Pop and Play

Welcome to a very special holiday music pop off! In this festive bonus episode, Haeny, Nathan, and special guests Sonali Rajan and Lalitha Vasudevan talk holiday music! Which songs do they love, and which would they get rid of if they could? What’s that ringing sound? They’re at your door and they want to sing you songs?For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. Credits: Video and audio for this episode were recorded by Abu Abdelbagi. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Madeline McGee. Pop and Play is produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Joe Riina-Ferrie, and Billy Collins and is part of the Digital Futures Institute Podcast Network at Teachers College, Columbia University.The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

A Pew Center Report from 2024 prompts Haeny and Nathan to ask a big question: “What is the Purpose of School?” And is school the best place for children to learn?For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. Credits: Video and audio for this episode were recorded by Abu Abdelbagi. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Madeline McGee. Pop and Play is produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Joe Riina-Ferrie, and Billy Collins and is part of the Digital Futures Institute Podcast Network at Teachers College, Cohis episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

This week, Haeny and Nathan finally get to share what’s poppin’ for them! Enough politely making space for guests to share, it’s time for the hosts to show off their play and pop cultural recommendations!For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. Credits: Video and audio for this episode were recorded by Abu Abdelbagi. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Madeline McGee. Pop and Play is produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Joe Riina-Ferrie, and Billy Collins and is part of the Digital Futures Institute Podcast Network at Teachers College, Columbia University.The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Welcome to Season 6 and our first “play date”! Listen along with Haeny and Nathan and guest and fellow Swiftie Dr. Cassie Brownell, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto to Life of a Showgirl by a little known artist called Taylor Swift. What is being a Swiftie all about, and what can we learn from being part of that community? Find out this week and check out the album if you want to be part of the phenomenon!For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. Credits: Video and audio for this episode were recorded by Jen Lee. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Madeline McGee. Pop and Play is produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Joe Riina-Ferrie, and Billy Collins and is part of the Digital Futures Institute Podcast Network at Teachers College, Columbia University.The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Nathan and Haeny get all dressed up for Halloween! Well, Nathan does. Can you guess Haeny’s secret costume? They talk about some fun and light Halloween topics, and then they get into what really scared them when they were kids and when to let play be scary and when they might want to step in as adults. For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

What are the implications of controlling play? Haeny and Nathan ask what forms autocratic control can take when it comes to play, when it comes from leaders like those in the government, and how that can be distributed to individuals regulating each other or censoring themselves. And they ask what can be done when people want to resist that control. For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

This week Haeny and Nathan are here to talk about Summer Break! Just in time for it to be over. But we can look back on it fondly! They talk about pools, road trips with the family, and their advice for parents thinking about what do over the summer with their kids. For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Nathan and Haeny are back for another Pop Off about recent cuts to funding for federal research. And they brought in a special guest: Vice Dean for Digital Innovation at Teachers College, Managing Director of the Digital Features Institute, and Pop and Play producer, Lalitha Vasudevan. What is being cut, what are the impacts and implications, and what can people who are concerned about these cuts do? Where was that research money going and why does it matter? Tune in to find out and get ideas about how to take action.Please take our listener survey! We could really use your insight and opinions, and we want to hear your ideas for Pop Off topics and future guests! For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow Pop and Play on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Haeny and Nathan aren’t just here to talk about children’s media - in this season finale, they’re here to MAKE children’s media! Welcome to a fictional tale of what happens after the end of the world, drawing on prompts and suggestions from this season’s guests and narrated by guest star Hannah Holbert. It’s an episode unlike any previous Pop and Play: we hope you enjoy it! And if you share it with any kids, let us know what they think! Send us a message at @popandplaypod on Instagram!For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website.Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

What kinds of shows and media are kids into these days? Haeny and Nathan go straight to the source to find out: kids, of course! Their guests this week are three pairs of kids aged six, eleven, and sixteen. They share their viewing habits and opinions, talk about who they watch with, and Haeny and Nathan learn that “kids media” and “adult media” aren’t always such separate things after all. For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Haeny and Nathan welcome to the show Andy Davenport, one of the creators of the hit children’s show Teletubbies. Find out about the origins of the show, the inspiration behind the teletubbies themselves, and Davenport’s background in children’s language development that all contribute to the show we know and love. This deep dive into the world of Teletubbies with its rolling hills and baby sun will get deep into why play is so vital to children’s experience of media. Correction: We know spongebob lives in a pineapple under the sea, not “a little house underground” as Haeny says in the episode. Don't @ us.For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

In this episode, Haeny and Nathan talk with two of the creators of the award-winning kids and family podcast Story Pirates! Co-founder and Creative Director Lee Overtree and Co-founder and CEO Jamie Salka join to talk about how to treat children as true collaborators, both in podcasting, as well as the many other forms of media Story Pirates is creating including books, music and television. We’re warning you in advance: they talk a lot about Northwestern University - but they tie it all in to the creative communities and spaces that gave rise to their approach to making things with children and as artists and storytellers. Also, did you know that Story Pirates responds to tens of thousands of stories submitted to them by kids each year? Listen for more on the story behind the Story Pirates. For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leaf Eaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

This season is all about exploring children’s media, and this week Haeny and Nathan talk with Emily Reardon, Emmy Award-winning and patents-holding designer specializing in the development of emergent technologies for play and learning, and Michael Preston, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Emily and Michael talk to us about their favorite TV shows growing up — remember Electric Company? — and the ways media and education are intertwined, particularly at the current moment. They’ll also talk about the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and its role in research about children’s media, and make the link between media and social learning (beyond the screen) that is so key to children’s development. They share about the changes they’re seeing in how children’s media is designed and experienced. Listen here to find out more about how children’s media and research inform each other! For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Haeny and Nathan welcome Aaron Trammell, Associate Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine. He has recently published two books on play: Repairing Play, A Black Phenomenology, and The Privilege of Play. Both of these books — and this conversation — explore the challenging elements of play, and ask questions about how various communities understand play and access to different types of play. And of course they have fun talking about which classic games are right for which scenarios and going deep on games like Dungeons and Dragons.For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Join Haeny and Nathan in talking to Erica Halverson, professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, host of the podcast Arts Educators Save the World, and author of How the Arts Can Save Education, and co-founder of the Playmakers Lab in Chicago. Listen to Erica create musicals on the fly, explain Whoopensocker, a community she developed, and talk about the value of making art for its own sake. This episode gets into approaches to making art with children and making spaces to value their contributions.  For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

In this episode, Haeny and Nathan go bonkers about fandom with Henry Jenkins, Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Education at the University of Southern California, and Ioana Literat, Associate Professor and co-director of the Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design Program at Teachers College. They start off this episode talking about their own fan communities (you know Haeny is a T-Swift fan, right?), and the way information is shared within these communities. They also get into the way fan communities can intersect with civic culture and participation in both beneficial and troubling ways, as has been instantiated in the political landscape through fandoms as spaces for exercising voice and participation, but also online conspiracy theories.For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Check out Professor Jenkins’s podcast How Do You Like It So Far if you liked this episode!Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Join Haeny and Nathan in talking to the makers of EcoLeaders, a TV series that’s part of BronxNet Television and available on Youtube that uses puppetry to explore collective responses to environmental issues. Jesus, Paola, and Logan are the family team behind the show, and ask questions like: How can children’s media also be activism? Through their stories of real-world issues impacting kids’ lived environments, the team behind EcoLeaders helps Haeny and Nathan think about the role of children’s media in activism and education. And you’ll hear Jesus, Paola and Logan dream up new characters, drawing on some of their favorite media like Doctor Who. For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

Season 5 of Pop and Play is releasing next Tuesday, March 11! Since this upcoming season is focusing on children’s media, we’re releasing some past episodes where we’ve talked about children’s media! This week’s episode is from Season 2, originally released May 10, 2022! Haeny and Nathan talked with amazing scholar (and mentor to Haeny) Professor Anne Haas Dyson about Masters of the Universe: Revelations! (But really they mostly talked about how the media kids watch plays different important roles in their lives). Please take our listener survey! We could really use your insight and opinions, and we want to hear your ideas for Pop Off topics and future guests! Access a transcript of this episode here. To learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Follow Pop and Play on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

This week, Nathan and Haeny sit down with Dr. Jacqueline Simmons and Dr. Sarah Gerth van den Berg of the Black Paint Curriculum Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University to talk about their new podcast, Curriculum Encounters! They have an expansive, some might even say playful, approach to curriculum design. They ask us to think about the curriculum of all kinds of spaces and activities, beyond formalized plans for school lessons.Curriculum Encounters is coming out February 27, 2025! Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen, and learn more on their website. Please take our listener survey! We could really use your insight and opinions, and we want to hear your ideas for Pop Off topics and future guests! Access a transcript here. To learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University. 

This March 11th, another season of Pop and Play is about to roll into your podcast feeds! This season, Haeny and Nathan are exploring children’s media. By talking with game designers, performers, artists, and kids, we’ll examine what it takes to make children’s media and how kids relate to it. And of course they play games and find out “what’s poppin.” For transcripts of this episode, to learn about our guests, and more, visit our website. Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.Pop and Play is produced by the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.