Newslings

Newslings
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  • Education for Kids
  • Semiweekly

Newslings is a 10-minute news show for kids aged 6 to 12, three times a week. Real stories from around the world, told calmly and clearly: space, animals, science, kids doing amazing things, and the big news of the day made easy to understand. Every episode has a word to sound out, a Whoa Fact, something hopeful, and a Big Question for the family to talk about. Pictures, quizzes and a reading coach for every story are at newslings.xyz.

  1. 1d ago

    Why Europe Marched

    Sunday, Nov. 8. Why so many people in Europe marched this autumn, told calmly; stick insects in Australia that turned out to be five kinds, not two; and a runner who ran for 99 days around the UK and Ireland and always finished last on purpose. Plus Diwali, the festival of lights, Ask the Scientist with shark scientist Stephen Kajiura of Florida Atlantic University, the day X-rays were discovered, a poem, the kākāpō's record year, and a new Mystery Sound. Grown-ups: today's first story is about the protests in Europe this autumn: why people marched, and how leaders in France and Italy answered. It's told calmly, with no upsetting details or pictures. Ask the Scientist: Stephen Kajiura, Florida Atlantic University. Poem: "The horses of the sea" by Christina Rossetti, read by Maggie Travers (LibriVox, public domain). Music: "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Mystery Sounds: "Stereo_BubbleWrapFire.wav" by DCLV and "Cracking Egg.wav" by MTJohnson on Freesound (CC0). Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  2. 3d ago

    Counting the Votes

    Friday, Nov. 6. The US midterm election, and who won control of Congress (the AP called the House and the Senate for the Democrats); Sydney's new Southwest Metro, a train with no driver; and Brazil's runoff, where President Lula won a fourth term. Plus Juan Sebastián from Colombia, who built a machine that lets deaf people feel birdsong, the first green star, a joke and a new Mystery Sound. Grown-ups: today's episode covers two elections, the US midterms and Brazil's runoff. Pictures: the US Capitol (Architect of the Capitol, public domain); Barack Obama voting in 2012 (Pete Souza/The White House, public domain); a Sydney Metro train (Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); the green white dwarf (Mark A. Garlick/University of Warwick). Music: "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Mystery Sounds: "Card shuffling.mp3" by SomeoneCool15 and "Stereo_BubbleWrapFire.wav" by DCLV on Freesound (CC0). Today's Big Question: "If your class held an election, what's one thing you'd want everyone to vote on?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  3. 6d ago

    Election Day

    Tuesday, Nov. 3. It's Election Day in the United States, with the midterm elections for Congress and more early votes than any midterm before; voices from 1935, the oldest known recordings of people speaking Louisiana Creole; the sea muppets, tiny fish that look like seahorses but aren't; and students in Serbia who helped choose new leaders. Plus María Andreína Lárez, Chile's read-aloud champion, a Brain Builder about gratitude, a kauri forest planted by hand in New Zealand, a joke from Dominic, and a new Mystery Sound. Grown-ups: story one is about today's US midterm elections and stays neutral (no candidates, no predictions). Story two mentions that many West Africans in Louisiana had been forced there and made to work as enslaved people. Recording: Lorenzo Dow Turner, 1935. Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University. Extract via the University of Cambridge. Music: "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Mystery Sounds: "zipper-01-05.flac" by pbimal and "Card shuffling.mp3" by SomeoneCool15 on Freesound (CC0). Today's Big Question: "If someone recorded your voice today, and kids heard it in ninety years, what would you want to tell them?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  4. Nov 1

    The Ship That Disappeared

    Sunday, Nov. 1. A shipwreck near Kekova, Turkey, that may be the oldest ever found, where the wooden ship is gone but its clay jars are still there; Cyclone Arnab reaches India, and how people got ready; and new U.S. coins all about kids' sports. Plus Wileidy Feliciano-Rivera and her plantain-peel mulch, our first Ask the Scientist with Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University, a poem, the answer to our Mystery Sound and a brand-new one. Grown-ups: today's episode includes a big storm in India, Cyclone Arnab, told through how people got ready. No upsetting details or pictures. Ask the Scientist: Stephen Palumbi (Stanford University). Poem: "Boats sail on the rivers" by Christina Rossetti, read by Maggie Travers for LibriVox (public domain). Music: "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Mystery Sounds: "velcro tearing sound" by satanicupsman and "zipper-01-05.flac" by pbimal on Freesound (CC0). Today's Big Question: "If you could leave something in a jar for people to find thousands of years from now, what would you put in it?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  5. Oct 30

    The Very First Trophy

    Friday, Oct. 30. The Milwaukee Brewers win the World Series for the very first time; a pause in the fighting in one town in Ukraine, so people can get help; and a tiny Scottish island that made a giant discovery. Plus Kim Ji-on and her phone-grip smoke filter, a town in Australia that turns purple in spring, a spider that might be dreaming, a poem, the answer to our Mystery Sound and a brand-new one, and six baby dolphins in the Mekong River. Grown-ups: today's episode looks back at a short ceasefire in one town in Ukraine, Oleshky, set up so food and medicine can get in. No upsetting details. Poem: "Hurt No Living Thing" by Christina Rossetti, read by Maggie Travers for LibriVox (public domain). Music: "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Mystery Sounds: by Kat466 and satanicupsman on Freesound (CC0). Today's Sound It Out word: invention (in · ven · tion). Today's Big Question: "If a spider could dream, what do you think it would dream about?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  6. Oct 27

    The Real Stars

    Tuesday, Oct. 27. The real stars hiding in Van Gogh's The Starry Night; Ebola, and the doctors, nurses and scientists working to stop it; and why the clocks went back this weekend. Plus Payton Obert and her lemonade stand that became a charity, marigolds for the Day of the Dead in Mexico, a snake that rolls like a wheel, a joke from our listener Lucile, a poem, our very first Mystery Sound, and a baby walrus who found a new home. Grown-ups: today's episode explains the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa calmly, without numbers or upsetting details. The main ideas: it spreads only through close contact with someone who is very sick, helpers are working hard, and the risk far away is low. Poem: "Escape at Bedtime" by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Willy for LibriVox (public domain). Music: "Carefree" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Mystery Sound: by Kat466 on Freesound (CC0). Today's Sound It Out word: constellation (con · stel · la · tion). Today's Big Question: "If you could invent a new way to move, like rolling instead of slithering, what would it be?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  7. Oct 25

    The Cucumber King

    Sunday, Oct. 25. Today on Newslings, the first Sunday Edition: why kids' phones are in the news, from Pennsylvania's new school phone rule to Australia and France; a cucumber farmer in Egypt whose land was hiding a giant stone head of the pharaoh Ramses the Second; and why Lisbon is saying goodbye to rental scooters. Plus Jonathan Thai, 17, and his Pedal Forward Foundation, a pepper party in Espelette, France, a game board carved on a 1,000-year-old bread shovel, This Day in History (the first home microwave, 1955), a poem, two goats with a job in Tokyo, and Hoad's Wood in England, cleaned up at last. See the Pedal Forward Foundation: https://pedalforwardfoundation.com Poem: "Windy Nights" by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Willy for LibriVox (public domain). Today's Sound It Out word: exception (ex · cep · tion). Grown-ups: today's Big Question is "If you found something really old in your garden, what would you hope it was?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

  8. Oct 23

    The Wonderland of Rocks

    Friday, Oct. 23. America gets a brand-new national park, Chiricahua in Arizona, full of stone towers made by a volcano; Shanghai's new opera house has a roof you can walk on; and Thailand helps rice farmers wait for a better price. Plus Oscar Whitfield, 14, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his dung beetle photo, pumpkin boat races in Oregon, corals that help each other heal, a poem, and giant tortoises bouncing back. See Oscar's photo: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/photography/awards-and-competitions/14-year-old-photographer-wins-one-of-wildlife-photographys-biggest-awards-with-image-of-a-dung-beetle-on-a-mission-to-roll-its-precious-cargo-up-a-sandy-slope-captured-on-a-family-game-drive-in-zimbabwe Poem: "October's Party" by George Cooper, read by Roger Smith for LibriVox (public domain). Today's Sound It Out word: volcano (vol · ca · no). Grown-ups: today's Big Question is "If you could design a building that everyone was allowed to climb on, what would it look like?" Pictures, quiz and read-along for this episode

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About

Newslings is a 10-minute news show for kids aged 6 to 12, three times a week. Real stories from around the world, told calmly and clearly: space, animals, science, kids doing amazing things, and the big news of the day made easy to understand. Every episode has a word to sound out, a Whoa Fact, something hopeful, and a Big Question for the family to talk about. Pictures, quizzes and a reading coach for every story are at newslings.xyz.

Information

  • Creator
    Newslings
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Newslings
  • Show Website
    Newslings