In this episode of Playing Teacher, we rewind to one of the most surreal, exhausting, and defining chapters in modern education: COVID in New York City. Teaching during the pandemic wasn’t just about pivoting to Zoom—it was about surviving, adapting, and finding humanity in the chaos.
We talk candidly about what it meant to be an educator when the world shut down: the scrambled emails, the lost students, the tech failures, the eerie silence of empty classrooms. But we also talk about the grit, the creativity, and the small, quiet victories—like the student who turned on their camera for the first time, or the day a class full of muted icons finally laughed in unison.
We explore how the pandemic didn’t just test our ability to teach—it forced us to reimagine what learning could look like, and what school even meant. From digital access disparities to the emotional weight of teaching through trauma, this episode captures both the cracks in the system and the light that somehow got through.
This one’s for the teachers who taught through tears, through masks, through screen fatigue—and who found new ways to connect, inspire, and hold space when the world felt like it was falling apart.
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My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.