Wow in the World

Wow in the World Wows with 100 Million Downloads

~ jen

Tinkercast, the stand-out leader in audio-first children’s media, is celebrating its 100 millionth download. Founded in 2017 by three media veterans, parents and storytellers (Meredith Halpern-Ranzer, Guy Raz, and Mindy Thomas), Tinkercast’s mission is to provide screen alternative content that engages the minds and imaginations of the whole family and inspires today’s kids to become the tinkers and thinkers that will shape tomorrow.

While Wow in the World has seen steady growth over the last four years, the changing media habits of kids and families brought on by COVID-19 has accelerated the growth tremendously, increasing downloads by 94% since March 2020. That increase is due in part to the overall rise in media use for children as well as the increase in content Tinkercast rapidly created during the pandemic. Just six days after the coronavirus caused worldwide school closures affecting almost a billion children in March, Tinkercast launched a second podcast, Two What’s And a Wow, as an interactive game show for the whole family.

“The state of social and civil unrest in the U.S. coupled with the overabundance of screen time for kids and families motivated our team of tinkerers to double-down on our mission to create “cartoons-for-the-ears” about amazing things happening in the world,” said Meredith Halpern-Ranzer, CEO at Tinkercast. “Reaching 100 million downloads this week is a testament to the fact that there is a demand for well-told stories that inspire hope, joy and agency – the exact things we want more than ever for our own kids and families to feel.”

Tinkercast’s podcast continually top the kids & family podcast charts and have won numerous awards including iheartRadio Award, Parent’s Choice Gold Award, Mom’s Choice Award, KAPI Innovation in Children’s Media Award, NYF’s International Radio Award and National Science Foundation’s SBIR Award. Wow in the World has been recognized by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Washingtonian, NPR’s All Things Considered, The Today Show, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Wow in the World is for Curious Kids and Their Grown-Ups

~ jen

Wow in the World is a new way for families to connect, look up, and discover the wonders in the world around them. It’s the first program produced by Tinkercast, which focuses on family friendly content. Wow in the World is distributed by NPR and will mark the first children’s program the public radio network has launched in its 47-year history.

Wow in the World will launch on May 15, 2017. It is hosted by Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas. For nearly three years, Guy and Mindy co-hosted a Friday news segment on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live channel called Breakfast Blast Newscast. The segment went on to win the International New York Festivals Award for best children’s program in 2016.

Guy Raz is the award-winning host, co-creator, and editorial director of two of NPR’s most popular programs: TED Radio Hour and How I Built This. Both shows are heard by more than 14 million people each month around the world. Mindy Thomas is the Gracie Award winning host of the national, interactive Absolutely Mindy Show, heard weekday mornings on SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live Channel.

Wow in the World will take kids (and their grown-ups) on a journey into the most incredible science and kid-friendly news stories of the week. Each episode begins with a series of questions that lead to an explanation about a new amazing scientific discovery or finding. Episodes will highlight some of the most exciting new research about space, dinosaurs, animals, technology, and human origins.