Great New Podcast Recommendations for Kids and Families

‘Fierce Girls’

You may be familiar with the U.S. franchise “Rebel Girls,” short tales of historic women who broke barriers and inspire a new generation of children to be their authentic selves. “Fierce Girls” features stories of Australian heroines, including athletes, doctors, poets and activists with similar intentions. The most recent season features 8-minute stories written and narrated by 8- to 11-year-old girls. Within this collection of short youth-narrated profiles you’ll also find some episodes that include longer-form stories with narration by Australian notables.

‘African Folktales’

Launched in 2020, this series of bedtime stories (each of which is about 10-minutes long) features animals and other young characters in tales that end in learning lessons. The storyteller, Aunti Oni (Oni Lasana), goes out of her way to create different voices for the characters and keeps the storytelling engaging. Some tales may sound familiar (for example, “The Rabbit and the Turtle” is essentially a retelling of the Aesop fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,”) but the African-centric storytelling provides an opportunity to recognize the different cultures that are embedded in our community.

‘Spanish Stories for Kids’

This Spanish-language podcast is ideal for the dual-language household (or a fun opportunity to strengthen your language skills). Young Marcelo introduces each podcast with his insights into the story about to be told and shares a handful of vocabulary words that he reviews at the end of the story. His mother narrates a story in Spanish in a soothing voice. These stories are adaptations of tales many children in the United States have probably learned already, such as “Jack and the Beanstalk” (“Las Habichuelas Mágicas”).

‘Circle Round’

WBUR, Boston’s public radio station, produces a well-loved storytelling podcast that features folktales from around the world. Veteran radio reporter Rebecca Sher hosts the podcast, which brings in actors some adults may be familiar with (Corey Stoll, Rosalind Chao, William Jackson Harper) to voice the characters. Original music has been composed using instruments native to the country in which the story originated. “Circle Round” has featured stories from China, South Asia, Brazil, Africa and more, and provides another entertaining entry into conversations about the world around us with your young family members.

‘Molly of Denali’

Also a series on PBS, “Molly of Denali” is a serial podcast that follows the adventures of Molly, an Alaska Native, and her friends and family as they solve a series-long mystery (for season one, Molly investigates what creature stole her birthday cake). “Molly of Denali” is the first national children’s series to feature all Native American leads. The series itself seemingly lends itself better as a TV show than a podcast, however, kids will still have fun listening as Molly and her friend Tooey gather clues to solve mysteries.

‘Hank the Cow Dog’

This long-running children’s book series is now a podcast starring Matthew McConaughey in the titular role. It’s a treat to listen to McConaughey’s Texas drawl as Hank, the “head of ranch security,” gets himself into a variety of sticky situations while trying to solve mysteries around the ranch where he lives. Adults may get a kick out of guessing who is playing the side characters, as Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Cynthia Ervo, Leslie Jordan and others lend their voices to this fun serial. The first season features five episodes, running about 20 minutes each.