Pop and Play

Pop and Play

A podcast on play and pop culture from Teachers College, Columbia University. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.


Pop and Play Season 3 Trailer!

Our music is selections from Leafeaters by Podington Bear, Licensed under CC (BY-NC) 3.0.

"Watch the Trashie Awards on Tik Tok" with an image of Ionna holding a silver trophy

Watch The Trashies with Professor Ioana Literat on TikTok: @popandplaypod

Screenshot of Nathan and Haeny Livestreaming on Twitch

Watch Pop and Play Livestreams on Twitch Tuesdays at 8pm.

Meet Your Hosts


Haeny Yoon
Associate Professor of Early Childhood in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching

Haeny Yoon is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Dept. of Curriculum and Teaching. She works with both pre and in-service teachers in designing spaces for children’s play and inquiry. She is also the faculty co-director of the Rita Gold Early Childhood Center, serving children from infant-PreK. The center provides a play-based, emergent curriculum model that forefronts children agency and imagination as central to children’s development. 

Nathan Holbert
Nathan Holbert
Associate Professor in the Program of Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design

Nathan Holbert is a dad who designs stuff and builds stuff. He also plays a lot of games. He’s quite lucky to be able to design, build, and play as an Associate professor of Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design at Teachers College, Columbia University. Nathan likes to build and study playful tools and technologies that help kids make things they care about or ask questions about the world around them.

Nathan is co-editor of Designing Constructionist Futures: The Art, Theory, and Practice of Learning Designs and Founding Director of the Snow Day Learning Lab.

Season 3 Trailer Transcript

[playful music plays, then fades behind voices]

Nathan: Detectives, comic books, cargo shorts, research, muscle men, lightsabers, babysitters, and skateboards!

Haeny: Must be, could only be, Season 3 of Pop and Play.

Nathan: This season of Pop and Play we explore intergenerational play–that's play that happens between and across generations around a wild assortment of objects, toys, and media, and how play brings us together.

We’ve got more episodes,

Haeny: more Star Wars,

Nathan: more kids,

Haeny: more fashion advice from Nathan...

Nathan: Sometimes less is more?

Haeny: Obviously. The first episode of Pop and Play Season 3 drops Tuesday February 28th. And our first guest is Eisner AND Hugo award winner John Jennings, who recently debuted a new Marvel character: Ghost Light! You don’t want to miss this chat!

And, if one episode a week of Haeny and Nathan isn’t enough for the popernaut fanbase, yes, I said popernaut, and I said we have a fanbase, [Nathan laughs] we’re excited to announce the Pop and Play cinematic universe!

Nathan: Multiverse?

Haeny: Media conglomerate?

Nathan: Eh, we’ve got more Pop and Play for you!

Haeny: Woo! Check out our newest shows Trashie of The Week with Ioana Literat on Tiktok at popandplaypod.

Nathan: And check us out at Twitch at popandplay for Pop and Play Live!

Haeny: Woo!

Nathan: Haeny, what’s poppin?

Haeny: Obviously Pop and Play Live, Trashie of the Week, zines, and also Pop and Play.

Nathan: [chuckles]

[music fades out]

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