Skip to main content

News for Kids



Podcast - News for Kids . . . 

Kids do say the darnedest things.

If my memory serves me correctly . . . who’s kidding who here, who relies on memory these days. According to Google, the Art Linkletter Show which aired from September 1952 -September 1969 may have been one of the first to feature the innocent humor and light-hearted questions and comments that children provide. Do you know of other programs? I’d love to hear from you.

A new twist, on this time-honored entertainment you might enjoy, is the NBC News: Kids Edition hosted by news anchor, Lester Holt on YouTube.

This is a cheerful yet serious examination of issues that parents may have trouble explaining from nightly news broadcasts. Or for that matter the barrage of dreadful news we receive daily over social media, online sessions, and friends and neighbors.

Out of curiosity, what questions have you sidestepped today?

Let’s face it kids do ask the best questions. Pure unadulterated optimists. No admonition or holding back. Just wholesome to the point questions.

Here’s a recent example, “Can the sun kill Coronavirus?”

 I don’t know, do you?

Dare I say it, this “fun” news segment is dedicated to helping children and adults cope with the complicated,  confusing, and frustrating issues in the news.

Gotta admit I could relate to this one, two youngsters from Texas asked, “We’re getting less exercise than normal, how come we feel more tired?”

Or can you explain this one? “Everyone talks about flattening the curve, what is the curve?”

Want the answers, then tune in - you will be enlightened and leave with a smile. Then share it with a loved one. They could use some enjoyable news too.

I’m convinced this brief “good news” segment is just as calming and educational for adults as it is for its intended audience.

Check it out! Just search Google for - Nightly News: Kids Edition. You’ll be so glad you did.

This is Patrick Ball, thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Comments

Most Popular of All Time

On Becoming Real

Some things get better with wear: old shoes, old friendships, and old books. Especially old books. A new volume arrives with crisp corners and a spine that hasn’t yet learned to bend. An old one has been somewhere. It has traveled through time in the hands of people who may no longer be around to tell us what they found inside. The copy of The Velveteen Rabbit (first published in 1922) on my desk is one of those books. My friend Don Hanley gave it to me. This late-1950s Doubleday edition features William Nicholson’s original illustrations and cream paper boards softened by age. Worn corners, a split spine, and colored tabs mark passages worth revisiting. Don didn’t hand me a keepsake. He gave me homework. When we talked about the book recently, he pointed me straight to the nursery conversation between a young rabbit and an old Skin Horse. The rabbit had noticed the mechanical toys around him—the ones with internal gears, bright paint, and stick-out handles that seem terribly impressiv...

Engineering Beef Stew

On July 2nd—Day Two of what I call The Great Un-Working —I sat down with my morning notebook to map out this new chapter of my life. One goal made the list in bold ink: Learn to Cook. At seventy, I was adding a skill most people master before they’re old enough to drive. Before you judge me, understand our household ecosystem. Lori is a phenomenal cook. For decades, she’s made meals so effortless and delicious that restaurants seem unsatisfying . My contribution to the culinary arts during my bachelor years–tuna mixed into Kraft Mac & Cheese. Let’s just say I wasn’t threatening her spot on the Food Network. But retirement changed the equation. I’m officially off the clock while Lori is still working. And I had a lovely thought: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she came home after a long day to find dinner waiting? She loved the idea. Then came the question that haunted me for weeks: “What do you want to make?” I had no idea. Apparently, the first step in learning to cook is deciding wh...

When the Universe Calls in Sick

Take Thoreau’s Advice . . .  Four weeks ago, we stood on the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, trying to channel Henry David Thoreau. Before leaving, I bought a pocket-sized copy of his essay, Walking . It’s slim because nineteenth-century transcendentalists didn’t have notifications interrupting their urge to wander. Thoreau’s counsel is disarmingly simple: step away from modern life's machinery and let the landscape recalibrate your perspective. Back home in Vista, I took that philosophy straight into the backyard. Thursday morning, ink-black, pristine skies arrived. I aimed my refractor at Jupiter, whose light has bathed Earth since mastodons roamed the plains. It felt cosmic. Profound . I left the telescope mounted overnight, convinced the heavens were on retainer for an encore at daybreak. Naturally, the universe called in sick. By sunrise, a wall of coastal fog had rolled in off the Pacific, sealing the valleys beneath a damp, gray Tupperware lid. After about th...

The Gopher Problem and the High Powered Solution

Vacationing in Maine this week, just a short drive down the coast from Freeport, it is hard not to think about the outsized impact one frustrated outdoorsman had on the gear we all use today. Bad equipment can ruin a perfectly good day on the water or the trail, but it takes a special kind of vision to turn cold feet into a century-old empire. This is the story of the company we now know as L.L.Bean, but more importantly, it is a masterclass in integrity, learning from failure, and standing behind your work. In 1912, Leon Leonwood Bean faced a persistent problem: returning from expeditions in the Maine woods with cold, wet feet. Instead of complaining, he got creative. He had a local shoemaker stitch waterproof rubber soles onto the flexible leather uppers of a hunting boot. He called it the Maine Hunting Shoe and mailed a flyer promising perfect satisfaction. Then reality arrived. Ninety of his first 100 pairs failed when the rubber separated from the leather. Not an effective product...