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Radiolab for KidsAuthor: WNYC
Welcome, nature lovers, to the home of the Terrestrials podcast and family-friendly Radiolab episodes about nature. Every other week, host Lulu Miller will take you on a nature walk to encounter a plant or animal behaving in ways that will surprise you. Squirrels that can regrow their brains, octopuses that can outsmart their human captors, honeybees that can predict the future. You dont have to be a kid to listen, just someone who likes to see the world anew. Youll hear a range of nature stories on this podcast. Sometimes these will be brand new Terrestrials episodes, full of original songs (by The Songbud Alan Goffinski) that tell a fantastical-sounding story about nature that is 100% true. Sometimes these will be our very best, shiniest, furriest, leafiest Radiolab episodes about animals or plants or nature. The stories that drop here will always be family-friendly and safe for kids. They will always be sound-rich and full of the vivid, gripping storytelling youve come to expect from Radiolab. They will always transport you to the beyond-human world: into the depths of the ocean, into jungles, prairies, forests, space, snow, wildflower fields and beyond. Sometimes well encounter something so wild we just have to break out into song about it! Dont worry, good voices not required. Join us on this adventure! Language: en-us Genres: Education for Kids, Kids & Family, Pets & Animals Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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The Greeting: Yo-Yo Ma's Humpback Whale Experiment
Episode 37
Thursday, 9 April, 2026
As one of the most famous cellists of all time, Yo-Yo Ma has spent a lot of time playing music inside. But a few years ago, he decided to take the cello out of the fancy concert halls and into nature, bringing our very own Producerbud Ana along for the ride! That brings us to humpback whales. Like Yo-Yo, humpbacks are musical. They communicate through melodies, clicks, grunts, whispers, and bellows. Human beings still don’t fully know what the whales are saying to each other, but for Yo-Yo it sounds just like cello music. So, he had a wild idea: What if he tried to communicate with whales using his cello? On a very windy December day, Producerbud Ana and Yo-Yo travel to Hawai'i and meet up with hula master, Snowbird Bento, who explains how she uses music to connect with the natural world. Then, they all board a legendary canoe called Hōkūleʻa with local fishermen, seafaring captains, and marine biologists, and Yo-Yo plays his cello, hoping the whales will hear the vibrations and maybe... respond? To find out what happens next, sit back, relax, and join Ana and Yo-Yo on an aquatic adventure. This was an episode from Our Common Nature, a seven-episode podcast series of Yo-Yo Ma’s musical journey around the country to places where people have deep connections to the Earth. Listen to the Our Common Nature EP Credits: Our Common Nature is a production of WNYC and Sound Postings Hosted by Ana González Produced by Alan Goffinski Editing from Pearl Marvell Sound design and episode music by Alan Goffinski Additional sound design by Mira Burt-Wintonick Mixed by Joe Plourde Fact-checking by Ena Alvarado. Additional fact checking by Sophie Samiee. Executive Producers are Emily Botein, Ben Mandelkern, Sophie Shackleton, and Jonathan Bays. Our advisors are Mira Burt-Wintonick, Kamaka Dias, Kelley Libbey, and Chris Newell Episode photo by Austin Mann; Episode and show art by Tiffany Pai HEY GROWN-UPS!Love the show? Leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review on your podcast app—it helps curious listeners find us!Terrestrials is made possible in part by listeners like you. Support the show by joining The Explorers Club —and we’ll send you a special puzzle as a thank-you gift from our team!We want to hear from you! Share your thoughts about Terrestrials with us.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for bite-sized essays, activities, and ways to connect with the show.Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for behind-the-scenes extras and more.Listen to original music from Terrestrials on Spotify, Apple Music, or our music page.Got a badgering question for the team? Email us at terrestrials@wnyc.org or submit a voice memo with your name, age, and your question using this form!
