Pop and Play

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 bring a few older episodes back into the feed as we keep working on Season 5 and get ready to talk about children’s media (and other things) with a great set of new guests. 

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. 

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. 

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 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. 

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. 

This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Billy Collins. Website design and support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Meier Clark, Blake Danzig, and Adrienne Vitullo. Produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Billy Collins and Joe Riina-Ferrie at the Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University. 

Pop Offs are short bonus episodes of Pop and Play where we bring you short, more timely shows between main seasons of Pop and Play. This week: everyone wants to talk about AI, in education just like everywhere else! Is AI the solution to everything? Is it the downfall of everything? Or maybe, just maybe, could it be something in between? Nathan pops off about the way some AI tools are currently being used for teaching, and suggests alternative ways we could think about AI in classrooms and other learning environments. 

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. 

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. 

This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Billy Collins. Website design and support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Meier Clark, Blake Danzig, and Adrienne Vitullo. Produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Billy Collins and Joe Riina-Ferrie at the Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Pop Offs are short bonus episodes of Pop and Play where we bring you short, more timely shows between main seasons of Pop and Play. This week: it seems like there are checklists for everything! A checklist can be a useful tool, but do we need them for children’s play? Can you guess what Haeny thinks? And since Haeny and Nathan have committed to offering alternatives in addition to complaints, what could parents do instead to reflect on their child’s play?

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. 

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. 

This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Billy Collins. Website design and support by Abu Abdelbagi. Social media by Meier Clark, Blake Danzig, and Adrienne Vitullo. Produced by Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Lalitha Vasudevan, Billy Collins and Joe Riina-Ferrie at the Digital Futures Institute, 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 get schooled. Specifically they visit the first grade classroom of first-grade teacher and education scholar Carmen Llerena and talk to some kids! They learn how to play pirates, all about Rainbow Friends, and how to navigate conflict through pretend play. They talk about how kids use available materials to play in unexpected ways, the role of adults when it comes to shaping spaces where kids play, and learn about how easily imaginary worlds emerge from a pile of blocks. 

Fact check: We know that while Haeny says “America Ferrera aka Barbie” in this episode, Barbie was actually played by Margot Robbie in the movie and America Ferrera played a human character. No need to email, message, or DM us this correction.

For transcripts of this episode 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. 

There’s no denying it (looking at you, Haeny), on this week’s episode we’re diving into “role playing.” It’s right in the acronym “Live Action Role Playing” or LARPing, the topic of this week’s episode. Haeny and Nathan are joined by Judson Packard, Program Director of the Wayfinder Experience camp in the Hudson Valley that runs LARPing programs for kids. They talk about their experiences as a camper at Wayfinder and now as a staff member, and what LARPing offers people that can make it a special and transformative experience. And they discuss the central importance of foam swords. Also: beware of spoilers for the movie Role Models! (It came out in 2008, so… you had time.) 

For transcripts of this episode 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 week Haeny and Nathan talk with Amy Parks, and Maika and Maritza Moulite. They are all navigating the world of academia and busy being young adult fiction authors. They talk about why they’re drawn to writing for middle school aged readers, what it’s like to be a YA author in academia, and where they get inspiration. Also, Haeny makes everyone share their most embarrassing memories. Just kidding. Sort of. Haeny Yoon! (You’ll get it when you listen.)

For transcripts of this episode and more, visit our website. 

Professor Amy Parks is the author of YA novels ​​Lia and Beckett’s Abracadabra and The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss and the middle grade novel Summer of Brave.

Maika and Maritza Moulite are the authors of several books including the novels Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, One of the Good Ones, and the forthcoming The Summer I Ate the Rich (Correction: Nathan says you can get it now in the episode, but it’s due to come out next year and you can pre-order the Kindle edition now).

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. 

Have you ever been curious about dressing up in character? This week, Haeny and Nathan talk with Alexis and Josh about cosplay! They talk about why they dress up as characters they enjoy in community with others and how to put together costumes (having Josh sew them for you helps). They also talk about why dressing in character can feel risky, including dealing with the risk of harassment. And Nathan and Haeny talk about their own experiences with costumes and debate how to say “cosplay.”

For transcripts of this episode 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 week Haeny and Nathan are back at the table - the tabletop gaming table that is, with Kent Davis, author of the A Riddle in Ruby fantasy series and co-author of Epic RPG, a tabletop role playing game. He talks with Haeny and Nathan about how risk comes into gaming. What makes playing roles feel risky, and how can players be encouraged to take risks in a gaming environment, without pushing too hard? And of course, Haeny pitches Kent on her Kardashian themed role playing game. 

For transcripts of this episode 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 episode takes the theme of “playing roles” this season literally! Marah and Chris join Haeny and Nathan on the Pop and Play stage to talk about acting! They are a married couple that acts in community theater productions in San Francisco. They talk about how they got into acting, what has kept them coming back to it, and how it feels to be on stage as a lead character and a person of color in front of younger generations. Also Nathan and Haeny put them on the spot for an unrehearsed acting challenge (without even giving them to the count of ten), and the results are impressive and maybe a little terrifying.

For transcripts of this episode 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.