The young brigade is creating podcasts

Children are creating podcasts on a variety of topics, and finding devoted audiences.

A Bengaluru-based creative platform called Bookosmia, founded in August, is exploring what children can do in the podcast space.

“Most podcasts for children are hosted by adults. We wanted this to change,” says Archana Mohan, co-founder of the platform.

The podcasts feature children below 17 as participants and moderators. The live sessions are held every week on Tuesday and Thursday and children get to pick topics and interact with authors, sportspersons and innovators from across the country.

“This was a refreshing new medium for them, especially during the pandemic when we were all dealing with Zoom fatigue. Being a virtual audio-only medium, kids are way more comfortable with podcasting than with video,” says Archana.

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Twelve-year-old Krisha Nijhawan from Delhi says podcasting is getting her out of her bubble. “I would consider myself a bit of a loner and an introvert. But being on podcasts has helped me become more confident,” she says.

She has been a part of podcasts discussing everything from the young journalists of India to the refugee crisis.

“Children today are aware and mindful of what’s going on in the world. We did not have many opinions of our own when we were growing up; they were largely carved by family thinking. This generation is not like that,” says Nidhi Mishra, CEO of Bookosmia.

Bengalurean Saanvi Baheti, 8, was jittery on her first podcast, but seeing other participants her age calmed her down. “Now I am excited to have more discussions, about sports especially,” she says.

Children undergo a week’s training before they record. They learn the basics of voice modulation, audience engagement and scriptwriting, and then do live demos.

“We work individually and in groups to help participants understand their ‘podcast personality’ which in turn helps them establish their preferred themes, show formats, duration, tone and treatment. They also listen to a lot of top-rated podcasts and not-so-good ones to get a sense of what works,” explains Archana.

Satvika Suri, a 14-year-old student from Bengaluru, plans to host podcasts on books and music. “The training taught me important things about how to maintain my tone and engage listeners,” she says.

Bookosmia hosts youngsters from 125 global locations. “Surprisingly, our listeners have been from all age groups. There are kids who relate to the speakers and also adults who are intrigued by the opinions of youngsters,” she adds.

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