IndyKids Voices

In May, IndyKids Nico and Oona went to Coney Island to report on the Boardwalk Fun Run, a race for kids that happens each year alongside the Half Marathon. This year, over 1,000 kids took part in the race. In this episode, Oona and Nico interviewed participants, youth ambassadors, and organizers from New York Road Runners, who planned the event and invited IndyKids to report.

Ahead of the full marathon, listen to this episode to learn about why these young runners decided to participate in the race, what running means to them, and the emotional and physical benefits of running.

Don't miss this special episode of IndyKids Voices.

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Renée Feltz is a longtime investigative independent journalist. She was the news director at Democracy Now! for many years and is now working as a freelance reporter.

Renée met with IndyKids during summer camp at CUNY journalism school in July. In this episode, she discusses how she got her start in investigative journalism, her focus on issues like immigration detention and mass incarceration, and current projects she's working on. She also offers advice to young writers today!

Don't miss this special episode of IndyKids Voices.

Visit IndyKids.org and find out how you can get involved!

Lauren Carbajal is a civil rights lawyer. She currently works as an assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), primarily on education, criminal justice, and voting rights cases. LDF was founded by the first Black Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, in the 1940s to address widespread racial inequalities and discrimination, and to defend the rights of Black Americans and other minorities.

Lauren discusses her career, some cases she’s working on, college, her love of music, and more!

Visit IndyKids.org and find out how you can get involved!

Visit IndyKids.org and find out how you can get involved!

In this episode, Gabriela describes her work with the National Partnership for New Americans, and how interconnected immigration and climate justice issues are!

*Technical difficulties occurred during the recording process for this episode. We apologize for the sound quality, but this conversation was too good not to share!

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Keisha Gilles is a Haitian American singer, actor, teaching artist, and cabaret performer in New York, N.Y who is currently featured in Aladdin on Broadway. She is also a cast member on the hit children’s series, Ms. Rachel, and has produced many of her own plays and theater projects. IndyKids has the pleasure of interviewing Keisha in October 2025. She talked about her journey to becoming a Broadway performer, what it's like to be a professional actor, challenges she's faced, and more!

For more from IndyKids, visit our website! IndyKids.org

Visit IndyKids.org and find out how you can get involved!

Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, author, and science communicator. She has her own podcast, Pale Blue Pod, and is the author of the forthcoming book, Mothers of Invention: A History of Creativity from the Greek Muses.

Hear all about how she ended up pursuing scientific research and folklore—first at Harvard and then at Columbia—and wound up forging her own career path that blends science and creativity. Dr. McTier also works as a senior advisor to the Human Artistry Campaign, helping to educate policymakers and the public about the risks of generative AI. 

Want to know more about IndyKids?

Visit us at indykids.org to learn more about how to get our newspaper, our writing workshops, and how you can help!

Credits:

Edited by Sarah Clapp and Laura Weiss

Music by Adrian Moring

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4th graders from P.S. 117Q in NYC explore the power of dance. They interview Kai Martinez, a professional choreographer, animation consultant and dancer, originally from Queens, NY. In the interview, students learn about Kai's journey to becoming a professional dancer and choreographer and learn what it was like to work on movies like Encanto and Spellbound!

 

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Produced by Em Löwinger

Edited by Sarah Clapp

Music: Dressed To Party from GMP Music

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The Gillen Brewer Interviewers are back and ready to learn about animals and their relationships with humans across time!

In this episode, students from the Gillen Brewer School sit down with zooarchaeologist Evin Grody to uncover ancient animal facts—like whether people had pets 2,000 years ago or if anyone ever rode a zebra!

Tune in for this paws-itively fun and fascinating journey through history!

About Evin Grody:
Evin is an absolute nerd about all things ANIMAL and exploring the ways our lives are so very intertwined! Growing up, she spent most of her time outdoors in the Colorado mountains with the various animals her family had (dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, lizard). This left her with an early and deep understanding of how much animals both shape our lives and are shaped by them. 

Evin has conducted fieldwork and museum collections work in the USA, South Africa, Zambia, and Madagascar. Her writing, presentations, and archaeological conversations have covered everything from peer-reviewed journal articles and professional conferences to public library chats, YouTube videos, and podcast chats.

Visit IndyKids.org to learn more about our newspaper and our educational programs!

This episode was edited by Sarah Clapp. 
IndyKids' executive director is Isis Phillips.

This episode features the song "Cat Walk" by Roie Shpigler, accessed via Artlist.io.

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IndyKids reporters interview Amy Zimmer, the Bureau Chief of Chalkbeat New York, about phone policies in schools. This discussion dives into different policies, and how the treatment of phone use in schools impacts educators, students, and parents.

Read "All About Phones" in our latest issue of the newspaper here:

https://indykids.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IndyKids-Issue-89-Winter-2025.pdf

IndyKids is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Get involved or find out how you can support IndyKids here:

IndyKids.org

Stay informed about what's going on in the education sphere in New York and beyond by visiting Chalkbeat's website:

https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/

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What’s it like to work at a sandwich shop? What is so magical about working with food? And how can you have a more equitable business for the community and the people who work there?

IndyKids reporters interview the workers at Sea & Soil, a worker-owned sandwich shop!

Noah and Hannah talk about how the idea of a worker-owned sandwich shop came about, how it benefits the community, and how a "sliding scale" pricing model works!

For more about Sea & Soil:

https://www.seaandsoilcoop.com

For more about IndyKids:

https://www.indykids.org

This episode was edited by Sarah Clapp, with music by Adrian Moring. Isis Phillips is our executive director.

Visit IndyKids.org and find out how you can get involved!