Looking For More Kids Podcasts? We've Got You Covered
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It's fall and many kids are headed back to school and they're on the hunt for the perfect book to read. Don't forget to check out our But Why book series. We have two books perfect for young readers about age 8 to 10. Look for Our Llamas Ticklish and Do Fish Breathe Underwater wherever you buy your books. And if you prefer to listen to books, check out the audiobook versions as well. You can find out more at butwhykids.org books.

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This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public Radio. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show, we take questions from curious kids like you, and we find interesting folks to give you the answers. But today, we're doing something a little out of the ordinary.

You may have heard us introducing you to some of our favorite kids' podcast classmates, I guess you'd say, over the last few weeks. Well, we've all gotten together to create one big podcast episode that gives you a little flavor of what each one of us is all about. And we're each putting it out in our podcast feeds, and that's what you're going to hear today.

Now, my great-great-uncle Elmer, we called him Unky, used to say that when something was really delicious, it tasted like more. By that he meant he wished he could have 12 of those really delicious peaches or 17 lobsters. He was from Maine. It tasted so good, it tasted like more.

Well, maybe you can't have 57 chilaquiles or a whole pan of pad see ew, but you can have more great podcasts. So today we're going to whet your appetite. Here you go. Hi, I'm Lee. And I'm Peter. And we're Story Pirates. Whoa, Lee, what's a Story Pirate? Story Pirates take stories written by kids and turn them into radio plays and songs. That sounds cool. Can I hear an example? Sure thing. Here's a story by a second grader called National Whoopie Cushion Day.

In a galaxy... Excuse me. In a galaxy that is out of this one, there was a world called Whoopie Cushion World. And in that world, there was a town called Whoopie Cushion Town, where there were very few holidays. All right, kids, we will now stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag...

of Whoopi Cushion World. One cushion, under bottom, inflatable, with air and fart sounds for all. All right, kids, everyone take your seats.

Okay, now why was there a whoopee cushion on my chair? We all have whoopee cushions on our chairs. We live in Whoopee Cushion Town. Oh, right. Sometimes I forget where it is that I live. Lee, you're telling me that that hilarious story was written by a kid? That's what I'm telling you, Peter. Here's another one by a fourth grader called Dog Day. On Dog Day, you could hang out with a dog of your own. A

A boxer, a poodle, a husky, or dachshund, a shepherd, a bichon, a pit bull, or foxhound. Great Danes are great, yeah, but so are chihuahuas, and now there's a day to play with them for hours and hours.

Wait, Coleman, what if I don't have a dog? Oh, well you could borrow a Labrador Retriever. With mountains in the background on a beautiful field. You'll know how I feel. I know how you feel.

Happy Dog Day! The end!

Check out the Story Pirates podcast for more songs and stories written by kids from all over the world. Hi, I'm Mindy Thomas from NPR's Wow in the World. And every week, my buddy Guy Raz and I take you on wild adventures away from your screens, inside your brains, out into space, and deep into the coolest new stories and science and technology and new discoveries. And it goes a little something like this. Wow in the World

Could you imagine flying cars flying all around, all over the place? I mean, that would not be safe, right? No, it would definitely not be safe. It would be awesome! I mean, just imagine it, Guy Raz. No speed limits, no red lights, no stop signs. People could just fly around like that. The unbridled wild... Oh, yeah.

Oh, in fact, Mindy, I think I see one right now. I see it too. And I think it's going to pee. Amazing. I think it's peeing on its own tail and feet. Hey, Bearcat, you're peeing all over yourself. Mindy, you stared it away.

Somebody needed to warn it. It's disgusting. Mindy, the bear cat pees on its own tail and feet on purpose, deliberately. What? Ugh, you're going to have to explain this one to me. Well, the bear cat pees on its tail, so as it walks away, it drags its tail on the ground and leaves a trail of... So, pee pickles, or pyrosomes, move slowly and effortlessly through the ocean by...

pushing water through their body, sort of like a tube. And then the zooids inside grab their plankton out of that water as it passes through. What do they do with everything else? I could just find my shrink wand in my adventure toolbox here and... Oh, got it! Hey, Mindy, I don't think it worked. Sure it did! Wait a minute. We are shrunk down. It's looking at us like we're...

be his lunch. We better get out of here. For more on the who, what, when, where, why, how, and wow in the world, check us out at wowintheworld.com. In Eleanor Amplified, we follow the adventures of a daring reporter as she foils evil schemes and goes after the big story.

Robot, is there a radio in here? Yes, it's the large device in front of you, labeled radio. Oh, I see. Mission Control, anyone? This is Eleanor Amplified. I'm on board the space shuttle. Roger that, Eleanor Amplified. Did you know that this shuttle's current destination is outer space? Yes, I'm aware of that. Now how do I stop this thing?

Well, I guess you could detach the space shuttle from the rocket and glide it back down to Earth? Yeah! Yes, I'll do that! I'm sorry, Miss Amplified. I can't allow you to do that. Go with me, robot! All right! You asked for it! Oh no! My robot brain! Pilot robot deactivating!

Mission Control, how do I detach the rocket boosters? There should be a large green flashing button on your control panel. Yes! Now, whatever you do, don't push that button until you've reached low Earth orbit in about three more minutes. Oh. Oh. Yeah.

We see that you are in free fall heading for the ocean. But don't panic. You should have a pilot robot on board that can take over and fly you to safety. No, I kind of pulled out his robot brain. 10-4, Amplified. To your right, you should see a vast expanse of ocean. Yeah? Yeah. And to your left, you should see more oceans.

So what do I do? Are you a strong swimmer? Relatively. Okay, the shuttle boosters should slow you down before impact, and when the emergency hatch blows, you can swim to safety. So I'm going to make it out of this? Sure. I like your odds. Great. Subscribe now and catch all of Eleanor Amplified's adventures.

Hello there, kids podcast enthusiasts. I'm Molly Bloom. I host Brains On, the science show for kids from American public media. Each Brains On episode takes questions sent to us from our curious listeners around the world, and we explore them in fun and interesting ways. Hi, Brains On. My question is, why do we have hair? How do they make it?

Why wouldn't the fuel in the cars blow up the car? Oh boy, I was afraid you were going to ask that. Each episode features a kid co-host talking through questions and speaking to scientists and experts. Jessica Carilli is an oceanographer and a surfer. She is here to answer all of our wave questions. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. What causes waves? Well, most of the waves in the world are caused by wind blowing across the ocean.

Just like when you blow on a drink that you have and you can make little ripples, when the wind blows over the ocean, it creates waves. The stronger and the longer and the farther the wind blows over the ocean, the bigger the waves. That's really cool. ♪

Sometimes we break down complicated science ideas with skits. Welcome to Most Epic Fighting Battle Realm! Choose your warrior. Monster Master, you go first. I choose Gungador, Slayer of Things, Stomper of Other Things. He cannot be defeated! Gungador smash! What a worthy warrior. Now, it's your turn to choose, Allie. I choose a Soundwave. Soundwave? What's that?

Oh, you must mean Wave Nato! His fists hit like Gale Force winds! No, I mean a sound wave. You know, like how sound travels? That's how you're hearing me right now.

We also like to bob our heads to a song. X-rays are like light. And simply put, light is energy. Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, extra gamma. Light we can see. And light that we can't see, like X-rays. They're both part of what is known as the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, extra gamma. And we're always looking for ways to connect with the kids and parents who listen to BrainZomb. Mystery Sound.

Like testing your ears with the mystery sound. To find out what exactly that mystery sound is, you can find us at brainson.org or just about anywhere else you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Hey, I'm Hilary Frank, host of The Longest Shortest Time. Our show is all about kids and family and parenthood, but it's not for kids. It's actually just for grownups. Each week, we tell a surprising story about the weirdness of raising other human beings, like this one called Bubble Boy. It's about an American couple named Greg and Sana, who lived in Kenya for a while, then moved back to the States with their five-year-old son, Joseph. His first Halloween here, he said...

So what do I do on Halloween? Because every kid was talking about what they were going to be. You know, it was a big deal to go sledding. He says things like, I've never made a snowman in my life. My entire life. All five years. And then all these new experiences, he's like, I've never done this in my life. Joe was stoked. But also, he found, Americans could be super confusing.

We had gone on a vacation with Joseph's cousin, Elliot, for a week. Elliot was this American boy. And we were watching this dinosaur movie, The Good Dinosaur. And there was this little line in there. And I think it was a dinosaur. It says, don't pop my bubble. Don't pop my personal bubble. And Joe looked at Elliot and he's like, what's a personal bubble? And Elliot's like, you know, a personal bubble.

bubble. It's your personal bubble. It's your space. And, like, Joseph was looking at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about. Greg and Sana wanted to help Joe learn about personal bubbles, so they came up with a plan that...

totally backfired. To find out how, subscribe to The Longest Shortest Time and look for the episode called Bubble Boy. Also, parents, right now, we are collecting your weird parenting wins. Send us any strange or creative parenting trick that you would never hear from an expert.

like using glow sticks to turn bath time into a glow party or letting Siri read your phone's contacts to put your baby to sleep in the car. We are making a book out of these wins and you, yes you, can be in it. It's easy to submit your win. Go to LongestShortestTime.com and click participate. Hi, I'm Jane Lindholm and I want to introduce you to But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public Radio.

on But Why you send us questions on anything. Languages. Science. Names. Mathematics. Ethics. Politics. Art. Imagination. And we find interesting people to answer. Let me give you a little taste of what our show is all about.

Do bumblebees have hearts? They do have a heart, but it's a long tube and it runs along the top of their back. And instead of having veins like we have that hold the blood that flows through our bodies, they actually have an open circulatory system. So their blood bathes their organs. How come babies don't hatch out of eggs?

So the kind of animal that humans are, we're called mammals. And out of all the mammals, things like humans and cats and dogs and elephants, there's only a few that actually lay eggs. But all the mammals like us don't. Instead of having a hard shell, so we grow in this hard shell out in the world, we grow inside someone's body. And that body, that's usually our mother, is the thing that protects us. But you could almost think of it like the body is like the egg in a way because it's that protection. Yeah.

It is like the egg and the white, but it doesn't crack. Thank goodness. How do stringed instruments make sound? As far as strings on a string instrument like my cello, I have four strings, and the higher-pitched strings are very thin, and then they get thicker as they go towards the bottom of the instrument as the pitch goes lower. They're all pulled very, very tightly across a piece called the bridge. When we pull on them, they vibrate. So this is the highest string. ♪

And this is the lowest string. So you can hear a big range. That's just a little bit of But Why, a podcast for curious kids and what we're all about. What do you want to know? Send an audio recording of your question to questions at butwhykids.org and listen to But Why wherever you find your podcasts. But Why

Hi, I'm Rebecca Shearer, host of Circle Round. We tell folktales from around the world with help from awesome actors from the stage and screen. Here's a little taste of a Romanian story starring Catherine Han. It's called Stella and the Dragon. ♪

Stella and her husband Ovi were farmers in the village. Nearby, a giant green dragon hoarded gold in his lair atop the hill. But Stella didn't worry about the dragon. She was too busy working and too busy wishing on the stars for the one thing she and Ovi didn't have. Oh, stars. I wish I had children of my own. One evening, she came home and found her wish had come true.

Oh my gosh! Children! But not just one or two. One hundred! We have one hundred children! We will love each and every one of these children forever and ever. And they did. But it wasn't long before food grew scarce. Ovi, we must find a way to support this family.

Please keep your eye on the children while I go out into the world to find an answer. I have to figure this out. Stella was walking by the hill when suddenly out flew the giant green dragon. She was going to run, but then she thought... Gold! The dragon has piles and piles of gold. I could use that gold to buy food for my 100 children, and then they will not go hungry. She waved her arms. Hey, dragon! Dragon! Dragon!

Over here! Who is that shouting at me? Stella's mind raced. It is I, Stella the Powerful! Stella the Powerful, eh? And why, Stella the Powerful? Are you shouting at me? Don't you know I could eat you in just one bite? No, dragon. You could not possibly eat me. I am much stronger than you are. And I can prove it! Can you now?

What do you say we make a bet? If I can prove that I am stronger than you are, I get to eat you. And if I can prove that I am stronger than you? Then you can have all the gold in my lair. Stella pictured the dragon's piles of gold and her dozens of children. All right, agreed. If you were Stella, could you prove your strength against a giant green dragon? Find out what Stella does by checking out Circle Round. I'm Rebecca Shear. Thanks for circling around with us.

Okay, think about not just like what you're curious about, but also think about like, how do we know? What makes dogs so loyal? Why do bats hang upside down? Let's talk about, is the universe infinite? Because I've always wondered about that. Yeah. Do solar systems move or do they just stay there? Why humans poop? What makes you wonder that? Because I just think it's gross.

Hi, I'm Lindsay. And I'm Marshall. We're the hosts of Tumble, the show where we explore stories of science discovery. Marshall, today we're talking about parasites, so tell me, what's a parasite? I had a friend once who was, like, kind of a parasite. He was living off you without giving anything in return, right? Well, not me, actually. That was me. Okay, so how do you find out how far projectile vomit gets projected?

With a vomiting robot, of course. Of course. Scientists actually built a robot called Vomiting Larry, and he's basically just like a head and a stomach. We start with kids' own curiosity to tell stories about how science works with the help of scientists. I want to be that...

with a stick of straw in their mouth, except instead of a bunch of pens with happy animals in them, I will have a bunch of petri dishes. Can you tell me a little bit about where we are right now? Yes, this is Marina Hacienda del Mar. We are in Puerto Juarez, and from here we depart to look for whale sharks. This is how we make advancements in science. If we can explain all the details of what goes on inside of a black hole, that means we understood how gravity works on very small scales. That

will be fundamental. - These are tiny little skulls. - Would you believe it if I told you that these are giant honking primates? - In the last 20 years, you know, we've learned that many dinosaurs were feathered. We've learned something about the color of dinosaurs. We've learned more about what dinosaurs might have sounded like. - I think the dinosaurs would say, "Wow, you look delicious." And I think the dinosaurs could say, "Hey, good looking."

There's so much we don't yet know, and there's so much yet to discover. Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more stories of science discovery.

So, what did you think? Did you hear anything that really intrigued you? You can find all of those podcasts at applepodcasts.com slash kids or wherever you get your shows. What could be better than even more amazing stories to listen to and information to learn? As for But Why, our show is produced by Melody Beaudet and me, Jane Lindholm, for Vermont Public Radio. Our theme music is by Luke Reynolds. ♪

Thanks to Jonathan Butler, Emily Elfin Johnson, and Angela Evanson here at VPR. We'll be back in two weeks with an all-new episode. Until then, stay curious. From PR.