Dominique Foxworth played in the NFL from 2005 to 2011. After he retired, he went on to become the head of the NFL Players' Association, the union that represents players in the league. In this conversation, he describes what it was like sitting across from the league's lawyers, advocating for things like players' health care at a time when the risks of playing football were becoming clearer.NOTE: This episode includes discussions of suicide. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9 8 8 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How the criminal legal system considers who is and isn't Native, and what that means for the Black people who are members of tribal nations. This reporting is part of an audio documentary from Audible called Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The way football is played and who plays it — from the pee-wees to the pros — tells us so much about race, labor and power in the United States. In a conversation with cultural anthropologist Tracie Canada we explore how starting from young ages, Black players are nudged towards more physically taxing positions that require more strength, athleticism, speed. That affects who gets injured, how they're cared for and how they get paid.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Critics point out the apparent hypocrisy of a pro-Black rapper like Kendrick Lamar headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, since the NFL isn't exactly an institution that's known for its support of Black lives. So on this episode, we're digging into the history of hip hop and how it's been co-opted.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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

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 hear how King's legacy got co-opted.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Comedian Youngmi Mayer talks about how her Korean family uses humor as a tool for survival. She gets into the Korean comedic tradition and why the saddest stuff is what makes them laugh the hardest.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

How should Black parents talk to their kids about the police? Gene gets into it with his friend Chenjerai Kumanyika, host of Empire City, a podcast about the history of the NYPD. Chenjerai's show sprang out of his own attempts to talk with his young daughter about the police and what they do.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Happy New Year, fam! This year, we're celebrating Ecuadorian style: by burning away what we want to let go of from last year and creating space for moving ahead with this year. Code Switch producer Xavier Lopez takes us on his journey to explore the tradition of his childhood, learn its origins, and honor it in his life in New York today.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Shot and severely injured while visiting family in Vermont in 2023, Hisham Awartani grapples with his recovery in the U.S., and the unfolding war at home in the West Bank.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy