Why I’ve Heard Every Episode of Cool Facts About Animals
Honestly, if you’ve got kids, you can probably skip this review and just download Cool Facts About Animals… Still reading? I mean, we can get into it, but there’s a lot of reasons why I love this show. Basically, I adore CFAA as a teacher, as a podcaster, and as a (hopefully) future parent.
As a teacher, I love how the host, Ali Wilkinson, manages her little class of co-hosts, by which I mean her three remarkable children, Grady, Clara, and Theo. She lets them have fun but stays on topic, she challenges them with questions but rewards them with encouragement, she teaches science but always sneaks in a lesson in empathy. Every week, a different child gets to have their moment, and you can hear them becoming more confident and passionate as the show goes on. Ali doesn’t spin every wrong answer into a right one. She lets her kids fail sometimes, without judgment, and challenges them to use deductive reasoning when they don’t know an answer.
From a podcasting standpoint, I love their format. It’s simple and pacey, it’s broad enough to keep them going for ages, and the episodes are quick and bingeable. They have fun segments to get your family involved and make sure you’re paying attention. Each of the young hosts is loveable and impressive in their own way: Grady is silly yet studious; Clara works hard to keep everyone having fun; Theo is as attentive and earnest as a little brother gets. Then, a couple episodes later, they’ll turn the whole family dynamic on its ear and get you laughing all over again. Ali doesn’t rely on hard edits and jarring musical transitions to keep her show interesting, she just trims the longer tangents and keeps things moving. She makes it seem easy, and that’s maybe the most impressive part.
My wife and I hope to have kids in the not-too-distant future. I’m the youngest of three, boy-girl-boy like the Wilkinsons, and maybe that’s part of why I’m so enchanted by their show. Or maybe it’s because I’m a bit terrified of being a dad and Ali shows how the hard work of parenting can pay off. Think about that work, on and off mic, a family creating something that shapes each of them as it brings them closer together. How many families get to do something like that? Will I ever have the time, energy, and facility to share a similar experience with my own family? Gulp… At the very least, we can listen to Cool Facts About Animals together… while I take notes.
