Welcome to Ping and Echo, a newsletter that shares amazing podcast episodes that are guaranteed to be great for kids and their families. Each newsletter includes links to articles, videos, and activities related to the podcasts we share, so you can turn every episode into an adventure.
This week marks the last days of school here in our neck of the woods. I sat at my desk today and listened to my kids say tearful goodbyes to their teachers on Zoom, wishing their friends a good summer, with question marks in their voices that seemed to be asking, “What comes next?”
When I launched Ping and Echo with my kids ten weeks ago we thought it would be a fun short experiment while schools were closed for a bit. Since then we’ve listened to over 100 hours of podcasts, sent 50 newsletters, and met a community of amazing parents and kids who love podcasts as much as we do. And as I sit here, at the end of the school year I too am asking, “What comes next?”
We designed Ping and Echo to be a resource for families who wanted to weave podcasting into their homeschooling, combining amazing audio with enriching crafts and background reading. We focused on pushing ourselves to discover new podcasts, feature new voices, and share diverse stories. We chose the daily format so that families could rely on it as a consistent part of their day.
But as we turn the corner into summer we are going to pause Ping and Echo for a week or two while we think about how best to continue the newsletter. And we would love your feedback. Help shape the future of Ping and Echo by sending us your ideas at pingandecho@gmail.com. What would you like to see more of? How often do you want to get the newsletter? Do you want to connect with other podcast loving families online?
Of course, it wouldn’t be Ping and Echo if we didn’t share a podcast.
Today’s episode is from Slow Down, a poetry podcast from Tracy K. Smith, the United States Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2019. In this episode Smith reads “Song In Which We Yet Sidestep Disaster” by Tess Taylor, and both the poem and Smith’s introduction resonated with me deeply in this moment. I hope it does for you as well.
Podcast: Slow Down
Episode: Song In Which We Yet Sidestep Disaster
URL: https://www.slowdownshow.org/episode/2020/05/27/393-song-in-which-we-yet-sidestep-disaster
Length: 5 minutes
The name Ping and Echo comes from sonar technology which relies on sending out “pings” and receiving back “echos” to discover the world around you. While the newsletter is on break our Instagram and our Twitter accounts will keep sharing podcasts and activities and we hope you’ll follow us there.
Thanks for lending us your ears and your inbox for the last ten weeks. We’ve been so grateful to share this strange moment in history with you.
Josh, Toby, and Ruby