News

Gimlet Media’s The Story Pirates Podcast is returning with a new season on Thursday, January 31 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Each week, the crew aboard the Story Pirates’ ship — including world-class actors, comedians, improvisers and musicians — takes original stories from real kids around the country and turns them into a wildly funny comedy podcast for kids of all ages. Special guests this season include John Oliver, Claire Danes, Franchesca Ramsey and George Salazar.

When we last heard from the Pirates, they had crash-landed on a deserted island where they encountered an old Viking named Siegfried the Orange, who promised to help repair the broken ship. Now, the ship is finally rebuilt, and the Story Pirates can head off into the sky. The first episode will also feature new original stories “A Hamster's Workday,” by 11-year-old Nina in New York, and “The Boy Who Hated Kisses,” by 6-year-old Victoria in Missouri. The season’s overarching theme is “quests,” where characters go on journeys in search of something they really, really want.

The Story Pirates’ second chapter book for kids will also be published this month. Based on an idea created by an NYC-based kid, Digging Up Danger (written by New York Times best-selling author Jacqueline West; available from Random House on January 15, 2019) is a mystery/ghost story with a botanical bent and a young sleuth as the hero. Like Stuck in the Stone Age, the critically acclaimed first book in the Story Pirates Present series, this spine-tingling mystery doubles as an introduction to the basics of creative writing. With the help of Story Pirate Captain Rolo and the Mystery Creation Zone at the end of the book, young readers can find inspiration to create their own great mysteries.

The Story Pirates have garnered accolades from educators, parents, and more than 500,000 young people around the nation. To learn about their educational programs, visit Story Pirates Changemakers at StoryPirates.org.