

B.A. Parker is learning the banjo

Code Switch

1,512 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

531 episodes

#Society #NPR #News and Entertainment #Entertainment #Code Switch

All episodes

Code Switch

1
How the news can make us think we need more cops 29:09

4 days ago29:09

29:09

As President Trump flirts with invoking the Insurrection Act on anti-ICE demonstrators in LA, we look back at the national protests of 2020, when Trump last talked about invoking the act. Back then, there was broad energy around rethinking policing, but polls show that that energy has largely vanished. In this episode, we ask: what happened? Our guest points to what he calls copaganda – or pro-police propaganda. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
What Trump's fixation on 'white genocide' in South Africa tells us about the U.S. 34:34

11 days ago34:34

34:34

How the false notion of "white genocide" traveled from the political fringes to the Oval Office. The week on Code Switch, we're talking to a reporter who was in the room during a meeting when President Trump pushed this conspiracy theory on the president of South Africa. And we're digging into what Trump's fixation on white South Africans tell us about anxieties over white replacement here in the U.S. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
Why tacos are as 'American' as apple pie 31:46

18 days ago31:46

31:46

The hunger for Mexican food in the U.S. is longstanding — from the conquistadors' love affair with chocolate, to the classic San Francisco burrito. This week, we're exploring the history of Mexican food in the United States, and asking what it takes for a cuisine to become quintessentially "American." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
How race science shows up at the doctor's office 35:17

25 days ago35:17

35:17

We've probably said it a hundred times on Code Switch — biological race is not a real thing. So why is race still used to help diagnose certain conditions, like keloids or cystic fibrosis? On this episode, Dr. Andrea Deyrup breaks it down for us, and unpacks the problems she sees with practicing race-based medicine, from delayed diagnoses to ignoring environmental factors that lead to different health outcomes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
Arab and Black communities are trying to reconcile after Trump's election 28:18

5 weeks ago28:18

28:18

Trump's win exposed political tensions between Arab-American voters — who were critical of Democratic support of Israel's war in Gaza, and Black voters — who remain the Democrats' most loyal supporters. That friction is especially pronounced in the majority Arab city of Dearborn, Michigan, and its majority Black neighbor, Detroit. This week, we go to a testy iftar dinner where Arab and Black folks sat down to begin having tough conversations. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
40 years ago, Philadelphia police bombed this Black neighborhood on live TV 36:20

6 weeks ago36:20

36:20

We're looking back on the day a Philadelphia police department helicopter dropped a bomb on a rowhouse in a middle-class neighborhood. Even though that bombing and the fire it set off killed eleven people and left hundreds homeless, it's been largely forgotten. So how did we collectively memory-hole an event this big? And what does that tell us about race and policing even today? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
In the face of trans erasure, what can we learn from Marsha P. Johnson? 31:30

7 weeks ago31:30

31:30

Marsha P. Johnson was a trailblazer in the fight for gay rights. But Johnson's legacy extends beyond her activism: "Marsha was a really full person who lived a vibrant life. She was a muse and model for Andy Warhol," and a performer in New York City and London. In this episode, we talk to activist and author Tourmaline about what we can all learn from Johnson's legacy in times of adversity. Tourmaline's two books about Marsha P. Johnson — Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson and One Day in June — are out on May 20, 2025. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
Why now is the time to find power in "otherness" 31:22

8 weeks ago31:22

31:22

Viet Thanh Nguyen came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam when he was four years old. Growing up in San Jose, California, Nguyen remembers the moment he understood he was Asian-American. In his latest book, To Save and To Destroy: Writing as an Other, Nguyen examines the power in finding solidarity with other Others, especially in today's America. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
Revisiting the fight over the Lakota language as Trump targets "divisive narratives" 41:32

9 weeks ago41:32

41:32

As the Trump administration targets the Smithsonian Institute for "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," it got us thinking about how we preserve our history and everything that builds it, like language. So we're revisiting an episode from last year from the Lakota Nation in South Dakota over language — who preserves it, who has the right to the stories told in it, and who (literally) owns it. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
Why Trump is sending Venezuelans to El Salvador 37:49

10 weeks ago37:49

37:49

One of President Trump's main campaign promises was carrying out mass deportations. We look at how the Trump administration is testing the U.S. legal system to make good on its promise, starting with the story of one family trying to find their 18-year-old son after immigration agents showed up at their doorstep. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
What's lost in Trump's DEI ban? 32:07

11 weeks ago32:07

32:07

President Trump has put diversity, equity, and inclusion in his crosshairs — but there's no consensus on what DEI even means. Some say that that fuzziness is the point, and that the current anti-DEI push is part of a larger plan to undo the gains made by the Civil Rights Movement. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
With measles on the rise, what we can learn from past epidemics 29:51

12 weeks ago29:51

29:51

As the U.S. health system grapples with new outbreaks and the risk of old diseases making a comeback, we're looking to the past to inform how people in marginalized communities can prepare themselves for how the current administration might handle an epidemic. On this episode, a conversation with historian and author Edna Bonhomme, about her latest book A History of the World in Six Plagues. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
What Mahmoud Khalil's arrest means for ... everyone 36:30

13 weeks ago36:30

36:30

Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia alum, was detained by ICE for his role in leading pro-Palestinian protests at his former university last year. As Khalil's case has captured the nation's attention, free speech advocates see it as a test of the First Amendment. Meanwhile, the Trump administration argues they have the right to deport Khalil without charging him with a crime. On this episode, why Khalil's arrest should worry all of us. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
This Palestinian-American's debut novel may not be political — but her existence is 32:26

14 weeks ago32:26

32:26

To be a Palestinian-American writer right now can lead to a lot of expectation to focus on identity and devastation, but in her debut novel, Too Soon , Betty Shamieh shares the story of three generations of Palestinian women trying to find love, purpose and liberation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

Code Switch

1
A look at the human toll of the construction of the Panama Canal 31:48

15 weeks ago31:48