# Middle schoolers are hiding in NPR's comment section

> Kids too young for social media have found an unexpected refuge: NPR podcast comments, where they run group chats under the radar.
- Title: Middle schoolers are hiding in NPR's comment section
- Summary: Kids too young for social media have found an unexpected refuge: NPR podcast comments, where they run group chats under the radar. Middle schoolers are using…
- Keywords: npr, middle schoolers, podcast comments, social media, this american life, ira glass, wild card podcast, spotify, technology, startups, Middle, schoolers
- Source: TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/25/the-hottest-new-hangout-for-middle-schoolers-is-nprs-comment-section
- Author: Connie Loizos
- Published: 2026-09-25T20:33:58+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: npr, middle schoolers, podcast comments, social media, this american life, ira glass, wild card podcast, spotify, technology, startups
## Kids find refuge in NPR comments
Parents have spent years keeping children off social media. Some kids have found an unexpected hiding place: NPR's podcast comment sections, where adults rarely look.
## NPR spots strange activity on Wild Card
Last fall, the NPR podcast Wild Card received a flood of baffling comments on Spotify. A producer saw bizarre abbreviations and indecipherable emojis and assumed they were bot traffic.
## Hannah Chin recognizes the truth
Audio producer Hannah Chin, a Gen Z colleague, looked at the screenshots and immediately recognized they were not bots. They were middle schoolers running a group chat in the comments.
## NPR had seen this before
NPR had spotted kids doing the same thing on the TED Radio Hour show last year. The pattern of middle schoolers using podcast comments as a social space was not entirely new.
## Why NPR? Few comments there
When Ira Glass tracked down one of the kids to ask why NPR, the answer was straightforward: they looked for podcasts that did not have many comments, making them ideal for private conversation.

> Um, I think we just, like, looked for podcasts that didn't have many comments.
## Glass reacts to the revelation
Ira Glass, who has hosted This American Life for three decades, responded with gentle disappointment. He told the child, "I tell you, buddy, I do a public radio show, and that hurts a little to hear."

> I tell you, buddy, I do a public radio show, and that hurts a little to hear.
## Key takeaway

Middle schoolers are using NPR podcast comment sections as a hidden social space, evading parental monitoring by congregating where adults don't expect them.