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.
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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.
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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 ListNGSS – 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.
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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.
314: "USS Pueblo"
Interesting Things with JC #314: "USS Pueblo" - North Korea captured the USS Pueblo, an unarmed US Navy intelligence vessel, in international waters on January 23, 1968 and held the 83-person crew hostage for 11 months. Thank you to Ricky Baez for today’s episode.
309: "Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, USMC"
Interesting Things with JC #309: "Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen" was the first African-American United States Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps General.
302: "Pepsi's Navy"
Interesting Things with JC #302 "Pepsi's Navy" - A soda pop company owning the 6th largest navy in the world sounds absurd, but through barter with the former Soviet Union, this private company became a military superpower.
246: "The Sullivan Brothers"
Interesting Things with JC #246: “The Sullivan Brothers” - The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent who, serving together on the light cruiser USS Juneau, were all killed in action in and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942.
199 - Interesting Things: USS Nautilus
On March 3rd 1980, the first nuclear submarine and the first vessel to go to the North Pole, the USS Nautilus was decommissioned. The Submarine was the sixth vessel of the US Navy to bear the name. The Nautilus was in active naval service from 1954 to 1980 and was the 571st submarine in the fleet.
186 - Interesting Things: 133rd Seabees of WW2
The original Naval Construction Battalion 133 was commissioned at Camp Perry, Williamsburg, Virginia in 1943. They rebuilt the air station, docks and more in Hawaii and then they moved onto Iwo Jima landing with the first waves, suffering the largest casualties of any Seabee unit in history. The invasion of Iwo Jima began on February 19, 1945. Its important to remember, given time change and the international date line, the first waves started landing February 18th, 1945 around 7pm EST. They have yet to receive the Presidential Unit Citation for their bravery on Iwo Jima.