Culture Kids

Are bats and snakes really as spooky as they seem? Hop back aboard the magical Culture Train with Kristen, Asher, and Arden as we return to our Spooky Forest Adventure for Halloween!

We start with a peek into Halloween history, tracing it back thousands of years to Samhain, an ancient Celtic harvest festival in Ireland with bonfires, costumes, and masks. Then we head into the moonlit forest, where we meet two of the most famous Halloween creatures of all.

First come the bats! Families will learn that out of more than 1,400 bat species, only three drink blood, and most bats eat insects or fruit and even help pollinate flowers. We discover why bats became a symbol of good fortune in Chinese art and how fruit bats hold a special place in Tongan tradition.

Next, a snake slithers across our path! We explore how snakes have carried very different meanings across cultures, from the cobra goddess Wadjet who protected Egyptian pharaohs to the Greek healer Asclepius, whose snake-wrapped staff is still a symbol of medicine today.

This Halloween episode for kids shows how learning about something unfamiliar can turn fear into curiosity, and how every culture sees the world in its own beautiful way.

Culture Kids is a 3x Webby Award-winning immersive audio adventure for families, exploring world cultures, history, and science together. If you love the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so more families can find us.

Support our mission: https://www.culturekidsmedia.com/support/Website: https://culturekidsproductions.orgInstagram: @culturekidsproductionsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@culturekidspodcast

Hosts: Kristen, Arden and Asher Kim

Producer & Sound Designer: Kristen Kim

Sound FX License: Envato Elements & Epidemic Sounds

Audio Engineer: Robin Lai

Academic Consultant: Elisha Li

Nonprofit Consultant: Emil Kang, Jesseca Ryan

In this episode, the Culture Train sails to Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, to meet Mark from the Polynesian Voyaging Society and step aboard Hōkūleʻa, a traditional double-hulled voyaging canoe. Kids learn how the Hawaiian Islands formed, what it means to sail using wayfinding (ancient, non-instrument navigation using the stars, sun, wind, and waves), and why this tradition still matters today.

**********

ABOUT THE POLYNESIAN VOYAGING SOCIETY:

Founded in 1973 by Herb Kawainui Kāne, Ben Finney, and Tommy Holmes, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was created to prove that ancient Polynesians navigated across the Pacific with skill and purpose, not by accident. Their voyaging canoe, Hōkūleʻa ("Star of Gladness"), launched in 1975 and has since sailed over 300,000 nautical miles, carrying forward the practice of traditional wayfinding taught by master navigator Mau Piailug. Learn more and track Hōkūleʻa's real-time voyages at hokulea.com, or explore learning resources for kids at waahonua.com.

Website: hokulea.com

Social media: @hokuleacrew (Instagram and Facebook)Third canoe / educational platform: Waʻa Honua ("Canoe for the Earth"), https://waahonua.com/

**********

ABOUT TEACH AAPI:This episode was created in partnership with TeachAAPI, a national nonprofit on a mission to build student belonging through AAPI education. TeachAAPI arms PK-12 schools with turn-key lesson plans and programming, trains educators in culturally responsive teaching, and supports them all year long.

Academic Materials for Educators:TeachAAPI provides educators with books, activity boxes, performances, and a range of AAPI lesson plans - from quick mini lessons to two-week, cross-curricular units. Mini lessons are free and accessible to all.

Find the full classroom lesson paired with this episode, along with additional AAPI academic resources, at https://teachaapi.org/resources/.

Website: teachaapi.org

Instagram: @teachaapi

LinkedIn: TeachAAPI

**********

A Note from Culture Kids:
Grown-ups, if you haven't already, please consider making a small donation to our nonprofit, Culture Kids. We're a small team with a big dream, raising a generation of kids who are curious, globally minded, and ready to make friendships across every border, all while keeping our show ad-free. Every dollar helps us create more adventures and reach more families. You'll find the donation link below.

Links:Donate: https://www.culturekidsmedia.com/support/Website: culturekidsproductions.orgInstagram: @culturekidsproductionsYouTube: youtube.com/@culturekidspodcast

Credits:

Hosted by Kristen and Asher Kim Executive Producer: Kristen KimProduced By: Culture Kids Productions, TeachAAPI, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Nikki Kealalio, Mark Ellis Guest Host: Mark EllisSound Design: Kristen KimSound FX & Music: Envato ElementsAudio Engineering: Robin LaiAcademic Consultant: Elisha LiGFX: Tessa Gin, TeachAAPI, Kristen KimNonprofit Consultant: Jesseca Ryan, Emil KangYouth Advisor: Asher Kim

Culture Kids heads to the bottom of the world this episode, Antarctica! Join Mom and Asher as they explore towering icebergs, meet emperor penguins and a very sleepy Weddell seal, then dive nearly two miles beneath the frozen Weddell Sea to uncover one of the greatest shipwreck discoveries in modern history: Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, lost for over 100 years and found perfectly preserved on the ocean floor in 2022.

Along the way, we learn why Antarctica is technically a desert, how emperor penguins huddle for warmth, why the Weddell Sea is one of the only places on Earth where a hundred-year-old wooden ship can still look brand new, and the incredible true story of how all 28 members of Shackleton's crew made it home safely.

A Note from Culture Kids:
Grown-ups, if you haven't already, please consider making a small donation to our nonprofit, Culture Kids. We're a small team with a big dream, raising a generation of kids who are curious, globally minded, and ready to make friendships across every border, all while keeping our show ad-free. Every dollar helps us create more adventures and reach more families. You'll find the donation link below.

Links:
Donate: https://www.culturekidsmedia.com/support/
Website: culturekidsproductions.org
Instagram: @culturekidsproductions
YouTube: youtube.com/@culturekidspodcast

Thanks for joining us today! Stay tuned in two weeks as we sail off to Hawaii to learn about Polynesian voyaging, and don't miss our Halloween specials coming up as we return to the Culture Kids Spooky Forest.

Asher and Mom visit family friend Miral Sattar, whose roots stretch from Pakistan to Burma to Persia, for a hands-on lesson in how food becomes a love language across cultures. Kids will learn about Rooh Afza rose milk, crispy beef samosas, Burmese khow suey noodles, the tradition of chai hospitality, and creamy pistachio kulfi, all while discovering why sharing a meal is one of the most universal ways people show they care.

About Miral Sattar:

🎧 Miral Sattar is the creator and host of Bearily Bear Reimagined Fairy Tales, an award-winning kids podcast with more than 3 million listeners that reimagines classic fairy tales with brave heroines, diverse cultures, and stories from around the world. She's also a mom of three and a children's media advocate passionate about raising curious, empathetic kids through stories.

Bearily Bear Reimagined Fairy Tales: wherever you get your podcasts!

Miral on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/miralreads⁠

About The Saami Family

🎶 A special thank you to The Saami Family for allowing us to use their beautiful Khayal music, a centuries-old South Asian classical vocal tradition, in this episode.

Listen to The Saami Family website: ⁠https://voiceofsaamis.com/⁠

The Saami Brothers on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thesaamibrothersofficial/⁠

💛 Please consider supporting our nonprofit, Culture Kids Productions and help us stay ad-free and help us keep our show accessible for every family:

Culture Kids is a small team with a big dream: raising a generation of kids who are curious, globally minded, and ready to build friendships across every border, all while keeping our show completely free and ad-free for families everywhere.

If our adventures have brought a little wonder into your home, we'd be so grateful for your support. Every donation, big or small, helps us create new episodes, partner with cultural experts and organizations, and reach even more curious young explorers around the world.

DONATE HERE:

https://www.culturekidsmedia.com/support/

Thank you.

Credits:

Hosts: Kristen and Asher Kim

Guest Collaborator: Miral Sittar

Produced By: Culture Kids Productions

Executive Producer: Kristen Kim

Sound Design: Kristen Kim

Audio Engineer: Robin Lai

Nonprofit Consultant: Emil Kang, Jesseca Ryan

Academic Consultant: Elisha Li

Sound FX: Envato Elements, The Saami Family

It's a Culture Kids first, an entire episode made by YOU! For this summer special, Kristen and Asher hand the mic over to the Culture Kids community, featuring voicemails sent in from listeners all around the world sharing what they love most about the show, plus a whole lot of jokes to keep things silly. This episode is a celebration of the curious, kind, and adventurous kids who make up the Culture Kids family, and a reminder that every single explorer who tunes in is part of what makes this show special.

Hosted by Kristen Kim and Asher, Culture Kids Productions
Featuring voicemails from the Culture Kids community