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WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

I would risk everything and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for them.

It's all about the kids for me.

Ms. Rachel became a YouTube star with her educational videos for toddlers.

Now she's getting attention and some blowback over her advocacy for children in Gaza. It's Wednesday, June 4th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR.

I'm Chris Bentley.

Today on the show, we've got an interview with someone you might not know if, like me, you don't have any kids.

But if you do, she probably needs no introduction.

Hi, friends. I'm so excited to learn preschool skills with you today. We're going to learn shapes, colors, numbers, letters.

That is Ms. Rachel. She's the hugely popular children's educator who's become an internet

celebrity among toddlers and their parents, a sort of modern day Mr. Rogers in denim overalls

and a pink headband. She has billions of views on YouTube where her videos and songs focus on language development.

Netflix recently began streaming some of her episodes. But these days, Ms. Rachel, whose real name

is Rachel Akurzo, is getting attention for speaking out against the war in Gaza. She talked to

my colleague, Usma Khalid, and we're going to hear that interview in just a

minute. But first, Asma, you've got little kids. Do you remember when you first noticed

Ms. Rachel was posting about Gaza? What did you think? Yeah, that's a good question. I think

when it really began to catch my attention was a couple of months ago, because I noticed that her

posts were feeling

more impassioned. Some were really raw. And then, Chris, she began to, it seemed like,

...