These Bronx Middle Schoolers Made the Best Podcast About Periods

Kids are, unequivocally, making the best podcasts. The latest evidence of this comes from a group of eighth-graders at Bronx Prep Middle School in the South Bronx, whose Sssh! Periods is a smart and hilarious podcast about how they refuse to shut up about menstruating.

Sssh! Periods is a brief look at the miserable experience of getting your period as a middle-schooler. “I’m literally the queen of bleeding out,” a girl named Caroline told NPR. One girl on the podcast said a teacher didn’t let her go to the bathroom when she got her period in the middle of class, and another remarked that her teachers’ reactions change quickly once they realize they’re dealing with a menstruating teenager. “Cause when you tell a teacher, their whole mood changes!” one said. “Facial expression and everything,” another added.

The girls, who wrote, recorded, and edited the podcast, also covered topics like the pink tax on pads and tampons, how menstruation affects homeless women’s basic ability to care for themselves, and all the code words people use to avoid even saying the word “period.” These girls are clearly interested in shining a light on these mildly awkward topics, but my only criticism is that their podcast was too short—each could work as a standalone episode! When is Part 2 coming?

The girls made Sssh! Periods as part of NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge, and are the contest’s first-ever winners. It sounds like they should probably get school credit for this, but at the very least, I hope they’ve shamed their teachers into being less weird about letting them to go the bathroom in the middle of class.