Shereen Marisol Meraji

Shereen Marisol Meraji is the co-host, senior producer, and founding member of NPR's "Code Switch" podcast, where she covers race, identity, and culture. In addition to her contributions to the podcasting sphere, Meraji is also an esteemed assistant professor of race in journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She is an alum of the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and a recipient of the International Reporting Project Fellowship, which facilitated her journalistic journey to Beirut, Lebanon.

Meraji's compelling and insightful feature, "Audio Code Switching: Tackling Race on the Radio," gained significant attention, and she subsequently served as a judge for the Third Coast Festival. Her investigative breadth extends to her role as a staff member for the Wealth and Poverty Desk at American Public Media's Marketplace. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists recognized her contributions to journalism, and in 2016, she received an award from them. In 2021, she also received the Ambies Award for Excellence in Audio.

"Code Switch," which Meraji was instrumental in shaping, has achieved substantial acclaim, ranking as one of NPR's highest-charting podcasts in 2020. It was selected as "Show of the Year" by Apple Podcasts in December 2020 and won an Ambie award for "Best Society and Culture Podcast" in 2021. When she's not telling stories that help us better understand the people we share this planet with, she's dancing salsa, baking brownies, or kicking around a soccer ball. Meraji is married to Nicholas Espíritu, a civil rights attorney.