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The Week Junior Show

Fun Kids

The Week Junior Show takes you behind the scenes of the award-winning magazine for 8 to 14-year-olds. Each week, Bex from Fun Kids is joined by members of The Week Junior team to discuss their favourite stories, debate the week’s hot topic and discover whether the ‘Real or Rubbish?’ report is fake news or the real deal.

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33 episodes
weekly
Avg 29 min
English

Episodes 33

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Friday · 24 min
Brazil’s election and Junior Eurovision
Brazil has re-elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as its president, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through how Lula beat Flávio Bolsonaro in the second round of voting after trailing him in the first, helped by nearly three million extra voters and young campaigners who became known as “Lula’s army”. There’s also 13-year-old Naré from Armenia winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta, a front garden full of Halloween decorations for Real or Rubbish, Harry Kane becoming the first UK winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether Halloween costumes should be creepy. Plus Nessie, Paddington and a pet dog as cake ideas from your voice notes, the results of the screens in schools debate, kitchen roll ghosts and spooky Halloween toast from the inbox, Eiko Kadono’s Kiki and the New Magic as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
October 23 · 24 min
Prize-winning rug factory and a shrinking Mont Blanc
A rug factory in Rangpur, Bangladesh, has been named the world’s best new building outside the UK, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through why the Green Field Factory by Nakshabid Architects won the RIBA International Prize, from its courtyards, ponds and gardens to a rooftop daycare centre for the children of the more than 5,000 people who work there. There’s also Mont Blanc shrinking by more than a metre in the past year, audiobook trainers that open Spotify with a tap of your phone for Real or Rubbish, Sgiath the Labrador, who sniffs out sea squirts, crowned Animal of the Year as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether schools should scrap screens. Plus who the team would make out of cake after a baker’s model of the Princess of Wales, the results of the data centres debate, a painted pen pot and a cardboard bed den from the inbox, Helen Parry’s A Scrap of Moss and Magic as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
October 16 · 30 min
Nobel Peace Prize and animals on banknotes
South African lawyer Navi Pillay has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her work on human rights and international law, and Bex, Eve and Dan talk through her life’s work, from defending people who fought against apartheid to six years as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and how she found out she’d won at the same time as everyone else. There’s also the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and hedgehog being picked by the public for the next Bank of England banknotes, a pool party in Nevada crashed by 296 puppies for Real or Rubbish, a 150-year-old “bendy” wych elm in County Down crowned UK Tree of the Year as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether more data centres should be built. Plus what joy means to the team for The Week Junior’s Christmas cover competition, Stevie from Science+Nature with a spooky quiz on tarsiers and glowing scorpions and a call for your questions about time for Jim Al-Khalili, home-sewn trousers for a teddy bear and a reader in a vintage tram in Milan from the inbox, Girl with a Sabretooth Tiger by Jasbinder Bilan as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
October 9 · 30 min
Hope for wildlife and world champion porridge
The WWF’s new Living Planet Report is called The Science of Hope, and Bex, Eve and Stevie talk through what it found, including wild tiger numbers rising by more than 70% since 2010, and what we can all do to help nature recover. There’s also Dutch porridge maker Gina Saarberg winning the Golden Spurtle in the Highlands, a government investigation into why the UK keeps flopping at Eurovision for Real or Rubbish, a tiny chihuahua called Comando joining Mexico’s National Guard as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether it’s okay to boo sports stars. Plus Week Junior editor Vanessa on the hunt for the magazine’s first ever Word of the Year, a very human-looking carrot and a papier-mâché bowl from the inbox, The Week Junior Real or Rubbish? as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
October 2 · 28 min
Book awards and Sycamore Gap’s new shoots
It was The Week Junior Book Awards this week, and Bex, Eve and Stevie talk through the big night, including Jack Mackay’s spooky story Gloam winning two trophies and the books they each helped to judge. There’s also new shoots sprouting from the stump of the Sycamore Gap tree, a hotel shaped like a Poké Ball for Real or Rubbish, a BAFTA Young Presenter as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether pets should have birthday celebrations. Plus Dan from Science+Nature on the Dream Machines competition to design the car of the future, a conker family and a seagull postbox topper from the inbox, Half-Asleep Chris’s The Unordinary Book of Ideas as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 25 · 43 min
Turning hope into action
This week, as part of the Be Hope Podcast Takeover, we talk to guerilla gardener and nature rights campaigner Kalpana Arias about her work and what makes her feel hopeful. We also talk about new social media rules in the EU, a scheme to encourage more people to read in Singapore, and whether e-scooters should be banned. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 18 · 29 min
Slowing down AI and woolly glaciers
The boss of AI company Anthropic has said that powerful artificial intelligence should be developed more slowly and checked more closely, and Bex, Eve and Dan talk through why more than 70 UK politicians are also asking for new rules on AI. There’s also scientists in Switzerland wrapping melting glaciers in blankets of sheep’s wool, a marathon in Canada that may have been too long for Real or Rubbish, some fun facts about the new Shaun the Sheep film, and a big debate on whether dogs should be banned from beaches. Plus editorial assistant Kaye’s last visit to the inbox, Harry Woodgate’s Cinnamon Crumb, Baking Detective: The Great Cake Caper as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 11 · 27 min
Fast fashion fees and a fossil hunter’s blue plaque
France has brought in new rules that make ultra fast fashion companies pay a fee on every new item of clothing they sell there, from 43p for an item of underwear to £10.28 for a jacket, and Bex, Eve and Martha talk through why cheap, quickly made clothes create so much waste. There’s also a blue plaque for fossil hunter Dorothea Bate, one of the first women to work as a scientist at the Natural History Museum, a story about 10 Downing Street being rented out to holidaymakers for Real or Rubbish, and a big debate on whether alligators should be hunted in Louisiana. Plus Science+Nature editor Dan on the megalodon and the magazine’s winning photo, two astronauts completing the sixth all-female spacewalk as heroes of the week, Freddie Kölsch’s Spindlewood as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 4 · 29 min
Nepal flood aid and a castle on rollers
Flash floods hit communities along the border between Nepal and Tibet on 26 August after a glacier collapsed high in the mountains, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through the rescue effort and the aid arriving from around the world, including a £5 million package from the UK and 68 tonnes of supplies from India. There’s also the 360-tonne castle tower in Hirosaki, Japan, hauled back to its original position by 1,800 volunteers pulling on ropes and rollers, a giant hairball loose in New York for Real or Rubbish, Barnsley Youth Choir as heroes of the week after being crowned double world champions in Sweden, and a big debate on whether humans will ever find alien life. Plus the Bayeux Tapestry going on display in London, Catherine Rundell’s The Neverfear as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 28 · 27 min
Runny egg warning and Snowdon queues
The Food Standards Agency has warned young children, older people and pregnant women to avoid runny eggs in cafes and restaurants after an outbreak of salmonella, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through the advice. There’s also a queue forming at the summit of Snowdon, a Spider-Man screening in Colombia emptied by a foul smell, 11-year-old museum curator Anderson Taylor as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether UK airports should get bigger. Plus the breakthrough shortlist for The Week Junior Book Awards, Isaac Hamilton-McKenzie on this week’s Book of the Week, Jamaal Target: Phantom Agent, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 21 · 27 min
Total solar eclipse and hidden gold
A total solar eclipse passed over Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain, and Bex, Eve and Martha talk through what happened, including Eve’s trip to Spain to see it. There’s also an 18-year-old in Belgium who uncovered £7.5 million of gold while doing a summer job on a building site, robot cleaners for hire in San Francisco, trainee volunteer firefighter Talara as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether there’s too much football. Plus the audiobook shortlist for The Week Junior Book Awards, Catherine Doyle on this week’s Book of the Week, Believe, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 14 · 31 min
Lucky lotto ticket and giant cars
A new defence agreement has been signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and Bex, Joe and Dan talk through what it means. There’s also a woman in Italy whose winning lottery ticket was rescued from a bin lorry, pufflings being saved in Iceland, Parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether cars have got too big. Plus the picture book shortlist for The Week Junior Book Awards, Rashmi Sirdeshpande on this week’s Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 7 · 30 min
Farming octopuses and the missing space pen
The Commonwealth Games have come to a close, and Bex, Joe and Stevie look back at what happened. There’s also a hero rescue dog retiring, a nine-year-old author, and a big debate on whether it’s wrong to farm octopuses after a Spanish company dropped plans for the world’s first octopus farm. Plus the STEM shortlist for The Week Junior Book Awards, Pamela Butchart on this week’s Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 31 · 27 min
Number 10 North and noisy museums
The Prime Minister opens a second Number 10 in Manchester, and Bex, Joe and Stevie explain what it means for where power sits in the UK. There's also a campaign asking museums to let children be as loud as they like, a big debate on whether it's ever good to be bored, and a giant mirror in space that could turn night into day. Plus the poetry shortlist for The Week Junior Book Awards, the Science+Nature Scavenger Hunt, and your chance to win this week's book. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 24 · 27 min
New Prime Minister and pets in restaurants
The UK has a new Prime Minister. The team explains who Andy Burnham is and how he landed the top job so quickly. There's also the Queen's surprise Christmas present for every Year 6 pupil, an electric guitar that may – or may not – have been made from the burned wood of Notre Dame, and a debate on whether pets should be allowed everywhere. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 17 · 35 min
The Bayeux Tapestry and Neil the Seal
This week, the Bayeux Tapestry arrives in the UK for the first time in nearly 1,000 years, a famous elephant seal called Neil causes a stir in Tasmania, and the team debates whether schools should close during heat waves. Plus a baffling case of crabs in a garden shed, the new Children's Laureate, and your chance to win this week's book. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 10 · 29 min
The Hope Issue: Drone rescues and robot octopuses
It's the Hope Issue! Bex is joined by Eve and Joe from The Week Junior. Joe reveals how a potato-shaped sea creature from Antarctica could one day help scientists treat skin cancer, and Eve explains how thermal-imaging drones are being used in Germany to rescue baby deer hidden in tall grass. There's also a big debate — should adults have screen-free days? — and a special visit from Editor Vanessa to mark the International Day of Hope. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 3 · 30 min
Sports day and beavers in your city
The team share their favourite sports day activities as listeners answer last week's question about music that helps them relax. Plus: Young climate leaders gathered at Tate Modern for the London Climate Action Week Summit, including 11-year-old campaigner Anishwa Kunchala. Plus, over 1,500 children took part in a challenge to turn broken toys into something new. A "grumpy" Pallas's cat named Duchess arrives at Edinburgh Zoo to join Akiko as part of a breeding programme. Real or Rubbish: Have a family of beavers really fixed flooding at an Ealing Underground station? The Big Debate: Should schools have sports days? Plus the team's heroes and favourite facts of the week, including Harry Kane's World Cup goal record and the surprising name for the person at the end of a tug-of-war team. Get involved: Send a voice note at funkidslive.com/theweekjunior or email hello@theweekjunior.co.uk to share your favourite sports day activity — you could win a Roving Reporter badge! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 26 · 29 min
Keir Starmer resigns and changes for free school meals in Wales
On Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he would step down as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader. Eve, Joe and Bex digest the latest – plus there’s an interview in this week’s magazine with a music therapist, which made us wonder: what music helps you relax? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
June 19 · 28 min
Social media ban and Toy Story 5
Eve explains new government plans to set a minimum age of 16 for social media platforms as Joe shares the story of Parkrun, which recently hit its millionth ever event since starting in 2004. Plus, has a lost gold bar ($17,000!) sparked a real treasure hunt at a Finnish ski resort, or is it all made up? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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