Host, Recess Therapy

Amna Nawaz: Julian Shapiro-Barnum is the creator and host of Recess Therapy, an online series where he talks with kids about everything from friendship to the meaning of life.

In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, he shares what adults can learn from the clarity and compassion of children.

Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Creator and Host, Recess Therapy: The idea behind Recess Therapy was how can I, a young adult, who needs help figuring out how to navigate the world, get advice from kids who are able to kind of see through all the B.S.

What do you want to say to all the adults who think that kids are grimy and gross?

Child: I'm not sticky now.

Julian Shapiro-Barnum: Was that for energy or for syncing audio? Oh, you use it?

(Laughter)

Julian Shapiro-Barnum: Are you using it? There were a couple moments where I think Recess Therapy kind of hit the mainstream in a bigger way.

One was the corn kid video moment. It was one of the most viral videos that TikTok has ever seen.

Child: I can't imagine a more beautiful thing.

Julian Shapiro-Barnum: I feel like I have spent a lot of my life trying to figure out the best way to have a conversation. There's so many things that kids do that I wish adults were better at doing. One is turning strangers into friends.

I wish I could bottle that up and make other adults bring that out of each other. I had kind of an unconventional upbringing. I was raised by three moms and two dads. Everyone's gay. I had two moms who were together. They wanted to have a baby. They asked their best friend at the time, my dad, whose boyfriend is my other dad.

And my dad was the sperm donor to both my moms. My moms broke up when I was 2 after having me and my brother and sister, raised us all a couple blocks from each other in Brooklyn. The adults in my life were often more friends. And I feel like from a very young age, I was having these really mature discussions about life with adults.

And it's something that I have tried to take into my interviews with kids, because I remember being 5 years old and having all these adults ask me such interesting things and asking for my opinion about things. And now, whenever I meet kids, I do a lot more asking than telling.

My name is Julian Shapiro-Barnum, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on Recess Therapy.

Amna Nawaz: As always, you can watch more Brief But Spectacular videos online at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.