New Listeners

This week Haeny and Nathan get schooled. Specifically they visit the first grade classroom of first-grade teacher and education scholar Carmen Llerena and talk to some kids! They learn how to play pirates, all about Rainbow Friends, and how to navigate conflict through pretend play. They talk about how kids use available materials to play in unexpected ways, the role of adults when it comes to shaping spaces where kids play, and learn about how easily imaginary worlds emerge from a pile of blocks. 

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. 

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. 

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.

Haeny and Nathan talk with fellow Teachers College Professor Ioana Literat about reality TV! Haeny assigns Nathan homework: watching Keeping up with the Kardashians, and Ioana Literat guides us deep into the 90 Day Fiancé subreddit community. They discuss reality TV as a pedagogical resource, a center of community formation, and Haeny makes Nathan play "Kardashian quotes."

Haeny and Lalitha talk with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and Oluwaseun (Olu) Animashaun about speculative fiction, Afrofuturism, African Futurism, and much more. They discuss the political dimensions of play in these and other genres, from children's literature to the big screen, and how these artifacts will stand in the 22nd century. 

Plus they play "Would you Rather: Speculative Fiction Edition" and share "What's Poppin'."