Help me find a podcast for my students!

October 6, 2008 6:33 PM

I have some middle school students who need to hear a podcast. Hit me with your favorite podcasts!

I work at a middle school with special education students. We practice listening skills where I read a story and ask them questions along the way to check their comprehension. I'm sick of reading things to them and would love to turn on a podcast instead. Could anyone suggest an appropriate podcast? My dream podcast would be stories or articles about one to three minutes long, no interstitial music, and no content that could be rated worse than PG. Griddlecakes Radio is close to what I'm looking for, but the language is a bit advanced and the stories are pretty long. Also, my kids have no interest in podcasts by middle school students in other states. They don't care what Nightingale Middle School in Tumbuktu is doing, but they would enjoy listening to some stories.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

posted by christinetheslp to computers & internet (22 answers total)

this american life - one of my favorites, i'm not sure if it is appropriate though
posted by dunderwood at 6:47 PM on October 6, 2008

Maybe NPR's StoryCorps? Lots of their stories run around 3-4 minutes.
posted by scody at 7:19 PM on October 6, 2008

The Slate Explainer podcast is frequently short, although 3 min is the low end.
posted by grouse at 7:21 PM on October 6, 2008

How about the Metafilter podcast done by our good host?
posted by Class Goat at 7:30 PM on October 6, 2008

Absolutely have them listen to This American Life. Try the first part of the episode called Fiascos.
posted by poxuppit at 7:53 PM on October 6, 2008

Crud. I hate it when people don't read the whole question. And of course, TAL is way longer than three minutes.
posted by poxuppit at 7:54 PM on October 6, 2008

I don't believe the Metafilter podcast would qualify as PG. Jessamyn says "fuckin'" fairly often.

(I love the podcast, and I love that she swears. Just saying it wouldn't meet the asker's needs in that area.)
posted by tomboko at 7:55 PM on October 6, 2008

"The Loh Down on Science" might meet your needs, it's a short, daily (mon-fri), podcast of interesting science facts. (podcast)

Alternatively, for more of a literature theme, Garrison Keillor, has a short daily podcast, The Writers Almanac, usually consisting of an author's biography and a poem.
posted by sdinan at 7:58 PM on October 6, 2008

Check out Escape Pod for 30-45 minute science fiction stories.
posted by knave at 8:03 PM on October 6, 2008

This American Life is outstanding, but (obviously) make sure to listen to it first. Some of the topics can be mature, and there is the occasional bad word on the podcast that doesn't make the radio broadcast.
posted by BobbyVan at 8:27 PM on October 6, 2008

Radiolab is one of my favourite.
posted by zouhair at 8:44 PM on October 6, 2008

http://epnweb.org/
posted by tamitang at 8:44 PM on October 6, 2008

Krulwich on Science is a nice short (~ 5 min) science podcast from one of the hosts of Radiolab.
posted by prex at 8:59 PM on October 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Storynory is one of my daughter's favorite websites, and they have a podcast, it seems. The stories vary in length, are mostly fairy tales, and are certainly aimed at kids younger than middle school, but some of them might be OK for your purposes.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:54 PM on October 6, 2008

The Moth has very interesting stories and it specifies clean or explicit.
posted by krikany at 9:58 PM on October 6, 2008

NPR's Story of The Day podcast (iTunes Link) is nice and short and almost always tells an interesting story. It clocks in at about 4 minutes usually. PLUS it's daily, so there's no shortage of stuff to listen to.

There's also World Story of the Day which may be more hit or miss when it comes to keeping middle school students entertained.
posted by plasticbugs at 10:25 PM on October 6, 2008

Another great podcast of "shorts" is NPR's Most Emailed Stories of the Day podcast. There is one caveat: each 30-40 minute long episode usually contains 5 or 6 shorter stories, so you've got to skip to the story you want them to listen to. Not as user friendly, but gives you 5 or 6 good choices in each daily episode. Maybe let the students vote on which of the stories they'll listen to based on the episode description?
posted by plasticbugs at 10:35 PM on October 6, 2008

Agree with This American Life, also love In Character from NPR. They've done short podcasts on the Cookie Monster and Nancy Drew and others your students would know about. Finally, I always look forward to Grammar Girl, which I'm sure middle school students could benefit from.
posted by bohdel at 5:20 AM on October 7, 2008

First, if they haven't been introduced to Calvin & Hobbes, do so immediately. Then have them listen to this excellent podcast, In Search of Bill Watterson.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 6:24 AM on October 7, 2008

2nd-ing RadioLab.
posted by chocolate_butch at 7:31 AM on October 7, 2008

While the long version of their podcast wouldn't get a PG rating, the Skeptics Guide 5x5 is a general audience, 5 minute (or thereabouts) podcast dealing with one topic per episode. Teach them some critical thinking skills along the way!

For a longer podcast in the same vein, I highly recommend Skeptoid.

And seconding Grammar Girl.
posted by eafarris at 7:49 AM on October 7, 2008

The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd! They run about 8 minutes. (You should start at the beginning.) When I told the 12 yr old in my house I was posting this, he said, "I wanna listen to Dr. Floyd!"

It's been a while. They work for all ages, really.
posted by RedEmma at 8:16 AM on October 7, 2008