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Haeny and Nathan look back on the most epic season of Pop and Play yet. They ask themselves, what are we taking away from this season of play dates and pop culture reflections? They discuss “The Banal Horror of Jimmy Fallon” by Jon Greenaway ( https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-banal-horror-of-jimmy-fallon ) and ask: does play always have to be commodified?  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 Billy Collins with support from Biwen Liu. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

This week, Haeny and Nathan get into some dirt with John McCann-Doyle, Outdoor Education Specialist and Kindergarten Teacher at Community Roots Charter School. They talk about gardening with kids, why play outdoors is so memorable, and what happens when plants don’t do what we expect.  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 Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

Do you know what dinking in the kitchen is? Well this week, Haeny and Nathan tried pickleball and found out. They’re joined by fellow academics and pickleballers Srikala Naraian, Professor of Education and Curriculum and Teaching Department Chair at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Jon M. Wargo, Associate Profess at the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education. They talk about how pickleball might bring out a different side of them than how colleagues and students know them at work, community, and of course, pickleball pedagogy. 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 Billy Collins with support from Biwen Liu. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

This week Haeny’s niece Emily comes on the show to teach Haeny and Nathan about synchronized ice skating! Emily travels with her ice skating team, and she has some things to teach Haeny and Nathan about getting better at skating, how to stick with things even when they’re hard and you get frustrated, and of course, ice cream.  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 Billy Collins with support from Biwen Liu. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

Can rules give us more freedom? How can games help us make life more process oriented instead of outcome oriented? Can these questions about games help us think about teaching? This week Haeny and Nathan are joined by Professor C. Thi Nguyen from the University of Utah. Haeny and Nathan are big fans of the work in his book Games: Agency As Art and he has a new book out called The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game.  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 Billy Collins with support from Biwen Liu. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Billy Collins with support from Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

This week second-grade teachers Michael DiGregorio and Carly Haber join Haeny and Nathan to talk about how they play role-playing games in their second grade classroom! How do the kids react to what they call “shared story”? And how do you tell a shared story with 26 second-grade players?  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 Valéria Tedesco. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

Is listening to an audiobook reading? What should you do if your kid only wants to read graphic novels, or doesn’t want to transition from picture books to chapter books? Haeny and Nathan settle the big questions in reading and literacy once and for all. Or do they? 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 Billy Collins and Valéria Tedesco. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

Join Haeny and Nathan in the club! We mean the after school club, of course. Can Haeny still tap dance? What position did Nathan play on the football field? And are clubs for playing around and seeing what’s fun, or creating resume lines for college? Find out in this week’s episode about clubs! 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 Billy Collins and Valéria Tedesco. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

Protest music and acts of protest from musicians are in the news right now. What is the role of music in protest, and how has it taken shape in different times and places, including our current moment? Patrick Schmidt, Professor of Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University ( https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/pks2150/ ) joins Haeny and Nathan to talk music and protest today in the U.S., in Brazil during Patrick’s youth, and playing in a band.  Bruce Springsteen - Streets of Minneapolis https://youtu.be/GDaPdpwA4Iw  Billy Bragg - City of Heroes https://braggb.substack.com/p/city-of-heroes  Chico Buarque - Construção https://youtu.be/wBfVsucRe1w Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Ohio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PrUU2S_iw  Billy Holiday - Strange Fruit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_mOECjT_8  Dylan - Times they are a-changing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90WD_ats6eE&list=RD90WD_ats6eE&start_radio=1  Masters of War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEmI_FT4YHU&t=51s  Springsteen - Minneapolis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDaPdpwA4Iw&list=RDGDaPdpwA4Iw&start_radio=1  NWA - F*** the Police https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WbQeDj74kc&rco=1  No$hu - F*** ICE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1aROXqnXM&list=RDYB1aROXqnXM&rco=1  Sam Cook - A time is gonna come https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPr3yvkHYsE&list=RDfPr3yvkHYsE&start_radio=1  Buffalo Springfield - For what’s worth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80_39eAx3z8&list=RD80_39eAx3z8&start_radio=1   Credence Clearwater Revival -  Fortunate Son https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWijx_AgPiA&t=1s  Sonic Youth - Youth against Racism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWzIlCJAw-o&t=31s  Pete Seeger - We Shall Overcome https://youtu.be/1osKWCDXl40 Edwin Starr - War https://youtu.be/dQHUAJTZqF0 Bruce Springsteen - American Skin (41 shots) https://youtu.be/aQMqWAiWPMs

This week Haeny and Nathan are sharing their top moments in play and pop culture from 2025! What is giving them hope? What reframed their perspective? Find out in this best-of episode that goes deeper than your typical top 5 lists.  Here’s the Deep Dive on LLMs Nathan mentions in the episode:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xTGNNLPyMI 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 Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

How do you know when what you started playing around with has become a serious craft? This week Haeny and Nathan talk with Professor Bryan Keller about his passion for woodworking that has grown some deep roots.  Bryan Keller is an applied statistician and Associate Professor of Practice at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he directs the programs in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics. His research focuses on the development and application of statistical methods for research, especially in education, health, and psychology. Learn more at his faculty webpage https://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/bsk2131/ 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 Joe Riina-Ferrie. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo and Billy Collins. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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.

Kids these days just don’t know what it was like back in our day. Which makes sense, cause they’re, you know, kids. This week on Pop and Play, Haeny and Nathan talk about the good, the bad, and the nuance of nostalgia. Just a note that this episode was recorded in September, 2025. This episode references the “Nostalgia Bone” episode of Throughline, and the article “Whatever You Want to Call It: Science of Reading Mythologies in the Education Reform Movement” by Elena Aydarova. 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 Billy Collins and Madeline McGee. This episode was edited by Adrienne Vitullo with support from Joe Riina-Ferrie. Website support by Abu Abdelbagi. 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 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.