Hello and welcome to The Week Junior Show.
I'm Bex and I'm joined by writers Eve and Joe from The Week Junior, the magazine making sense of the world for 8 to 14 year olds.
This week, the team will be talking about some amazing planet protectors, some musical mayonnaise and how you can unearth your local area's history.
We'll also be having a big debate about whether football kits are too expensive.
Now make sure you're listening closely, because at the end of this episode we'll be asking you a question about what you've heard.
And if you answer it correctly, you could win a prize.
But more on that later.
In this week's issue there's a feature about the upcoming Netflix film Swapped, where two enemies find themselves trading bodies.
So it got me thinking.
If you could trade bodies with someone for the day, who would you want to swap with, and why?
Eve, who do you reckon?
I'm thinking an astronaut that's on the International Space Station, because I've always been quite threatened by going on like a rocket up into space.
But if I could just magically transport to be on the International Space Station and then just spend a day floating around eating astronaut food, seeing what a toilet's like in zero gravity.
I think that would be a fun day. included the toilet stuff there.
Excellent.
You were honest.
I appreciate that.
Joe, how about you?
I think I trade bodies with the footballer Lionel Messi on a day that he was playing in a match.
I think that experience would be amazing with all the fans screaming and cheering your name.
And in this scenario, do I get...
Messi's footballing talent for a day, or am I just me in Messi's body?
I think okay, yeah then, then I I'm especially keen on being messy because you know, if I'm playing in a match, I might be lucky enough to score a goal.
Imagine how incredible that would be.
That is fair.
I was thinking about this and I was like I want to be someone at the best, the top of their abilities, of their field.
For example, being in an orchestra and being an incredible piano player or violinist would be amazing, just for it to come so naturally.
But then I thought sport.
I'm not very good at sport.
I'd love to experience... what it would be like to run fast naturally.
So Usain Bolt, I'm going to go bolt all the way.
I'd like to be him for a day, to just be able to run and to not stress about it, and to be in places quickly.
That'd be great.
And maybe if I could win an award, that would be quite nice as well.
So if you want to tell us who you would like to trade bodies with for the day, you can send us an email.
Just send it to hello at theweekjuniorcouk or leave a voice note at funkidslivecom.
Slash theweekjunior.
All you've got to do is grab a grown up, look for that big red button and record your voice.
If your voice note is played out next week, you could win a Week Junior Roving Reporter badge.
Now, last week, we asked listeners what fairy tale they'd like to spend the day in.
So we've got an answer here from Charlie.
Hello, my name is Charlie.
I am nine and a fairy tale I would spend a day in would be Sleeping Beauty, because I'm quite an adventurous person.
I love your show and I get the magazine every week.
Okay, so in Sleeping Beauty, I wonder what Charlie would do in Sleeping Beauty's world.
Maybe go out into the woods, maybe meet the fairies.
That'd be quite a fun thing to do.
Thank you very much, Charlie.
Next up, one from Harper.
Hi The Week Junior, my name is Harper and I'm eight years old.
If I could go into any Thank you, Harper.
I'd forgotten about that fairy tale.
Yeah, The Emperor's New Clothes.
That's a great one to pick.
Yeah, and it is funny, to be fair.
It's a very, very funny one.
So, yes, all the comedy fans out there, Harper, that's a great shout.
Edward also sent in a message.
Hi The Week Junior, my name is Edward.
The fairy tale I would want to be in is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because me and Happy will be great friends because I'm really joyful.
Love your show.
I get your magazine every week.
Oh, Edward's a big fan as well.
Thank you, Edward.
That's a great shout.
I think Happy would be the one to hang out with.
Although I always liked Dopey when I was watching it, the film as a kid.
But yeah, Happy would be the good one to be pals with.
And finally, we had a voice note here from Ellie.
Hi, I'm Ellie and my favourite fairy tale is Alice in Wonderland.
I love the story and all the imagination Lewis Carroll brings to life.
I also love all the characters, especially the Mad Hatter, as he turns everything into a party even if there's nothing to celebrate about.
I love your show.
Bye!
Thank you, Ellie.
Oh, yeah, the Mad Hatter with his unbirthday parties and all of the teas and everything like that.
Yeah, that's a lovely one to pick as well.
Didn't even occur to me that one.
So lots of brilliant voice notes there.
Thank you to Charlie, Harper, Edward and Ellie.
All excellent voice notes.
And if you want your voice to feature on next week's podcast, it's very easy.
Just send a voice note at funkidslivecom slash theweekjunior to tell us about who you'd like to swap bodies with for the day, if you could.
Now.
I think we should turn our attention back to the latest magazine to talk about what's been in the headlines this week.
Eve, what's been going on?
So this is from our big news page and it's about some award winning planet protectors, because on the 20th of April, the winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize were announced.
And for the first time, all six of the winners were women.
And the prize honors people who lead campaigns to protect the planet.
And I just thought I'd tell you about.
I won't tell you about all six, but thought I'd just tell you about a few.
So one of them was Sarah Finch from the UK, who won for campaigning against oil drilling.
So she worked with the Weald Action Group to challenge a decision to allow drilling in Surrey in England.
And, following this, the UK's highest court ruled in June 2024 that new coal, oil and gas projects must consider the impact of the pollution created by when those fuels are burned.
And environmental groups have called that court ruling a game changer.
And another winner was Iroro Tanchi from Nigeria, who started a campaign to protect endangered bats from wildfires.
And she helped not only protect the bats, but also save forests and protect the local communities too.
And one other winner was Boris Kim from South Korea, who is an activist that won Asia's first ever youth-led climate legal case.
And she found her government's climate policy was violating the rights of future generations.
And I just think it was so great to read about the amazing work of these planet protectors.
And it made me feel really inspired and want to want to go out and do something myself.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Thank you very much, Eve.
That's really inspiring, like you say.
Joe, what's another story you've seen in the news this week?
It's a story from around the world pages about the completion of a huge network of artificial lakes made from old coal mines.
The lusatian lakeland area in east germany features 23 lakes and covers 140 square kilometers, making it europe's largest artificial water landscape.
The lakes are created by strengthening and then flooding abandoned coal mines.
The most recent addition to the area was Lake Sedlitz which, at the time of recording this podcast, on the 23rd of April, is set to open to the public tomorrow.
Wow, I've never heard of this kind of thing before.
So basically, I guess, using an old space for something else and something that's probably like recreational right.
People can go and visit the lake, like you said.
Yeah, yeah.
My understanding is it's going to be open to tourists.
So it's created this beautiful area out of sort of recycling, isn't it?
And it's no, no space has been taken up, because this is stuff that's been dug into the ground, so it's uh, it's extra cool in that regard.
Oh, that's awesome.
I love that.
Thank you very much, Joe and Eve.
Now moving on, it's time for the most important part of the show, in my opinion.
This is Real or Rubbish, where I hear a story, I have to guess if it's true or false, fact or fake news.
Joe, it is your turn this week.
What have you got?
Well, lots of people love mayonnaise in sandwiches, but did you know that it can be used to make music as well?
Musician Andy Smith worked with the company Hellman's to make a song entirely from sounds made by the classic sauce.
This came after a study by Northumbria University, which aimed to find out if mayonnaise could be used as an instrument.
The answer?
Yes, it absolutely can.
And Smith said, we're bringing a new texture to music.
But is this real or a mayo made up lie?
So how does the music work?
How are you getting a sound from mayonnaise?
You squeeze it, you scrape it, you pour it.
You do all the normal things that you do, I guess, if you are using mayonnaise to make a sandwich, except that you're making music, making a song.
But surely the sounds are technically coming from the bottle or the scraping on the toast or the bread, or they're not coming from the mayonnaise itself, right?
Yeah, I mean that's true, but I suppose i mean i feel like you could say that about instruments.
Instruments aren't one individual component, are they they're?
You know, a guitar is not just strings, the guitar is not just a body, it's multiple things put together to make the sort of hole, to make the sound.
And i guess that's the same with mayonnaise, you know, the bottle is sort of inherently important to the overall structure of the mayonnaise.
I feel like I'm going down a bit of a rabbit hole with no analysis.
I'm annoyed at how good an answer that is.
That's quite a good answer, because that is yeah, that's quite tricky.
So um uh joe, could you sing me a song that's inspired by mayonnaise?
Do we know what it sounds like, or are we?
Are we not sure of what it sounds like?
I mean, i promise you you don't want to hear me singing anything on this podcast.
No no no, no.
None of our listeners want to hear that.
They tune off permanently.
Yeah.
Is it like pop music?
Is it like an opera?
Is it just like an instrumental?
Yeah, it's just an instrumental piece.
There's no there's no I mean, you know, I mean, mayonnaise is an incredible, incredible condiment.
But one thing you can't do is say words just yet, but maybe in future.
Yeah, so it's just instrumental made, like I said, using these peculiar sounds.
You know, maybe it's something to try in future.
If you're making a sandwich, you know you can listen to it and take inspiration and make your own.
I don't understand this, Joe.
I'm not sure.
It may or may not be true.
I'll figure it out later.
But in the meantime, let's talk about our book of the week, which this week is Monster Diaries, The Cyclops and the Worst Party Ever by Anne Miller.
So here she is to tell us a little bit more about it.
Hello, my name is Anne Miller and I'm the author of Monster Diaries, The Cyclops and the Worst Party Ever.
This series retells Greek myths from the monster's point of view, and in this book we meet Polyphemus the Cyclops, who you may know from his encounter with Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey.
In this version.
Polyphemus is a gentle giant who loves his sheep, is scared of the water and is really keen for some visitors to come to his island so he can host the greatest party of all time.
So he's so excited when Odysseus and his men arrive, but then less pleased when it turns out that unfortunately, Odysseus is the worst guest of all time.
Growing up I had so many favourite books, but one book that I particularly loved, and I still love to this day, is Noel Stretfield's Ballet Shoes.
It's the story of three sisters growing up in London and training for the stage.
And I really loved that as well as a story about them and their family and what they got up to.
I also got to learn a bit more about London and the theatre and the Victoria and Albert Museum, which I was so excited to go and visit in real life when I was older.
All right then, if you'd like to win a copy of Monster Diaries, wait until the end of the show and you can find out how you can.
Now, then, we've been joined by the Week Junior Associate Editor, Laura.
Hello, Laura.
Welcome back.
Hi, how are you?
I am good, thank you.
Tell me, what's going on this week?
Well, this week I am taking my inspiration from our how-to piece, which was all about how to look into local history.
So, the idea is to find out how your area has changed, how where you live has changed over time.
And it's inspired by something called Local and Community History Month, which takes place all throughout May.
The aim of the event is to increase people's awareness and interest in their local history and get communities participating in research and events.
And basically, yeah, trying to delve into what happened in the past where they live.
So usually there's lots of history themed tours and talks and exhibitions and things like that.
So you can ask an adult to maybe look into if there's anything happening in your area.
But in the meantime we thought it would be good to put together a little guide to how to research history in your local area yourself.
So it's good to have a goal in mind.
So maybe you want to find out the history of your house or your street or your school.
If your relatives have lived in the area for a long time, you might even be able to look up history, your ancestors and how long they've been in the area.
And even if you live in the middle of the countryside or on a newly built housing estate, you might be able to look up who owned the land in the past or what it was once used for.
Basically, history is everywhere and yeah, the first place to head is the local library, so obviously there's loads of local history books there.
Librarians can help, But libraries often store archives as well, which are kind of collections of information.
So they might have things like old newspapers, maps and photographs.
Old newspapers can be really interesting because you can kind of, you know, have a look through and see old photographs and see how buildings and streets have changed.
And the other thing to do is just to take a walk and look for things like landmarks and statues that you can research.
So maybe think about like, what's the most important or the oldest building in your town?
So it might be the train station or the church.
Maybe there are some statues, even gravestones.
If there's a big gravestone in your local graveyard, you might be able to look up the name and find out.
Maybe that's an important person if it's quite big um, and archives can be found in local authority buildings as well, so things like council, so you can always have a look there.
And then the last tip is to just go online um, so i found out loads of stuff just on the wikipedia page for my town um, which was yeah, really fascinating and town and history or fun historical facts and things like that.
Ask an adult to help you and usually you can find out loads of stuff.
So I found out quite a lot of stuff and it's got me quite excited.
And actually I found out there's a museum.
Well, I knew there was a museum around the corner, but I admit I knew, but I hadn't been there.
So, yeah, I'm going to be going there.
But I found out lots of interesting stuff.
For instance, I found out that there's a cafe around the corner from me which used to be home to the local jailer who, sort of you know, put people in prison.
And in fact, the local jail was next door.
So that's quite cool.
I found out there's road names and things like that are really interesting as well.
So there's a place, there's a square around the corner from me called Pirrie's Place.
And I found out that William Pirrie was actually the headmaster of the local school here in the 1800s and it's named after him.
Yeah.
And there's a statue of him, actually.
Apparently, he used to ride around the town in a donkey and cart.
And there's a statue of him there.
So there's loads of really cool stuff if you sort of want to have a look.
And also, you never know, you might find local ghost stories or things like that as well.
That's so fun.
So they're your favorite facts that you learned about.
And it's nice to put like the past to the present, isn't it?
They were my favorite facts.
But I have to say also, my absolute favorite fact is that.
So I live in Horsham, which is a town in West Sussex in England.
And apparently Horsham is, I believe, still home to the largest hailstone ever to fall in the UK.
So yes, this was an absolutely massive hailstone and it fell in.
I think it was 1958.
And it was the size of a tennis ball.
Yeah.
So that's that's quite something, isn't it?
And I think I think it still holds the record.
That's pretty cool.
So, yeah.
Wow, that's a great old fact, Laura.
So maybe if we're researching our local area, we can find out those facts as well.
And we can find out all the ways to do that in the magazine, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah, yeah.
Just have a look and yeah, ask an adult to help you and maybe just go for a walk around your town and you never know what you're going to find out.
Now it's time for this week's big debate.
And the question is, are football kits too expensive?
So Joe and Eve will go head to head to take a side each on this argument.
But before we hear from them, here's some information that you need to know.
The Men's Football World Cup kicks off on the 11th of June and millions of people are expected to watch the tournament.
Fans often wear replica football shirts to support their team.
Companies such as Nike Adidas, Puma and Umbro have been given permission to produce team kits and replica shirts to sell.
The cost of shirts for some of the teams playing in the World Cup range from £55 for a child to £135 for adults.
And the government has said there's evidence that more fake kits are sold during the build-up to big tournaments like the world cup.
So are football kits too expensive?
Joe is team yes.
Eve is team no.
Each of them will have 60 seconds to make their case and then i'll say who i agree with more.
So joe is going to go first.
Let me just get up the old clock here.
Uh, here we go, joe.
Whenever you are ready, take it away.
Yeah, so football is the most popular sport in the UK and the price of kits really should reflect that.
Fans like to wear them to support their teams, but some people can't afford to buy them because the cost is just too high.
Nick Jones, who's an England fan, told people that prices were hitting people's purses and wallets hard.
If people can't afford to buy official shirts, they might buy fake ones because they are cheaper.
And, according to officials who monitor goods sold in the UK, fake shirts could have been made by people working long hours in poor conditions And for little pay.
And yeah, like I said, football is this incredibly popular sport and it really should be accessible to everyone.
And that includes the enjoyment of wearing the kit to support your team.
Excellent stuff.
Thank you very much, Jo.
But Eve is going to disagree with that.
So, Eve, tell us why.
Well, I think it's important to think about business.
And to make money, companies have to profit from the items that they sell.
And making football shirts does cost money.
And it's not just the actual It's also the cost of designing and researching.
So they do need to charge more than the cost used to produce it.
Otherwise, they're not going to make any extra money.
And the cost of kits has risen, but people are still buying them.
So why should companies lower the cost?
Because I think that would be a silly bet.
Business decision because people are still choosing to buy them.
So, they can't be that bad.
And teams don't actually change their shirts very frequently anyway.
It's about once a year and international teams do it even less frequently.
So this means people don't need to buy shirts that often anyway.
And the official kits last a long time.
So I argue that they're completely worth the amount of money that people are spending on them.
So I think it's fine.
I'm going to put out there.
I'm a Newcastle United fan, but I used to live in Nottingham for a little bit.
And I still have a Nottingham football shirt from years and years and years and years and years ago that I would wear happily.
I don't need a new kit every year, especially when it's that expensive.
Goodness me, but I'm sure our listeners and readers have a lot to say about it.
Probably mostly about the fact that I'm a Newcastle fan wearing a Nottingham shirt.
But anyway, we want to hear your opinions on this week's Big Debate.
So you can get involved by voting online at theweekjunior.co.uk slash polls.
You can also email your thoughts to us at hello at theweekjunior.co.uk or send us a voice note.
Just go to funkidslive.com slash theweekjunior.
Scroll down until you see that big red button, then grab a grown up and record your voice.
The last big debate was all about whether woods should be open to the public.
Joe, what were the results?
It was really, really close this week.
51% said no, they shouldn't be open to the public because the wildlife there should be protected.
Wow, that is a very tight margin.
And we also had a voice note from Martha to share her thoughts.
Hello, The Week Junior.
I want to tell you my views on the big debate this week.
I think that not all woodlands should be open to the public.
Some special woodlands should be kept safe from harm.
Thank you.
I love your show.
Thanks, Martha.
That's such a good point of view.
Excellent stuff.
Any other opinions sent in on this one, Eve?
One person said I think woodland should be closed to the public because wildlife should be protected and loads of endangered species live in the woodland.
And they've put the end of the message.
And I love your show.
So thank you very much.
And someone else said I think that all wood should be open to the public, because woods are a place to relax and decompress, which is very nice.
And finally, we got a message from Avani, who is 11, who said I think that all the woods shouldn't be available for the public.
This is because if I had private property and all these random strangers were in my property, I wouldn't like it.
And I think that is such a good point.
We haven't been thinking about that, but that is a very good point, Avani.
Thank you.
Yeah, excellent.
Thank you so much to everybody who got in touch this week about their thoughts on sharing the woods.
If you've got an opinion on this week's big debate, like I said about the football strips, just let us know at theweekjuniorcouk slash polls.
Now, every week, readers of The Week Junior send in lots of messages to the inbox to tell us what they've been up to.
Before we start with all of them, I've got to say hello to Olivia, who is a fan of The Week Junior show that I chatted to this week and I promised to shout out to.
So Olivia, if you're listening, this is for you.
Hello.
And we've got editorial assistant Kay here right now to share some of the other messages with us.
Hello, Kay.
Hello.
Matthew got in touch to say, I love reading The Week Junior every week.
My chicken even joined me to read this week's issue.
And he's sitting in a treehouse reading the magazine with his chicken.
Looks really does look like it's reading the magazine.
It looks incredibly involved and incredibly interested, so maybe it is some kind of a special breed of chicken.
Um, but yeah matthew, i'd be interested to hear its views on our latest big debate.
If you could pass those on, Natalie went to see the Pets and Their People exhibition at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford.
She said, it was really interesting and my favourite part was the robot cat.
That is so cool because we actually wrote about this exhibition in the magazine on our entertainment page a couple of weeks ago.
And the exhibition sounded really interesting.
And I remember learning from.
I spoke to the curator, Charles Foster, and he said that one of the facts you can learn about in the exhibition is how much poo is produced by dogs in the UK.
And it's four thousand five hundred ninety tons a day, which is one point six, eight million tons a year, which is insane.
I loved that fact.
But yeah, so nice to see that someone's gone to the exhibition.
So thanks, Natalie, for sending in that picture.
Thank you so much for sending us all of your messages.
We love hearing what you've been up to.
And don't forget if your voice note is played on the podcast, you're in with a chance of winning a roving reporter badge.
Get in touch with us via hello at theweekjuniorcouk or via our social media accounts.
Thank you very much, guys.
Now let's turn our attention back to the magazine this week and your favourite stories.
Joe, who's been your hero of the week?
My hero of the week is Amelie French, who I interviewed for the Week Juniors People page this week.
Amelie is a ballet dancer who is playing the lead role in an upcoming adaptation of Anne of Green Gables.
She talked to me and actually, to a much greater extent, taught me about ballet and told me about how much she enjoys it.
She said, being on stage is a feeling unlike anything else.
I just always feel so happy.
It's her second major performance and she wants to do ballet as a career when she's older.
So we have a star in the making here, I think.
Oh, that's incredible.
Thanks, Joe.
Eve, what's your favourite fact from this week's issue?
So my favorite fact is from our All About page, which is all about hibernation.
And the reason we've got it is because it's springtime, so lots of animals will be waking up from their hibernation.
And a fact that I loved from that page is that when dolphins sleep, half of their brain is shut down, which I had no idea about.
And it's basically so that the other half can work on making sure that they float back up to the surface to get some air and to sort of be aware of their surroundings.
But I think that's amazing.
Yeah, wow.
I had no idea about that at all.
Now, a story that I saw that made me smile was about Scottish women's football, because pictures of these Scottish women footballers were projected onto the walls of Edinburgh Castle on the 18th of April.
So you had the professional stars from the Women's Premier League up there, as well as some youth players as well from lots of other Scottish football clubs there.
And I just thought, how cool would that be to see yourself projected onto a castle?
I mean, that's pretty cool.
So yeah, congrats to all of the footballers who got themselves up in lights.
Now it's time for our moment of truth.
I've just remembered what the story is.
But Joe, can you remind all of our listeners, please, for what we're about to hear?
It's about a musician who worked with the company Hellmans to make a song entirely from sounds made by mayonnaise.
It came after a study by Northumbria University, which aimed to find out if the source could be used as an instrument.
And the verdict was, yes, it can.
But Bex, is this real or rubbish?
Oh, I'm really stuck on this one because I can't tell whether it's a genuine story or...
There's something in here that's true, but you've twisted it a little bit.
Because technically, look, if I squirt mayonnaise right now, yeah, there'll be a sound.
But would we call it music?
Probably not.
But then if you string it all together, would that make a long sound that would be classed as music?
You could auto-tune it.
You could make it into a thing.
I don't know.
But this seems a bit too bizarre to me.
And also he said he's a musician.
I mean, what a weird gig for him, what an odd gig to be sent to make music from mayonnaise.
Um, i genuinely don't know.
I'm gonna say it's rubbish just because it seems too bizarre to me.
That's my answer.
Is rubbish this week, It's real.
It's real.
Researchers at Northumbria University found that when mayonnaise is used to make a sound in a musical setting, it stops being just a source and becomes an instrument.
There we go.
Wow.
So are we saying in an orchestra soon you're going to have like, the timpani, you'll have the violins, you'll have the percussion, you'll have the mayonnaise.
Is that what we're saying?
Yeah, yeah.
You'll have ketchup at the back, maybe horseradish to the side, sort of dotted around barbecue sauce over there.
Yeah.
To be fair, I would go to that orchestra in a heartbeat.
Now, finally, it's time for Listen Up.
This is the bit of the show that gives you a chance to win a copy of our book of the week.
This week, it's Monster Diaries, The Cyclops and the Worst Party Ever by Anne Miller.
All you've got to do is answer a question about something that's been said in this episode.
And if you think you know an answer, grab a grown-up and head to theweekjuniorcouk to fill in our online entry form and enter the prize draw before the closing date of the 30th of April at midday.
Congratulations to listener Ossian who won a copy of A Heist Before Bedtime in a recent giveaway.
Now the Week Junior team will randomly select one winner from all of the entries with the correct answer.
And if you're under 16, you must have a parent or guardian's permission to enter, and terms and conditions apply.
You can find out more at theweekjunior.co.uk slash terms.
So are you ready?
Listen up.
When a dolphin sleeps, which body part does it shut down half of?
If you know the answer All right, that brings us to the end of this week's show.
Thank you to Eve, Joe, Kay and Laura.
Next week, we'll be back to discuss more of the fascinating stories happening in the world.
And don't forget to send in voice notes for a chance to have your voice on the podcast and to win a roving reporter badge.
Plus, of course, please do rate, review and subscribe, or follow us.
Wherever it is you get your podcasts.
And if you like The Week Junior show, you'll love The Week Junior magazine.
Head to theweekjunior.co.uk to find out more.
Bye or three issues of The Week Junior Science and Nature for £5 by heading to theweekjuniorcouk forward slash podcast offer.
