Week 4
Here we are again! It’s your weekly listing of educational podcasts for your tween / teen. Be prepared to learn something too- I’m continually amazed by the information I can learn in a short podcast while driving to the grocery store or taking the dog for a walk. I appreciate all feedback and ideas and please share with your friends!
If you are new to the series, please read more here. Happy listening and learning!
General / Current Events
The Marie Forleo Podcast
Scott Harrison: How Water Changes Everything
This is a longer episode and includes some key information about the water crisis around the world. Additionally, it provides a real-world example of someone who completely changed his life and put his efforts towards solving this problem.
I try to instill empathy in my kids- it’s difficult when they can’t imagine what it’s like to not just grab a water bottle. The true stories told within this episode in an engaging manner brought me to tears and captivated their attention.
Personal Development
The Tony Robbins Podcast
Unleashing the Gift of Drive – How to Overcome the Most Unfathomable Odds
This particular podcast is featuring a series entitled The 10 Gifts of Life. I chose to highlight this specific episode this week because my kids loved the stories.
The episode is about 30 minutes in duration and features individuals who have conquered horrific circumstances and thrived- who can’t get inspired from that? I do get some eye-rolling from my teens when I turn on personal development podcasts. However, I also hear little tidbits out of their mouths here and there that make me realize they are picking up bits and pieces and listening and learning.
Science
Short Wave
I think any podcast that includes Q&A from real people is so interesting. My daughter was infected with influenza last year despite getting the flu vaccine, so this one drew our attention. Not only is this scientific and educational, it’s simply informative and practical for day to day life. Note: Just 11 minutes!!
Technology
Radiolab
My kids are 8, 13, and 15. The difference in the information available when my 13 year old was 8 and my now 8-year old is 8- UNREAL. I want my kids to understand this, and be able to decipher what’s real in news and what technology is valuable versus a time-waster.
This episode provides some insight into this exact topic, and presents the potential of how the rules of credibility may be rewritten. What’s the future look like? My kids had fun thinking they had insight others may not (about 50 minutes for this episode).
History
Historical Figures
My daughter is in the midst of writing a report on Civil War Spies, so we just did a quick search for podcasts on Harriet Tubman. What we discovered was a great podcast show with countless episodes featuring well known historical figures!
In 45 minutes, my daughter and the rest of the family learned key historical facts about Harriet Tubman. The narrator was engaging and truly brought history to life. It’s often difficult for kids in this generation to envision what life was like as a slave or as a slave-owner- the more they hear the truth, especially retold in story-format, the better. My soon to be 9-year old enjoyed this episode too!
Language Arts
Grammar Girl
Present Tense When Writing About Fiction. The Poop Emoji and Eggcorns
This episode is just 11 minutes, so it’s short and to the point. My 8th and 9th grader have not been tasked to write much fiction this semester, but I would love to inspire their creativity! This episode focuses on tense, but it’s practical and not boring- it even provides some background into the poop emoji!
Math / Personal Finance
Stuff You Should Know
I will admit- I was expecting this episode to be incredibly boring and was proven wrong! It’s difficult to find podcasts about math that are interesting.
That said, in less than 40 minutes, we all understood what a fractal is and why it’s important in geometry and real life. I’m always trying to apply what my kids are learning in school to real-life, and sometimes that proves difficult with advanced math. This episode brought it all together.