Lori Lizarraga

JerSean Golatt/NPR

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JerSean Golatt/NPR

Lori Lizarraga

JerSean Golatt/NPR

Before joining Code Switch, Lori Lizarraga worked in local TV news, covering everything from crime and policy, to education and snowstorms. Throughout her career she has fought to tell stories about marginalized communities, a fight that at one point resulted in her losing her job.

That fight also landed her in the host chair here at Code Switch! For her first reported story, she’s digging into the meaning of names. Before she was born, Lori’s mom had a nickname ready for her. Her legal name would be Laura, but she would go by Lori.

The story behind why begins over a decade before Lori was born, when her mother first immigrated to the U.S. as a kid and made a difficult decision to change her own name.