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Early Risers is a podcast from Little Moments Count and MPR with frank facts, engaging stories and real how-tos for anyone who cares about raising children with a clear-eyed understanding of cultural differences, race and implicit bias.
More about the Early Risers podcast
Additional Resources
Video: Teaching Anti-Racism: Making Sense of Race and Racism for Young Children
From Little Moments Count: Racial Justice Resources
From NAEYC: Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and Their Families
PDF: Children Are Not Colorblind: How Young Children Learn About Race
Think Small Institute: Additional Resources
Online discussions: MPR News Raising Kids in Minnesota group on Facebook.
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The monthly Early Risers e-newsletter provides curated content and resources designed to help parents and caregivers understand how young children learn about race. Inside are stories, tips, and suggestions for having better conversations about race and differences with the little ones in our lives.
Developing Identity through Immersion: Dakota Language Nest
July 23, 2025
The Dakota Language Nest is a preschool where children are developing their identity through immersion in Dakota culture, traditions and language. In this episode we spend a day with the children as they practice the traditions of smudging, tobacco harvesting, singing songs and showing respect and gratitude for the natural world’s gifts. We speak with lead teacher, Katie Bendickson, about the importance of keeping the language alive, and how the language and traditions are intertwined. We also speak with Nicole Cavender, a Dakota woman whose son attends the language nest: “I wanted to give them what I didn't have and wanted, which wasn't just language, it wasn't just answers to questions, but it's really about belonging, and belonging doesn't happen without community.”
Identity through Words and Images, Part 2: Ourselves on the Shelves
July 9, 2025
What’s the difference between a mirror book and a window book? For part two of our Identity through Words and Images series, we go on location to climb aboard Babycake’s Book Stack bookmobile! We learn the importance of children seeing characters that look like they do, how that impacts their sense of self, and how seeing books about others broadens their sense of community. Owner Zsamé Morgan underscores the importance of family literacy and offers guidance on how to get started. We also hear from children’s book illustrators on how they approach their work. We explore how a book’s images can shape a child’s identity just as much as the text, especially among infants and toddlers, and how illustrators think about their role when choosing shapes and hues.
Identity through Words and Images, Part 1: Planting Seeds with Resmaa Menakem and T. Mychael Rambo
June 25, 2025
Resmaa Menakem’s bestselling text “My Grandmother’s Hands” deals with the visceral impact of racialized trauma. But is it important for children to understand the legacy of these wounds? And how do we begin to take up such a weighty topic with young children? We sit down with authors Resmaa Menakem and T. Mychael Rambo to understand how a children’s book can provide an invitation for parents and caregivers to begin to acknowledge the trauma. As Menakem says, “Something happened and continues to happen to you and your people, and you have to tend to that.”
Finding Identity through Literacy
June 11, 2025
A child’s sense of self is shaped by their understanding of where they come from: their culture, history and heritage. But how a child begins to develop that understanding heavily depends on their having the tools to study themselves and the world around them. Host Andre Dukes speaks with Gevonee Ford, founder and executive director of Network for the Development of Children of African Descent, about the importance of literacy in a child’s identity development.
Passing the Mic: Reflections on Six Seasons of Early Risers
May 28, 2025
New host Andre Dukes sits down with Early Risers’ founding host Dianne Haulcy to reflect on the origins of this podcast. Just days after the murder of George Floyd, Haulcy penned a wakeup call to her peers in early childhood education on the realities of racism and implicit bias in how we raise our children. That message ultimately became Haulcy’s personal call to action, and the foundation for the Early Risers podcast. Haulcy shares her favorite podcast episodes and offers advice to Dukes as he takes the reins. We also learn about Dukes’ uniquely personal connection to the location where George Floyd lost his life, nearly 50 years earlier, well before it became George Floyd Square.
How Children Can Become Critical Thinkers about Race in Media
December 4, 2024
What if, before you learned to read, you learned to ask questions? Faith Rogow calls it a “habit of inquiry,” and tells Dianne it’s more important now than ever. That’s because the explosion of media can be confusing, overwhelming and reinforce racial stereotypes. Little learners CAN become critical thinkers. Dr. Rogow says never take media - from books to apps - at face value. Instead, ask open-ended questions to start conversations - about race and everything else.
What Social Science Says Parents Can Do About Implicit Bias
November 20, 2024
If you thought experiments about race were a thing of the past, Sylvia Perry has news for you. In her social psychology lab at Northwestern University, she’s trying to figure out where racial bias comes from. She is finding that talking about race with children decreases prejudice. She tells Dianne how her career was shaped by her own upbringing as a Black girl in the rural South, and she offers guidance for caregivers on how to lead these conversations, including sharing examples of how she’s helped her own Black son take pride in his heritage.
Honest Beginnings: Using Explicit Language to Discuss Race and Identity with Young Children
November 6, 2024
What was it like to work at Sesame Workshop back in the day? How about Nickelodeon? As a proud Chinese American, Courtney Wong Chin was thrilled to help the companies find ways to talk about race and culture. In this episode, Chin pulls back the curtain on content creation at Noggin and Sesame Workshop. She talks about the challenge of finding language and images that are culturally specific but not confusing, and the importance of noticing and celebrating diverse identities to help build children's' self-esteem. Chin says she learned that kids’ stories work best when they’re specific enough to be authentic but not so complicated they’re overwhelming.
Talking With Young Children About Race and Identity
October 23, 2024
Nicol Russell is vice president for implementation research for Teaching Strategies, a professional development company for early childhood educators. She has taught young children, managed a childcare center, and worked in state government, consistently striving to promote self-esteem and a positive cultural identity in both children and educators.
Sparking Early Childhood Conversations About Race
October 9, 2024
Wouldn’t it be great to play games for a living? That’s a big part of John Sessler’s job for PBS Kids. He tells Early Risers host Dianne Haulcy the work is fun, but not simple. PBS Kids content is required to meet learning goals while also expanding what children know about race and culture. PBS Kids starts with diverse teams of content creators and ends with children as active and curious consumers of media.
