I think it was during one of the many lockdown periods that we created something new, an experiment in a science education podcast. But once we started going about our lives again time became ever shorter and the project didn’t get past the first season of 10 episodes. We did the leg work for the second season, conducting and arranging interviews, a new direction for us, but again time just did not permit.

I made the time this summer, launching a new episode featuring Bernice the Bear who with her father was learning something about plants, and planting a garden. Our new direction is less beeps and bops, more let’s learn some science as a bedtime story. I also designed more space for advertising which makes me somewhat sad but is the only way I can see to make this work.

I finished the production of another episode yesterday – there is some voice over that needs to be redone but the real problem is we have found the limit to how much information can be chunked in audio format. It’s seems to my mind almost incomprehensible.

In a narrative format we can say more while allowing the kids to follow along and gradually become engaged with the underlying facts.

In our other question and answer format I have found hard limits to what can be said; it’s interesting how much more we can learn when it is contained within a story.

We are thinking of rewriting the whole episode but I’m also considering releasing it as is. Perhaps listeners will surprise us. Also, since one of the purposes of these summer episodes was to gain feedback, we might learn more by releasing the episode as is.