00:00
The Bedtime Scientist: Calm Science for Sleepy Kids

Fireworks: The Earth Painting the Sky

Listened

A calm bedtime episode about fireworks, paced gently to help a child fall asleep. Tonight's episode sits on a hill at the edge of a summer field, far back from the crowd, watching the sky bloom with light. Fireworks aren't just pretty. They're chemistry. The reds, greens, golds, and blues come from tiny bits of metal and mineral tucked into each shell. Strontium glows red.

© Josh Fleishman Length 10 min 7 July 2026 Season 3 Episode 12 ScienceBedtimeEducational Episodic

Full episode description

© Josh Fleishman Length 10 min 7 July 2026 Season 3 Episode 12 ScienceBedtimeEducational Episodic

The Falling Leaves... Summer's Soft Farewell

The Falling Leaves... Summer's Soft Farewell

This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.

Listen to episode one here

A calm bedtime episode about fireworks, paced gently to help a child fall asleep. Tonight's episode sits on a hill at the edge of a summer field, far back from the crowd, watching the sky bloom with light. Fireworks aren't just pretty. They're chemistry. The reds, greens, golds, and blues come from tiny bits of metal and mineral tucked into each shell. Strontium glows red. Barium glows green. Sodium, the same mineral in the salt on your dinner table, glows a warm buttery gold. Blue is the hardest color of all to make.

The episode also notices something a kid has felt their whole life without naming: the light of a firework reaches your eyes before the boom reaches your ears. Every clap, every voice, every closing door works the same way. Your eyes are always a little ahead of your ears.

Along the way: how firework builders design a peony or a willow before the shell ever leaves the ground, why blue took years to figure out, and how to count the seconds between a flash and a boom to tell how far away it was.

The Bedtime Scientist is a calm, factual science show for kids and families. Think Mr. Rogers meets Carl Sagan for bedtime. One voice. Real science. No music, no effects, no screen required. Works as well on the fifth night as the first. Parents often drift off first.

A bedtime science story about fireworks, the colors that come from the ground, and the light that reaches your eyes before the sound reaches your ears.


© Josh Fleishman | 10 min

The content, artwork and advertising within this podcast is not owned or affiliated with Sound Carrot and remain the property of their respective owners.

Original Episode URL


Find your next favourite Podcast

Sound Carrot is your source for Family Podcast Discovery. Verified awesome, 0% boring.

Privacy Focused

Distraction free website, no flashing banners or adverts to steal your attention.
(Some shows do contain their own ads however).

Kid verified

At first I made this site for my kids, but like any dad I got a little over excited. I hope you find it as useful as they do.

Family Friendly

Whether you want to listen to them together in the car, or alone in your room - the content is all safe for younger ears.