But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids

Jane Lindholm hosts But Why, and her whole job is answering questions that kids submit. Not parent-approved, smoothed-out questions -- actual kid questions. Why do we have eyebrows? How do bees make honey? What happens when you die? Why do sharks have so many teeth? The range is wild, and she takes every one of them seriously. The show partners with experts to answer each batch of questions properly. When kids ask about space, they get an astronomer. When they ask about octopuses, they get a marine biologist. The experts are good at explaining things to a young audience without being condescending, which is harder than it sounds. Jane has a warm, patient interviewing style that models good curiosity for listeners. Episodes run about 20 to 30 minutes, long enough to really get into a topic but short enough to fit into a drive to school or a quiet time after lunch. The production from Vermont Public is polished without being overly slick, and the recordings of kids asking their questions in their own voices are a highlight. You can hear the excitement in their voices when they have been wondering about something for a while. For tweens who are starting to ask bigger questions about how the world works, this is the kind of podcast that treats their curiosity with the respect it deserves. Parents end up learning things too, which is almost always the sign of a show that is doing something right.