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Our Ancestors Were Messy

Feature: The Lonesome Hearts Column with NPR’s Code Switch (plus an announcement!)

Sep 3, 2025 · 34 min · Season 1 · 33.1 MBBonus
0:00-34:34

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Was dating any easier in the past? Nichole Hill joins Gene Demby and B.A. Parker, hosts of NPR's Code Switch, to put this question to the test by traveling back in time to 1937, using archival personal ads from the Washington Afro-American newspaper. Together, the trio gets a small taste of what it was like for Black folks to date almost a century ago. Turns out, the ancestors were messy, too!