iTunes For My Kids

by Phil Stott
 
There are certain things that it just seems kind of shameful to say. Here's one of them: I've never owned a single product manufactured by Apple. Here's another (arguably worse): until my mother-in-law threw an iTunes card my way at Christmas, I'd never even had so much as a cursory look at one of the biggest media providers on the planet. It's not that I dislike the company, or technology in general. It's just that, well, I'd always kind of got along well enough without it. (OK, I'll admit it, there is another reason: I kind of miss tapes, and get nostalgic from time to time for the Walkman I had in college, and Apple ruined all that. Sure, they brought convenience and portability and all the rest, but they destroyed the romance for me, and the concept of collecting music as a hobby. And the concept of bands putting out entire, well thought-out albums that you can listen to from start to finish, now that I think about it.)

Anyway, putting all of that aside, I've recently declared an amnesty-mostly because of the iTunes card-and have begun finding reasons to love the convenience of iTunes in general. And I've become addicted to podcasts; I honestly had no idea that there was just so much stuff out there and (here's the key part) much of it is free. Indeed, far from destroying my life as a music lover, podcasts such as NPR's All Songs Considered have led to me discover some cool new stuff.

As you might have guessed, the site has benefits for me as a parent that go well beyond taking the work out of finding new stuff to listen to on my commute. In fact, there are endless hours of entertainment on there for kids of all ages. As such, I've highlighted five of my favorite kid-friendly podcasts, in the (probably misguided) assumption that there are other people out there who maybe haven't been turned on to the full range of media available that doesn't cost a penny.

Spare the rock, spoil the child

That, believe it or not, is the title of a weekly podcast of better-than-normal music for kids. Featuring legit bands that have turned out a kids album or two (They Might Be Giants and Barenaked Ladies to name a couple), legit bands that have produced a kid-friendly song or two (White Stripes, anyone?), as well as music by dedicated child entertainers, the key feature for me is that I can listen to an episode without wanting to tear my ears off. Oh, and Maeve seems to like it as well!

"Can you tell me how to get..."

Admit it, you sang the end of the line and ended up in Sesame Street. The show's pretty much a childhood staple, and there's a "Word on the Street" section available on weekly podcast. Hosted by a giant orange monster called Murray, it regularly features celebrities (Larry King, Mariska Hargitay), other residents of Sesame Street (Elmo, Big Bird), and vocabulary items that run the gamut from "mail" to "predicament." And at around five minutes per episode, what's not to love-either as a quick distraction or a series of them back-to-back?

Stuff you should know

One for the older kids (not to mention their parents), this series is produced by the folks at howstuffworks and features a weekly presentation on, well, stuff you should know. Recent episodes have featured everything from how credit defaults work to whether animals have a sixth sense to the debate over whether local or organic food is better.

"Stick 'em up"

Old school sound effects and dialog. Over the top voice acting and detective schtick. Even if your kids don't get into the classics on Radio Detective Story Hour, there's no reason you can't listen and enjoy them yourself. To make them more appealing, though, you could always challenge your kids to write one, and make the sound effects themselves.

Turn the dial up to 11...

...for cuteness. For those with kids with an obsession with cute animals, UltraKawaii is the best and worst podcast out there, depending on your tolerance for ultra-cute animals and cartoons on nauseating pink and pastel backgrounds.

As mentioned above, all the stuff I've recommended is completely free. For those that just aren't into iTunes, they're available elsewhere as well (mostly by clicking the links provided)-although I don't know about subscription capabilities anywhere else, which has been the key selling point for me. Turns out I'm all about the Apple-tastic convenience after all!