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Melissa: Welcome to The Takeaway, I'm Melissa Harris-Perry. This summer we've been having a great time talking about the benefits of play. That can mean many things. Playing games, playing music, or as we here last week from psychologist Laurie Santos, just doing something for the sake of enjoying it. Being in the moment. Here at The Takeaway, we do more than just talk about play. We walk the talk, or in this case we play the talk. We ask team Takeaway to capture a moment from their play time over the last week so we can share with you all just how seriously we take our play.
Brian: I'm Brian Wild and I'm a producer here at The Takeaway. I went to Fort Tilden, which is a beach outside of New York city, with some friends. Got out there and did some body surfing. Something wonderful happens when you're out there and you feel the power of the ocean and surrender yourself to it. All your thoughts wash away and you're just present in that moment, getting whipped around by the waves.
Ethan: Hey, this is Ethan Oberman. I'm one of the senior producers for The Takeaway. For my weekend of play, I got together with some friends for a game day. We played two games, one was a board game called Code Names and the other was a game called Catchphrase and both of them were a lot of fun. I maybe got a little too competitive, which I often do when playing games. I guess that's something I have to think about as I continue playing.
Speaker 1: Kids drink them and it's like a cup, but dang it.
Callie: I'm Callie Teitelbaum and I'm an intern for The Takeaway. This weekend for play I played ping pong with my grandpa. I was visiting him in Upstate New York and it was just a nice activity to do together that was for pure fun. We weren't keeping score. It wasn't serious, it was just a mindless activity to enjoy each other's company. Given that both of us were fairly out of practice when it came to our ping pong skills, we definitely had a lot of laughs as well.
Mary: I'm Mary, I'm an associate producer on The Takeaway and I've been having a lot of fun this summer riding my bike all over New York city to see friends, to go to concerts, to get to the beach. Biking in the city is like an obstacle course, which can be fun if you're in the mood for that. Also if I'm just trying to get somewhere fast, it's fun to push myself and just see how fast my legs can get me somewhere.
Shanta: I'm Shanta Covington and I'm one of the senior producers for The Takeaway. My play this past week or weekend involved my birthday. No, I'm not going to tell you how old I am. Some friends and I went out to a winery which was lovely. It's called Corteau and they had the most perfect display of bottles, which made a very, very sweet sound when the wind passed through.
Katerina: Hi, I'm Katerina Barton and I'm a producer on The Takeaway. I had a pretty busy weekend just working this weekend. I didn't have much opportunity for play, but I did plan a night out with some friends on Sunday and we got dinner, drinks and we played a little bit of pool.
Speaker 2: Cheers.
Katerina: That was the perfect way to unwind after a long working weekend and also de-stress before the week ahead.
Zachary: You will always be a part of me. Hey, it's Zachary Bynum, digital producer for The Takeaway. For my play time, we are going to the belt line. Now for those who may not know what the belt line is, it is this huge walkway that connects parts of downtown Atlanta. There's restaurants, there's murals. It goes through some of the prominent neighborhoods and it's just a really relaxing and fun time. Sometimes it'll be really turnt and you'll see all the whole bunch of people just having fun and sometimes it's really chill and just nice to go sight see.
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Wonbo: I'm Wonbo Woo, I'm the executive producer of The Takeaway. I went to a concert series called Death of Classical last weekend. It's a pretty amazing event where we walked through Greenwood Cemetery at sunset and heard an arrangement of Mahler's ninth symphony for four hand piano played inside the catacombs under candlelight. It felt otherworldly and totally transported me to another place. It might not be what you think of at first as playful, but I loved it.
Ugonna: Sorry for the piercing scream there. My name is Ugonna Okpalaoka and I'm a producer at The Takeaway. For my day of play, I decided to go the nostalgic route and head to the state fair. I got to spin fast on one too many rides and stuff my face on one too many plates of fried food. Honestly, it was a great time and a great way to relive my childhood.
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Melissa: As for me, well, I went roller skating. It's a weekend tradition in the Perry household. Thanks to team Takeaway for your moments of relaxation and recreation and to our director Jay Cowit and producer Deborah Goldstein for pulling it all together.
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