Welcome to the inaugural episode of Hey Pop, a podcast about the intersection of family life, work, and creativity. In Hey Pop, I’ll talk with some of the most fascinating and unusual parents in the world—musicians, writers, athletes, painters, chefs, and so on. First up is Shea Serrano: dad of three boys, husband of photographer Larami Serrano, bestselling author, and beloved man of the internet.
Shea has a new Amazon Prime TV show based on his teenage years, called Primo, which he created with Mike Schur (Parks and Rec, The Office, Master of None). It’s a fun, well-made show and worth your time.
The New York Times recently profiled Shea, upon the release of Primo. His rocket seems to be especially blasting off lately.
But despite all this attention, as Mike Schur puts it in the Times piece, “He’s not thirsty for fame or success…. He’s the most laid back guy I think I’ve ever met in my life.” That’s not to say, of course, that Shea is lazy. The dude is a worker. There was a time in his life, as we discuss in the show, when he was teaching middle school, coaching several sports, helping take care of infant twin sons, and starting to make his career as a writer late at night, picking up whatever assignments he could get. He barely slept for a while. But all that work and sleep-deprivation paid off: The books pictured below were #1 New York Times bestsellers. Shea has even started his own book imprint and started publishing fiction.
Shea’s just someone you want to hang out with, and his writing often makes you feel like that's exactly what you're doing—debating who the greatest dunker is in NBA history, or talking about the overlooked virtue of the velociraptors in the Jurassic Park franchise, or deconstructing the lyrics to Tupac’s “Dear Mama.” But it’s not just surface-level fun; Shea’s work is built on a foundation of humility, intelligence, and wit.
The photo below is from one of Shea’s most moving and personal stories. I won’t spoil it; you gotta listen to the episode to know what it’s about.
Shea and Larami have three boys—a 10-year-old nicknamed The Baby, and twin high school-aged sons, whom he calls Boy A and Boy B.
When Shea and I first got in touch more than a year ago, we were supposed to discuss some Substack things, and we did, but we probably spent more time talking about favorite jazz records. Much of our correspondence since then has been about hard-to-find vinyl that we’re hunting for. He’s become a trusted source of good leads…
Or we chat about basketball…
In our conversation for Hey Pop, we talk about a bunch of dad and work stuff—funny things our kids say, Shea’s prior life as a middle school teacher, how he learned to coach sports from playing video games, the importance of balancing parenting duties with your partner, the most unexpected way to become a successful writer, Shea’s thoughts on what makes for a good dad, and other topics. Hope you dig it.
(Thanks to Shea and Larami for permission to use these family photos.)
Shea Serrano: the patron saint of basketball, movies, and music (Hey Pop ep. 1)