The Grow Kinder Podcast Committee for Children

In this episode, host Shauna McBride speaks with Nick Butler, artist and illustrator of Committee for Children’s Captain Compassion® comic series. Nick explains how he used every design choice to carefully and intentionally craft a visual identity for Captain Compassion® and her sidekick Kid Kinder®.

To create Kid Kinder, Nick took visual cues from his little brother and himself as children, making this project an intensely personal one. He tells Shauna, “When I had this opportunity with Kid Kinder to represent the Black community, I dug in. I really wanted to make sure that I was singing the praises of Black boys and Black girls, and I wanted to have the character capture that essence and really represent.”

Nick and Shauna also explore how Black creators are forging new, independent paths through the media landscape, no longer relying on traditional gatekeepers to allow them a seat at the table. These stories contain lessons for anyone seeking to create or consume media that represent a diversity of identities and lived experiences.
To see more of Nick’s work, check out his Instagram account @turtledusttoons, or at turtledustmedia.com.

Learn more about the Captain Compassion campaign at CaptainCompassion.org.

Visit GrowKinderPodcast.org for more episodes of the Grow Kinder® podcast. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. Take our listener survey to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast. We’d love to hear from you!

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Links to other resources from the episode:

Manuel Godoy’s Black Sands Entertainment
https://blacksandsentertainment.com/

On this episode, host Tia Kim speaks with Vicky Rideout, one of the authors of a new report, “Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Use Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health.” The report found substantial increases in both depression and social media use among teens and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, it investigated the relationship between those two data points. Could social media be causing the rise in depression?

The report suggested that, despite the common media narrative about the dangers of social media, it can be a valuable tool for connection and its effects can be both supportive and uplifting for kids. In this conversation, Vicky and Tia explore the implications of these findings and if they should change how we think about young people’s digital media use.

“It’s really powerful to understand how eager young people are to lift one another up and support one another, whether it’s online or face-to-face,” Vicky says.

Read more about some of the studies mentioned in the episode:

"Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Use Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health"

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ba15befec4eb7899898240d/t/604f8af03ad0e7695c9dc79f/1615825650909/Coping-with-COVID19-full-report-FINAL.pdf

“Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use, and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S.”

https://hopelab.org/research/national-survey-2018/

“Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences, 2018”

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/social-media-social-life-2018

Visit GrowKinderPodcast.org for more episodes of the Grow Kinder® podcast. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. Take our listener survey to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast. We’d love to hear from you!

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In this episode, host Andrea Lovanhill speaks with Dr. Theanne Griffith, PhD, a neuroscientist and author of the children’s book series The Magnificent Makers. Theanne explains how the environment of curiosity and exploration fostered by her parents helped her grow into the person she is today and influenced the work she’s doing as an author and scientist.

“The most important thing a scientist needs, I think, is creativity and openness and curiosity,” Theanne says. “I think any way you can foster that in your child, you’re going to create a love for science.”
Theanne also talks about how she showcases diverse characters in her books to increase representation for those who are underrepresented in the scientific community, such as people of color and people with disabilities.

Learn more about Theanne and her book series at www.theannegriffith.com, or follow her on Twitter at @doctheagrif.

Visit GrowKinderPodcast.org for more episodes of the Grow Kinder® podcast. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. Take our listener survey to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast. We’d love to hear from you!

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We’re back with a new mini-season of the Grow Kinder® podcast! In this teaser episode, hosts Andrea Lovanhill, Dr. Tia Kim, and Shauna McBride get together to catch up, reflect on a busy summer, and preview the conversations we’ll be sharing this season.

All three hosts will explore media topics, including the relationship between depression and social media use, the importance of diverse representation in children’s media, and how we can foster a sense of curiosity in our kids.
Also included in this episode are Andrea’s take on what social-emotional learning is and what it isn’t, Tia’s thoughts on Squid Game, and why Shauna is reevaluating her relationship to social media.

Visit GrowKinderPodcast.org for more episodes. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, or Stitcher. Take our listener survey to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast. We’d love to hear from you!

Listener Survey:

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In this season finale of Grow Kinder®, co-hosts Andrea Lovanhill, Dr. Tia Kim, and Shauna McBride come together to explore what it really means to amplify diverse voices. They reflect on the importance of treating communities as non-monolithic entities; the positive impact of diversifying the workforce; and the power in making room for others to take center stage.

We’ll be back with a new season of Grow Kinder later this year. Until then, visit GrowKinderPodcast.org for more episodes from our archives. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, or Stitcher—we’d love to hear from you. And to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast, take our listener survey:

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On this episode, host Andrea Lovanhill speaks with Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality, affordable after-school programs. At the helm of the organization, Jodi works to ensure that out-of-school-time programs
not only help students stay engaged and recover from the pandemic, but also provide their families with essential supports.

In this conversation, Jodi talks about the correlation between affordability and equity in summer learning programs, funding opportunities in the American Rescue Plan, the role of social-emotional learning in after-school programs, and supporting after-school staff.

Learn more in the special report, “Time for a Game-Changing Summer:”

http://afterschoolalliance.org/AA3PM/

To learn more about Jodi and the Alliance, visit AfterschoolAlliance.org.

For more episodes of Grow Kinder, visit GrowKinderPodcast.org. You can rate and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, or Stitcher—we’d love to hear from you. And to let us know more about you and what you think of the podcast, take our listener survey:

https://forms.office.com/r/2WttRZdfgW