The Week Junior Show
The Week Junior Show takes you behind the scenes of the award-winning magazine for 8 to 14-year-olds. Each week, Bex from Fun Kids is joined by members of The Week Junior team to discuss their favourite stories, debate the week’s hot topic and discover whether the ‘Real or Rubbish?’ report is fake news or the real deal.
Our Editor's Take
The Week Junior Show is the podcast incarnation of The Week Junior magazine. The Week Junior is a popular news magazine for kids 8-14. The podcast is a fun, dynamic, and provocative news outlet for children.
Each week, Week Junior staff join friendly podcast host Bex Lindsay. After a fun icebreaker, they discuss that week's cover story. Associate Editor Laura Gelder is proud of their beautiful Black History Month cover. This year's theme is "saluting our sisters." Gelder tells Lindsay about the amazing Black women whose likenesses grace the cover.
Some Week Junior episodes feature a debate. Two of the magazine's employees take opposing positions on a controversial question in "The Big Debate" segment. One is about the question of "unlearning." Vanessa, arguing "for," says "unlearning" can be a misleading term. A better one might be "student-steered learning." She believes children should learn at their own pace about what interests them. Elena, on the "against" side, argues that discipline and hard work are helpful qualities to develop before adulthood. Each makes her argument in under a minute.
"The Book of the Week is a lovely feature for kids who love reading. The Week Junior staff recommend a young adult book each week. One is Glassborn by Peter Bunzl. Bunzl provided a voice note to the podcast where he talks about his inspiration. He compares the characters in his book to those in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. The children in Glassborn find a doorway to a magical fairyland in the back of a grandfather clock.
The Week Junior Show may be a fun way for folks of all ages to learn about the UK. There's more to the UK than news about the Royal Family. For example, Woodland Trust names a Tree of the Year. The public, including children, gets to choose one tree from a list of 13. These are particular trees with fascinating histories. One is an 800-year-old oak tree Elizabeth I may have picnicked under.
The Week Junior Show podcast is humorous, informative, and engaging. Most regular episodes run between 20 and 25 minutes. New ones arrive every week.
Episodes