BBC World Service to launch new parenting podcast
This article is at least a year old
The BBC World Service is launching its first parenting podcast – a major new series which will explore parenting across the globe. Welcome to Parentland, the podcast that tackles listeners’ real-life parenting dilemmas. The problems and challenges we all face are often very similar- wherever in the world we live - and Parentland will be exploring the evidence to find out what the experts have to say and seeking the help of parents everywhere.
Parentland is the parenting podcast for the whole world – for parents, grandparents, carers and anyone involved in raising children. And it tackles the questions posed directly by our listeners – Parentlanders around the world.
Are you worried about why your two year old isn’t talking yet? Has your daughter become a fussy eater? Wondering about the best way to discuss “bad people”?
In each episode, brand new presenter, Iko-Ojo Mercy Haruna, together with her co-host, Linda Geddess, will take a listener’s question and look to science and different world cultures to suggest possible solutions. Our listeners - the Parentlanders -will be invited to take part in the Parentland Facebook group and contribute to the podcasts. Parentland truly belongs to all our listeners!
In Episode One, the questions come from AbdulRasheed in Nigeria and Chiara in Italy, who both want to know the best way to make kids behave and do as they’re told. For many with children, getting them to listen can be a seemingly endless slog – bedtime can be a battleground and homework hell. Parentland takes on this challenge, investigating different approaches from positive parenting to enrolling kids in sport. They also discuss the issue of smacking, and how discipline is perceived around the world.
The podcast preview episode (which looks ahead to the first season) will be released on February 15th, and the first episode released on February 25th, continuing weekly for 12 weeks in the first season.
Linda Geddes - biography
Linda Geddes is a broadcaster, journalist, and the acclaimed author of the pregnancy book, Bumpology and the newly published Chasing The Sun. She studied cell biology and regularly writes about child development and human biology/medicine for national newspapers and popular science magazines including New Scientist, where she spent nine years as a reporter and editor. She has numerous awards to her name, including the 2017 Medical Journalists’ Association award for Best Science Explainer. She lives in Bristol with her husband and two children.
Iko-Ojo Mercy Haruna - biography
This is the first time Iko-Ojo Mercy Haruna has been a presenter. She is a portrait and documentary photographer. Much of her work to date has been focused on motherhood and family and she has spent the last four years documenting pregnancies and other family milestones. And she has run a parenting blog. She is also the co-founder of a community project, the Amitié Project, that champions maternal physical and mental wellness. She was born and raised in Nigeria and spent her teenage years in France. She currently lives in Kent with her husband and children.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.