Sesame Street Around the World

Tamara Kay's book examines how Sesame Workshop and local partners create culturally resonant versions of Sesame Street through a co-production model.

Drawing on seven years of ethnographic fieldwork and 200 interviews across seventeen countries, Kay traces stages of imagining the product, disassembly, reconstitution, and dissemination.

She argues that mutual learning, customization, and alliance-building produce hybrid cultural products that align local and organizational interests.

The book highlights consistent socio-emotional values, flexible customization, and the centrality of time and relationship-building to program success.

It offers lessons for other transnational organizations about managing cultural difference and constructing equitable partnerships.