Episode notes
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.
The Week Junior Show
by Fun Kids · English · Kids & Family
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…
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9 Oct 2026 · 31 minNew
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…
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2 Oct 2026 · 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…
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18 Sep 2026 · 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,…
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11 Sep 2026 · 28 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…
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4 Sep 2026 · 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…
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28 Aug 2026 · 28 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,…
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21 Aug 2026 · 28 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…
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14 Aug 2026 · 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.
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7 Aug 2026 · 31 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.
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31 Jul 2026 · 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.
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