Hello and welcome to The Week Junior Show.
I'm Bex and I'm joined by writers Jo and Eve from The Week Junior, the magazine making sense of the world for 8 to 14 year olds.
In this week's episode, we've got lots to chat about.
There's the Winter Olympics, a new home for birds, sending humans to space and even a crafty cat.
Make sure you're listening closely, because at the end of this episode we'll be asking a question about what you've heard, and if you answer it correctly, you could win a prize.
Now in this week's issue there's an interview on the Book Club page where illustrator Emma McCann shares her top tips for drawing your pets.
It's tied in with National Love Your Pet Day next week on the 20th of February.
And it got me thinking, if you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?
Eve, go for it.
I'm thinking I would love to have a penguin, but now that I'm thinking about it, I think I would want about 20 penguins.
Because you know when London Zoo does their animal count every year, or the animal weigh-in, and there's always these great pictures of all the penguins queuing up.
And I was just thinking, imagine sort of having like a horde of penguins.
I go out for a walk and I'm joined by 20 penguins.
I think that sounds quite fun.
Oh my goodness.
I mean, I would be following you as well.
If you had 20 penguins, I'd be all over that.
I think I'd become your new pet Eve, to be honest.
Joe, how about you?
What would you take?
I think I'd have Pegasus, the winged horse from Greek mythology.
So my reasoning is it would be pretty cool because obviously it's a mythical creature.
Well, he wouldn't be so mythical if he was like in my bedroom or my house just walking around.
But there you go.
And he's a horse.
So you'd be able to Google how to feed him.
I reckon he'd scare away intruders.
And when you felt like just getting away from the world, you could hop on his back and fly somewhere, or just soar above everyone and look down on the world from above.
Free travel.
That's where you're going with that, Joe, right?
Exactly.
Yeah.
I'm always thinking to the future.
I'm always thinking one step ahead.
But yeah, you know, obviously I get other things out of Pegasus.
He's not just a means for free travel for me.
I'd look after him.
I love that.
I'm going for a similar shape of animal, I suppose.
I quite fancy a pet zebra because I think they're cooler than horses.
I'd like to look after it to learn how to ride a zebra.
But also I was thinking about this.
If you take your pet out for a walk, you know, like you take a dog out for a walk.
And if you take your pet zebra out for a walk, every time you walk across the road it automatically becomes a zebra crossing.
And therefore you can always stop traffic.
Brilliant.
Brilliant.
I mean, that's incredible reasoning.
I love it.
Thank you very much.
I think I might retire after that.
That's the proudest I've ever been about my thought process.
So yeah, I'm taking a zebra with me for the road.
So if you want to tell us what your dream pet is, you can send an email to hello at theweekjuniorcouk or leave a voice note at funkidslivecom.
Slash theweekjunior.
Just grab a grown up, look for that big red button and record your voice.
Now, if your voice note is played out next week, you could win a Week Junior roving reporter badge.
Last week we asked listeners what their happy place is linked to the Children's Mental Health Week theme.
This Is My Place.
And we had a voice note sent in by Cecilia.
Hi, Week Junior.
I'm Cecilia and I'm 11 years old.
And my happy place is when I'm playing football with my friends because they're all really nice.
Bye.
I love your show.
Oh, thank you to Juliet.
That's a double whammy there of sports.
So getting some exercise in and also seeing your pals.
That is a great happy place.
We also had one here from Oliver.
My happy place is when I'm dancing.
Short and sweet.
Oliver, thank you so much.
I want to know what kind of dancing Oliver's doing, obviously.
Is it ballet?
Is it jazz?
Is it tap?
Is it modern?
Or is it just having a little boogie in your bedroom?
Oliver, thank you so much for sending that in.
Now we've not just had voice notes from listeners, but also we had a couple this week from ambassadors from Place2Be, the charity behind Children's Mental Health Week.
We've got CBeebies presenter Evie Pickerel sharing hers.
Hello.
My name is Evie.
I'm a presenter, podcaster and place to be champion.
And when I was growing up, I would say the place where I felt like I truly belonged was my amateur dramatics group.
It wasn't just about performing, it was like being part of a community where I felt safe and supported and encouraged to be myself, And the space helped me build confidence and express emotions.
And it helped me feel understood at a time where I think looking back, it really mattered.
And I think having a place like that is really, really powerful for our mental health.
So yeah, definitely my amateur dramatic group was the place where I felt like I belonged.
And then we've got another one from Radio One presenter Katie Thistleton.
Hello, Katie Thistleton here, Radio One presenter and Place to Be ambassador.
Somewhere I feel like I really belong is when I'm with my family or my friends.
I think it's really important to have a friendship group that makes you feel like you can be yourself, the kind of people you can be around and you're never stuck for something to say because you can tell them exactly how you're feeling.
If you're feeling a little bit sad, you don't have to act happy around them.
And you can even just sit in silence with each other or sort of doing something separately in the same room.
That is the kind of friendship that really makes you feel good and you feel like you belong, because you know they're not going to judge you, no matter what you do.
And that's how I feel with my friends and with my family.
I know I can go to my parents' house or my sister's house and they will accept me no matter what.
I hope that you all feel like you have some way you belong like that as well.
Pretty cool to hear everybody's different answers.
Thank you so much to katie and evie and, of course, to oliver and chelia as well.
Now, if you want your voice to feature on next week's podcast, just send us a voice note at funkidslivecom slash the week junior to tell us about what your dream pet is.
Now i think we should turn our attention to the latest magazine, so let's talk about what's been in the headlines this week.
Joe, what story do you have?
It's a story from our big news pages covering the Winter Olympics, which are taking place in Milan and Cortina in Italy at the moment.
Now, the event began in spectacular style last week with the opening ceremony in Milan.
There was a dazzling performance by the US singer, Mariah Carey, before the Italian national anthem was sung in both Milan and Cortina, and processions involving more than 2900 athletes took place in both cities.
It's the first time the event has been hosted by two cities and the first time two Olympic cauldrons were lit.
The cauldron is lit at the start of every Olympics and keeps burning until the end.
The Winter Olympics really is magnificent if you get a chance to tune into it.
It features sports that maybe in this country we don't get around to watching so often, like snowboarding skiing, skating and ice hockey.
And it's been a great event so far, with one of the standout performers being Swiss skier Franjo von Allman, who has won three gold medals.
The only major disappointment is that at the time of recording this, on the 12th of February, Team GB hasn't yet won a medal, but I'm sure we'll all be keeping our fingers crossed.
Yes, let's hope we can see some snowy Olympic medals in there.
Thank you very much, Jo.
Eve, what's another story you've seen in the news this week?
So this is a story I found really interesting from our big news page.
And there's been so much talk in the news and in the Week Junior recently about social media.
But this story is about how social media platform TikTok has been told by the European Union that it must change its addictive design or risk a fine, which is money paid as punishments.
So the European Union, also known as the EU, is a group of 27 countries that work and trade together, but the UK is not part of the EU.
And the EU's, the section of the EU that makes and enforces laws, which is called the European Commission, started investigating TikTok in 2024.
And it found that the design of the platform broke the rules of their Digital Services Act, which aims to make being online safer for people living in the EU.
And the commission said that the way TikTok encourages people to keep scrolling and rewards users with new content could actually be harmful for both children and adults.
And it's recommended that TikTok make some changes to the app, including effective screen time breaks, especially at nighttime, and also getting rid of the ability to just infinitely scroll through hundreds of videos with no end.
And the company could be fined up to 6% of all of the money it makes in a year.
But TikTok can challenge the findings of the investigation first.
So I'm interested to see what happens there.
Oh, that is really, really interesting.
I've had to stop myself from going on TikTok, to be honest, because it is quite addictive.
And I found myself scrolling and scrolling, so I've had to delete the app.
Yeah, so that is fascinating.
Now, moving on, it is time for my favourite part of the show.
This is Real or Rubbish.
Now, Eve is going to tell me a story.
I have to guess if it's true or false.
Eve, go on, tell me a story, please.
So this story is about a clever cat who was recently leading a double life.
But she's now been rumbled because she returned home with a note explaining what she'd been up to.
So the cat is called Tula and she had been wandering to the local Toby Carvery restaurant in Swindon in England.
And meowing at staff and customers until they gave her food.
But her cover was blown when someone at the restaurant put a note around her neck that said does this cat have a home always at Toby Carvery?
And this led to her owner discovering what Tula had been up to.
So, Bette, is this true or an appalling lie?
What a catastrophe for this cat who was getting delicious extra food.
Thank you, Joe.
Cheers.
Thank you.
First of all, I just love a mention of a Toby Carvery.
I didn't see that coming at all.
That's really people to me.
So they say Tula was the name of the cat.
Yes.
Yeah.
So Tula is... hanging out at home and getting fed by her owners.
And then she's thinking, I'm a little bit more peckish than I should be.
I'll nip around to the old carvery.
And the staff were thinking, oh, this poor cat is not being fed.
We must give her food.
Yeah, pretty much.
So I also love that eventually the staff were like, this is getting a bit ridiculous.
Like she's eating us out of house and home.
House and carvery.
I am intrigued.
So Then I guess, did the owners stop her going out?
Did they send a note back?
Did they become like a letter writing system here?
I think the owner popped round to the Carvery to say, oh, the cat's mine, actually.
Just so you know, just so that Toby Carvery knew that the cat did in fact have a home and to perhaps stop feeding her, because you know she was being fed just fine at home.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm a fan of a carvery.
And often there's a choice of different meats.
You've got beef, pork, lamb, you've got chicken, you've got loads of different stuff.
What do we think Tula would be going for if she was to pick her ultimate Sunday roast?
Do we know?
Do you know what?
I'm not sure.
But thinking about what I know about cat food, I think cats quite like chicken.
Yeah, I guess so.
I feel like I see packets of wet cat food, chicken, and possibly beef.
Yeah, so I reckon that's what she'd go for.
I'm kind of imagining she's, you know how you sort of walk along and pick what you want.
I'm just sort of imagining that she only meows when she gets to a pile of meat that she wants.
And she sees the chicken and she goes, meow.
And then the staff are like, right, okay, some chicken, chicken for Tula.
And what potatoes would you like, madam?
Would you like roast or mashed?
I really, I mean, also, look, you could get gravy as well.
I feel like cats would like gravy.
Yeah, definitely.
I don't know for sure, so don't call me out on that.
So I'm not imagining, maybe I'm getting it wrong and just assuming that because I like gravy, cats would also like gravy.
But I want this to be true.
I don't know.
I just think what a cheeky chappy.
And I'm very impressed if Tula is indeed really stopping by the carvery.
So while I'm thinking about that, it's time to talk about our Book of the Week.
This week, it's The Last Wolf by Rob Biddulph.
So here he is to tell us a bit more about it.
Hi, listeners of The Week Junior Show.
It's Rob Biddulph here.
And my new book, The Last Wolf, which is the first in my Moonhaven Chronicles series, is this week's Book of the Week.
So what is it about?
Well, it's a supernatural thriller set in the town of Moonhaven, which is a town terrified of werewolves, which are very real in this story.
Every full moon there's a strict curfew, but a group of kids who call themselves the Moonlighters.
They put on their moon-proof cloaks and sneak out and explore the empty streets and parks and they feel like they have the whole world to themselves.
Then, one night, a blood-curdling howl breaks the silence and there is a werewolf attack, the first in nearly 40 years.
This is when everything changes, because the gang become suspects and have to go on the run.
So what begins as a bit of illicit midnight fun becomes a race to clear their names and uncover the truth about what is really happening in the town.
A truth that could threaten everything they hold dear.
This is a very pacey read, super exciting and action packed.
Loads of cliffhangers, more than 100 illustrations and a big beating heart beneath all the thrills.
I think and I hope you're really going to enjoy it.
And if you'd like to win a copy of The Last Wolf, stay with us until the end of the show and you can find out how to enter our prize draw to win a copy.
So we've got a special visit on this week's episode from associate editor Laura.
Hello, Laura.
Hello, how are you?
I am good, thank you.
Tell me what is going on for you this week?
So this week our cover features some lovely birds, including a very eye-catching oyster catcher with its red eyes and feet.
And it's all about the main story on our Animals and Environment page, which is about a project by the UK conservation charity, the National Trust.
And what the National Trust have done doesn't sound like.
It's great for the environment, but its aim is to really help the birds.
So what they've done is they've sunk three large boats, and they did this by filling it with lots of mud, which sounds really fun.
And the area where they've done it is called the Blackwater Estuary in Essex in England.
So an estuary is a place where rivers meet the ocean.
And the Blackwater Estuary is home to some of the UK's most threatened seabirds.
And the boats will basically be a new home for these birds to roost.
And it will also help to protect the area's salt marsh.
So salt marsh is an important habitat that's found in estuaries.
And it acts as a kind of a link between the land and the sea.
But they get sort of flooded with salt water.
And you can find out more about salt marshes on our animals and environment page.
But basically, they are amazing habitats.
And not only do they protect animals, but they help protect humans as well.
They help to stop flooding and things like that.
And they're really good for the environment.
So this boat island will help to shelter all kinds of endangered birds.
We've got curlews and ringed plovers.
And basically they'll be able to rest on the boats when the tide is really high and lots of the land there is underwater.
And the boats will also help to stop the erosion, which is kind of like the wearing away of the salt marsh, because obviously it will sort of act as a barrier in the sea.
Yeah, and it's really exciting.
And Katie Gilchrist, who was one of the project managers for this.
She said she called it the ultimate act of marine recycling because they've basically transformed these previously industrial vessels.
So they were used to transport things like coal into a sanctuary for wildlife.
And she called it turning history into habitat.
Oh, I love that.
History into habitat.
That's great.
So lots to talk about here.
It's such a cool project.
But what is your favourite seabird?
Well, there's some really cool ones that I didn't know about that are sort of salt marsh birds.
So there's the curlew, which I think is one of Europe's largest wading birds.
They've got really long legs.
They look quite funny and very long, curt beaks.
But I have to say that my favourite seabird, which I've still never seen, is a puffin, which is probably why it's my favourite, because they're so colourful, aren't they?
I like the way they waddle around and live in burrows.
The elusive puffin.
Maybe one day you'll get to see a puffin, Laura.
Let's live that dream one day.
One day.
It's going to happen, Bex.
Fingers crossed for you.
Well, thank you so much, Laura.
Thank you for telling us all about that amazing story.
Now it's time for this week's big debate, and the question is is it okay to send humans to space?
So 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 you need to know nasa, The US,
Space Agency is preparing to launch the first crewed moon mission in more than 50 years.
So the Artemis II mission will take off in March at the earliest, following a few delays.
The crew won't actually land on the moon.
Instead, their spacecraft, the Orion, will orbit the moon before returning to Earth in a 10-day mission.
Eventually, NASA plans to send humans to the moon's surface.
Now.
The last time humans actually set foot on the moon was 1972, when two US astronauts walked on the surface.
Although several uncrewed spacecraft have since landed on the moon,
So is it okay to send humans to space?
Eve is team yes, Joe is team no.
Each of them have 60 seconds to make their case.
Eve is going to go first.
So Eve, I'm going to get up this clock here.
Here we go.
Whenever you're ready Eve, take it away.
Well, imagine how boring space exploration would be if we weren't sending humans to space, if we were just sending machines up there.
I think sending actual people into space feels much more magical.
And it's really inspiring too, because we can sort of think about wow, we've sent humans to the moon, or one day maybe we'll send humans to Mars.
And I think that's really exciting.
And also one day it's possible that some humans could end up settling on other planets to live.
And so we need to learn how to overcome the challenges of space so that, If the time comes, humanity is prepared and knows what to do.
If we just were only sending machines and robots up to space.
If that time were to come, we'd all be a bit like oh, we don't know what humans are like when they're in space.
So we need to know that.
But also there's certain things that machines can't do.
And I think something that's really important is.
They can't describe their experience of being in space.
When I hear stories from astronauts about being in space, I just find it so inspiring.
So I think it's perfectly OK to send humans to space.
You know what?
I thought you were going to go massively over on time there, but you just just a second.
I pulled it back.
You really did.
Lovely stuff, Eve.
Thank you.
So, Jo, whenever you're ready, tell us why you disagree with Eve.
Okay.
Well, I don't really buy into this whole magical thing, because ultimately, what's more important is safety.
Humans are themselves more important and also more fragile than machines.
And it takes a lot of money and care to keep them alive in space.
Machines don't need food.
They don't need water.
They don't need air.
And they don't age in the same way humans do.
So it's far safer to send them on risky missions.
And they can also go much, much further.
As an example, NASA's Voyager 1 space probe is now more than 15 billion miles from Earth.
And really are the notes and observations that humans can take, enough to run the huge risk of sending them into the stars.
Machines also have the advantage that they can survive extreme conditions, such as extreme heat or extreme cold.
They even landed on the surface of Venus, where the average surface temperature is 464 degrees Celsius.
Oh, OK.
What a good fact.
I'm going to put it out there.
I feel like there is nothing better than a human experience, like a human story of something happening.
And the idea of somebody walking on the moon is super exciting.
But equally, like Joe says, you know, there's stuff that humans can't really do.
And it is better to send machines up there to do it for us.
So this is where the Week Junior listeners and readers come on board, because we want you to tell us what you think about.
You can go and vote online at theweekjuniorcouk slash polls.
You can also email your thoughts to us at hello at theweekjunior.co.uk or send us a voice note.
Go to funkidslive.com slash theweekjunior.
Scroll down until you see that big red button.
Grab a grown-up and record your voice.
Then your message could be in next week's episode.
Now, in the last big debate, we asked if the UK should restrict social media for under-16s.
So let's find out what the Week Junior listeners and readers voted.
Well, 60 said yes.
Limiting social media for kids would be a positive step, which I found quite surprising.
That is a high number, yeah.
We've also got a voice note here from Oscar to tell us his thoughts on the big debate.
Hi, The Week Junior.
My name is Oscar and I love your show.
I think under 16 should be banned from social media because it's addictive and stops you from spending time with your family.
Please tell Elena I miss her and for her to keep being awesome.
Bye, The Week Junior.
Oh, Oscar.
Oh, what a lovely message.
Thank you.
Elena's going to be thrilled about that.
Will you guys pass on the message to Elena?
Absolutely.
But also she will be listening in, so she'll hear that.
Thank you so much, Oscar.
And yes, excellent point about the limiting social media time.
What other opinions have we had on this one, Joe?
We've had a few.
One said, no, it's a good way for young people to connect and it's not too bad if used correctly.
And another said I think that social media should be banned, preferably for everyone, because it's very addictive and you're looking at your screen more often.
OK, interesting points of view.
Like I said, if you want to get in touch about this week's big debate and vote on it, just go to 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 that though, I've got a shout out I need to give to a listener and a big fan of The Week Junior podcast Charlotte, age nine in Wimborne.
I spoke to her this week.
She was a guest on my Judge Beck's podcast, which is when I wear a judge's wig and try and solve dilemmas sent in by listeners.
So, yeah, a big hello to Charlotte.
Anyway, we have also got a lot of messages in your inbox as well, right?
Eve and Jo, what have you seen this week?
Yeah.
So we got a message from Ruby who said I made some fire horse gingerbread biscuits with my grandma because it's Chinese New Year of the fire horse on Tuesday, the 17th of February.
They taste delicious.
And Ruby has sent in a picture and these look incredible.
They're like little horse's heads and they look so yummy.
I would love to try one.
And I actually love as well how Ruby's drawn like kind of fiery colours on the paper underneath.
So it really... really represents the theme of Lunar New Year.
So very exciting.
And we had a message from Maxim which said I found this jelly ear fungus in the forest after reading about it in your previous issue of The Week, Junior.
It looks fascinating.
And there's a picture of this fungus.
It looks quite incredible, almost a bit.
I mean, we've been talking about space.
It looks a little bit alien.
Slightly, I mean fascinating, but also slightly curious and a bit scary.
Yeah.
So thanks for sending that in, Maxim.
I have never seen anything like it before.
That is, oh gosh, I don't know how I feel about that.
What a cool picture though.
Thank you so much to everybody for sending in your messages.
We do love hearing what you've been up to.
And don't forget if your voice note is played on the podcast, you could win a roving reporter badge.
Now let's turn our attention back to the magazine this week and the team's favourite stories.
Eve, who's been your hero of the week?
So my hero of the week is 13-year-old Austin from Australia, who recently saved his family by swimming more than two miles to get help.
And he was enjoying a beach day with his mum, brother and sister in Western Australia and they were on some paddleboards and a kayak.
But his family drifted out to sea on their paddleboards and Austin was asked by his mum to go back to the shore to get help.
But his kayak actually started to leak.
So he had to swim back to land and run more than a mile to find a phone to call for help.
And the group were then found by a rescue boat and Austin was reunited with his family.
But he told the BBC that he was really scared, which I'm not surprised.
That sounds like a really scary experience.
But prayer, singing and happy thoughts about his family and his friends kept him going.
And I just think he's so brave and it's such an amazing story.
Oh my goodness, what a story.
I would watch that film if it was made into any film or TV show.
Wow, what a hero.
Jo, what's been your favourite fact of this week?
My favourite fact is from the books page interview you referenced at the start of the podcast, Bex.
The interview was with Emma McCann, who illustrated the Piers Pet Club series among other books.
And the fact I've chosen is that she likes to sneak drawings of bunny slippers into her work.
There's no wider meaning to this.
She told me in the interview that she just finds them really funny.
And I felt that that was a really lovely Easter egg to go looking for in books that she's worked on.
Yeah, we'll absolutely be checking those out.
Thank you.
Now, I've seen a very fun story this week in the magazine about some chilly lambs.
Now these little lambs in Barnsley have got hundreds of handmade jumpers sent to them from knitters all across the UK to help keep them warm.
Because, of course, it's very cold at the moment, but the lambs need to be kept at a good temperature.
The farmer said now they can keep warm in style.
And there's a lovely picture of a lamb wearing a lovely kind of like pink fleece.
So that's a really cool story and a very fun picture as well.
And now it's time for our moment of truth.
With the real or rubbish story, we're going to go from lambs to cats.
Uh, can you remind me what it is please, eve?
Yes, this is about two lover cat who was living a double life and getting food at home and then also sneaking off to the local toby carvery.
So every time i say that just makes me laugh sneaking off to the local toby carvery, to um meow at the staff and the customers so that they'd give her some scraps of food.
You know what?
I think cats are clever.
Cats are very canny.
And when there's food involved, many animals know exactly what to do.
And you know what?
I'm going to say this is real because I love the idea of a cat at a Toby Carvery.
That's literally why.
So I'm going to say the story this week is real.
Should we do a drumroll?
Okay, drumroll please.
You're right.
It is real, but I'm not even mad, Bex, because it's such a great story.
And do you know what?
You're going to love this bit.
It's not even Tula's first offence.
She was previously caught visiting a nearby care home where people would feed her meat paste from their sandwiches.
Tula, what an absolute hero.
I mean, Tula literally knows what side her bread is buttered.
I respect that.
Thank you very much, guys.
Now finally, it's time for Listen Up the bit of the show that gives you a chance to win a copy of our book of the week, which this week is The Last Wolf by Rob Biddulph.
So 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 enter the prize draw before the closing date of the 19th of February at midday.
Congratulations to Griffin, by the way, who won a copy of Finn's Epic Fails in a recent giveaway.
Now 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.
You can find out more at theweekjunior.co.uk slash terms.
So are you ready?
Listen up.
When was the last time humans set foot on the moon?
If you know the answer to the question, go to theweekjuniorcouk forward slash listener to enter our giveaway.
Lovely stuff.
Thank you, Joe.
That brings us to the end of this week's show.
So, yeah, thank you to Joe, Eve 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 win a roving reporter badge.
Plus, please do rate, review and subscribe or follow us wherever it is to get your podcast.
And if you like The Week Junior show, you'll love The Week Junior magazine.
Head to theweekjunior.co.uk to find out more.
Thanks for listening to this podcast, which is made by the same people that make The Week Junior magazine.
You can get six free issues of The Week Junior or three issues of The Week Junior Science and Nature for £5 by heading to theweekjuniorcouk forward slash podcast offer.
