Season 5
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.” Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search “Pop and Play” wherever you listen to Podcasts and subscribe!

New Episode!
Episode 7: Centering Play in Children’s Media with Teletubbies Co-creator Andy Davenport
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.
Previous Episodes:
- Episode 1: Making a TV Show as a Family with EcoLeaders
- Episode 2: How Does Fandom Shape Our Lives and Politics?
- Episode 3: Can the Arts Save Education?
- Episode 4: What if the Games We Play Exclude You?
- Episode 5: How Children’s Media Is Changing
- Episode 6: Children as Creative Collaborators with Story Pirates
Collections
Pop Offs
- Are AI Tools Good for Teaching?
- Do We Need Checklists for Children’s Play?
- Special Halloween Bonus!
- Is It Okay to Play in Difficult Times?
- Why Are We Hearing So Much about “Parents’ Rights?”
- Offering Hope about Gun Violence Research with Sonali Rajan
- Goodbye 2024! New(ish) Year’s Bonus Episode
- FAQs from Adults about Kids’ Play and Pop Culture
Past Seasons
- Images were generated by Canva's AI Image Generator.
Meet Your Hosts
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 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.