Hello and welcome to the Week Junior show.
I'm Bex and I'm joined by writers Joe and Eve from the Week Junior, the magazine making sense of the world for 8 to 14 year olds.
In a week where resident doctors started a five day strike in England and a pantomime horse race took place in London.
We're going to be talking about some of the other stories that inspired and entertained the Week Junior team.
And if you answer it correctly, you could win a prize.
Now in this week's magazine there is a roundup of some great Christmas films and TV to watch this festive season.
So I've got to ask, what is your favourite Christmas film?
Eve, you can go first.
Well, my favourite Christmas film of all time, and one of my favourite films anyway, is Klaus, which is on Netflix.
And it is just the most amazing film about a postman that gets sent to this tiny little obscure town where no one gets on.
And he starts working with a toy maker to deliver presents to all the people, all the children in the town.
And it's such a lovely story and it's animated and it's beautiful.
And if anyone hasn't seen it, please watch it because it is just the most amazing film.
Okay.
High praise from Eve.
Jo, how about you?
My favorite christmas movie is the nightmare before christmas.
If you've not seen it, it's an animation about spooky characters who live in halloween town, but one day, the main character, who's called jack skellington and he is a skeleton, of course, uh discovers christmas and tries to get the whole of halloween town involved, but predictably, it doesn't go quite to plan.
It's also a musical and it's got some amazing songs in it.
So yeah, check it out if you can.
Yeah, some really good songs in that.
Now this was a tough one for me, because of course you've got heavy hitters like Elf and The Muppet.
Christmas Carol.
How could I forget The Muppets?
Oh, my God.
I love The Muppet Christmas Carol.
A brilliant, brilliant film.
But in my heart of hearts, the first answer that came into my head was a film which some of our listeners and readers might know because it used to be on TV, like every Christmas and on Christmas Day in the morning, called Santa Claus.
The Movie, which is about the history of Santa Claus,
And then it turns up to present day times when he's trying to compete against all of the modern shops.
And him and his elf fall out.
And the elf goes off into the world and tries to make Christmas 2.
I love that film.
It's long.
There's a lot to it, but it's fun.
And it just, for me, captures the magic of Christmas.
So that would be my choice.
But of course, if you want to tell us what your favourite Christmas film is, you can send us an email to hello at theweekjuniorcouk or leave us a voice note at funkidslivecom.
Slash theweekjunior.
Just grab a grown-up, look for that big red button, and record your voice.
And if your voice note is played out, you could win a Week Junior roving reporter badge.
Now, last week, we asked our listeners what person from the past they'd like to spend the day with.
We got an email in from Kit, didn't we?
What did it say, Eve?
So Kit said, the person from history I'd most like to spend the day with is Noel Stretfield, because I really like the books Ballet Shoes and White Boots.
And I also recently saw Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre and loved it.
I would love to ask her how she writes her books and comes up with the characters.
And I think that sounds like a great idea.
A little snippet here.
I chatted to Jacqueline Wilson recently, who is also a big fan of the Ballet Shoes books and was planning to go and see that very production because she was so excited about seeing it last year.
She wanted to see it again.
So, yes, Kit is in good company there.
We also had a voice note from Saoirse.
Hello, Virginia.
My name's Saoirse.
If I could spend a day in history with someone, it would be Enid Blyton, so I could find out how she came up with her wonderful ideas for the faraway tree books.
I love your show and magazine.
Bye.
Another author that people want to spend time with.
Okay.
And Enid Blyton, a classic.
Excellent stuff.
And finally here, we had a message from Georgia.
Hello, The Week Junior.
My name's Georgia and I'm 10 years old.
If I could go back in time and meet someone for a day, I would meet Frida Kahlo, because I would like to learn more about her life and how it changed after she had her accident.
Love your show.
Bye.
Oh, Georgia, a great shout.
And I believe there was a little feature on Frida Kahlo a few weeks ago in the magazine.
So excellent work there, Georgia.
Thank you to Georgia, to Saoirse and to Kit for sending in all of their thoughts.
And if you want to tell us what your favourite Christmas film is, please send us a voice note at funkidslivecom.
Slash The Week Junior.
Now let's turn our attention back to the latest magazine and talk about what's been in the headlines this week.
Eve, what story do you have for me?
Australia has recently brought in a new ban on social media for young people.
And the ban means that young people must now be 16 years old or older to use 10 major social media platforms, including Facebook Instagram Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
And it's the first social media ban of its kind anywhere in the world, which is why it's really made headlines.
And the law came into effect on the 10th of December.
And it means that social media companies must now close accounts and stop users from holding an account until they are 16 years old.
And if the companies don't do this, they could be fined up to £25 million.
And the Australian government has introduced this ban because they hope to protect children and young people from the dangers of social media, such as cyberbullying.
And some young people are in support of the ban.
12-year-old Flossie said it will help kids to grow up safer, kinder and more connected to the real world.
But some Australians who live in remote areas are worried about being cut off from their friends.
So it's kind of had a mixed review.
But yeah, very interesting story.
Yeah, really interesting.
Quite a big thing to bring into effect as well.
Thanks, Eve.
Now, Jo, what's been your big news story of the week?
It's a story from Around the World Pages about streets in Lagos Nigeria, being turned into open-air art galleries as part of its first ever street art festival.
So as part of the festival, colourful murals, which are wall paintings, sprung up in the city.
The festival finished on the 15th of December, but the murals have been left in place.
And I had a look through some of the photographs, and they really are incredible, so vibrant.
I was sort of looking hard at them.
I spotted people, a peacock, planet Earth and loads more in the pictures.
So go out and have a look at them if you get the chance.
Now, next up, it's time for my favourite bit of the show, real or rubbish.
This is the part where I get told a story.
I have to guess if it's fact or fake news and the answer will be revealed at the end of the show.
Joe, I believe it's your turn this week.
So go on, tell me a story.
So in Scotland lies the village of Dull, which is home to around 100 people and is twinned with Boring in Oregon in the US.
Now people in Dull are fed up with others suggesting their town is drab and their village rather, is drab and tedious just because of its name.
So they've come up with a solution giving visitors incentives to pop by in 2026 and see how interesting it is.
They're offering free accommodation, tea, cakes and tours to anyone who drops by next year.
Now, Bex, is this real or did we dream it up on a particularly dull day in the office?
But what is there to see in dull?
I mean yeah, you can go and maybe get free accommodation, but do you want to go to this remote Scottish village?
Yeah, that's a very good question.
I mean, it's very small, so there's only 100 people there.
I think it's surrounded by beautiful countryside.
It's in a gorgeous area of Scotland.
I mean, I used to live in Kendal, which was often described as the gateway to the Lake District.
So maybe Dull is sort of a gateway to the beautiful countryside surrounding it.
Oh, that's a good answer, Joe.
Where are you staying?
Are you staying in like a village pub?
Are you staying in a tent?
Are you staying in someone's house?
Do we know that?
Yeah, so I mean, it's small, but it does have facilities.
So there's B&Bs, Airbnbs and the like there.
I think it has generated a bit of interest because of the name.
I mean, before this story went in the week junior, I was aware of the town of dull.
So I think, I think they have in the past managed to drum up a bit of a bit of kind of tourism just because of the name.
So yeah, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
If I was them, I think I'd just decide to lean into the name of dull and just paint everything grey and make it as boring as possible.
And then people would come just to see how boring it was.
I'm interested by this.
I don't know.
I think it's a very good idea, but I think it's a shame that they're kind of like almost just forgetting their roots.
You know, you're called dull.
Own it.
Go for it.
But I also do like the idea of free accommodation.
So I'm quite tempted to go myself, to be honest.
But while I'm thinking about dull and boring things not the podcast obviously, but the places let's talk about something exciting and brilliant.
It is our book of the week, which this week is The Merry Christmas Murders by Alexandra Benedict.
Here she is to tell us a little bit more about it.
Hello, I'm Alexandra Benedict, the author of The Merry Christmas Murders.
It's a festive mystery in which five neurodivergent kids and two support animals have to solve a crime where their headmaster is killed by a poisoned mince pie.
I love reading and I love mysteries.
I love the author Agatha Christie.
But when I was growing up, my favourite authors were Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton...
E. Nesbitt and C.S.
Lewis.
I loved C.S.
Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and all of the books in that series.
I read them again and again and again.
In fact, I think I might read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe again this year, as it feels so Christmassy.
Thank you very much.
Bye.
So if you would like to win a copy of The Merry Christmas Murders, stay with us until the end of the show to find out how you can enter our prize draw to win a copy.
Now this week, we've got some very exciting guests on the podcast, haven't we, Eve?
We have.
I was very lucky to interview the cast of Percy Jackson and the Olympians to celebrate Series 2 coming out on Disney.
And I got to speak with Walker, Leah and Arian, who play the main trio in the show Percy, Annabeth and Grover.
And then I also got to speak to Daniel and Charlie, who play Percy's psych-ops, brother Tyson and Luke, the show's villain.
First, I just wanted to show you guys.
I'm from the Week Genie magazine, and you were on our cover last week.
Oh, my God.
Whoa.
That's awesome.
May I see?
Of course.
Thank you.
Can I go to the other one?
Here you go, Orion.
Oh, thank you.
Oh, never mind.
Stay good.
Oh, whoa.
There you go.
Yeah, I just wanted to show you.
Percy, demigod, son of Poseidon, god of the sea.
Annabelle, demigod, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom.
Sinner, half-human, half-god.
No son of Pan.
Can't hurt humans.
You know what's weird?
We've never established that Celestial Bronze can't harm humans in the show.
So yeah, I just wanted to ask you firstly a Weak Genie classic question we love to ask because it's a magazine for 8-14 year olds.
We usually ask people what their favourite sandwiches are, but I wanted to put a twist on it and ask what you think your character's favourite sandwiches would be.
I think Grover will eat anything as long as it's within arm range.
Well, I think, not our favorite sandwiches.
But in season one we practiced for four days for this one scene where I take the ham off of his sandwich and put it on mine and he takes the lettuce and tomato.
That took so much longer than it should have taken.
It was so difficult for us for some reason.
And then that sandwich gets thrown at me, and I get a little bit of cheese stuck on my face.
But I think...
I think Percy doesn't like, we know he doesn't like vegetables or anything that healthy.
So I think he just kind of likes the ham and cheese.
Just ham and cheese on bread.
Not really a sandwich, but I think Grover loves enchiladas.
I know Grover loves enchiladas.
Yeah.
That's a good one.
I think sandwiches are any type of bun and meat.
You can interpret it however you like.
If you say hot dog, I'm going to be furious.
I hate hot dogs.
I hate hot dogs with a passion.
I wouldn't even allow Annabeth to eat it.
But what's it called?
I'd probably say... I love hot dogs.
You know, Annabeth, she's kind of old in the heart, and I think she likes a good BLT or something.
That's a good answer.
Even though I hate tomatoes, I think she would have it with the tomatoes, too.
That is a good choice.
I like that.
That's a good answer.
With no mustard, though.
I'm sorry.
That's true.
Yeah.
That's fair.
We got a question sent in from a reader called Rafi who wants to know what is the scariest monster in series two.
Charybdis.
Rafi, right?
Rafi?
Yeah.
Thank you, Rafi.
Hey, Rafi.
Hi.
Scariest monster?
For me, Polyphemus.
Rafi was also my stuffed animal name a long time ago.
I love you, Rafi.
It's an awesome name, yeah.
Scariest one?
Probably Scylla.
Scylla was terrifying.
I mean, they weren't there on the day, but...
We couldn't afford them.
They were too expensive, so it was easier to just CGI.
Yeah.
Trying to bring that big of an animal through the set is a little hard.
It's difficult.
Such a diva.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you can fight them in Fortnite.
Ishii was wondering, what power or weapon from the series would you love to have in real life?
Thank you, Ishii.
Riptide.
Riptide, yeah.
Sorry.
Yoshi?
Ah.
No, Ishii, right?
Yeah.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I thought... I'm sorry.
I thought you said I was like an Oshi, like a Yoshi.
I was like... Yoshi.
Weapon or item?
Or just weapon?
Or power.
Or power?
Yeah.
You know...
Um, Charlie said that he would want Poseidon's powers, so... Interesting.
I would want Zeus's, like, to fly.
Winged shoes, winged shoes.
Yeah, that would seem really cool.
Although the tide would be awesome.
I really like, I really like Aegis.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, yeah.
I feel like that would be actually kind of useful if you want to go sledding.
Yeah.
Or if, like, you ever get in a situation where you need to, like... Giant boulders coming at you.
Exactly.
Mm-hmm, i would take it's not in the show but uh, percy's original.
Like wristwatch ah, you get an awesome watch that turns into a shield.
Yeah, that's really cool.
I would love to have annabeth's cap.
Thank you so much.
You know what people don't really say that a lot there's not really like in the person jackson universe it's like really useful because it's, like you know, sneaking through places that could get you killed, or like like hearing information that you need to hear, but like in real life there's not really a good like situation using and that's not really weird.
No yes, you can.
If say you're a really famous person and say you're trying to get through somewhere true, put the cap on, go ahead, take it off right when you get inside, like you know, when you get to the met gala and they got them in all those freaking umbrellas and all the shower curtain stuff just put the hat on, walk right on up in there and then boom, take it right off.
True yeah, it's a good point.
I'm saying true, that's very cool.
You know in the chariot races how.
So firstly, did you use real horses for the chariot races?
Yes.
I was wondering what was it like working with them?
And also, Walker, obviously Percy has a real affinity for horses.
Do you have that affinity for horses as well?
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah.
I really enjoy riding horses.
I've been up to... We all learned it at Danny Virtue's ranch.
I've been up there a couple of times to like He taught me how to ride a horse and it was like you know.
Maybe the coolest thing I've ever done was have him.
He took me out on a ride through his ranch and it was awesome.
I'll never forget that.
I felt like a real cowboy.
It was sick.
But no, yeah, I think so.
I really like horses, and I hope I get to ride them more.
I mean, I have Blackjack.
I rode him a couple times this season.
But a lot of times when I ride him it's not like me.
I mean, it is me, but it's like you know, we have like someone handling him and and guiding him a little bit more so i can focus on my acting.
But uh yeah, i hope i get to like gallop on him one day.
Yeah, that's awesome, like full speed.
I have questions from me and also questions from our readers as well.
But firstly i was wondering a lot of our readers really love the percy jackson books.
What were your favorite books growing up?
Percy Jackson?
Honestly.
Yeah, yeah.
And Lord of the Rings.
I think those two were huge.
Yeah, no, same.
I mean, I think Wonder was a big one for me.
Wonder was one that, like, I think I read that, like, five times in a row.
Like the one that got made into the movie?
Yeah, yeah.
Amazing book.
If you haven't read it.
I haven't read it yet.
And then I have a question here from Ishii, who's wondering who is your favorite Greek god or creature in mythology, and why?
I'm going to take away.
Oh, favorite Greek god.
I feel like, I mean, this is basic considering it's Percy Jackson, but I got to go with Poseidon.
I do love Poseidon.
I'm such a beach boy myself, so, yeah.
Poseidon all the way.
Straight up here.
Poseidon.
Yeah.
Glad we're on the same page.
Yeah.
Start a fight right away.
And then Daniel, I was wondering, how did they make you a Cyclops?
What did it look like behind the scenes?
Just like this.
Yeah, yeah.
It's all special effects.
Behind the scenes, it just looks like me.
We didn't have anything fancy.
No green screen, no kind of fancy prosthetics.
So, yeah, very, very easy.
And then they just did all the hard work on their end.
Did it feel weird when you were acting, knowing only one of my eyes is going to be in the final cut?
No.
I mean, again, it's like, when you're doing it, just kind of just doing it.
I think if you're thinking about what it's going to look like later, you're not really present in the scene anyways.
But no.
It was remarkably very easy.
I think I got into it pretty, pretty fast.
Again, we had a month of prep to kind of go through it with the team and they were happy, so we just kind of went full steam ahead.
You did have to do Tyson time.
Oh, yeah, that's true.
After, like, every scene, right?
Yeah.
Hopefully you have time for that, but it's a bit of a longer answer, I guess.
But at the end of each scene, kind of each setup, they're just able to kind of get the eye as many scans as possible.
With the lighting that we kind of had on the day.
They would do kind of like a whole thing where i'd have to kind of repeat the lines of the day or kind of tell a story um, and just like kind of look all over so they could scan my eye from all different directions to see how the light kind of impacts with the motions of what we're kind of doing.
Oh, that's so cool.
Yeah, it's really cool.
I love that.
And then charlie, i mean it seems like you get on with the whole cast so well.
So i was wondering, how do you prepare, how do you?
What's your process for getting into like villain mode as luke?
Oh, that's actually a great question.
I uh yeah, it was interesting because i feel like lot, you know, more similar to mine um, and a lot of my stuff.
Season one was just me and walker.
You know basically all my stuff actually.
So we were kind of just goofing off up until they said action, like literally we'd be like joking around, they'd be like action, we have to lock in straight away, and walker's so good at just doing that naturally, like he even now he can just do that um, but for season two particularly, i really I needed to like take a moment.
Like, I still wanted to have fun with everyone on set and just be present with everyone.
But you know, if they gave us like a five-minute warning or whatever that we were going to head into set, I would usually like put my AirPods in and take a walk and go in the corner and just try and live in that darkness a little bit before we started filming.
So, yeah, that was kind of my process.
We always ask people at the Week Genie what their favorite sandwich is, but I wanted to put a twist on this and ask what you think Tyson and Luke's favorite sandwiches would be.
I think Tyson could go probably PB&J.
Maybe just straight peanut butter.
But PB&J I think would be a good addition to the list.
That's very on brand, I think.
I don't know.
I don't know why, but the first thing that came to my head was like an Italian sandwich.
I don't know.
With those clothes, particularly just sitting in the Admiralty suite and drawing an Italian sandwich.
And then Jacob asked what is your favourite part in the Sea of Monsters book?
Hole in the book?
I think rainbow is probably one of my favorite things in the sea monsters book.
Yeah yeah, i mean outside of like the relationships between like, percy and tyson, i think rainbow is just such a i don't know specific special kind of character that jumped out for me um, I don't know like least favorite jump to mind for some reason.
I thought about the scene of like in the cave when Clarice is being held captive and then she just fully outs her over.
Yeah.
Because I reread it not too long ago again, just in preparation for all this, and I was like so mad at Clarice in that moment.
That's exactly how I felt, too.
Yeah.
And then Ishii was wondering is there a power or a weapon from Percy Jackson that you'd love to have in real life now, if you could?
I mean, most of them?
You can only pick one.
That's a difficult one there.
Persuasion as a whole.
I could just take Zeus's power.
I feel like the weapons are awesome, but if you don't have the power, what are you really going to do with them?
Me with Riptide is going to be pretty useless.
But if I had Percy's power, I could maybe grab myself a weapon and be a little bit more useful.
I think I'd go with Percy Jackson's powers.
I think Tyson's got a lot of things that I'm really grateful for and really excited about, but I think Percy's powers are a little stronger than Tyson's still.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm going to take a step up and go with Poseidon's powers.
Sure.
No, I love that.
That's two great answers.
Well, thank you.
That's all the questions I have for you.
It was so nice to meet you guys.
Thank you so much.
I love your necklace.
I noticed it in the middle of the interview.
I was like, wow.
Thank you.
I really appreciate it.
And I had the best time interviewing these guys because I just love Percy Jackson, as I'm sure everyone gathered when I spoke about it on the podcast recently.
And the first three episodes of series two are out now on Disney Plus.
Thank you very much, Eve.
Now it's time for this week's big debate.
And the question is, is it better to give than to receive gifts?
Joe and Eve will be going 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.
For many people, Christmas means trees, turkeys and presents.
Gift giving is an ancient tradition and it's a way to build friendships and show kindness.
In the UK, around 41 of children help their parents with Christmas gift shopping, selecting items for other family members and friends.
A Canadian study found that young children were happier when they gave gifts than when they received them.
And other research found that adults who bought presents for others experienced more happiness than if they'd spent the money on themselves.
So, is it better to give than to receive gifts?
Eve is team yes, Joe is team no.
Each has 60 seconds to make their case and make up my mind.
So, who should we have first?
You know what?
I think we're going to have Eve going first.
Eve, I've got my clock at the ready here.
So, whenever you're ready, go for it.
Giving thoughtful gifts to other people is really what the true spirit of Christmas is all about.
I think it shows how much you care about and appreciate the other people in your life, And there is such a lovely, warm feeling when you get to watch someone open a present that you bought or made for them.
And it makes you feel like really happy, especially when they really love it.
Because I've you know, I've made some gifts in my time and seeing friends and family open them and absolutely love it is just such a nice feeling.
And I think Giving someone else a present is nice because it spreads joy and happiness during the festive season.
It's especially lovely when you donate a gift to someone who might otherwise not get a present.
And I think that's what Christmas should be all about, the spirit of giving to other people.
Thank you, Eve.
Now it's Joe's turn to tell us why he disagrees.
So Joe, whenever you're ready, take it away.
Well, Bex, let's be honest.
The best part of the festive season, especially when you're a kid, is waking up on Christmas morning, seeing presents under the tree with your name on them and getting to open them.
Yes, it's wonderful to give presents, but opening your own, expressing your excitement and seeing the pleasure on the faces of friends and family as they can see that you appreciate what they've got, is also very lovely.
Plus, I think it's a bit less nerve wracking to open presents than it is to give them to others.
If you're giving them, there's the danger someone won't like what you've got them, which really isn't very nice.
It's not a nice feeling.
And look, the build up to receiving presents on Christmas Day is also really, really fun.
Wondering what you've got, even giving the present a little shake on the day to see if it holds any clues.
And then, of course, playing with your new toys after you've been given them.
You just can't beat it.
Oh my goodness.
Okay.
Very tricky one this week because look, let's face it, I do like getting presents.
Who doesn't?
There is something incredible about knowing that somebody's thought about you and has given you something perfect.
But equally, I think the most excited I've ever been has been when I've picked the perfect present for someone else, and I can't wait to see their reaction.
So this is a tricky one, but of course it's not about my opinion.
It's what our readers and listeners think.
So if you've got an opinion on this week's big debate, you can get involved right now.
Go and vote online at theweekjuniorcouk slash polls.
You can email your thoughts to us at hello at theweekjuniorcouk or send us a voice note.
Just go to funkidslivecom slash theweekjunior.
Scroll down until you see that big red button.
Grab a grown-up and record your voice.
Your message could be in a future episode.
Now, in last week's Big Debate we asked you if all zoos should be closed.
So let's find out what the Week Junior listeners and readers voted.
Joe, do you have those numbers?
I do indeed.
81% said no, because zoos do lots to help endangered species.
Interesting.
OK.
And Eve, any opinions sent in on this one?
So one person said animals should never be kept in captivity, no matter how much people like to go and see them, takes them away from their family and takes away their chance to roam free.
All zoos should definitely be banned no matter what.
But then someone else said very much on the other side of the argument.
No, because zoos are fun places for all ages and most times animals live peacefully in the zoo.
Animals are brought to the zoo to be cared for and are always healthy.
Zoos are amazing places and should never be closed.
Wow, two very different opinions there.
Thank you very much, Eve.
Now, every week, readers of The Week Junior send lots of messages into the inbox to tell us what they've been up to.
And editorial assistant Elena is here right now to share some of her favourites.
Hello, Elena.
We've had more Christmas messages coming in and we like this one from Louis, who made a colourful pyramid out of pom-pom balls.
And this is what he said.
I was unwell and couldn't get to sleep so I made a pyramid out of little pom-pom balls.
The longest row of pom-poms at the bottom is 12 and there are 12 layers.
So there are 364 pom-poms in the pyramid, which is the same as the total number of items in the 12 Days of Christmas song.
It's amazing.
His pyramid has got all of the colours in the rainbow and it must have taken a lot of focus to place each of these bowls individually.
I don't think I would have the patience for this.
Eve, tell us what you think about Louis' pom-pom pyramid.
I love it.
I think it's so creative and I love the kind of maths that's gone behind it with the 12s and everything.
I think it looks so cool, and you can see Louis' Christmas tree behind.
Looks like the family's getting very festive.
So yeah, I hope you're feeling better as well Louis, after not feeling very well.
Yeah, I was also going to mention the Christmas tree.
Looks so cozy.
It's like what I want my Christmas tree to look like, and I can never get it to look like that.
So, yes.
We also had a message from Rio, who is 11 years old and sent us a picture singing carols with his family and friends to raise money for Barnardo's, which is a children's charity.
His auntie is running the London Marathon on their behalf, and they've raised 67.90 pounds.
And I just love the picture.
Everyone looks so happy, so festive.
They're wearing reindeer and elf headwear.
I would love to run into them while having a walk.
Joe, what do you think about Rio's picture?
Yeah, I agree.
It's really nice, isn't it?
They all just look so, so happy.
And I think you can tell it's really cold outside, by the way.
They're kind of huddled together and they're all in very warm clothing.
And it just feels really Christmassy.
And, just as a bit of a side note, props to his auntie for planning to run the London Marathon on their behalf.
I mean, best of luck to her.
Yeah, best of luck to her.
And that's it for this week.
And that's it for the year.
Thank you so much, Louis and Rio.
And thank you to everyone who has been in touch over the course of 2025.
I'll be back with over to you in a few weeks.
And in the meantime, we'd love to know what you get up to during the holidays.
So please send us a voice note.
And if we feature it in the podcast, we will send you a roving reporter batch.
Thanks, Elena.
Now it's time to turn our attention back to the magazine this week and the team's favourite stories.
So, Eve, who has been your hero of the week?
So my hero is 11-year-old Max, who has been named the youngest male video game developer in the world by Guinness World Records.
To secure this title, he spent four hours at his local library developing his game, which includes five levels.
He started learning coding five years ago when he was in year two.
And I know a bit of coding from when I went to uni.
And I just think that's amazing because I don't know if I would have been able to wrap my head around coding when I was in year two.
But Max wants to be a video game designer when he's older.
And as a lover of video games, I'm excited to see what he creates.
Pretty impressive indeed.
Jo, what's been your favourite fact of the week?
It's a festive fact from our entertainment pages.
And to be honest, it's possibly not that surprising, but it's Christmassy.
So I'm going to run with it.
It's.
A recent survey found that Home Alone is the UK's favorite Christmas movie, which may be all surprising people.
I feel like I could have guessed that, but there you go.
I guess it's a big family movie, isn't it?
Like everybody at home can watch it.
So yeah, I can understand that.
One story I saw this week, carrying on the video game theme, was all about the 2025 Games Awards at the Peacock Theatre in LA in America.
Now, a friend of mine was actually at the awards, so it was really cool to see the awards get a shout out in the magazine as well.
You can check out some of the winners right now on the Around the World page.
Next up, it's time to reveal the moment of truth for the real or rubbish story.
Joe, can you remind me what this week's story was, please?
Yeah, it was about the village of Dull in Scotland, where residents have become so fed up of their home being judged by its name that they're encouraging people to come and visit and see what it's like for themselves.
They're offering things like free accommodation, tea, cakes and tours to anyone who pops by.
I mean, it does make it sound like people can't stop talking about how awful Dull is.
The idea that anyone talking about Dull and how terrible it is.
I don't think anybody's really getting that mean about Dull.
But maybe they are.
Maybe that's a big deal in the Dull world.
And maybe the people of Dull have decided, you know what, we need to do something about it.
So I'm going to say this week, the story is real.
I think it's a lovely idea.
And I think I would go and visit Dull on the strength of this.
So...
To be honest, I mean, they had me at cake, let's face it.
So I'm going to say the story this week is real.
Shall we do a drum roll?
We shall.
Yes.
It's actually rubbish.
We're signing off the year with a victory.
They aren't inviting visitors to change their minds.
However Vienna, the capital of Austria, has invited the entire village of Dole for a free visit to prove it isn't boring, which did surprise me.
Apparently, Vienna has a reputation for being a bit dull, which I wasn't aware of.
Didn't know that at all.
I was going to try and visit Vienna next year.
Maybe I shouldn't.
I don't know.
If they're admitting it themselves, probably not the best thing, is it?
Anyway, it's time now for Listen Up, which is the part of the show that gives you the chance to win a copy of our book of the week.
This week, of course, it's The Merry Christmas Murders by Alexandra Benedict.
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 the answer, grab a grown up and head to theweekjuniorcouk slash.
Listen up to fill in our online entry form and to enter the prize draw before the closing date of the 25th of December at midday.
And of course, congratulations to Zach, who won a copy of My Cat Is Called Odin last week.
So the Week Junior team will randomly select a 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.
Find out more at theweekjunior.co.uk slash terms.
So are you ready?
Listen up.
How old do people in Australia now need to be to use social media?
If you know the answer to the question, go to theweekjuniorcouk forward slash.
Listen up to enter the giveaway.
Thanks, Eve.
Well, that brings us to the end of this week's show.
Of course, thank you to Joe, Eve and Elena.
Next week we'll be back to discuss some more of the fascinating stories that have been happening in the world all through this year.
So don't forget to send in your voice notes to have a chance to hear your voice on the podcast.
And you could win a roving reporter badge as well.
Plus, we would love it if you could rate, review and subscribe, or follow us wherever it is you get your podcasts from.
Plus, if you like The Week Junior Show, you'll love The Week Junior magazine.
Head to theweekjunior.co.uk to find out more.
Bye.
For five pounds by heading to theweekjunior.co.uk forward slash podcast offer.
