By Amari Leigh

News-Decoder has extended its global reach by releasing its first podcast on one of the world’s biggest audio streaming platforms.

The podcast, produced with partner Podium.me, is now available on the Apple Podcasts app, which has more than 555,000 active shows from 155 countries.

Last year, News-Decoder and Podium.me released the seven-episode The Kids Are Alright podcast on the SoundCloud platform, as well as on the educational news service’s website.

In the first season of The Kids Are Alright, young reporters examined major global issues, speaking to fellow youth and international experts on such topics as climate change, social media, globalization and inequality.

Podium.me, a UK-based charity, provided radio and audio expertise, while students from News-Decoder’s academic partners did the research, reporting and interviewing.

“The thing I love about creating The Kids Are Alright podcasts is the fact that young people get to pitch their own ideas,” Podium.me Co-founder Camilla Byk said in an interview. “It’s very much a ground-up pitching process. It really is a collaboration that works for both sides.”

Podcast numbers are eye-popping.

News-Decoder offers young people around the world a multimedia platform for examining crucial global issues. The Kids Are Alright was its first podcast, launching News-Decoder into what has become a leading medium among youth.

“What podcasting has is a youth audience that feels very passionately about the people that they listen to and that they engage with,” BBC correspondent Phillippa Goodrich recently wrote, noting that podcasts empower individuals to pitch their own ideas and produce unique stories.

Conversational and relaxed in tone, podcasts appeal to smartphone-obsessed millennials and members of Generation Z. Many listeners are also producers — “for enthusiasts by enthusiasts,” as Goodrich said.

Podcast numbers are eye-popping: Listeners have downloaded or streamed an estimated 50 billion episodes on the Apple Podcasts app alone.

News-Decoder and Podium.me are already working on Season Two of The Kids Are Alright. Eight students at five of News-Decoder’s partner institutions will report on topics ranging from animal farming in California to looted Middle Eastern antiquities.

Season Two will be released in November. You can subscribe to the podcast today on Apple Podcasts to be notified about the release of new episodes.

Amari Leigh is News-Decoder’s 2019 summer intern. An American citizen, she is studying French and world politics at university in the U.S. state of New York. Born and raised in New York City, Leigh has lived in Brazil, France and Portugal. She enjoys theater, learning languages and exploring new cities.