Seraphina Speaks Podcast: For Children Who Think...And Adults Who Should

 There is a man I met in Illinois who records and distributes a podcast for the residents of his assisted living home. He is 91 years old and discusses life from the perspective of people in their 80s and 90s. The podcast is amateurish, beset by sound quality issues, and utterly charming.

This podcast exemplifies the innate beauty of podcasting as a media format because it can be tailored for any audience, no matter how old, or how young

Two weeks after that visit, I received a message from a Seraphina Malina-Derben complimenting my work. I found her message refreshing for two reasons. First, I receive many more "you are horrible" type of messages. Second, Seraphina is an 11-year-old student from Westminster, England in the United Kingdom. 

After checking her profile, I discovered that 11-year-old Seraphina is a podcaster and has a podcast -- Seraphina Speaks:For Children Who Think -- that she's been recording since she was seven years old. Her first episode was released in April 2020.

After recovering from the pleasant shock of such precociousness, I set about listening to 15 episodes of Seraphina Speaks. They're short, running from five to 15 minutes.

Here's their well-written promotional message:

"This award-winning family-friendly show inspires tweens and early teens to examine social norms and ordinary, everyday things. Everything from happiness, being a tween, chores, school, Race, toys, & more."

"Your host Seraphina Malina-Derben (currently 11 years old) started the show aged seven, as a small girl with big questions. Now older, she continues to query life’s basic situations. She brings thoughtful and fun conversation and is joined by her trusty triplet brothers plus different correspondents each episode. In 15-20 minute episodes, she reviews other family focused podcasts, with frequent guest appearances from hosts of these shows. Seraphina Speaks is listened to globally across schools, by children, and within families as conversation starters."

Some of my favorite Seraphina episodes include:

June 21, 2020 -- Seraphina starts by telling us her favorite cakes -- chocolate filling with chocolate chips inside and Victorian sponge cake. Then she discusses the wisdom of the familiar maxim, "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." Her seven-year-old sage advice on eating cake so it doesn't go to waste is spectacularly logical and childlike in its inherent wisdom.

October 10, 2020 -- Seraphina discusses farts and goes beyond the prototypical schoolboy fascination with passing gas. Seraphina gets down to business and explains what we should know about farts. She tells her listeners that the average human farts 14 times a day (Has she met my Uncle Dave?), the word "farts" comes from an Old English word, which means to break wind, and holding in farts can cause bloating. Also, her mother doesn't like the word "fart" and prefers the euphemism "wiffie." I prefer "puffy" as a more descriptive word. 

November 14, 2020 -- On this episode, Seraphina discusses racism and does it with more acumen and sensitivity than most U.S. Republican elected officials. She interviews George Floyd's uncle, Selwyn Jones, and I defy you not to hold in a tear.

In that episode, Seraphina asked, "How do we get rid of racism?" Then, she articulates a sensible solution that has evaded many adults. Her answer? "By talking about racism, of course," she insists.

The U.S. is going into an election this November with two over-the-hill men running. That's nuts. How about if we voted for an 11-year-old like Seraphina? I think she'd do a better job than Sleepy Joe and Dumb Donald.

We asked Seraphina how she got into podcasting? 

Seraphina answered: "Mama is a long-time podcaster, and I used to sit in on her interviews. I thought why can't I do that as it sounds like fun. All the tech kit was already available, so that helped. I was six at the time and started podcasting at seven."

Seraphina continued: ""Mama is producer of Seraphina Speaks. We talk about content, scripting, etc. Marie is our editor and has worked on podcasts with Mama since 2018. She does sound. We've been careful to not go too much on Instagram, as I didn't want to do that. So Substack is where I feel comfortable, although I'm younger than the age that writers are supposed to be. Mama and I do the Substack."

Seraphina's recent episodes on body odor (odour, as the English spell it) pass the smell test for intelligent and sensitive ways to handle people with body odor. As Seraphina explains, tweens and teens have bodies that are changing radically, and those changes can precipitate alterations in body odor. Ever been around middle school boys? 

Her advice on telling someone they smell is: "Be gentle but don't mince your words. Be kind, be truthful, and make sure they know you care about them."

How is it possible that an 11-year-old girl from England offers better advice on life skills than many adults? 

After listening to those episodes, if Seraphina is indicative of the generation that will one day rule the world, I feel comforted that she is only one of many who are socially aware, embrace diversity and inclusion, empathize with those who are disadvantaged, and determined to make the world a better place for all.

 

To me, Seraphina is another Greta Thunberg, the Swedish activist.

Asked about her future, Seraphina says: "I want to make a difference. I'm testing the water about how I will do that. It will involve my voice and has to be something I enjoy. That means something in the media that challenges the way the world is.  I may have to take a break to take exams when I'm older, but at the moment I don't have plans to stop. I'm a podcaster who loves podcasting."

Seraphina was named a young social impact hero for this thought leadership podcast.

Finally, read just two of the reviews listeners posted about Seraphina's podcast. I think they're priceless.

"I’m 11, and I’m using my mother’s account. I like how you explain things so that even if I knew nothing about the topic, I would still understand what you’re saying. I really enjoy when you say something is hard to pronounce. It makes me smile and you feel relatable!"

"We could listen to this podcast just to hear Seraphina talk—her voice is soothing and melodic. But more than the tone of her voice, Seraphina shares such interesting information on a variety of topics. Highly recommend!"

 

Check out Seraphina Speaks:For Children Who Think. What you may find is that children in this generation are smarter than we think, and have a more balanced, reasonable, and solutions-oriented view of the world than the adults that currently run it.

If I had a crystal ball, I'd predict that in the future, Seraphina will be either the most popular podcaster in the world, a future Prime Minister, or an influential social activist.