Karen Grigsby Bates
Karen Grigsby Bates is the Senior Correspondent for Code Switch, a podcast that reports on race and ethnicity. A veteran NPR reporter, Bates covered race for the network for several years before becoming a founding member of the Code Switch team. She is especially interested in stories about the hidden history of race in America—and in the intersection of race and culture. She oversees much of Code Switch's coverage of books by and about people of color, as well as issues of race in the publishing industry. Bates is the co-author of a best-selling etiquette book (Basic Black: Home Training for Modern Times) and two mystery novels; she is also a contributor to several anthologies of essays. She lives in Los Angeles and reports from NPR West.
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In the past five years, the issue of policing — how it's done, whether it's equitable, what happens when deadly confrontations occur — has become more urgent than ever. -
This week 25 years ago, policemen were acquitted in the savage beating of African-American Rodney King. Five days of riots, arson and looting ensued, fueled by deep-rooted tensions that persist today. -
"When a show is well-written, when it has good actors, people want to watch," says Courtney Jones of Nielsen. -
A new poll asks Americans to name the most famous feminists. Three of the top four are African-American — Michelle Obama, Oprah and Beyoncé. NPR looks into what it means to have three women of color as the new face of feminism.
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The Women's March on Washington is seen as a march for women's unity. But the often-fractious relationship between white feminists and women of color is giving rise to tensions.
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In Charcoal Joe, Mosley brings his iconic private eye Easy Rawlins into the haze of the late '60s, extending a literary odyssey through the transformation of black Los Angeles. -
Many African-Americans keep guns for self-defense, dating back to Emancipation. But the shooting in Dallas, and recent killings of black men by police, have raised hard questions for black gun owners. -
Juneteenth, the day when many African-Americans mark the end of slavery, is also associated with traditional foods from the black community. One woman wants to revive a traditional treat: tea cakes. -
The second mystery by Mette Ivie Harrison boasts details about contemporary Mormon life that most of us aren't privy to. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates says His Right Hand is is her "one that got away."
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Advertising for products to treat symptoms of menopause is becoming much more upfront about issues like painful sex. But more than a few of the remedies are solutions in search of a problem.
