What Kids Podcasts Can Teach the Rest of Us

Playback speed

Share post at current time

Share from 0:00

0:00

Transcript

What Kids Podcasts Can Teach the Rest of Us

Lynn Kestin Sessler on Applying Kids Content Lessons for Grown-Up Creators (notice that I'm not saying "adult creators")

Arielle Nissenblatt🎧 and Lynn Kestin Sessler

Feb 11, 2026

Kids Podcasts Demonstrate the Kind of Scaffolding and Structure Creators Need

Enjoy this replay from my recent conversation with Lynn Kestin Sessler — longtime kids media producer, former Nickelodeon creative lead for podcasts, and general force of nature. We talked about what making audio for kids can teach us about making audio for… everyone else.

If you don’t want to watch the video but do want to learn about what we discussed, you’re in luck! I’ve summarized it below. At the end of the summary, you’ll get the wrap-up.

In our conversation, we covered:

Intellectual property and the process of developing podcasts from existing media entities
How podcasts for kids are built around routine
- And how to think about applying this to your own production
How to apply research when shows are in development and beyond
The importance of hooks, shtick, friendship, and hustle

Here are the big takeaways…

Great Stories Win Every Time (As Do Routines)

When Nickelodeon got into podcasting, the strategy was: be where the kids are. That meant starting with well-known IP such as Avatar, SpongeBob, Dora, Paw Patrol, and building audio experiences that honored those worlds.

But making these shows successful wasn’t just about brand recognition. It was the importance of routine. Lynn and her team leaned heavily into research about “pain points” in a family’s day:

Mornings (get out the door)
Car rides (entertain us)
Bedtime (please, help them sleep)

So Lynn and her team built shows specifically for those moments: energizing morning songs, interactive car-ride adventures, calming bedtime stories.

And the takeaways for the adults in the room (and rewatching this): these lessons on routines apply far beyond kids content. If you make a podcast for professionals, commuters, gym-goers, new parents — ask yourself: Where in their day does this podcast fit? (Yes, of course they can listen whenever they want, but what activities are you building for?)

And does your packaging signal that clearly? The cover art, tone, music, episode titles… all of these elements teach your audience how to use your show.

Hook + Shtick = Retention

Kids. Adults. Doesn’t matter. If you don’t hook them early, say goodbye.

For scripted shows, immersing listeners into the scenes they’re entering into matters: sound design, texture, world-building. If you’re in the woods, we should hear the leaves crunch, says Lynn. But even for talk shows, you still need structure.

Here’s Lynn’s advice on applying the hook angle to non-fiction / shows for grown-ups:

Start with a cold open that grabs
Tell listeners what they’ll get in the episode
Build recurring segments people can look forward to
Brand your recurring bit (your “shtick”) so listeners look forward to it

Some examples Lynn shared:

Amy Poehler sources a question from a friend, colleague, or family members of each of her guests before an interview (on Good Hang with Amy Poehler)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus looping in her mom at the end to recap her interviews (on Wiser Than Me)
Wins and losses of the week — alla Kara Swisher
Book or podcasts that your audience would like — they’ll come to trust your recommendations

Those elements make up the scaffolding of your show. And they keep people engaged. They turn into:

A retention device
A brand asset
A social clip

Making Kids Podcasts (& all creative projects) Takes HUSTLE + How to Cultivate That Hustle

The kids content landscape, like all of entertainment, is tighter right now. Fewer buyers. More competition

It’s not so simple of course, but we’ve gotta get used to hustling in order to get our stuff made. We’ve also gotta take it upon ourselves to learn useful skills in the marketing realm of the creative process: SEO, social media, tracking metrics of success, cross-promotion, partnerships…

Lynn is currently working across audio, animation, books, and live events — because it can’t just be one platform anymore. In our conversation (click on the video to watch), you can learn more about some of her upcoming projects.

A few other points we touched on:

Kindness matters when connecting with creators and building relationships
Collaboration is essential at every stage, but especially when hustling to get things made
Word of mouth still wins when it comes to discovering new shows

To Wrap It Up: The Formula We Identified

This works beyond kids podcasting

Hook listeners
Guide them through each episode
Build something they can return to and tell their friends about

Kids content runs on these elements, and the shows geared towards kids make them explicit. Grown-up podcasts, YouTube shows, social storytelling, should try them on for size!