The study of automorphic representations and their local counterparts across varying coefficient fields is a powerful tool in the Langlands program. This talk provides a gentle introduction to some of the key themes in the modular representation theory of p-adic groups. We will outline the theory of modular Godement zeta-integrals and show how one can compute the $L$-functions via associated L-parameters. Finally, we will discuss the modular local theta correspondence and describe precisely how Howe duality fails for type II dual pairs in the modular setting.