Everything Under The Sun

Molly Oldfield was one of the original QI elves, which tells you everything about her approach to knowledge: she finds the genuinely fascinating stuff and serves it up in a way that makes you want to tell everyone about it. On Everything Under The Sun, she takes questions from kids around the world and answers them with help from expert guests, covering volcanoes, whales, LEGO, lightning, seeds, power stations, and just about anything else a curious child might wonder about. Each episode runs about 10 to 15 minutes and typically tackles three questions, which is a smart format. It is long enough to satisfy curiosity but short enough that attention does not wander. Molly also writes the weekly kids quiz in The Guardian and has published companion books, so there is a real depth of experience behind the show. With 176 episodes and a 4.7-star rating, this is one of the highest-rated UK kids podcasts around. New episodes drop every Friday. The show works for children of pretty much any age, though the sweet spot seems to be roughly 5 to 10. What sets it apart from other Q&A-style kids shows is Molly's genuine warmth and enthusiasm. She treats every question as worth properly investigating, even the silly-sounding ones. Parents tend to learn things too, which makes it a good one for family car journeys where everyone actually pays attention.