Newspaper headlines often make loud claims about fitness, health and diet. How much of this is backed by research? Have the facts been verified? This episode is part of our Fake or Real podcast series, where we take a popular newspaper headline and check if its authenticity has been established, This episode is about a headline that appeared earlier on Hindustan Times - 'Sendha namak aka pink salt is healthier than iodized powdered white salt'.  Listen to the episode to find out if this is for real. Recommended  podcast listens by the guests 1. NASA's mission to move an asteroid 2 ..read more

A recent YouGov poll shows that a large share of people believe that younger siblings are funnier than their older counterparts. Is this fake or real? Does this story have a sound scientific basis? Guests: Shanaya Shah (4th grader) and her parent Arpita Shah from Mumbai To donate and keep this podcast channel ad-free for children,  click here Recommended podcast episodes (a) Why are people in Finland the happiest (b) Interesting innovations from Indian schoolkids (c) Brain boosts better while writing and NOT while typing (d) Wildlife stories To be a part of the Harry Potter book revie ..read more

A recent YouGov poll shows that a large share of people believe that younger siblings are funnier than their older counterparts. Is this fake or real? Does this story have a sound scientific basis? Guests: Shanaya Shah (4th grader) and her parent Arpita Shah from Mumbai To donate and keep this podcast channel ad-free for children,  click here Recommended podcast episodes (a) Why are people in Finland the happiest (b) Interesting innovations from Indian schoolkids (c) Brain boosts better while writing and NOT while typing (d) Wildlife stories To be a part of the Harry Potter book revie ..read more

World Athletics has announced something exciting for all athletes participating / competing in the 2024 Olympics edition (to be held in Paris). After many decades of keeping true to the spirit of Olympics as outlined by Pierre de Coubertin (participating is more important than winning), some people on the Olympics committee are concerned if the new move will dilute this spirit. Listen to the full episode to find out more about this new exciting announcement. Co-hosts: Smyan (5th grader, Mumbai), Rishi (4th grader, Chennai) Recommended articles / videos a) Video of Parisian waiters participat ..read more

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is considered a children's classic. Although the author did not write this book intended for a young audience, it has become a go-to read for many primary schoolers and middle schoolers. A group of children (<10 yrs old) read this book, completed some book review worksheets and finally got together to share their views on the book with each other.  Guests: Nayra, Prakriti, Smyan, Rishi, Pravit, Rusheel, Saatvik and Advik Questions they answer in this episode A) For what age do they recommend this book? B) Why do they think the author wrote this story? C) H ..read more

30 years ago in Nepal, Yagya Kumar Pradhan woke up to the news that two holy masks from the community's temple had been stolen. Yagya filed police complaints, but got no closer to the masks. He gave up all hope of ever seeing the masks again. One of his family members reached out to a group 'Lost Arts of Nepal' who track stolen artifacts with the help of amateur art detectives from around the world, using social media and other sleuthing techniques. As luck would have it, Yagya's masks were traced and returned to the Nepali government a few weeks ago, in a grand repatriation ceremony that was ..read more

In the most recent earthquake in Taiwan, lives were lost and property destroyed. A group of dogs (called search and rescue dogs) came to the attention of many people through their valiant efforts at rescuing people caught under the rubble. This is a story of one such dog called Roger - who was earlier labelled a failure by the country's sniffing dogs group. How he was able to put to use his abundance of energy coupled with his intelligence forms the rest of his life-story. Search and rescue dogs are highly trained canines that are often the first to reach a natural disaster spot. For example ..read more

A teenager from Gujarat came up with a novel solution to provide access to learning content on devices. Rather than rely on the goodwill of NGOs to provide devices and internet, Karthik Joshi, a 12th grader suggested a way by which students could 'pay' for this, without actually having to pay using money, but resources that are easily available to them. Another teenager from Tamil Nadu (Madhumita) has designed a 2-wheeler that can help the deaf drive on Indian roads, more safely. These are two of the many innovations that have won India's National Innovation Fund awards over the past few year ..read more

This episode captures the history of Bengaluru from over a 1000 years ago. Small settlements created fertile pastures in an otherwise arid region. The ingenuity they used to build a series of lakes and tanks is to be much admired. This is all the more evident in the backdrop of how we squandered centuries of efforts and destroyed all of it in less than 50 years. The story of Bengaluru is narrated in three parts Part 1: How the settlements were formed from 1000 - 1500 AD Part 2: Formation of modern Bengaluru by Kempe Gowda ~1500 AD Part 3: British settlement post 1800 till modern times Pioneer ..read more

Ever read - the Elves and the Shoemaker? This story is a lot like that, except, in this case, they aren't making shoes. Someone has been turning up every night in the shed of a 75-year old photographer who lives in the UK. This photographer used to leave his work shed in a state of chaos at the end of each day. But the next morning, he would find them spick and span. The contents strewn around would be collected and neatly kept inside a box. Curious to find out who this friendly elf was, he installed a night camera. Listen to the full episode to find out who was doing this daily, and more imp ..read more