From her early days at WGBH, Boston’s public broadcasting powerhouse, to her most recent role as the Head of Creator Partnerships at Patreon, Tracy has built a career that spans content creation, distribution, and monetization. After running video partnerships at CBS Interactive and
Twitter, Tracy shifted to focus on podcasts in 2016 as Senior Director of Podcast Strategy and Partnerships at TuneIn and has not looked back.
She is the creator and Executive Producer of The Ten News, news for kids 8-12, and the Executive Producer of Nature Nerds, an upcoming Spotify original. The Ten News was nominated for a Webby and recently was chosen to be part of the first class of podcasts in the Common Sense Media Selection program.
At Small But Mighty Media, Tracy combines her extensive experience at work, as well as at home as a mother of two podcast-obsessed children, driving her passion to expand the opportunities for kids to engage and be informed in today’s changing world.
As a parent and a podcaster, I’m always looking for shows that everyone in the family can enjoy. Especially since a lot of listening happens in the car – it needs to be something that your kids will get into and that you’ll be open to listening to over and over again! This list highlights some of my favorites and is a sliver of all the amazing kid-focused shows that are now available. Any of these would make for great car listening and be great to have on repeat.
The Story Seeds Podcast
This immersive podcast matches kids and their story ideas with a wide range of children’s authors. Their collaboration with award-winning author Katherine Applegate, Author of the One and Only Ivan and Willodeen, and a nine-year-old leukemia survivor Jocelyn led to a Webby nomination for their “A Nose that Knows with Katherine Applegate” episode.
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian
This is the podcast that got me hooked on the idea of creating podcasts for kids. From Jonathan Messenger’s fun intros with his side-kick robot Bee-bop to the immersive space journeys of Finn and his friends, this is a podcast that will make it hard to stop at just one episode.
Brains On!
Not only does Brains On! cover science topics in a fun way, but they do it with the help of kid co-hosts. As someone who prefers producing to being on-mic, their episode on tongue twisters really spoke to me.
Recommended episode: Tongue twisters: Terribly terrific and truly tantalizing
Greeking Out from National Geographic Kids
For the Greek myth lovers in your family, this National Geographic Kids podcast takes you to Mount Olympus and into the trials and tribulations of the Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters.
Recommended episode: Living in D’Nile: The Revenge of Isis and Horus
Book Club for Kids
Hosted by public radio journalist, Kitty Felde, this podcast is for the book lover in your household. With special appearances by celebrity readers, this show is a nice way to get your kids talking about their favorite books. My daughter loved the Keeper of the Lost Cities episode, well anything KOLC related honestly.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
Host Matthew Winner is ready to help your family tackle tough topics. If you have a kid who has a lot of big questions, this show may be your solution to starting some deep conversations.
Recommended episode: Ana Asks About Belonging
Dorktales Storytime Podcast
In the show’s “Hidden Heroes of History” episodes, famous figures are given the fairytale treatment and get to have their stories told. My personal favorite is the episode on Hedy Lamarr, who not only dazzled Hollywood, but developed the technology that is the foundation of every cell phone, GPS, and wi-fi network that we use today. So listen in on your next car ride while your GPS shows you where to go.
Curious Kid Podcast
We all have questions that we want answers to and this father and daughter duo tackle them all. Jacob and Olivia cover all the topics that kids are curious about from goosebumps to guitars.
Recommended episode: Curious About Guitars
The Ten News
I created The Ten News during the pandemic when I realized there weren’t a ton of options for kids (and adults) to get the context behind the headlines and learn about what was going on in a direct and engaging way. Special guests also stop by, from Dr. Anthony Fauci to LEGO Masters judge Amy Corbett. The show keeps families informed with a lot of fun mixed in.
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