Top Kids and Family Podcasts (November 2017)

Squeaking this in juuuuust under the wire, it's my November list of the top-ranked podcasts for kids and families.  (For those of you interested, here is October's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.)

If you're looking for a podcast for kids, you could -- and should! -- of course look at my list of podcasts for kids (now above 125!), but if that's a bit overwhelming, try the podcasts listed below, or the official Kids Listen app, featuring shows from Kids Listen members.  Popularity isn't always synonymous with quality, but you could do much worse than dipping into the shows ranked below -- many of which are Kids Listen members -- to start out.

At 18 ranked shows, November continues to be just shy of June's all-time high of 19 ranked shows.  (That means 18 shows that appeared in the top 100 of both the iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts when I checked it.)  The total number of podcasts listed below is 37, just 1 shy of October's new record.  While only one podcast hit the overall iTunes Top 200 (down from 4 in July and August), and the Top 200 Kids & Family chart featured 43 shows, down from August's 45-show record, the Stitcher total of 30 was 3 higher than the previous record.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on United States iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Thursday, November 30, 2017.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are ranked below; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.  Of special note: Dream Big appeared on iTunes' overall Top 200 and is #1 on the Kids and Family chart, but not at all on Stitcher's family list, so for that podcast at least, this list certainly underplays its popularity.)  Anyway: grain of salt noted.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Wow in the World

2. Stories Podcast

3. Brains On!

4. Story Pirates

5. Storynory

6. Circle Round

7. Story Time

8.  Tumble

9. The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

10. The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

11. Eleanor Amplified

12. The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

13. Little Stories for Tiny People

14. Peace Out

15. What If World

16. Ear Snacks

17.  Short and Curly

18. Bedtime Stories Cozy Corner Podcast

Others (listed alphabetically): 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales, Activated Stories, Bedtime History, Book Club for Kids, But Why, By Kids For Kids Story Time, Children Stories and Joyful Podcast, The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids, Disney Story Central, Dream Big, Family Folk Tales, Mick Munster Monster Hunter, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Spare the Rock Spoil the Child, Sparkle Stories, Summer Reading, That Story Show, This Podcast Has Fleas

The Best of Kids Podcasts from March 2017

I'm a big fan of podcasts, but I'm hardly the only one to note how difficult discovery is with podcasts.  Sure, I've got a comprehensive list of podcasts for kids, a regular review of the top-ranked kids podcasts, and participate in Kids Listen, a group created to support and advocate on behalf of kids podcasts, but with all that it can still be a little hard to jump in.

On top of all that, music has it pretty easy, comparatively speaking -- I can embed YouTube and Vimeo videos, or stream from Soundcloud or Bandcamp, not to mention make Spotify playlists.

So I'm starting something new I hope might change that just a little bit.  I'm going to start a monthly list of podcast episodes, and publish them via an app called RadioPublic.  It's an iOS and Android app that lets you download and listen to podcasts, but also features recommendations, both from RadioPublic employees and guest curators, but also listeners like you.  And me.  So download the app, search for "The Latest Podcasts for Kids and Families," and you'll be notified every time I update this list, which should be monthly.

As for the list itself, a few caveats -- first, while RadioPublic is open-source, and it's pretty easy for podcasts to make the list, if RadioPublic hasn't selected it, or a podcast producer hasn't submitted it, it can't be heard.  Most of the podcasts I would've recommended were there, but there were at least a couple I'd've been interested in featuring which weren't available via the app.  Second, I'm planning on limiting these lists to ten episodes, mostly because as a recommendation feature, I find long lists not optimally helpful.  Obviously, this means that I'm likely to omit some fun episodes each month (and also means I'm limiting myself to one episode per podcast).

My goal with this regularly updating list to get a broad range of types of shows and episodes featured over time.  If your favorite show is missing, let me know!  There's a good chance I'm already familiar with it and couldn't squeeze it in, but maybe you've got an entirely new podcast to share, and I'm all ears for those, too.

The Latest Podcasts for Kids and Families

With all that said, let's get to the best of kids podcasts from March 2017!  (Use this link to listen from the RadioPublic website.)

(In no particular order)

"The Wind and the Sun" - Stories Podcast: I'm Team Sun, of course.

"49: Ronald Reagan and the Pineapple Paradise" - Story Pirates: Presidential Fan Fiction should be a holiday every year.

"#12 - BFG" - Buttons & Figs: All about the BFG!

"Marlow's Metamorphosis" - Storynory: Hearing the human Marlow act like a dog while Astropup gets to make human-like asides.  Win!

"S2E8: The Iceboy Cometh" - The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian: Back with the main storyline of the kids from the Explorer Troop.  Very strong LOTR vibe to this one...

"The ups and downs of elevators" - Brains On!: All about elevators, including the crazy one in the Brains On! offices.

"Part One: The Welcome Wall from the 'The Violet Crown (How to Be Super, Book 1)' Original Audio Story Series" - Sparkle Stories: The start of a new story series - an adventure set in modern-day Austin, Texas that sounds perfect for fans of Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

"The Case of the Whale Shark Party with Rafael de la Parra" - Tumble: I think they should name the whale shark Stefan.

"How Do Piano Keys Make Sound" - But Why: It's a But Why episode about music -- of course I'm going to include it!

"08.1 - On the Road - Part 1" - Shabam!: Mixes the overarching story -- kids on the run from a zombie-like outbreak -- with the history of transportation of all types.

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (March 2017)

This month podcasters are using the hashtag #trypod on Twitter to suggest a podcast for listeners.  If you still haven't tried listening to podcasts, you're missing out on a wonderful world of audio content, and the hashtag is a great, albeit perhaps overwhelming, way to jump in.

If you're looking for a podcast for kids, you could of course look at my list of podcasts for kids but you could also look at the nebulously-ranked world of podcasts, this time for March 2017.  (Here is January's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.)  Popularity isn't always synonymous with quality, but you could do much worse than dipping into the shows ranked below to start out.

This month's list looks similar to previous months, although the rankings of these particular podcasts within the "kids and family" charts in the iTunes and Stitcher kids and family charts always fluctuate a bit.  The total number of podcasts listed below is 30, down from the record high of 32 on the last chart and once again none of the iTunes Kids & Family podcasts hit the overall Top 200, but if you dip down into the Top 200 Kids & Family chart on iTunes, the total there (33) I think was a record.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Thursday, March 16, 2017.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)  In this particular month, the hybrid nature of the chart penalizes the brand-new Dream Big and relatively-new Disney Story Central podcasts neither of them chart on Stitcher while generally appearing in the Top 5 or 10 and iTunes.  So: grain of salt noted.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. (tie) Stories Podcast

1. (tie) Brains On

3. Storynory

4. Story Time

5. Tumble

6. Story Pirates

7. The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

8. The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

9. The Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified

10. The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Others (listed alphabetically): Activated Stories, Bedtime History, Book Club for Kids, But Why, Children Stories and Joyful, The Children's Corner, Children's Fun Storytime, The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids Podcast, Disney Story Central, Dream Big, Ear Snacks, Family Folk Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Molly and the Sugar Monster, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Peace Out, Short and Curly, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (September 2016)

Sliding in just under the wire, it's time for a September look at the nebulously-ranked world of podcasts.  This month's list differs slightly from last month's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.  For the most part, the order is the same, and the rankings of these particular podcasts within the "kids and family" charts in the iTunes and Stitcher kids and family charts are generally in the same range as last month.

On the downside, none of the podcasts here ranked within the "all podcasts" chart, which is a change from past months, when they sometimes did.  But the number of podcasts on one of the two lists ticked up to 29, an all-time high, up from 22 in June.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Wednesday, September 29, 2016.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Stories Podcast

2. Brains On

3. Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified

4. Storynory

5. Tumble

6. Story Time

7. (tie) The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids

7. (tie) Story Pirates

9. The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd 

Others (listed alphabetically): 1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales, Activated Stories, Bedtime History, Book Club for Kids, But Why, Children Stories and Joyful, Children's Fun Storytime, Ear Snacks, Family Folk Tales, Grimms' Fairy Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Molly and the Sugar Monster, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Porters Podcast, The Secret Diaries of Tara Tremendous, Short & Curly, Spare the Rock Spoil the Child, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (August 2016)

Time once more to take a look at the nebulously-ranked world of podcasts.  This month's list differs slightly from last month's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.  For the most part, the order is the same, and the rankings of these particular podcasts within the "kids and family" charts in the iTunes and Stitcher kids and family charts are generally in the same range as last month.  (So, too, is the general placement of the most highly-ranked podcasts here within the "all podcasts" chart.  What is a continued improvement is the number of podcasts on one of the two lists, 28 -- the same as last month, but still up from 22 in June.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)  I will also note that it's subject to considerable sway by a single high-profile article or event.  For example, after this Popsugar article on 15 podcasts for families came out after my research, the rankings of several podcasts that made the list jumped significantly so that 6 of the top 10 podcasts on iTunes were listed below (compared to 2-4 at other times) and OWTK's Kid's Music Monthly, which wasn't on the top 200, jumped to 27.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Stories Podcast

2. Brains On

3. Radio Adventures of Eleanor Amplified

4. Storynory

5. Tumble

6. Story Pirates

7. Story Time

8. Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

Others (listed alphabetically): 1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales, Activated Stories, Audio Books for Children, Barefoot Books, But Why, Children's Fun Storytime, Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids, Ear Snacks, Family Folk Tales, Goop Tales; Little Stories for Tiny People, Molly and the Sugar Monster, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd, The Secret Diaries of Tara Tremendous, Short & Curly, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (June 2016)

It's been nearly six weeks since I last produced a list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts, so it's time to see what's up in the nebulous world of podcast rankings.

This month's list is nearly identical in both composition and ranking to the May chart, but I will say that my perception -- I don't have the raw data from May -- is that the rankings of the kids podcasts within the iTunes and Stitcher kids and family charts are higher today than when I checked them last month.  My perception could be wrong, or it could be purely a result of timing, but I'm retaining the data this go-round to see if something changes next month.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons should not solely (or even primarily) be used as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Tuesday, June 21, 2016.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart!

1.  Brains On

2. Stories Podcast

3. Storynory

4. Story Pirates

5. Tumble

6. Story Time

7. Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

8. Spare the Rock Spoil the Child

Others (listed alphabetically): Audio Books for Children, Barefoot Books, But Why, Classics for Kids, Ear Snacks, Family Folk Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Molly and the Sugar Monster, Podcast Kid, Porters Podcast, The Secret Diaries of Tara Tremendous, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show