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.

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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.