Pop and Play

Mar 04 2025 46 ep. 29 mins 3

Pop and Play Podcast artwork

A podcast from the Digital Futures Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University about play and pop culture. Professors Haeny Yoon and Nathan Holbert talk with educators, parents and kids about how they play in their work and their lives, and why play and pop culture matter. The views expressed in this podcast 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.

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He-Man and Pop Culture Representation with Anne Haas Dyson (Re-release)

Mar 04 2025 39 mins

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 Mas

Pop Off: Curriculum Is Everywhere with Curriculum Encounters

Feb 25 2025 29 mins

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 ac

Season 5 on Children’s Media Coming March 11!

Feb 17 2025 2 mins

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 o

FAQs from Adults about Kids’ Play and Pop Culture

Feb 11 2025 19 mins

As researchers of kids’ play and pop culture, Haeny and Nathan have a few frequently asked questions they get from adults. These include, how much screen time is okay (if any)? How do I design or assess play in my curriculum? Is this game okay for my kid? Search no further! They’re here to bring you the answers you crave. Or will they do that annoying professor thing and wind u

Pop Off: Goodbye 2024! New(ish) Year’s Bonus Episode

Jan 28 2025 17 mins

We’re back with a new annual tradition(?)! It’s our New Year’s bonus episode - and it’s still January so the year is still new! Nathan and Haeny talk about some of their favorite pop culture topics from 2024, things they want to say goodbye to from last year, and hopes for play and pop culture in 2025. Disclaimer: Haeny and Nathan are not expert sources on the slang the kid

Pop Off: Offering Hope about Gun Violence Research with Sonali Rajan

Jan 07 2025 19 mins

Gun Violence research and hope might not usually sound like they go together, but this week’s special Pop Off guest, Teachers College Professor Sonali Rajan, is here to share progress made in this often challenging field. Sonali Rajan is Professor of Health Promotion and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She also holds a secondary appointment in the Department o

Pop Off: Why Are We Hearing So Much about “Parents’ Rights?"

Dec 17 2024 19 mins

This week, Nathan and Haeny are talking about “parents’ rights.” Having rights sounds great, but what do people mean when they talk about “parents’ rights”? How is that phrase used in service of the agenda of certain adults, and how does it position those adults in relationship to the rights of kids and other parents?Please take our listener survey! We could really use

Pop Off: Is It Okay to Play in Difficult Times?

Nov 26 2024 13 mins

Sometimes we hear “it’s not the time for that” when it comes to play or diving into pop culture in difficult times. When times are hard, we might feel guilty about doing things that seem frivolous. But Haeny and Nathan are here to push back on the idea that there’s something wrong with playing—or when we don’t perform the “right” kind of “serious” response—whe

Future Dreaming with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and Oluwaseun (Olu) Animashaun (Re-release)

Nov 19 2024 45 mins

This week, we’re going all the way back to season one with “Future Dreaming”. In this episode Haeny talks about speculative fiction and creative reimagining with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Olu Animashaun, and Lalitha Vasudevan.We’re bringing you this re-release (originally released April 27, 2021) in case you missed this great conversation the first time. We’re going to brin

Pop Off: Special Halloween Bonus!

Oct 31 2024 15 mins

It’s Halloween! Haeny and Nathan are here to frighten and delight you with some Halloween opinions in a just-for-fun holiday “Pop Off”! Do you have takes on costumes, candy, and scary movies? Follow @popandplay pod and send your thoughts! As a bonus, you’ll get to see the costumes Haeny and Nathan wore for this episode!Please take our listener survey! We could really use yo