Play in Adulthood

Haeny and Nathan talk with John L. Jackson, Jr., an anthropologist, filmmaker, and the Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode John talks us through his days as the host of the radio show “Jackson Attraction” and multimodal scholarship. In their conversation, they learn that scholarship is itself an act of play; that at the intersection of play and art and making is a space for disruption and interruption. 

Plus they play "Which GIF?" and share "What's Poppin'". 

Got a strong opinion about fashion? Don’t worry, Nathan will carry that for you in his cargo shorts! Haeny and Nathan put on their best outfits and walk onto a new pop cultural catwalk with an episode on fashion! Luckily they’re joined by some experts: mother and daughter fashion trend-setters Professor Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz and Olivia Ruiz. 

They debate fashion trends and talk fashion icons, plead with Nathan to buy a bag for all that stuff he’s carrying in his cargo pockets, and talk about how fashion is about both individual expression and community.

Oh don’t mind Haeny and Nathan, they just want to hang around in your podcast feed and ask a couple of questions, if it’s no trouble. Just one more thing… did you listen to this week’s episode of Pop and Play yet? Because we’re talking detectives and Columbo! Haeny and Nathan bring on guests Mark and Arlo Maynard who have a parent and child connection through this unassuming TV detective - and they’re not the only ones because returning guest Professor Sonali Rajan joins to talk about how Columbo has figured into parenting in her family as well! They talk about what brings them together across generations around detective stories and Columbo in particular. And they settle the most important question: Is Batman a detective?

In the final episode of season 3, Early Childhood Researcher and Professor Tran Templeton and ten-year-old Sahana join Haeny and Nathan and everyone is “going bonkers” about intergenerational research. It’ll make sense when you listen. Sahana lets Professor Templeton know what it was like to be part of her study from the perspective of a young person involved in research. And they reflect on why adults should listen to young people. 

Nathan and Haeny are joined by Lil Miss Hot Mess (LMHM) to talk about playing with roles through drag, Drag Queen Story Hour, and what it’s like doing drag events for kids. LMHM talks with Haeny and Nathan about her journey in drag, and how drag can be part of modeling possibilities for adulthood with kids. They tackle questions like, how can we defend drag from its critics and uplift its possibilities without sanitizing discussions of drag as an art form? And LMHM demonstrate her skills in coining drag names on the fly. 

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.

Have you ever been curious about dressing 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.”