Leah Donnella
Leah Donnella is an editor on NPR's Code Switch team, where she helps produce and edit for the Code Switch podcast, blog, and newsletter. She created the "Ask Code Switch" series, where members of the team respond to listener questions about how race, identity, and culture come up in everyday life.
Donnella originally came to NPR in September 2015 as an intern for Code Switch. Prior to that, she was a summer intern at WHYY's Public Media Commons, where she helped teach high school students the ins and outs of journalism and film-making. She spent a lot of time out in the hot Philly sun tracking down unsuspecting tourists for on-the-street interviews. She also worked at the University of Pennsylvania in the department of College Houses and Academic Resources.
Donnella graduated from Pomona College with a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies.
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"Podunk" is supposed to be bleak and isolated. But there are a few things that people who use the term might not know. For one, it really exists. For another, its history predates the United States. -
It's been 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia. But don't call this month an "anniversary." -
This week on "Ask Code Switch," we're talking about who gets to define beauty norms — and what it means to push back on them. -
President Trump continues his quest to curb illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. One expert says there have always been ebbs and flows to how welcoming the U.S. is to immigrants. -
The phrase is meant as a gentle poke at white people who take offense at minor threats to their privilege. "Sometimes it feels good just to make fun of racism and of racists," one humorist says. -
Some years the virus would wipe out a tenth of the population, earning New Orleans the nickname "Necropolis." The gruesome disease killed thousands, scapegoated immigrants and upheld white supremacy. -
Many people have surmised the mega-star learned her knack for extensive personalization from her country roots. But there's another genre that is perhaps equally responsible for her sound: hip-hop. -
A lot has changed in the U.S. over two centuries. One thing that hasn't? How we talk about poor white people. -
Our Word Watch series explores the term "white trash." Some people embrace it. But experts say it demeans both the people it's applied to and people of color.
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There are lots of misconceptions about dark skin and sunshine. One of the most common? That black people can't get skin cancer.
