Best Frederick Entertainment Podcasts (2024)

1
The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation 36:27

4m ago36:27

36:27

As anti-trans legislation has ramped up, historian Jules Gill-Peterson turns the lens to the past in her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny. This week, we talk about how panics around trans femininity are shaped by wider forces of colonialism, segregation and class interests. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoic…

1
Should we stop using the word "felon"? 33:58

17m ago33:58

33:58

This week, we're turning our sights on the word "felon", and looking into what it tells us (and can't tell us) about the 19 million people in the U.S. — like Donald Trump and Hunter Biden — carrying that designation around. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

1
100 years of immigration policies working to keep out immigrants 42:32

7d ago42:32

42:32

President Biden just issued an executive order that can temporarily shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers once a daily threshold of crossings is exceeded. On this episode, we dig into how the political panic surrounding what many are calling an immigration "crisis" at the border, isn't new. And in fact...it's a problem of our own creat…

1
White evangelical Christians are some of Israel's biggest supporters. Why? 38:17

9d ago38:17

38:17

As war continues to rage in the Middle East, attention has been turned to how American Jews, Muslims, and Palestinians relate to the state of Israel. But when we talk about the region, American Christians, particularly evangelical Christians, are often not part of that story. But their political support for Israel is a major driver for U.S. policy …

1
Falling in love in a time of colonization 31:12

29d ago31:12

31:12

This week Code Switch digs into The Ministry of Time, a new book that author Kailene Bradley describes as a "romance about imperialism." It focuses on real-life Victorian explorer Graham Gore, who died on a doomed Arctic expedition in 1847. But in this novel, time travel is possible and Gore is brought to the 21st century where he's confronted with…

1
Why the trope of the 'outside agitator' persists 31:01

23d ago31:01

31:01

As protests continue to rock the campuses of colleges and universities, a familiar set of questions is being raised: Are these protests really being led by students? Or are the real drivers of the civil disobedience outsiders, seizing on an opportunity to wreak chaos and stir up trouble? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/…

1
In 'Chicano Frankenstein,' the undead are the new underpaid labor force 33:59

1M ago33:59

33:59

Daniel Olivas's novel puts a new spin on the age-old Frankenstein story. In this retelling, 12 million "reanimated" people provide a cheap workforce for the United States...and face a very familiar type of bigotry. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

1
Exclusion, resilience and the Chinese American experience on 'Mott Street' 31:02

1M ago31:02

31:02

This week on the podcast, we're revisiting a conversation we had with Ava Chin about her book, Mott Street. Through decades of painstaking research, the fifth-generation New Yorker discovered the stories of how her ancestors bore and resisted the weight of the Chinese Exclusion laws in the U.S. – and how the legacy of that history still affects her…

1
How Jewish Communities Are Divided Over Support of Israel 41:02

2M ago41:02

41:02

In the wake of October 7, and the bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli government, many American Jews have found themselves questioning something that had long felt like a given: that if you were Jewish, you would support Israel, and that was that. But as more Jews speak out against Israel's actions in Gaza, it's exposing deep rifts within Jewish com…

1
The Rise and Fall of the Panama Canal 32:06

2M ago32:06

32:06

The Panama Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. But due to climate change, the Canal is drying up and fewer than half of the ships that used to pass through are now able to do so. So how did we get here? To…

1
Reflecting on the legacy of O.J. Simpson 17:03

2M ago17:03

17:03

With the news of O.J. Simpson's death on Thursday, we're revisiting our reporting from 2016, where we took a look into how Simpson went from being "too famous to be Black," to becoming a stand-in for the way Black people writ-large were mistreated by the U.S. carceral system. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NP…

1
How Frederick Douglass launched generations of Black and Irish solidarity 31:57

2M ago31:57

31:57

What's a portrait of Frederick Douglass doing hanging in an Irish-themed pub in Washington, D.C.? To get to the answer, Parker and Gene dive deep into the long history of solidarity and exchange between Black civil rights leaders and Irish republican activists, starting with Frederick Douglass' visit to Ireland in 1845. Learn more about sponsor mes…

1
WTF does race have to do with taxes? 30:14

2M ago30:14

30:14

It's that time of year again: time to file your taxes. And this week on the pod, we're revisiting our conversation with Dorothy A. Brown, a tax expert and author of The Whiteness Of Wealth: How The Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans And How To Fix It. She talks through the racial landmines in our tax code and how your race plays a big role in …

1
Who does language belong to? A fight over the Lakota Language 39:13

2M ago39:13

39:13

Many Lakota people agree: It's imperative to revitalize the Lakota language. But how exactly to do that is a matter of broader debate. Should Lakota be codified and standardized to make learning it easier? Or should the language stay as it always has been, defined by many different ways of writing and speaking? We explore this complex, multi-genera…

1
Getting let down by the 'Great Expectations' of electoral politics 17:43

3M ago17:43

17:43

This episode is brought to you by our play cousins over at NPR's It's Been A Minute. Brittany Luse chops it up with New Yorker writer and podcast host Vinson Cunningham to discuss his debut novel Great Expectations. It's a period piece that follows the story of a young man working on an election campaign that echoes Obama's 2008 run. Brittany and V…

1
In the world of medicine, race-based diagnoses are more than skin deep 33:32

3M ago33:32

33:32

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. Learn more about sponsor message…

1
This conspiracy theory about eating bugs is also about race 32:50

3M ago32:50

32:50

Gene Demby and NPR's Huo Jingnan dive into a conspiracy theory about how "global elites" are forcing people to eat bugs. And no huge surprise — the theory's popularity is largely about its loudest proponents' racist fear-mongering. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

1
The musical legacy of Japanese American incarceration 30:21

3M ago30:21

30:21

In February of 1942 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government issued an executive order to incarcerate people of Japanese descent. That legacy has become a defining story of Japanese American identity. In this episode, B.A. Parker and producer Jess Kung explore how Japanese American musicians across generations turn to that story as a …

1
Why menthol cigarettes have a chokehold on Black smokers 35:29

4M ago35:29

35:29

In the U.S., flavored cigarettes have been banned since 2009, with one glaring exception: menthols. That exception was supposed to go away in 2023, but the Biden administration quietly delayed the ban on menthols. Why? Well, an estimated 85 percent of Black smokers smoke menthols — and some (potentially suspect) polls have indicated that a ban on m…

1
Before the apps, people used newspapers to find love 37:48

4M ago37:48

37:48

To celebrate the history of Black romance, Gene and Parker are joined by reporter Nichole Hill to explore the 1937 equivalent of dating apps — the personals section of one of D.C.'s Black newspapers. Parker attempts to match with a Depression-era bachelor, and along the way we learn about what love meant two generations removed from slavery. Learn …

1
How college footballers led the fight against racism in 1969 32:30

4M ago32:30

32:30

It's 1969 at the University of Wyoming, where college football is treated like a second religion. But after racist treatment at an away game, 14 Black players decide to take a stand, and are hit with life-changing consequences. From our play cousins across the pond, our own B.A. Parker hosts the BBC World Service's Amazing Sport Stories: The Black …

1
What it's like to be a Black woman with bipolar disorder 29:18

4M ago29:18

29:18

"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 shares her experience with biopolar disorder. She talks about how she's had to decipher what fears stem from her illness and which are backed by the history of racism. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podc…

1
Taylor Swift and the unbearable whiteness of girlhood 35:22

4M ago35:22

35:22

Taylor Swift has become an American icon, (and she's got the awards, sales, and accolades to prove it.) With that status, she's often been celebrated as someone whose music is authentically representing the interior lives of young women and adolescent girls. On this episode, we're asking: Why? What is it about Swift's persona — and her fandom — tha…

1
A former church girl's search for a new spiritual home 49:01

4M ago49:01

49:01

After leaving the Pentecostal Church, reporter Jess Alvarenga has been searching for a new spiritual home. They take us on their journey to find spirituality that includes the dining room dungeon of a dominatrix, Buddhist monks taking magic mushrooms and the pulpit of a Pentecostal church. This episode is a collaboration with our friends at LAist S…

1
What happens when public housing goes private? 40:21

5M ago40:21

40:21

The New York City Housing Authority is the biggest public housing program in the country. But with limited funding to address billions of dollars of outstanding repairs, NYCHA is turning to a controversial plan to change how public housing operates. Fanta Kaba of WNYC's Radio Rookies brings the story of how this will affect residents and the future…

1
The women who masterminded the Montgomery Bus Boycott 36:50

5M ago36:50

36:50

When people think back to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, they often remember just the bullet points: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and voila. But on this episode, we're hearing directly from the many women who organized for months about what exactly it took to make the boycott happen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adch…

1
Everyone wants a piece of Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy 30:45

5M ago30:45

30:45

Martin Luther King Jr. was relatively unpopular when he was assassinated. But the way Americans of all political stripes invoke his memory today, you'd think he was held up as a hero. In this episode, we talk about the cooptation of King's legacy with Hajar Yazdiha, author of The Struggle for the People's King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of…

1
67 years after desegregation, Arkansas schools are in the spotlight again 35:41

5M ago35:41

35:41

Classrooms in Arkansas were at the center of school desegregation in the 1950s. Now, with the LEARNS Act, they're in the spotlight again. Code Switch comes to you live from Little Rock, Arkansas this week to unpack the latest education bill and how it echoes themes from decades past. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adch…

1
Women of color have always shaped the way Americans eat 33:48

6M ago33:48

33:48

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 m…

1
Here are our favorite Code Switch episodes from 2023 30:47

6M ago30:47

30:47

It's that time of year again, fam, when we look back at the past 12 months and think, "WHOA, HOW'D THAT GO BY SO FAST?" So we're taking a beat: for this week's episode, each one of us who makes Code Switch is getting on the mic to reflect on — and recommend — an episode we loved from 2023. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.co…

1
Revisiting 'The Color Purple' wars 47:18

6M ago47:18

47:18

The Color Purple remake drops this week and to celebrate, we're bringing you this special episode from our play cousins over at Pop Culture Happy Hour. Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple has been adapted a few times. Next week, the new movie The Color Purple hits theaters – it's based on the Tony-winning musical. The 1985 film is remembered as a…

1
This is what "real self-care" looks like 36:41

6M ago36:41

36:41

"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 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/adchoices …

1
Watching 'Renaissance' and what we hear in Beyoncé's silence 18:45

6M ago18:45

18:45

We're bringing you an extra treat this week from our play cousins over at It's Been A Minute: In the credits for 'Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé' the Queen Bee makes it clear who is in charge. Written by? Beyoncé. Directed by? Beyoncé. Produced by? Beyoncé. And of course, starring...Beyoncé. For someone who is so in control of their own image, what…

1
The world can be painful. But love is possible, too 34:53

7M ago34:53

34:53

Kai Cheng Thom is no stranger to misanthropy. There have been stretches of her life where she's felt burdened by anger, isolation, and resentment toward other people. And not without reason. Her identities, especially as a trans woman and a former sex worker, have frequently made her a locus for other people's fear and hatred. But at a certain poin…

1
Can you travel the world — ethically? 31:46

6M ago31:46

31:46

Traveling is supposed to open your mind and expand your horizons — but what if it doesn't? In her new book Airplane Mode, author Shahnaz Habib suggests that sometimes, traveling does more to enforce our ideas about the world than to upend them. Which means that people with "passport privilege" — AKA, the ability to travel freely from country to cou…

1
A Tale of Two Tribal Nations 51:13

7M ago51:13

51:13

The word "reservation" implies "reserved" – as in, this land is reserved for Native Americans. But most reservation land actually isn't owned by tribes. That's true for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota, where the tribe owns just a tiny fraction of its reservation land. But just northwest of Leech Lake is Red Lake: one of the only…

1
Who Has The "Right To A Story?" 35:54

7M ago35:54

35:54

On this week's Code Switch, we hear from two Palestinian American poets who talk about what it's like to be Palestinian American in the U.S. Fady Joudah and Tariq Luthun say the way their stories are told — or aren't told — has contributed to what they see as an erasure of their identities, and often of their humanity. Learn more about sponsor mess…

1
How does a computer discriminate? 33:53

7M ago33:53

33:53

OK, not exactly a computer — more like, the wild array of technologies that inform what we consume on our computers and phones. Because on this episode, we're looking at how AI and race bias intersect. Safiya Noble, a professor at UCLA and the author of the book Algorithms of Oppression talks us through some of the messy issues that arise when algo…

1
All The Only Ones: The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle 43:57

7M ago43:57

43:57

We're bringing you something special from our play cousins over at Embedded: the first episode of a three part series about the often neglected history of trans youth in America. We meet Zen, a Mexican-American, New Orleans native, who is coming into their transness, as we learn about an historic trans person, Bernard, from Alabama in the early 190…

1
Looking For My People In The Black Punk Scene 31:45

7M ago31:45

31:45

More than a decade since B.A. Parker last dabbled in the Black punk scene, she heads to a punk a show, and remembers a question from James Spooner: "What is more liberating than a mosh pit full of smiling Black faces?" Parker talks to James about what it means to be a Black punk, creating the Afropunk Festival and its evolution, and a new anthology…

1
Giving up on identity with Ada Limón 35:19

8M ago35:19

35:19

Ada Limón is many things: the U.S. Poet Laureate, a recently named MacArthur "Genius," a Latina, a summer person becoming a fall person. But underneath all those outer identities, she's still in search for the "original animal at [her] core." Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

1
The agony and ecstasy of parenting with Hari Kondabolu 27:43

8M ago27:43

27:43

Being a new parent is exhausting at the best of times. There are diapers to change, bottles to fill, screaming sobs to quiet down. But beyond all the routine chores that come with parenting, there are the larger social questions of how to raise a kid in a complex, unjust, and ever-changing world. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastcho…

1
What does it mean to be good? 32:07

8M ago32:07

32:07

In her memoir Rivermouth, author Alejandra Oliva recounts her experiences working as a translator and interpreter for people seeking asylum in the U.S. But as she navigates the world of immigration advocacy, she starts to grapple with the question of what it means to help, and what it means to "want to star in the helping." Learn more about sponsor…

1
Student activists are fighting big coal, and winning 38:37

8M ago38:37

38:37

South Baltimore has some of the most polluted air in the country. Local teenagers are fighting polluters back, and slowly building toward climate justice. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

1
Probation and parole — the under-researched arms of mass incarceration 36:01

9M ago36:01

36:01

In the past decade, the problem of mass incarceration has gotten increased attention and thought. But in his new book, Mass Supervision, Vincent Schiraldi argues that in those conversations, people often neglect to think about probation and parole — two of the biggest feeders to the U.S.'s prison population. These systems surveil close to four mill…

1
'I Can Die For This Country, But I Can't Learn' 37:19

9M ago37:19

37:19

In June, the Supreme Court banned affirmative action at colleges and universities across the country, with one glaring exception: military academies. On this episode, we're asking — why? Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

1
Remembering and unremembering, from Kigali to Nashville 38:51

9M ago38:51

38:51

For centuries, the idea of the "American Dream" has been a powerful narrative for many immigrant communities. But for just as long, many African Americans have known that the American Dream was never meant to include them. So what happens when those beliefs collide? Today ten percent of the Black population in the U.S. are immigrants, and many grap…

1
What an Entertaining Wreck! 35:06

10M ago35:06

35:06

Britney Spears Conspiracies! Elton John!! And Movie Reviews?! Find out what the gals think of the blockbuster Sound of Freedom and what they think of the cultural impact surrounding it. Find out what the ladies "love"! Like Dina's love of water! (We know she loved that a little too much...) You don't have to pretend to love this show though~! We se…

1
Fall football — or the fall of football? 34:13

10M ago34:13

34:13

This week, the NFL is gearing up for the start of its 104th season. But as this new chapter begins, we're looking at some of the league's old problems with race and diversity — ones that have implications for the coaches, the players, and the fans. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy…

1
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN 31:45

10M ago31:45

31:45

The final episodes are upon us! Only two stops left on us this crazy train!! Family Reunions! Dina Drowning?! ands Peach picking! You gotta try Dina's peaches! (Maybe that could be a good giveaway!) Not to mention Dina's family recipe: Peach Chili! You're gonna miss them when they're gone! Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. A d…

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