Radiolab for Kids Podcast By WNYC cover art

Radiolab for Kids

Radiolab for Kids

By: WNYC
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Welcome, nature lovers, to the home of the Terrestrials podcast and family-friendly Radiolab episodes about nature. Every other week, host Lulu Miller will take you on a nature walk to encounter a plant or animal behaving in ways that will surprise you. Squirrels that can regrow their brains, octopuses that can outsmart their human captors, honeybees that can predict the future. You don’t have to be a kid to listen, just someone who likes to see the world anew. You’ll hear a range of nature stories on this podcast. Sometimes these will be brand new Terrestrials episodes, full of original songs (by “The Songbud” Alan Goffinski) that tell a fantastical-sounding story about nature that is 100% true. Sometimes these will be our very best, shiniest, furriest, leafiest Radiolab episodes about animals or plants or nature. The stories that drop here will always be family-friendly and safe for kids. They will always be sound-rich and full of the vivid, gripping storytelling you’ve come to expect from Radiolab. They will always transport you to the beyond-human world: into the depths of the ocean, into jungles, prairies, forests, space, snow, wildflower fields and beyond. Sometimes we’ll encounter something so wild we just have to break out into song about it! Don’t worry, good voices not required. Join us on this adventure!WNYC Studios Biological Sciences Science
Episodes
  • Crabtacular! A deep dive into the Hudson River
    Jul 24 2025

    Today, we splash into the Hudson River Park with our Songbud to meet all kinds of crabs. With Siddartha and Carrie from the Hudson River Park, Alan puts on waterproof rubber overalls, gets his hands dirty in the river and dives into the secret lives of Hudson crabs.

    Plus, CRAB WEEK is going on right now in New York City! It’s an annual shell-ebration that highlights the crabs of the Hudson River. Scuttle by for crabtastic activities throughout the park all week long! You’ll have the opportunity to try your hand at some crabby crafts, learn crabtivating facts and get your claws on a copy of our limited-edition Crab Week poster. Check out their entire shell-dule.

    And join us on August 6th + 7th in Little Island for our full-day takeover of the park. Join us at 10am for Wilderness Wonderland featuring scavenger hunts, live music, and more – including our friends from the Hudson River Park who will be on site with live critters! At 5pm, we will be performing a LIVE podcast taping all about PIZZA! The show’s free. There will be pizza. Join if you’re in NYC (or make this the reason you visit). Check out all of our other performances here.

    HEY GROWN-UPS!
    Love the show? Leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review on your podcast app—it helps curious listeners find us!

    We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts about Terrestrials with us.
    Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for bite-sized essays, activities, and ways to connect with the show.
    Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for behind-the-scenes extras and more.
    Listen to original music from Terrestrials on Spotify, Apple Music, or our music page.

    Got a badgering question for the team? Email us at terrestrialspodcast@wnyc.org or submit a voice memo with your name, age, and your question using this form!

    Terrestrials is made possible in part by listeners like you. Support the show by joining Radiolab’s membership program, The Lab—and we’ll send you a special thank-you gift from our team!

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    15 mins
  • CHOWDA: A Souper Fascinating Tale
    Jul 3 2025

    Today we’re bringing you a live episode we taped in Boston. It’s about clam chowder. We’re sharing it now because we’re doing ANOTHER LIVE SHOW at Little Island in NYC on August 6th + 7th - and that one’s about PIZZA! The show’s free. There will be pizza. Join if you’re in NYC (or make this the reason you visit). Check out all of our other performances here.

    Lulu is a Bostonian who has never had clam chowder. Read that again. For some reason it always felt gross to her. So as an extreme challenge, we’re taking a closer look at clam chowder to see if it can become wondrous. Ana and Alan break down each ingredient - milk, potatoes, and finally clams - with a concoction of stories and guests. Then, if she’s convinced of clam chowder’s magic, Lulu will try clam chowder for the first time in her life.

    You can watch a full video taping of this episode here. Listen if you love clam chowder, but especially if you’re a chowda doubta.

    Special thanks to scientist Rachel Hutchison from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Sea Grant for all of her clam knowledge and WBUR’s CitySpace for hosting this event. Hope to see you in New York City!

    HEY GROWN-UPS!
    Love the show? Leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review on your podcast app—it helps curious listeners find us!

    We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts about Terrestrials with us.
    Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for bite-sized essays, activities, and ways to connect with the show.
    Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for behind-the-scenes extras and more.
    Listen to original music from Terrestrials on Spotify, Apple Music, or our music page.

    Got a badgering question for the team? Email us at terrestrialspodcast@wnyc.org or submit a voice memo with your name, age, and your question using this form!

    Terrestrials is made possible in part by listeners like you. Support the show by joining Radiolab’s membership program, The Lab—and we’ll send you a special thank-you gift from our team!

    Show more Show less
    29 mins
  • The Sea Troll: An Everlasting Shark?
    Jun 20 2025

    The Greenland shark is ugly. Its eyes look cloudy and dead. Its snout and fins are stubby. Its meat is poisonous. And that may be part of why most people have overlooked these sharks for so long. But there was a rumor circulating among Greenland villagers that this deepsea dweller could survive for centuries. Scientist John Steffensen went on a hunt to see if this was true and discovered that the Greenland shark can live for more than 500 years, making it the longest living vertebrate on the planet. Biologist Steve Austad explains how the shark avoids death for so long and discovers that its secret to longevity comes at a cost. It seems that to live a longer life, it opts out of some of the best stuff life has to offer: adventure, friends and companionship.

    Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC Studios. This episode was produced by Brenna Farrel, and Mira Burt-Wintonick, with help from Alan Goffinski, Ana González, Tanya Chawla, Sarah Sandbach, Valentina Powers, and Joe Plourde. Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton.

    Our advisors are Ana Luz Porzecanski, Andy J. Pizza, Anil Lewis, Dominique Shabazz, Liza Demby, Princess Daazhraii Johnson and Tara Welty.

    Learn more about storytellers, listen to music, and dig deeper into the stories you hear on Terrestrials with activities you can do at home or in the classroom on our website, Terrestrialspodcast.org. Badger us on social media: @radiolab and #TerrestrialsPodcast or by emailing us at terrestrials@wnyc.org.

    HEY GROWN-UPS!
    Love the show? Leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review on your podcast app—it helps curious listeners find us!

    We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts about Terrestrials with us.
    Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for bite-sized essays, activities, and ways to connect with the show.
    Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for behind-the-scenes extras and more.
    Listen to original music from Terrestrials on Spotify, Apple Music, or our music page.

    Got a badgering question for the team? Email us at terrestrialspodcast@wnyc.org or submit a voice memo with your name, age, and your question using this form!

    Terrestrials is made possible in part by listeners like you. Support the show by joining Radiolab’s membership program, The Lab—and we’ll send you a special thank-you gift from our team!

    Show more Show less
    27 mins
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This has replaced audiobooks at bedtime. My 9 yo especially loves this podcast. It’s informative and entertaining. The sound effects are cool too.

Kids love it

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It was all pretty good and I liked how they like. Introduced me to everything yeah

Everything

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