Play CauseQuest

Bijan

CHECK THE SOURCE

Loading audio…

Press play to listen along. The line being read lights up as you go.

Show full transcript

Loading transcript…

01 Opening

02 Bijan

In the Change Lab, once you have a question, you need facts — and facts are where you can get fooled. Bijan is the friend who checks them. He is not a grump and he is not a know-it-all; he just has a habit he loves, a little pause he takes before he believes anything. He holds a claim up to the light and asks it three quiet questions: Who made this? How would they know? Why are they telling me?

03 Bijan

One week the group found a glossy poster taped by the water fountain: "9 OUT OF 10 KIDS SAY THE OLD PLAYGROUND IS DANGEROUS." A few kids got excited — that was exactly what they'd hoped to prove. Bijan felt the pull of it too; it matched what he already wanted to believe, and that, he'd learned, is exactly the moment to slow down. He didn't sneer at the poster. He just tilted his head and asked, softly, "Nine out of ten... out of how many? And who counted?"

04 Bijan

Nobody knew. There was no name on the poster, no date, no "we asked 200 kids." The number felt solid, but it was standing on nothing. Bijan feels a small, honest thrill at moments like this — not the mean kind, the careful kind, like catching a step before you trip. "It might be true," he told the group. "But right now it's just a shape that looks like a fact. We can go count for ourselves. Then it's ours, and nobody can knock it over."

05 Closing

A newer kid looked a little embarrassed for having believed it, and Bijan caught that quick and gentle. "Hey — everybody believes the confident poster at first. That's normal. Checking is a skill, not a scold." Say it with Bijan, out loud: "Before you share it, ask who made it." The kid repeated it, and the embarrassment turned into something better: a plan to go ask a real, countable question.

That is checking the source, and it is really a kind of self-respect. Bijan is not trying to make anyone feel dumb — least of all himself, when a claim tugs at him. He just refuses to hand his belief to a stranger who won't say their name. Ask who made it, ask how they'd know, ask why they're saying it — and if the answers are missing, go find your own. A fact you gathered yourself is one no clever poster can take away.

Hear it as an audio drama

A short play starring Bijan, from CauseQuest. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.

Loading audio…

Read the drama script

Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and Causequest — this is Bijan, in chapter 1 of the Causequest cast.
Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
Narrator: Once you have a good question, you need facts — and facts are exactly where a group can get fooled. Bijan is the friend who checks them.
Narrator: One week the kids found a glossy poster by the water fountain. Pip read it out loud.
Pip: "Nine out of ten kids say the old playground is dangerous!" That's exactly what we've been trying to prove!
Narrator: Bijan felt the pull of it too — it matched what he already wanted to believe. And that, he'd learned, is the moment to slow down.
Bijan: Nine out of ten... out of how many? And who did the counting?
Pip: I... don't know. There's no name on it. No date.
Bijan: Right. The number feels solid, but it's standing on nothing we can check. It might be true — but right now it's just a shape that looks like a fact.
Pip: I feel kind of dumb for believing it.
Bijan: Hey — everybody believes the confident poster first. That's how confident posters work. Checking is a skill, not a scold.
Bijan: We can go count for ourselves. Then it's ours, and no clever poster can knock it over. Say it with me.
Pip: Before you share it, ask who made it.
Narrator: And the embarrassment turned into something better — a plan to go ask a real, countable question. That's what makes Bijan, Bijan.
Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
Narrator: Apps stay free forever.
Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.