The Kids Crew and Katie Stone meet mycologist Peter McCoy to uncover the hidden world of fungi. Listeners learn how mushrooms recycle nutrients, clean pollution, and help plants grow. From underground mycelium to giant mushrooms in Oregon, this episode reveals how fungi keep our planet alive and connected.

This week on The Children’s Hour, we dig into the fascinating world of fungi with mycologist Peter McCoy, founder of Mycologos, the world’s first school of mycology. Listeners learn how mushrooms, molds, yeasts, and mycelium shape life on Earth in countless ways. Peter explains how fungi recycle nutrients, clean pollution, and even help plants and animals survive.

The crew discovers that fungi aren’t plants or animals—they belong to their own unique kingdom! Mushrooms are only the fruiting bodies of vast underground networks called mycelium that connect entire forests. Peter describes how fungi have been on Earth for millions of years, how they grow, and how scientists now use them to create medicines and clean toxic soil through a process called mycoremediation.

Kids learn that mushrooms come in many colors and sizes, including the world’s largest living organism in Oregon, a single mushroom that’s thousands of years old and spreads across hundreds of football fields underground. The Kids Crew also finds out which mushrooms are safe to eat and why we should never taste wild ones without help from an expert. Fungi are everywhere: under our feet, inside our bodies, and even deep in the ocean, helping the planet stay healthy.

Understanding Microremediation by the Biomimicry Institute

Fungus Among Us was produced by Katie Stone, with production help from Sarah Gabrielli and Thaniel Lentz. Amber Schiel writes our learning guides, which you can find at childrenshour.org.

Our theme music is by C.K. Barlow. The Children’s Hour is produced by The Children’s Hour Inc., a New Mexico nonprofit organization, and distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American Radio Network.

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