Patrick's Playground

Join Patrick Kisling as he explores the world of childhood development in this 6-episode series about the nature of “play” and how our relationship to it changes as we grow up.

Each episode features an interview guest of a different age— starting at 3 and ending at 77— and asks them to reflect on their favorite games and pastimes from each stage of their lives. How do factors like personality, society, and technology influence our favorite ways to play? And do we ever truly leave “make believe” behind as we grow up?

Patrick tests his own hypothesis about how our evolving relationship with play, guiding us through 4 distinct types of play: Functional, Constructive, Symbolic, and Games with Rules.

From playing “Princess” to playing Monopoly, from assembling LEGOs to assembling Wordle guesses, from team sports to solo adventures in video games: Every way we “play” can be analyzed through the lens of childhood development. You just might learn something about yourself on the way!

• No. of episodes: 6
• Latest episode: 2024-11-03
• Society & Culture Science Documentary Social Sciences

Where can you listen?