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A Short Story Podcast Series

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- Episodes vary in duration from 30 seconds to 8 minutes.
- All episodes are royalty free in their entirety—except for #509.
- If you have an idea for an episode, please reach out to our team and we’ll happily schedule the topic for a future recording.
- Priority is given to homeschooling parents, teachers, educators, and lifelong learning professionals.
- Select episodes now include free curriculum materials at the bottom of the episode page, designed to support open education initiatives, teachers, classrooms, and homeschool use. These materials are aligned to multiple educational standards globally.
- The podcast is currently in common carriage on the Podcast Radio Network.
- In London, you can listen to the Podcast Radio Network over the air on DAB+ and access its variety of podcasts and audio content directly through your DAB+ radio.
- In the USA, you can listen to "Interesting Things with JC" on Podcast Radio US over the air in various cities: in Detroit on 93.5 FM and WCSX-94.7 HD2, in Tampa on 1010 WHFS-AM, in Charlotte on 94.7 FM and WSOC-HD3, and in Ft. Myers/Naples on 96.5 FM, 101.5 FM, 105.1 FM, and WXKB-HD2.
Curriculum Summary for Educators, Homeschoolers, and Lifelong Learners
Interesting Things with JC now features free curriculum materials to go with select episodes, created for teachers, homeschool families, and curious learners of all ages.
Each episode includes a modular micro-lesson designed to support a 30 to 45 minute class. Curriculum content appears at the bottom of the episode page in easy-to-use expandable sections.
Each lesson includes:
- Lesson overview (title, grade level, subject area, learning objectives)
- Key vocabulary with phonetic spelling and plain-language definitions
- Core story content based on the Precise Storytelling Framework
- Full podcast transcript
- Student worksheet with comprehension and writing prompts
- Teacher guide with pacing, strategies, and discussion tools
- Quiz and assessment rubric
- Standards alignment across multiple global frameworks
We are currently piloting lesson alignment to:

Approved Standards – High-Level List
- NGSS – Next Generation Science Standards
- CCSS – Common Core State Standards (ELA and Math)
- C3 Framework – College, Career & Civic Life (Social Studies)
- ISTE Standards – Technology and Digital Literacy
- NCAS – National Core Arts Standards
- CTE Career Clusters – U.S. Career & Technical Education
- ACRL Framework – Higher Ed Information Literacy
- Bloom’s Taxonomy – Cognitive Learning Objectives
- UDL – Universal Design for Learning (Accessibility Support)
International Academic Equivalents (Content-Only)
- UK National Curriculum – Key Stages 3–5 (England)
- AQA / OCR / Edexcel – UK Exam Board Specifications
- IB (International Baccalaureate) – PYP, MYP, DP (academic subjects only)
- Cambridge International – IGCSE, AS/A-Level (non-political content areas)
All lessons are open educational resources (OER) and designed with homeschool flexibility in mind.
- To review examples, check out any episode from #1235 to today, just scroll down.
- Beginning with Episode #1307 we’re shifting to an open text format at the bottom of every MP3 page in the RSS. This should allow greater ease of access.
- If you are using the curriculum your feedback is greatly appreciated, that’s how iterations like this continue to drive changes in the layout, and useability.
- If you intend to feature the series on your podcast or use it in your broadcast feed as interstitial content, please tag us on social media and/or send us an email.

JC 6/28/25 JC 6/28/25

1328: "The Year Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, and Freud Were Neighbors"

Interesting Things with JC #1328: "The Year Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, and Freud Were Neighbors" – Vienna, 1913: four men, two miles apart. Before the war. Before the world changed.

JC 6/27/25 JC 6/27/25

1327: "The Impossible Coin Flip"

Interesting Things with JC #1327: "The Impossible Coin Flip" – You’re blindfolded, facing 100 coins. Ten are heads-up. Your task? Split them into two piles with equal heads...without knowing which is which. A puzzle that tests logic, not luck.

JC 6/26/25 JC 6/26/25

1326: "Patent No. 5,255,452: Michael Jackson’s Secret to the Lean"

Interesting Things with JC #1326: "Patent No. 5,255,452: Michael Jackson’s Secret to the Lean" – He leaned forward at 45 degrees in front of 40,000 people and didn’t fall. The trick wasn’t just in the shoes. It was in a patent, a plan, and a performer unlike any other.

JC 6/24/25 JC 6/24/25

1324: "A Simple Riddle 11"

Interesting Things with JC #1324: "A Simple Riddle 11" – What seems obvious at first glance might be a clever trap. In this eleventh riddle challenge, logic twists, and certainty falters. Can you see past the setup?

JC 6/23/25 JC 6/23/25

1323: "The Human Fingernail"

Interesting Things with JC #1323: "The Human Fingernail" – It's not just keratin. It's memory. Nails reveal illness, archive exposure, and timestamp trauma, layer by layer. It's one of the body's most honest records.

JC 6/20/25 JC 6/20/25

1320: "Why Do People Install Wall Plugs Upside Down?"

Interesting Things with JC #1320: "Why Do People Install Wall Plugs Upside Down?" – The outlet on your wall might be upside down, or exactly how it should be. From 1960s regulations to hospital safety tweaks, this small detail sparks a surprisingly charged debate.

JC 6/18/25 JC 6/18/25

1318: "Spring Water"

Interesting Things with JC #1318: "Spring Water" - Before plastic, pipes, or purification, there was only the spring. From Paleolithic migrations to bottled luxury, this episode traces water’s oldest story rising untouched from the earth.

JC 6/17/25 JC 6/17/25

1317: "Do You Drink More Through a Straw?"

Interesting Things with JC #1317: "Do You Drink More Through a Straw?" – A simple straw changes everything. From soda cups to hospital beds, it silently drives us to drink more faster, sweeter, and without even noticing.

JC 6/16/25 JC 6/16/25

1316: "Cranberry Pills"

Interesting Things with JC #1316: "Cranberry Pills" – Before it became a wellness trend, cranberry extract was military medicine. In 1943, the U.S. Army turned to bog-grown berries as a field-tested infection fighter.

JC 6/15/25 JC 6/15/25

1315: "The Rongorongo Script"

Interesting Things with JC #1315: "The Rongorongo Script" – When the last person who could read it died, an entire symbolic language was silenced. But the tablets still speak, if only we could understand them.

JC 6/14/25 JC 6/14/25

1314: "Could a Hidden Parasite Make You a Mosquito Target?"

Interesting Things with JC #1314: "Could a Hidden Parasite Make You a Mosquito Target?" – You feel fine. No symptoms. But to a mosquito, you suddenly smell irresistible. Could a silent parasite be changing your scent, and turning you into the perfect host?

JC 6/11/25 JC 6/11/25

1311: "Not Broken, But Injured"

Interesting Things with JC #1311: "Not Broken, But Injured" – A girl gets detention. What doesn’t get recorded? The trauma behind her behavior. A landmark study rewired how we ask: not what's wrong...but what happened?

JC 6/10/25 JC 6/10/25

1310: "Can Your Eyes Predict How Long You’ll Live?"

Interesting Things with JC #1310: "Can Your Eyes Predict How Long You’ll Live?" – They don’t just show how you feel, they may show how you’re aging. From limbal rings to iris clarity, your eyes might be telling more than you think.

JC 6/9/25 JC 6/9/25

1309: "The Cornea That Turned to Cone"

Interesting Things with JC #1309: "The Cornea That Turned to Cone" – It starts with a blur. One eye, then the other, bends the world into chaos. Thank you to Jim Stennett for suggesting today’s topic. What if your vision was quietly collapsing?

JC 6/8/25 JC 6/8/25

1308: "Hyperion"

Interesting Things with JC #1308: "Hyperion" – Deep in a fog-drenched forest, a 379-foot redwood reaches the edge of biology’s limits. But getting close could destroy it forever.

JC 6/7/25 JC 6/7/25

1307: "The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes"

Interesting Things with JC #1307: "The Device That Proved We Don’t See With Our Eyes" – In the 1970s, two devices changed how we understand vision, not by restoring sight, but by re-routing it. The brain adapted, the world opened, and it all began at home.

JC 6/6/25 JC 6/6/25

1306: "Cocoa and Cancer"

Interesting Things with JC #1306: "Cocoa and Cancer" – Before war, Aztecs drank it. Now, scientists study it. High-cocoa chocolate may do more than taste good, it may help the body rebuild.

JC 6/5/25 JC 6/5/25

1305: "Pozzolanic Concrete"

Interesting Things with JC #1305: "Pozzolanic Concrete" – In Roman hands, ash became architecture. Beneath harbors and inside domes, this ancient concrete didn’t just endure, it healed.

JC 6/4/25 JC 6/4/25

1304: "Astigmatism Lens Flares"

Interesting Things with JC #1304: "Astigmatism Lens Flares" – At night, a single headlight can turn into a firework. What you see may not be the road, but your eyes themselves. A flaw that’s not broken. Just bent.

JC 6/3/25 JC 6/3/25

1303: "Clock It"

Interesting Things with JC #1303: "Clock It" – A phrase that started on the stopwatch now signals everything from impact to instinct. What does it really mean to clock something?