All Episodes
Displaying 1 - 20 of 75 in total
How Can Play Escape Commodification? (Season Reflection)
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 ref...
Digging into Gardening and What Makes Outdoor Play Special
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 ta...
Is Pickleball all about Dinking in the Kitchen?
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 Srika...
Synchronized Ice Skating and How to Learn Difficult Things
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 thi...
Can Rules in Games Help Us Find Deeper Freedom?
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 ...
Dungeons and Dragons and… Second Grade?
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...
What Counts as Reading?
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 boo...
In the (After School) Club
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 cl...
Protest Music and Striking Notes of Resistance
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 pla...
Best Pop Culture and Play Moments of 2025
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...
Woodworking and When Playing Around Becomes a Serious Craft
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...
Should We Stop Saying "Kids These Days"?
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 ab...
A Very Special Holiday Music Pop Off!
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...
What is the Purpose of School?
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...
What's Poppin' for Haeny and Nathan?!
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 p...
The Life of a Showgirl and Being a Swiftie
Welcome to Season 6 and our first “play date”! Listen along with Haeny and Nathan and guest and fellow Swiftie Dr. Cassie Brownell, Associate Professor at the Universi...
It’s Halloween! Is Scary Play Okay?
Nathan and Haeny get all dressed up for Halloween! Well, Nathan does. Can you guess Haeny’s secret costume? They talk about some fun and light Halloween topics, and th...
How is Play Policed and Who Gets to Decide?
What are the implications of controlling play? Haeny and Nathan ask what forms autocratic control can take when it comes to play, when it comes from leaders like those...
What's Poppin': Summer Edition
This week Haeny and Nathan are here to talk about Summer Break! Just in time for it to be over. But we can look back on it fondly! They talk about pools, road trips wi...
The Impacts of Cutting Federal Funding For Research (Pop Off)
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 ...