Tumble Media + La Coctelera: A bilingual podcast partnership
It began when the world changed.
We were living in Barcelona, during one of the strictest lockdowns in the world-wide COVID pandemic. Beginning in mid-March 2020, children were not allowed outside their homes for six weeks. As parents, we were left to explain why life had stopped because of a virus in a way that they could understand.
Explaining complex scientific topics to kids is something that Tumble knows how to do. We saw how we could help. We quickly collected kids’ questions about coronavirus and put together a Q&A episode. Almost as soon as we hit publish on the episode, I sent my friend and fellow podcaster Nuria a text: Did she have time to translate it into Spanish?
Incredibly, somehow, she did. We both had kids — our second babies were born within weeks of each other. We were both trapped indoors with them, hoping the quarantine wouldn’t last too long, and sharing recipes and exercise videos via WhatsApp to get ourselves through. Making a podcast episode together felt like we could do beyond just surviving. We could help other parents like us.
The reactions were amazing. We heard from bilingual Tumble listeners. Parents wrote in, enthusiastic to finally hear science podcast content in their home language. We immediately wanted to adapt more episodes into Spanish. And then we realized that we were trying to reach a brand new audience — one that is vastly underserved by podcasting.
One in four children have been listening to podcasts since March 2020, according to Ipsos, a global research firm. Likewise, Edison Research has reported that 52 percent of U.S. Latinos are listening to podcasts more since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Yet, there are very few podcasts serving Latinx kids and Spanish language learners with culturally relevant, educational, and entertaining content.
When we made Tumble En Español, we created the first-ever English to Spanish children’s podcast. It opened up the idea of turning the informal, organic collaboration between Tumble Media and La Coctelera Music into something more professional. We want to become the premier makers of Spanish language and bilingual podcasts for kids.
With Tumble Media’s expertise in pioneering kids podcasts, and La Coctelera Music’s cutting-edge multilingual podcasting skills, our powers combine to make the perfect production team. We have big ideas and big plans for creating the future of Spanish kids’ podcasts.
After all, if we can podcast together in the worst of times, we’re sure to make incredible podcasts together in the best of times.
Tumble En Español relaunches on January 28.
Want to work with us? Contact hello@tumble.media.
