This is a kids podcast about current events. In each episode, the host Sangeetha chats with a child about a news story and engages with them on their ideas of what the world looks like, to them. Topics include recent science discoveries, emerging tech, sports events, countries fighting wars, books they like to read and more.
Parent info: What's new today is recommended for ages 6-10 and 11 plus. It's an Episodic show that can be listened to in any order. Made in India, it's about News and Talk for kids. Launched in 2021, it has 4 seasons.
Many of us have discovered a fascination for creatures like sealions or frogs, all thanks to a mild hypnotic voice narrating their life stories. For some of us, this voice belonged to the science teacher we wished we had had in school. Sir David Attenborough t…
The Secret Garden is a story that combines elements of adventure like an Enyd Blyton's Famous Five story, pieces of climate fiction like an episode of 'Planet Earth' and some elements of magic like a Harry Potter story. The story revolves around a household wi…
A few days ago, under the bright skies of Paris, four men sauntered into the Louvre museum after climbing onto its balcony, picked up a few glittering jewels that belonged to French royalty, hopped onto a scooter and drove away. This episode was recorded on th…
How did the global war on terror reshape the Kashmir conflict? This podcast episode explores the dramatic shifts that transformed the players and stakes in the Kashmir dispute over the past decade and a half.…
During the Cold War, the US sought allies to support it during the war against the Soviets. Pakistan was one of those allies. In exchange, Pakistan received financial aid and military support from the US. How did the state of Jammu and Kashmir become an uninte…
When the British left India in 1947, they decided to leave one lasting impression - divide the lands between two factions that had different views of the world. The partition of India and Pakistan had a large impact on the hills and valleys of Jammu and Kashmi…
Pope Francis, a man who embraced the need for environmental protection, a man who sought to undo some of the past damages done to indigenous tribes across the world, a man who tried hard to help immigrant refugees, recently passed away.…
If you ever wondered if there was any place on earth without mosquitoes, or about how big the largest library on earth looked like, or about where you would bump into the most number of English speakers in the world - you have landed upon the right podcast epi…
In this episode, we review a book ‘the Immortals of Meluha’ by Amish Tripathi. This is the first book in a 3-part series, and is based on Lord Shiva. Earlier this month, a group of kids signed up to read this book along with me, and we got together at the end …
A photo with sled dogs of Greenland wading through knee-deep water, surrounded by pristine glaciers and mountains, has gone viral. The scientist who took this photo realised that most people who saw it on social media found the picture scenic, but he realised …
Darjeeling's zoo recently got a rare upgrade. Its zoo will serve two purposes: on one side, it will house creatures that tourists can visit and watch as they stroll around; on the other side there will be something rare and new housed in these premises. This m…
India's SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) mission, led by ISRO, aims to demonstrate autonomous docking between two spacecraft. It is sort of like a hug in an orbit in space. This skill is critical for future lunar bases, satellite servicing, and space stations…
Captain Underpants is a super popular book series that has sold more than 80 million copies all around the world. Kids love its funny jokes and surprising story twists. The author, Dav Pilkey, wasn’t always great at reading or sitting still—he had something ca…
Project Tiger was launched in the 1970s in India. There was much fanfare, wildlife reserves were created and tiger protection became important to the Indian government. While Project Tiger stopped the killing of tigers, these big cats did not grow in numbers t…
What does it take to write well? Is it about acquiring better language skills or is there a secret recipe for developing intriguing plots, or does it come from consistent writing practice? Sonia Mehta, a children's author with more than 170 published titles to…
There are startups that solve problems for people - like the ones that help people rent a pet for their Instagram photos. And then, there are startups that solvereal problems - like bringing light into people's homes. Soma Bags is doing just that. This episode…
Story narrators are the voices that brings stories and characters to life on stage. Both children and adults often stay mesmerised and get a very different perspective to both the plot and the characters, compared to what they get when they read the story. Sto…
Ten young readers from India (aged 8-15) recommend one book from amongst all the books they read in 2024. If you thought all recommendations would hover around the fantasy and adventure genre, be prepared to be surprised.…
2024 was a year that marked some interesting achievements in the field of space. Missions to moon have been relaunched by NASA, the International Space Station's ending days have been charted and India's defense systems just tested new missiles. To speak about…
Paleontologists uncovered that the T-Rex was quite likely way bigger than they had originally thought it was. Based on recent fossil finds and some intelligent computer simulation, it turns out that if we remade Jurassic Park today, we would have had to create…
Children come up with ideas and stories like magicians pulling rabbits out of hats—nobody knows how, but it’s endlessly entertaining. It’s a mix of imagination (and maybe a little too much candy). But how can they turn their ideas into a well-written story? Me…
Neeraj Chopra's gold medal was India's first ever gold medal won by an athlete in Olympics. There was much adulation and rejoicing in the country. Sumit Antil also won a gold for India at the Tokyo Paralympics and successfully defended his title at the Paris P…
One of the earliest children's book series that took young readers into magical lands was the 'Chronicles of Narnia' by C.S.Lewis. In this podcast episode, two young readers (10-yr olds Darsh and Prakriti) share what they think of this book's plot, the writing…
More people in S.Korea bought strollers for dogs than they did for children (i.e. human babies). The S.Korean government has been alarmed by this trend. While people who have been observing changes in S.Korea over the past twenty years are not really surprised…
One street that is often used by cyclists and pedestrians in Prague has been renamed as Nicholas Winton street. He was no Olympic athlete but had accomplished something else of Olympian proportions. During 1939, he had helped hundreds of Jewish children flee f…
Earth is wonderful, but one day we might need more space to live, especially as our world changes. If we could travel to Mars and build homes there, that would solve a lot of our problems right? SpaceX just launched a giant rocket that has taken one step close…
Just like the tale of the old man whose three sons used their silver coins differently, this episode explores how two countries used their pots of liquid gold differently. This episode is styled like a 'Discovery Game'.…
Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy Hawking forayed into writing a science-fiction book series for young kids. This book (George's secret key to the universe) is the first of the series. The plot involves two young children traveling in space involving a mix…
When sixth grader Sophia came home with a sullen face from school, her mother Pilar Schiavo was busy contesting California's State Assembly elections. Sophia was so overwhelmed by the volume of work expected of her that she requested her mum to ban all homewor…
Food technologist and communications expert Sarika Singh speaks with Nayra (5th grader) and Shambhavi (10th grader) about foods that help kids gain height, improve their immune system, and whether having junk food is all that bad in childhood.…
A food blogger on Instagram raised alarm bells about the so called 'health' claims made by drinks aimed towards the young. Following this, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India directed these companies to remove these claims from their labels.…
Exactly one year ago, on this day, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission landed its Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover on the South pole of the moon. To commemorate this historic event, India declared that it would celebrate National Space Day every year, on Aug 23rd…
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped foot on the moon. 2024 marks 55 years since this achievement. A forgotten astronaut was a part of this mission and we speak about his role and contribution to this mission.…
China's taken a giant leap in the world of electric cars, racing far ahead of most countries. More than half of the cars on its roads run on electric batteries, not on petrol or diesel.…
Greece leads the parade and the host country is the last to join the parade, every Olympics. In the last two Olympics, a new contingent joined the Olympics' teams. This contingent was the penultimate to join the parade (ahead of the host country). The particip…
For the first time, a 4-year old dog called Beacon joins the official staff team of the US Gymnastics. He will play an important role in maintaining the health and well-being of the players. Can you guess how?…
To find details about our writing course for kids to become published authors, please click here…
This month, we reviewed the Harry Potter book series along with a group of primary and middle schoolers. This review is part 6 of a 6 part series. In this episode, we ask our reviewers how different are the movies from the books.…
This month, we reviewed the Harry Potter book series along with a group of primary and middle schoolers. This review is part 5 of a 6 part series. In this episode, we ask our reviewers what would happen if an owl came their way and dropped them an acceptance l…
This month, we reviewed the Harry Potter book series along with a group of primary and middle schoolers. This review is part 4 of a 6 part series. In this episode, we ask our reviewers how different is the magical world from the real world we live in.…
This month, we reviewed the Harry Potter book series along with a group of primary and middle schoolers. This review is part 3 of a 6 part series. In this episode, we ask our reviewers who they would rather chat with - Hagrid or Dumbledore?…
This month, we reviewed the Harry Potter book series along with a group of primary and middle schoolers. This review is part 2 of a 6 part series. In this episode, we ask our reviewers what they would see if they stood in front of the Mirror of Erised.…
This month, we reviewed the Harry Potter book series along with a group of primary and middle schoolers. This review is part 1 of a 6 part series. In this episode, we ask our reviewers which house they would like to be sorted into, at Hogwarts.…
Nowhere else in Asia do we have recorded history of a line of Muslim women who governed a kingdom. The four Begums of Bhopal ruled for over 100 years. Their reign was marked by peace, good health and great education facilities. This quartet of queens owe their…
Rudramadevi, a warrior queen from South India made an astonishing ascent to the throne, thanks to her royal lineage. Nevertheless she faced much patriarchy and her rule was challenged from all quarters - both from inside and outside. During her rule, the Kakat…
Tribhuvana Mahadevi was a queen who ruled one of the mightiest empires in ancient India - also called Kalinga. Today, this kingdom spreads across the eastern state of Orissa in India. Her reign featured in books written in 10th century AD in Persia. She was ca…
At its height, the Mughal empire was the richest in the world. Akbar's son Jahangir ascended the throne after his death. Jahangir was addicted to opium and alcohol, amongst other things. His wife Nur Jahan won his confidence. She was a remarkable woman who man…
The Portugese called her 'Raina de Pimenta' or 'The Pepper Queen'. Born to a commoner, married to a king, she ascended the throne after the untimely death of her husband. She not only defended herself against patriarchy, but also against a barrage of enemy arm…
Newspaper headlines often make loud claims about fitness, health and diet. How much of this is backed by research? Have the facts been verified? This episode is part of our Fake or Real podcast series, where we take a popular newspaper headline and check if it…
A recent YouGov poll shows that a large share of people believe that younger siblings are funnier than their older counterparts. Is this fake or real? Does this story have a sound scientific basis?…
This episode has been compiled and presented by three of the participants in a Podcasting Course conducted by Cronica Media,Story on Wildlife Conservation: How Istanbul has tried to solve the problems of reccycling, garbage cluttering and stray dog starvation.…
World Athletics has announced something exciting for all athletes participating / competing in the 2024 Olympics edition (to be held in Paris). After many decades of keeping true to the spirit of Olympics as outlined by Pierre de Coubertin (participating is mo…
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is considered a children's classic. Although the author did not write this book intended for a young audience, it has become a go-to read for many primary schoolers and middle schoolers. A group of children (<10 yrs old) read this b…
30 years ago in Nepal, Yagya Kumar Pradhan woke up to the news that two holy masks from the community's temple had been stolen. Yagya filed police complaints, but got no closer to the masks. He gave up all hope of ever seeing the masks again. One of his family…
The UK recently passed a bill - as its way of telling people to not come to its country, especially if they are coming by dangerous boats. The UK doesn't want people from poor countries who are fleeing wars and conflicts to end up inside its boundaries. What d…
A Scandinavian country, deep into the Arctic, is home to one of the happiest peoples in the world. What factors help them stay happier than people in many other developed countries (such as the US / western Europe / Japan)? Why are the children in Finland happ…
In the most recent earthquake in Taiwan, lives were lost and property destroyed. A group of dogs (called search and rescue dogs) came to the attention of many people through their valiant efforts at rescuing people caught under the rubble. This is a story of o…
A teenager from Gujarat came up with a novel solution to provide access to learning content on devices. Rather than rely on the goodwill of NGOs to provide devices and internet, Karthik Joshi, a 12th grader suggested a way by which students could 'pay' for thi…
This episode captures the history of Bengaluru from over a 1000 years ago. Small settlements created fertile pastures in an otherwise arid region. The ingenuity they used to build a series of lakes and tanks is to be much admired. This is all the more evident …
Ever read - the Elves and the Shoemaker? This story is a lot like that, except, in this case, they aren't making shoes. Someone has been turning up every night in the shed of a 75-year old photographer who lives in the UK. This photographer used to leave his w…
The Pench tiger reserve in India has received a special certification. It is the first of its kind for a wildlife park in India to received this, although wildlife parks / national parks in other parts of the world have received this certification. This is rel…
A group of 8-15 year olds joined us in reviewing the book 'Wonder' by R.J.Palacio. This is a powerfully narrated story about a 10-year old whose face looks nothing like what most people have. The book goes onto narrate the traumatic experiences he has in schoo…
There are sailors who boldly sail into the Southern Ocean and brave the winds and the waves. They do it all by themselves. This is part of a race called the Golden Globe Race (GGR), which tests the mettle of the best of sailors. In its most recent edition, Kir…
This is an #EqualPayDay story. Tennis is one of the few major sports where men and women get equal pay. For that, we have nine women tennis players from the 1970s to thank for.What did Billie Jean King and eight of her friends do, in 1970? This is the story of…
In a recent article published in the Scientific American, scientists compared the weight of everything that man has made, with the weight of all life on earth. This exercise was repeated many times over from 1900 onwards and a trend emerged.The opening lines o…
Jacky Hunt Broersma is a cancer survivor. This led to one of her legs being amputated. With a prosthetic leg, she first began to jog a little every day and gradually built up her stamina. Before she knew, she had run her first ever marathon. Over the next few …
A piece of football (or soccer) artifact is soon to go up for auction. It is a piece that will go down as marking one of the pivotal points in soccer history. What are we talking point? Listen on to find out moreCo-hosts: Devansh (4th grader) from Kolkata and …
A group of researchers in Norway observed the brain patterns of students who wrote vs students who typed. The content was the same in both cases. However, their brain patterns displayed many differences. Discover what these differences were by listening to th…
Sir C.V.Raman was traveling aboard a ship that was crossing the Atlantic. It was his first trip across the Mediterranean Sea and its colours sparkled in front of him. Standing there he pondered why the sea was blue. The experiments he did to find out the answe…
Recently, Indian authorities released a spy who had been kept in detention for over 8 months. This spy was suspected to act on behalf of the Chinese. Later, the spy was found to be innocent and was released. Who was this spy? Why was this spy released?That is …
It was a weekend of records in the world of tennis.Rohan Bopanna was ranked No. 1 in Men's Doubles. This makes him the oldest to have been ranked No. 1. At the grand age of 43, when many others slow down and often retire from the game, Bopanna seems to only g…
In this episode, which is the second part 2 of our podcast series on the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), we chat with the Project Head of GBBC from Cornel Lab of Ornithology (Becca Rodomsky Bish) and three children - Shravan, Taanvi and Adya.They chat about …
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) doesn't come our way everyday. But birds do. If you love observing birds, or are curious about them, or even just love to paint or draw pictures of birds - here's an event that you can be a part of. An event where the input…
In a town in Italy, all dog owners have to pay 65 euros to the city corporation. This is to get their dog's DNA tested. Why is this being mandated?Three children (4th grader Smyan, 4th grader Dhruv and 8th grader Aadya) ask the host Sangeetha questions, to dec…
In one district in Ohio, the public school students have recorded high rates of absenteeism. So the district government has proposed a new policy. What is this policy?Three children (4th grader Smyan, 4th grader Dhruv and 8th grader Aadya) ask the host Sangeet…
The man who designed India's tricolour flag - Pingali Venkaiyya is one of India's forgotten heroes. He joined the army under the British rule. He was a trained geologist. He also taught agriculture at a college. He was a polyglot who could learn and speak many…
The tricolour Indian flag with the Ashok Chakra has a pride of place in India's Republic Day celebrations. But the Indian flag was not always like this. How different was it during India's freedom struggle? Listen to the full episode to find out more.Co-host:…
Man may want to build a settlement on the moon. This is no longer the stuff of science fiction, but already a reality that space agencies are working towards. NASA's Mission Artemis is working towards building a community that can live on the moon. But it requ…
Iceland is famed not just for its ice, but also its fire. It's a land that sees volcanic eruptions once every four-five years. People of the land are hardy and used to these interruptions to daily life. But a fault line that had maintained volcanic silence for…
In the Stone Age, women were fine hunters and men were adept at collecting fruits. The myth that men did all the hunting and women gathered food was recently shattered by new scientific evidence. Archaeology, human studies and simple biology - explains it all!…
For nearly 1400 years, China has had a tradition of gifting panda bears to countries it wants to establish friendly relations with. For example, in the 8th century AD, the Tang dynasty empress Wu Zeitan is credited with having gifted the Japanese emperor two p…
Every year, GCHQ - an intelligence organisation based out of the UK, releases a Christmas puzzle. This is for children aged 11-18 to mull over the hints and crack the secret codes. In this episode, a 12-yr old joins the host and tries solving some of the puzzl…
Who would have thought that two-thirds of Planet earth remains a no-go for a lot of Black people? Zandile took up scuba diving and free diving and her folks asked her 'why do you want to do white people things?' This episode is a conversation with two primary …
As part of our Year-end Wrap up of 2023 series, this episode celebrates the life of a 16-year old archer who defied all odds and won medals for India (and continues to do so!). Sheetal Devi was born with a medical condition that did not allow her limbs (in her…
The world population touched 8 billion. India replaced China as the most populous. Artificial Intelligence made breakthroughs that promised students much relief and writers much pain. The world was wrecked by conflicts - the continuation of the Ukraine war, th…
In March 2022, a young black gymnast in Ireland was not given a medal she deserved thanks to her skin colour. Her parents called for an apology. Nothing happened for a full year. Soon, the video of this act of racism went viral. Her parents also tagged Simon B…
The year of 2023 had its bright and shiny moments in space exploration, science discoveries and tech inventions. This episode focuses on two positive stories - the return of the humpback whales (thanks to a ban on commercial whaling) AND the invention of VR g…
As the year 2023 draws to a close, we bring to our young listeners a quiz on one of their favourite book series - Thea Stilton and Geronimo Stilton. Also, in this episode three young bookworms join us and share their book recommendations.Child co-hosts: Prakri…
This is the happy story of how 41 construction workers who were stuck behind the debris of a collapsed tunnel in Himachal Pradesh got freed after a 17-day long ordeal. The army and air-force, a few massive drilling machines, a team of mountain experts and seve…
Saudi Arabia will be hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2034. It has already started hosting F1 car racing tournaments on its roads. It is also hosting one of the world's largest professional golf tournaments - LIV Golf (this will be the largest outside of the US a…
Ever heard of a national leader saying that one of his goals is to plant 15 billion trees. If you have not, meet Kenya's President William Ruto. To meet his immediate goal of planting 100 million trees, he declared a national holiday. In a country of 50 millio…
This is the last and final part of our Wildlife podcast series. There are two happy stories we talk about here -(A) How rhinos in eastern India have been saved from poachers by the vigilant members of the forest community, and(B) How one man single-handedly pl…
In the most recent semi-finals between India and New Zealand, Virat Kohli scored his 50th century. He broke the record for the highest number of centuries scored by any cricketeer in ODI (Sachin Tendulkar held the record previously).This episode is a quiz styl…
The British discovered the dense forests of Andaman and the lack of elephants there to pull these logs. How elephants got to the islands of Andaman and Nicobar is a theme we explore in this episode.Fourth grader Chandrika from Bengaluru, India also explores ho…
Indian skies are full of crows, pigeons and sparrows. But vultures have collapsed in numbers from a few million to a few hundred in under a decade. Want to find out how? Listen to 8-yr old Advik (who reiterates that he is almost nine) and Smyan Shetty explain…
Forest trackers also called 'pugees' play an inimitable role in conserving India's forests. They can reconstruct whole events inside forests just by looking at the pugmarks. Listen to the full episode to find out how. The pugees play a crucial role in monitori…
The Asiatic lions had gone extinct in large parts of Central Asia. The last remnants were to be found in the forests of the princely states of Gujarat, in India. There were only a handful of these lions left (<20). The Nawab of Junagadh played a key role in pr…
Project Tiger was launched in 1973 amidst the gloomy news that the tiger numbers had plummeted to a measly 1400 from a high of 40,000 in 1900. An Indian officer called Kailash Sankhala, also called the Tiger Man of India, pushed the case for a special protecti…
Tigers are either feared or hunted or both. Sometimes when they turn into man-eaters, they turn into the stuff of legends (and eventually give birth to stories such as the Man-eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett). This episode explores a different side of a tiger.…
After the British left India in 1947, Indians were feeling mighty happy. But they also had to figure out how to build the country, grow more food and earn a lot of money. In the middle of all of this, if some poachers were killing tigers for their skins or rhi…
We begin our new podcast series on 'India's Wildlife' - tracing stories from before India became independent, right until 2023, when India tries to bring back the cheetah from extinction.…
For a lot of us, going to school involves a walk around the corner, or a trip by a bus or a car. That is not the case for many children across the world. This is a real life story about a group of children who have to travel between two mountains to get to sch…
Palestine has an ancient history - going back many thousands of years. In this episode, we trace the stories of this region going back 3000 years, from the times of Moses right until now. The Jews were a dominant race in that region right until the Roman invas…
Sharp needle pricks are not anyone's favourite - least of all, when the doctors force them upon us. Worse still is a vaccine injection that may or may not be followed by a bout of fever and illness before recovery comes our way.Who do we blame / credit for dis…
World Food Day is here. A food that is both loved by children and the old is the warm and fluffy 'idli'. Often called a South Indian food, in this episode we explore the question 'Did idli really originate in India?'There are three competing stories about how …
Moose was eight years old, stuck in a shelter in Virginia. A family of five were looking to foster a dog for a weekend. It was going to be their lucky weekend. Moose and his kind face instantly won them over and off they went to their houseboat. What happened …
Dinosaurs might have been enjoying a good rest when a meteorite came crashing towards them. They may not have had the time to react or say their goodbye to their loved ones. But man is greedy. He would like to avert such disasters as much as he can.So he sends…
A photo released by NASA - is a refreshing course in science. It show an underwater volcano erupting near the Solomon Islands and a group of sharks swimming near these volcanoes. Sharks have always been understood to prefer the cold deep water of the ocean. So…
Bears love honey, climbing trees, and pouncing on their pound of fish in lakes and rivers. But after a while, as the snow begins to set in, the fun times stop as they quietly lie down. What happens in the weeks before they start to hibernate? They have to eat …
Whoever would have thought that a faraway continent (one that sees more whales and penguins, than humans) is home to a new English accent. If you are one to enjoy making out the differences between the American, British and the Australian accents, you'll enjo…
The Chennai airport saw a crowd milling with flowers and sweets, waiting to welcome one of the city's greatest heroes. This was the kind of welcome commonly found for cricketing heroes & heroines or movie superstars. This time though, it was the turn of a ches…
In a cricket-crazy country, a javelin thrower to have the most number of Instagram followers amongst all the athletes in the world is saying something. Neeraj Chopra's recent gold win at the World Athletics Championship has won him hearts, both for his win as …
ISRO began its interstellar journey in the 21st century. Lunar mission (Chandrayaan) and Mars Orbiter mission (Mangalyaan) saw the light of the day. The triumphant successes of both these missions brought India to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the space supe…
What happens during a liftoff? Why is there so much smoke and fire? How do people in nearby towns and villages not go deaf?How does a satellite enter the orbit of the moon or the Mars?Curious co-hosts in this episode: Anina, a fourth-grader from BengaluruIf yo…
Seeing rockets go up in a billowing cloud of smoke from Sriharikota is more often than not, associated with success. It was not so, in the 1980s and 1990s. Scientists at ISRO struggled with many failures and had to face growing criticism from the press for nea…
The 1990s saw an explosion of TV shows, including superheroes like Shaktimaan and detectives like Byomkesh Bakshi. A lot of this was aided by the presence of colour TV sets in many Indian homes.India's space journey played a huge hand in making these childhood…
If you lived in the 1980s and 1990s in India, Sunday mornings were often quiet affairs. Not because the families wanted to dine together, but because the TV brought them all together for wholesome entertainment.India's space journey had much to do with TVs bec…
This episode is the third part in our series on the Journey of ISRO. Click here to listen to Parts 1 and Part 2, before you listen to part 3.Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Homi Bhabha's deaths at the prime of their lives, robbed India of two of its greatest scien…
Dr.Vikram Sarabhai was not a man to stop at sending a few sounding rockets from a beach town in Kerala. He had grander visions. He wanted India to launch its own satellite from its own satellite launch vehicle.Where would he find his suitable satellite launch …
The feverish excitement of watching the launch of Chandrayaan 3 is hard to be matched. On second thoughts, it could be matched by India winning a world cup in cricket (esp. if the finals were against Pakistan).We delved back 75 years to look into the stories t…
What colour is the sun?Should you be placing toilet paper on toilet seats in public bathrooms?Why are some eggs easy to peel while others are not?To find answer to these 3 questions, listen to the 12-year old who has 'scientifically researched' these points.Do…
Every month as part of our happy kidpod, we feature news stories that bring a smile to our faces. In this episode, we share three news stories about the Amazon Rainforests, schools for children in Madagascar and interesting health routines of elephants in the …
How many tigers can you find in Africa?Is the tiger bigger than a lion?What record has India created in the Guiness Book of World Records with respect to conserving wildlife?What would a 9 or 10-year old do, if faced with the task of saving tigers that are dec…
What are some of the common ways by which children use the internet to bully their peers? What are the simple steps that parents and teachers can take to protect children?A 12-year old from S.East Asia shares his experiences of how he and his family dealt with…
Gone are the times when many people felt that bullying is a rite of passage of childhood or school years. Bullying, big or small, often leaves indelible marks on the minds of victims and the perpetrator. In this episode, we talk about bullying from the perspec…
Story of this episode: It was a cold morning in July 2020. A crew manning a 46ft boat saw a group of killer whales swimming towards them. They waved towards the friendly orcas, whom they had met many times before. But the orcas were in no mood for a friendly c…
An online platform where children can meet others, interact and make friends, all while playing a video game - that's Roblox in short.This is a platform that has more than 43 million daily active users.What makes this game so popular? Even more popular than Mi…
If you are like me, you might catch yourself wondering how to avert a disaster that hurtled the way of dinosaurs (a meteorite crashing into earth). If you are like a scientist at NASA, you'd have found a way to avert that disaster. If you are like any space sc…
A couple of years ago, a group of people in nice long white lab coats (some call them scientists) set about solving a mystery about animals on islands. They had 2 interesting clues to get on about(a) a rodent the size of a 2-year old child. It was scurrying ar…
Did you know that 'Face with tears of joy' is the most popular emoji of 2023?Did you know that Gen-Z things pagers are bookmarks?Join a 10-year old Isabelle Abraham to listen to a scintillating description of the Emoji movie. Isabelle attended What's new today…
Ever wondered what would happen if you took a big black rectangular solar panel from your rooftops, and place them on a lake?Can the solar panel float? Will the water below damage the panel? Will the solar panel be efficient? generate electricity?Middle school…
The Harry Potter book series took the world by storm. Many a child today owes his / her love for reading from J.K.Rowling's creations. The thick, fat pages of Goblet of Fire or the Deathly Hallows hardly deterred 7 and 8 year olds around the world. For some ch…
Ink and paper was all that we think of, when the printer comes to our mind.But if we told you that you could order a cheesecake at the printer. Scientists at Columbia University recently introduced a 3D printing machine for children to choose which toppings an…
In this podcast episode, we dive into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence, exploring the distinctions between two powerful tools: ChatGPT and Google, and pondering the question of whether ChatGPT is poised to dominate the future.Drawing from perso…
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy won the men's doubles finals at Badminton Asia - the first pair from India to have won this in 58 years. We are familiar with Saina Nehwal and P.V.Sindhu - two Indians who made India proud by winning Olympic medals. No…
Walt Disney used to take his children to neighbourhood parks. He felt disappointed with the kind of experiences these parks had to offer. He had grand ideas of building something more interesting. That's how Disney theme parks came to be about. About this time…
5 rings bring images of sports and victories in the Olympic. 4 rings shift our minds towards cars and the company Audi. A tick mark takes us to shoes and the company Nike. The letter G now represents the all-important Gmail. Brands and logos are in front of us…
Project Re-shark is an initiative to bring more sharks into our oceans. While some people have been busy over-fishing sharks, a few others have taken it upon themselves to grow baby sharks in aquariums and then releasing them back into the wild. To talk about …
No longer do you need to worry if your mobile phones are near or far from telecom towers. No longer do you need to think about whether you'll get internet access when you are vacationing in some far off place, away from civilization, or up on a mountain or on …
If there were a genie that said - name your wish and I'll show you a picture of how your wishes or dreams would look, we seem to have found it.It goes by the name 'artificial intelligence for art'. In the past few months, many such engines generate art after y…
From email IDs to opening youtube accounts, passwords are some of the most common things we type, day in and day out.In this episode, ninth-graders Shambhavi Nautiyal and Advaith Nair from Ahlcon Public School, Delhi, share their thoughts on how we can make pa…
If the word countryside and summer vacations reminds you of adventures of the Famous Five, children in Japan are being enticed to have just that - a lot of adventures by the village-side all year round!Japan is facing extreme pressure in its tightly congested …
Roald Dahl used to visit the chocolate factories near his school, as a boy. The multiple machinations and the workers in the factory all appeared to be a part of a magical world. Years later, these experiences would inspire the popular work of 'Charlie and th…
Ever wondered how Mufasa's road appears majestic? or how Rapunzel's hair flows all around? or how Olaf jumps and hops around singing in the snow?You can find answers to a ton of such questions in this episode. Chatrasal Singh, an animator with Disney Studios a…
This is a 3-part podcast series, as Disney celebrates its 100 years of existence in 2023. This episode (which is part 2 of this series) covers the last couple of decades of Disney's existence. 12-year old Ananya Harish from Bunt Sangha's S.M.Shetty Internation…
Disney studio was established in 1923. Rabbits, mice, ducks, cats and many more characters came alive on screen, thanks to Walt Disney and his team. Not happy with just showing his audience fairy tales on screen, Disney also expanded to develop theme parks. No…
What's flaxseed got to do with Lenovo?What's peanut shells got to do with food delivery?What's a pencil got to do with our terrace gardens?The short answer is - packaging that is sustainable. In this episode, 9-year old Shanaya, 8-year old Dhanush and 9-year o…
Superheroes have captivated our imagination for eons. The Marvel Cinematic Universe - Spiderman, Doctor Strange and many more, has been one of the most successful superhero franchises. But a void has now arisen. With Iron Man and Black Widow dead, Steve Roger…
In the story 'Finding Nemo', the journey undertaken by Marlin and Dory kept us all on the edge of our seats. Some of us may have also heaved a sigh of relief when the clownfish Nemo is saved and is back home. What if we told you that a band of humans have come…
In 64 years, for the first time, Dr.Nicola Fox, a British-origin scientist has been appointed to head science projects at NASA. Her dad loved science and especially space, and some of that seemed to have rubbed off on her. She also went to a girls' school and …
Imagine going on a holiday, where you can get around in only one of three ways - walking, riding a donkey or riding a bicycle. You would also have to carry your suitcases and bags around with no taxi to transport it around. This would be true if you went to p…
Man will soon begin to build houses on moon. Check.The James Webb Telescope might soon tell us how the universe began its journey. Check.Bacteria can help us make new smartphones and laptop. Err...Not sure if we have lost our mind here?Pinch yourself. This is …
Our excitement at the prospect of having reached the 100th episode milestone must be palpable - in our voices, the podcast cover and even in our sound tracks :)In this episode, 8-year old Devansh from Kolkata and 12-year old Eesha from Chennai (who have both a…
Love solving puzzles? Enjoy listening to mythological stories? You're very likely to enjoy the two book series that our child co-host in this episode recommends.11-year old Saathvika who goes to New Albany Elementary School from Columbus , Ohio (USA) shares he…
A world where cameras do not just take pictures, but also tell you when and how to smile - is no longer the stuff of science fiction. For now, artificially intelligent cameras are already helping save the lives (and possibly the smiles) of people and endangere…
Long long ago, so long ago, that most people do know how long ago (because some people have read history textbooks), Venice was nothing more than a collection of marshlands. A few fishermen eeked their living by selling fish and making salt. In time, this gro…
Three days of festivities surround the lives of thousands of the Tibetan diaspora, as they welcome their new year - Losar. About the time when the winter chills dissipate and fresh harvest yields fill their granaries, the Tibetans (much like their Venetian fri…
EA sports is parting ways with FIFA. The video game that millions of players are used to calling FIFA, will soon be renamed EA Sports FC. Getting used to that?In this episode, which is the second part of a review of this video game (one of the highest download…
What do you do when older kids in your school don't let you play striker and relegate you to defence?You fight your way in the ground or pick up the FIFA video game and play whichever position you want to your heart's content.In this episode with Archisman and…
Radio was this device in many homes that held a place of awe and respect for decades. It brought into many households the first pieces of information of what was going on in the real world. It also made entertainment commonplace. Be it classical or popular mus…
Did you know that Asian lions lead their pride whereas African lionesses often defend their pride and territory? A recent newspaper headlining 'Capt. Shiva Chauhan is the first women army officer to be posted in the Siachen Glacier' caught the attention of tw…
Comets come and go about a dozen times in a year without much fanfare. But a green comet that's flashing its pretty smile at us, is causing much celebration around the world. There are excellent reasons why each one of us should look into our night skies to sa…
In part 1 of this series (Epi 89), we discussed what the Great Backyard Bird Count was all about. In this episode, we answer questions on how to participate in it. There are lots of curious questions about birds too, that we have tried to answer in this episod…
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) doesn't come our way everyday. But birds do. If you love observing birds, or are curious about them, or even just love to paint or draw pictures of birds - here's an event that you can be a part of. An event where the input…
The UK loses 3 billion litres of water every day through leaks in its underground water pipes. That's a LOT of water. Enough to fill a few hundred Olympic size swimming pools. Imagine all the fun kids can have splashing in these pools? But no, all that water …
The world has been abuzz with a secret new weapon that can turn every student's essay into a worthy A+ piece of paper. This weapon can also turn every worst programmer's nightmare into a dream. By generating lines of code with no bugs. It is also a weapon that…
The word Dead sea conjures images of people relaxing in the sea, floating with books in hand or just enjoying the starry images of the sky and the beaches around. But, if you plan on enjoying this anytime, you might need to make it there sooner rather than la…
It has taken us a short 11 years from 2011 to 2022 to touch 8 billion people on this world. Babies are born all over the world. But if you did take a time machine into the future, you are most likely to see those babies born in Africa and Asia and emptier mat…
What does the grass lying on the bottom of the ocean have to do with the cars we drive? Here's a trivia that will help you make the connection. The seagrass absorbs way more carbon than the tall trees on land. So, weep not, if you have been worried about the A…
Please click here to fill our survey and tell us what you think we can do to make the episodes better2022 was a year like none other. The FIFA final in 2022 was perhaps the greatest nail-biter in all FIFA finals. A year where Messi fulfilled his life-long drea…
If you are feeling jolly good about Christmas, please gift us 2 mins of your time and fill this survey to tell us what more we can do, to make this podcast channel fun and interesting (https://s.surveyplanet.com/d79mitsl)After a few decades of lull, space expl…
Please be our Santa Claus and gift us 2 mins of your time by filling this survey https://s.surveyplanet.com/d79mitslVirtual reality is no more just a fantasy place where gamers like to go. Doctors are beginning to use VR goggles to help people become cal…
If you are feeling jolly good about Christmas being around, please gift us 2 mins of your time and fill this survey (https://s.surveyplanet.com/d79mitsl)2022 brought interesting science to movies - all dinosaurs had feathers!2022 also brought a temporary …
Feeling festive? Please gift us 1 min of your time and fill this survey (https://s.surveyplanet.com/d79mitsl) Thanks in advance :) The year 2022 had a lot of interesting science discoveries, that had many young and curious minds really hooked. No, we are not c…
If you are feeling jolly good about Christmas, please click here and gift us 2 mins of your time and share your ideas in this survey (https://s.surveyplanet.com/d79mitsl The year 2022 was a mixed bag when it comes to climate change. While news about heatwaves,…
We are always looking for ways to improve our podcast. Please click here to fill this survey questionnaire (2 min.) to help us. (https://s.surveyplanet.com/d79mitslIn this wrap-up about news from countries and events around the world, 4 curious children join t…
To listen to episodes on space and video games, click here Children and adults love making creations - whether it is building sandcastles on the beach, or houses with cardboard boxes, or creating an Iron Man using Lego blocks. One teenager took up an interesti…
If you have pondered ways of testing your smarts against a computer, a game of chess will likely pop into your head. But some scientists decided to make things fun. They decided to use a 1970s video game called Pong, to test some real smarts. Think black and w…
The world's richest man wants to let everyone have an equal say in the world. He wants everyone to share their ideas - no matter if they are Thanos or one of the Avengers. Elon Musk went ahead and bought a company Twitter to allow just that - all for all. No h…
To listen to episode 75 about animatronic dolphins, please click herePlanet Earth is getting warmer. Some leaders meet every year to talk about what they can do to combat climate change. Few countries go home and do something to reduce their emissions. In the …
The war in Ukraine took several unexpected turns, first with the Ukrainian defence of its capital Kiev and the united support of several Western countries. 13-year old Neil from G.D.Goenka School, Lucknow, who has taken a keen interest in tracking the events o…
To listen to episode 45 about Marvel characters, please click hereTo listen to episode 55 about cheetahs coming back to India, please click herePaolo Fanciulli, a fisherman who lives in Italy was always fascinated by shipwrecks and the fish and the algae that …
Listen to a lively episode on Queen Elizabeth and her heir (Epi 63) by clicking hereThe island of Taiwan which is 100 miles away from China is key for us to create this podcast and for you to listen to it. In case you are wondering, the host of this podcast do…
To listen to Space related episodes, please click hereTo listen to Wildlife related episodes, please click hereIf you remember the tales about why dinosaurs went extinct, one of the common stories is that a meteorite crashed into earth. Some scientists in NASA…
Listen To Episode 55 about cheetahs being re-introduced in India by clicking hereMore than 50 years ago, a young and happy orca whale called Lolita (4 yrs old) was swimming with her mother and 6 siblings in the Pacific Ocean. She was captured and sold to an a…
This is Part 2 of the Nobel Prize winners for 2022. If you would like to listen to the super-fun stories in Part 1, please click here to listen to episode 69.The winners for Chemistry, according to 10-year old Vidyut might open the doors for curing diseases su…
To listen to episode 38 on Video Game characters, please click here or scroll below on our episode list.Remote controlled cars and planes are toys we are familiar with. A remote-controlled fish that can not just swim, but also eat the plastic pieces floating i…
If you would like to listen to the entertaining episode (13) on micro-plastics, please click here.Serena Williams and Roger Federer are synonymous with tennis. Both of them have dominated the sport, with a trail of Grand Slam titles and plenty of tennis record…
To get a FREE subscription to Newsahoot, please click here (https://bit.ly/3VKPZHUHorses running around freely have brainwaves that are calming in nature, while those that are cooped in their lonely stables are depressed. Or at-least that's what the headset w…
Eiffel tower is synonymous with its colourful lights at night. But the electricity shortage in Europe has forced the mayor of Paris to announce that lights will be turned off on the Eiffel tower an hour earlier than usual (by 11pm). Many monuments and governm…
Click here to answer the quiz questions (or copy paste this link onto your browser) to win a story book as a prize!Quiz link: https://s.surveyplanet.com/5d17xb1vWhen Alfred Nobel read his obituary (much to his surprise), he was horrified to read its contents. …
Barbie has long held a unique place and symbolised pretty looks. Not anymore. The company Mattel which makes Barbie dolls has pivoted towards showing Barbie dolls with a stronger personality. Barbie dolls are no longer just pretty faces with fancy shoes and ba…
Most of us have played with a remote-controlled car that we like to guide across several surfaces - both inside and outside our homes. It appears that the child in us (who loves such remote controlled cars) never left the minds of some Japanese scientists. Re…
A special episode where we do a throwback to our earlier episodes where our co-hosts had us at our wits end and rolling with laughter. Links to the episodes featured on this podcast are below:Episode 53: Why the earth spun super fast and we had the shortest …
From faraway in space, if an alien happened to use a pair of binoculars, he might have easily mistaken Pakistan for a large river, or a bunch islands sticking out an inland sea. Certainly not for one of the most fertile lands growing fragrant and aromatic spic…
Curious children can send us their questions via email at hello@wsnt.in or DM us on Instagram here.In this episode, we answer questions that kids have sent us earlier via email. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts to those who have sent us their answers and…
If you have heard of the 'time-machine', you are already familiar with the father of science fiction - H.G.Wells. Sep 21 was H.G.Wells' birthday and we look at the works he has created, in this episode. When he wrote his works of science fiction, little may he…
Quite recently, NASA launched its next set of missions named 'Artemis' - the Greek Goddess of the moon, to send people once again back to the moon. The last time we set foot on the moon, astronauts went aboard the space shuttle Apollo, who is the twin of the G…
Queen Elizabeth II, the oldest reigning British monarch recently passed away. She had ruled Britain for over 70 years and had many firsts to her name. Including, the first monarch to send an email. If the word 'queen' brings to your mind images of a lady decla…
Jurassic Park is a movie (and book) filled with an equal measure of wonders and horrors. It's a story of a park filled with a group of extinct species - dinosaurs - brought to life. This episode contains a story quite similar - an extinct species of the Tasman…
Have you wondered why humans like you and I speak in long steady voices, while gorillas, apes and chimpanzees often bounce about trees and shriek in high-pitched voices?Have you also wondered what would happen if you spoke in a shrill voice for a long time? Go…
When NASA sent the Curiosity Rover to Mars in 2012, they expected the rover to last all of one year on the Red Planet. Much to their consternation and the rest of the world's delight, the rover shows no signs of slowing down. Who would have thought we owe much…
Hello wildlife geeks, we are holding a Wildlife Quiz on 18-Sep. Come, join us to have lots of fun discussing wildlife trivia and register for the wildlife quiz by clicking here.The Sahara desert has been spreading southwards, as global warming and deforestatio…
In the Journey to the Atlantis by Geronimo Stilton, a boy who speaks an unknown language and with blue skin lands up in a new place. The mouselings set out to discover ways to help him. In this episode with the fourth grader Dhruv Agarwal from Kolkata India, …
For long we have been hearing news about how our marine ecosystem has been declining. In this episode, we discuss some positive developments in our oceans. The Great Barrier Reef is showing signs of recovering in nearly a third of the area, which had almost be…
Sports that exist for people who are differently abled, but emojis for these are yet to be created - that's paralympics in a nutshell. Some of these inspiring stories of people with fewer limbs swimming or playing table tennis are an inspiration to all of us. …
Many people in Africa and Asia have been going without essential food ever since the Ukraine war broke out. While soldiers in Ukraine have been busy fighting the war, the farmers of Ukraine have also been busy sowing, planting and harvesting grains from their …
Commemorating India's 75 years of independence, the government of India plans to bring African cheetahs from Namibia. In this episode, 12-year old Aadya discusses the reasons for cheetahs going extinct in the past and where these cheetahs stand the best chance…
The Kodiak bear, which has long held the prized position as the world's largest omnivore has been recently unseated by the whale shark. Marine biologists have long wondered about the diet of many giant creatures of the ocean. Sharks open their mouths wide to …
If you felt strange on June 29, 2022 - a bit fuzzy or if you were hiccupping continuously, you won't need a doctor. Because you, like many others, may have felt the effect of the earth spinning very fast on that day. It's been the shortest day recorded (in the…
Winning medals in weightlifting, judo and javelin throw have brought a variety of sports into the ambit of many children in India. 13-year old Tejas, who plays cricket professionally (and is equally adept at football) speaks about his own experiences. In this…
The ISS is a satellite, as big as a football ground, that you can spot from your own terraces and even send messages on twitter to the astronauts in it. While they spend much of their time doing experiments, they do take a break and play a game of chess (yes,…
If the idea of spending your weekend by holding a cup of hot chocolate and a book (or a kindle, if you insist), and sitting in a park bench appeals to you, the future might be here in many streets of Paris. If you hope that kids will get more open spaces to pl…
Who would have thought a pair of 3D glasses (like the ones you use to watch Marvel movies in theatres) can help us jump into a different world, atleast in our minds.In this episode, a 11-yr old tells us a story about how she fractured a couple of bones in her …
Autorickshaws have funny and interesting names across the world. They go by tuk-tuk, baby taxi and lapa in different countries. While Tesla, BMW, Audi, Ola, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai and many more companies are making electric cars that keep our air cleaner…
The Famous Five go on adventure trips in bicycles and camp in the moors. The Secret Seven go on picnics carrying food and a dog along for adventure in the summer. In current times, we book a pretty villa somewhere in the hills and book a flight to our holiday …
Scar in Lion King, Thanos in the Marvel universe, or Zeus the Greek God got very powerful in their kingdoms. The people in their lands were upset with the decisions of the rulers. Simba came back and fought Scar off his Pride Lands. Thanos was defeated by the …
Black Panther, Shang Chi, Miles Morales, Miss Marvel and America Chavez are new age superheroes. They are new age, not because their super powers are starkly different from that of others, but because they don't look, or speak or perhaps even behave like other…
Crash tests for cars sold in India are not common. Many people who buy cars may not even know if the car they are buying gets 0 out of 5 points for its safety features. But now, all that is set to change. Beginning 2023, the government will provide for every c…
A few curious scientists got together to answer the question whether we might find a giant gorilla like the King Kong, in an island somewhere in the world. The answer to this question was published in a science journal recently, which 12-year old Eesha discuss…
Japan, after 2 long years during this pandemic, has finally opened itself to tourists who can now visit the Land of the Rising Sun. In this episode, 9-year old Shravan speaks about his summer vacations in Europe and how this differs from life in Asia. While J…
An old old ship is lying in the Red sea, all alone. It hasn't been cleaned, dusted or maintained for many years. 14-year Keshav (who co-hosts this episode) thinks the ship must have gone rusted and mouldy by now. The world would not be too worried about a shi…
The country Turkey got tired of being confused with the names of birds which are also the symbol of a national holiday in the US. Turkey's leaders were also not too keen on the meaning of the word Turkey in English (google says it refers to someone rather sil…
The new Jurassic world dominion movie makes a departure from the previous movies in how the dinosaurs look. Taking help of paleontologists - Stephen Bassett in this movie and Jack Horner in some of the previous movies, the scenes and sets of each of these movi…
Kids who love video games should be able to find male and female characters / avatars with equal ease today. This was not so, just a few years ago. In this episode with an 'almost' 11-year old Trayee, we talk about how girl characters have become increasingly …
Recently, the queen of England - Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 70 years of rule as the head of state. A 9-yr old is curious to know why celebrating this milestone is a big deal. Listen to this episode to also get a hang of the what monarchs do, now that ma…
Recently, a volcanic eruption in the Kavachi volcano (in Solomon islands near Australia) was recorded by NASA. The fascinating part about this submarine volcano is the presence of sharks in the warm waters surrounding the hot crater. Since sharks are otherwise…
A 16-yr old, with a rather unpronounceable name Praggnanandhaa recently won against Magnus Carlsen, the reining chess champion. In this episode, 8-yr old Adeep discusses the game, and many stories about computers that play against grandmasters. Listen to this …
In this episode, we surveyed a whole bunch of tweens and teens. We asked them about what they'd like to save on planet earth. Some even had ideas on whether they'd like to live in space vs oceans. Listen to this episode with more than 7 of our young co-hosts -…
Women soccer players in the US, who were otherwise paid lower than the male players, won a landmark ruling. The court has judged that men and women should get paid at an equal rate for the matches they play within the US. Listen to this conversation with 9-yr …
Geetanjali Shree has the distinction of being the first ever Indian author to win the International Booker for her Hindi work 'Ret Samadhi' which was translated as Tomb of Sand in English. Listen to this 'almost' 10-year old's perspective on what books mean to…
A scientist called Einstein scribbled many notes on papers more than 100 years ago. These included his imaginations and calculations about objects in space. He predicted that there were powerful objects called black holes that could suck everything that came t…
When Europe was recovering from the after-effects of the second world war, an Italian at the European Broadcasting Union wanted to test if live broadcasting on radio would work seamlessly. He hit upon an idea of launching a song contest across Europe which wou…
Russia is the largest country in the world and has got its neighbours all rattled. If you shared a border with Russia, I guess you'd be thinking of protection more than building schools and roads. In this conversation with a 10-year old, we explore answers to…
When we think of animals that went extinct, dinosaurs and giant elephants and huge marsupials often come to mind. Meteors crashing the earth and people hunting these creatures for their skin and horns are often cited as reasons. Most recently, researchers at T…
S.Korea, alongwith the UN, has created a plan for a new floating city near Busan. If you are reminded of boats and canals near Venice, you are like million others who think the same! Ancient Venice was built when people fled enemies to live in these swamplands…
Running in parks, on football grounds or trying to catch that elusive ball before it crosses a boundary in cricket - such fun associated with all of them. But for Jacky Hunt Broersma - there was fun in running 104 marathons in 104 days. She did not pack her ba…
Recently the French elected a new President - Emmanuel Macron, for a second term. While elections are more common today than they were in ancient Greece, the French do something that the Brits or the Americans or the Indians do. They elect the person they wan…
In this second episode of the James Webb telescope series - we look at what infrared light coming from ancient stars is likely to contain. How do we distinguish between light coming from super ancient stars versus relatively new stars? Will the ancient galaxie…
After nearly 3 decades of effort and testing, the James Webb telescope was successfully launched into space in Dec 2021. This telescope has been designed to help us see how the universe looked when the early stars were created. Why do we need a telescope in s…
How many things can we generate electricity from? Solar, wind, coal, nuclear, biogas and a few more, says a 10-year old. Do we use all of these to make electricity from, in India? Why did the rains last year lead to lesser coal this year? I know summer is scor…
It is not uncommon to think of dwarves with hammers working in tunnels, and filling baskets with gold bars, when we think of mining. But did you know that you can mine some gold, silver, platinum and rhodium from your own backyard? Or should we say cupboards? …
When we connect our phones or laptops to the internet, we connect using wi-fi or mobile data. Both of these need big fat wires to be laid all over the land and under oceans. What can people living in faraway places or on mountains do, to get internet connectiv…
At the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, lies a country called Yemen. Lots of groups of people have been angry at each other and have been fighting a nasty war for over 7 years. Children haven't been able to go to school, people don't have work and food is hard to…
Food prices all over the world are sky rocketing. Temperatures are soaring high. 'How come a war fought by Russia in a far away country seems to affect us in India, so badly? Why are poor countries like India affected more than rich countries, by food price in…
Only a thin strip of water near the coastline is governed by countries. The rest of the oceans, called High Seas, is left largely ungoverned. A high seas treaty was to have helped safeguard the lives of marine creatures, reduce pollution of the seas through de…
Recently, a few thousand workers in a warehouse of Amazon in New York voted to be a part of a union. Why workers need to be part of unions? Won't this give them a lot of power over their bosses? Will more companies in other parts of the world also start unions…
Recently a few giant stone jars were discovered in North Eastern India (Assam). We are guessing that these jars were used to keep the ashes of the dead. Sometimes, they also contained some pretty beads and ancient bracelets. These stone jars are similar to the…
"Russia has attacked Ukraine. So do people avoid the bully? Like not talk to them or sit next to them at lunch? But wait....do we really have a problem with the people of Russia or only the Russian government?""Why is Turkey happy to welcome some Russians int…
'Did you know that most of us eat plastic, just like we eat rice or pasta?' None of us willingly orders a plate of plastic at a restaurant. But those little plastic straws and juice containers that we throw into the garbage bins at home can land up in our food…
"Why can't the Sri Lankans grow enough food for themselves? How do refugees free from an island nation? Why did the people not oppose bad governments many years ago - why wait till now?" - Questions posed by a 10-year old. Listen to this conversation between a…
Imagine the drones that you have seen in weddings taking photos? Something similar, only much bigger, is helping Ukraine fight its war against Russia. What's a drone? How do drones keep enemies at bay, in a war ? Did you know that even farmers use drones? And …
A short loud squeal vs a long grunt - one could mean excitement and the other anxiety. Each sound emitted by animals can give us excellent clues to understand their mental state better. If, you like many of us, are not very sure which is which - an app will li…
Before we understand the word inflation, listen to this story of how our Christmas gifts and everything else we order on our phones and laptops get to our homes. It begins with a little phone call or an order that our neighbourhood sellers make to our factorie…
Our story for today begins more than 50 years ago. It was a pleasant night in summer in July 1969. Well past 10 pm EST, people in the US sat up wide awake in front of their TV sets to watch a grainy, black and white video of man landing on the moon for the fir…
Today's story begins over 30 years ago when a rather large country called the Soviet Union broke off into smaller units. One of them is a unit we call today as Russia. Many Russians were sad that some land parts that were close to their heart were lost to the…
China flew over 150 airplanes over the Taiwanese air defense zone in the past week or so. Taiwan retaliated with its aircrafts, alert to defend itself if a threat arose. So far, there hasn't been an open war. But what does this mean for Taiwan's independence a…
The Nobel Prize for Physiology 2021 goes to two scientists who have helped us identify which receptors in our bodies sense heat, touch, temperature and pressure.In this podcast, we explain what these 4 receptors (TRPV1, TRPM8, PIEZO1, PIEZO2) mean, in simple t…
This festive season, grocery stores the world over may find fewer toys, furniture, clothes and other such items. After the pandemic, people started buying more things both on ecommerce portals and in person once the neighbourhood stores opened. As a result, fa…
SpaceX, Amazon and many more internet satellite companies are planning to send over 60,000 satellites into the space over the next few years. While this can serve many under-served parts of the world with faster and cheaper internet connectivity, this can also…
Thousands of Haitians are camping outside the US, near the Mexican border, seeking refuge. These Haitians have spent over a decade living and working outside Haiti, in various countries in S.America, mainly Brazil and Chile. Haiti was impacted by an earthquake…
People in UK face a shortage of fuel in fuel station and groceries in supermarkets, not due to shortage of food or fuel, but due to a shortage of truck drivers who can haul these items across the country. Between Brexit and the pandemic, the UK is faced with a…
China's factories are faced with rising demand but these factories are unable to produce enough as they don't have enough power. China is keen on keeping its carbon emissions under control. So Chinese coal power stations are not allowed to increase power outpu…
Google turned 23 on the 27th of Sep. Happy birthday Google ! As intricate as Google has become a part of our lives, there are many fascinating trivia about Google that we explore about its past. Its first servers were housed in Lego bricks, its lawns are mowed…
Last week, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and a few more billionaires pledged $5 billion towards protecting land and water. This money was to be used to conserve biodiversity - as in, taking care that a wide variety of species of birds, animals, trees and plan…
Netflix has bought the rights to all of Roald Dahl's works. Netflix already has a series based on Charlie and the chocolate factory in the works. In addition, the company plans to release animated and live action movies or series on atleast 16 of his works. So…
If you lived in India, you would have known that there was a mad scramble for vaccine shots in April and May this year. A lot of people feared that there would not be enough vaccines going around. So, the government decided to stop exporting or sharing it with…
Price of electricity in Europe is now more than double of what it was in January 2021. Winter has been more prolonged this year, going right upto March. People needed more power to keep their homes heated this year. As more people worked from homes, there was …
Taliban's new rules allow schools to open, but only for boys. Schools are facing shortages of teachers since many of the roles of teachers till recently were filled by women. UN aid agencies are trying to pressure the Taliban to open schools for girls too.Aust…
Welcome to 'What's new today', a lively kids and families podcast. We invite children in every episode to co-host the show with Sangeetha (the host), and they chat about current events. These conversations are unscripted, filled with wit and curiosity. New epi…
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