Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy Hawking forayed into writing a science-fiction book series for young kids. This book (George's secret key to the universe) is the first of the series. The plot involves two young children traveling in space involving a mixed bag of adventures. The authors have also incorporated many images from NASA's repository to bring real science into the hands of the young.

In this episode, four primary schoolers joined us to share their opinions of the book as well as creative ideas of how they would explore space if they had a chance.

If you are looking for a new book to pick up for your 7-11 year old, this might be it. Listen to the full episode to find out more.

Co-hosts: Manisha Maheshwari (educator, Mumbai), Devansh (Kolkata), Prakriti (Mumbai), Smyan (California), Nayra (Mumbai)

Additional links / references

1. About Stephen Hawking

2. About Lucy Hawking

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When sixth grader Sophia came home with a sullen face from school, her mother Pilar Schiavo was busy contesting California's State Assembly elections. Sophia was so overwhelmed by the volume of work expected of her that she requested her mum to ban all homework if she got elected.

Pilar did win the election. She also remembered her daughter's trauma. Keeping these in mind, she has formulated a bill for the State to pass - a bill that mandates limiting homework or altogether banning it, in certain cases.

For more details on this homework ban, read our newsletter

Others

To enrol in our writing courses for children aged 7-15, check out the details here

To support this podcast and keep it ad-free, please donate here.

If your child would like to co-host an episode on this podcast channel, please register here.

Food technologist and communications expert Sarika Singh speaks with Nayra (5th grader) and Shambhavi (10th grader) about foods that help kids gain height, improve their immune system, and whether having junk food is all that bad in childhood.

Resources

1. Book - ⁠Eat Right 4 Your type⁠

2. Sarika's website - ⁠communications101⁠

3. Listen - ⁠why bournvita and complan are unhealthy for kids⁠

4. Indian Academy of Paediatrics - ⁠height and weight chart for children⁠

5. National Library of Medicine - ⁠nutrition and water requirements for children and adults⁠

Support this show - ⁠Donate to keep this podcast free of ads and support the production of this show⁠

Reach out to us with your questions and comments via email at hello@wsnt.in

⁠A food blogger on Instagram⁠ raised alarm bells about the so called 'health' claims made by drinks aimed towards the young. Following this, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India directed these companies to remove these claims from their labels.

Joining us in this episode is ⁠Sarika Singh⁠, a communications expert to discuss what's wrong with their health claims.

Child guests: Nayra (5th grader, Mumbai) and Shambhavi (10th Grader, Delhi)

Additional references

1) ⁠Read: Article in Economic Times⁠ on why Bournvita lost its health status

2) ⁠Video: How to read nutrition labels⁠ on drinks

3) ⁠Writing Course for kids - details⁠ (for any queries, drop us a note via email at hello@wsnt.in)

4) More on Sarika Singh - her website and her podcast - Communicate 101 - speaking writing tips

Exactly one year ago, on this day, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission landed its Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover on the South pole of the moon. To commemorate this historic event, India declared that it would celebrate National Space Day every year, on Aug 23rd. When the lander and the rover touched down on the moon, India held the distinction of being the ONLY country ever to have achieved landing on the moon’s south pole. This was a far cry from its early days when India's space scientists began work in a fishing hamlet with a bicycle and an old school for their factory. But one man’s vision, one man’s perseverance and one man’s dedication is what started it all. His name was Vikram Sarabhai. Tracing India’s space journey through history, we had earlier put out an 8-part podcast series.

Recommended listens

a) Part 2 of this podcast series on India's space journey

b) SpaceX to destroy the International Space Station in 2030 - Why

Recommended reads

a) Pictures and blog on India's space journey

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped foot on the moon. 2024 marks 55 years since this achievement. A forgotten astronaut was a part of this mission and we speak about his role and contribution to this mission.

Since the 1970s, there has been a lull in space missions - the kind that sends more people to the moon. However, things have started getting hotter again and NASA is working towards resuming moon-landing missions. We speak about what has prompted this change of heart.

Child co-host: Abhir Ghalke (7th grader, Mumbai)

Recommended listens

a) The story of how India's space missions began

b) Innovations made by Indian school children

c) How Jacky ran 104 marathons in 104 days

Check these out

a) Creative Writing Course for Kids - look up here or drop us a note at hello@wsnt.in

b) Support our show to keep this podcast channel ad-free for children

c) Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for free 'The Lighter Side'

China's taken a giant leap in the world of electric cars, racing far ahead of most countries. More than half of the cars on its roads run on electric batteries, not on petrol or diesel.

US does not want any electric cars from China entering its country. Why?

Cohosts: Primary schoolers Advik (Chennai) and Smyan (USA) try to find the answer to this question.

Recommended listens by Advik and Smyan

1. Wheat and Lemon - why are their prices hard to reckon?

2. Harry Potter book review

3. Queens who ruled India - the story of Keladi Chennamma defying Aurangzeb

More reads on electric cars

1. How China leads the world on electric cars

2. US imposes high taxes on electric cars from China

Greece leads the parade and the host country is the last to join the parade, every Olympics. In the last two Olympics, a new contingent joined the Olympics' teams. This contingent was the penultimate to join the parade (ahead of the host country). The participants hailed from across the world and were united by a cause and a flag. Who are these participants? What cause unites them? Why do we continue to have this contingent?

Co-hosts: Anindya (9 yrs) and Agastya (11 yrs) figure out who these participants are, and how they come together to represent a common cause.

Recommended listens by Anindya and Agastya

1. How search and rescue dogs save people in earthquakes

2. Why are orcas / killer whales attacking ships

Source information for this episode

1. Trailer of The Swimmers movie on Netflix

2. Read: Why the IOC Refugee team was formed

3. Watch: Video on this year's team for the Paris Olympics

Writing course for kids

To find details ⁠about our writing course for kids to become published authors, please click here