In preparation for Doomsday, we use psychology to explore the team dynamics of the MCU’s Avengers. We look at what makes this team so hard to keep together and why not every superhero is the best teammate. Bonus: hear us argue about whether Tony Stark is Marvel’s version of Bruce Wayne.

Psychology Source: https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/teamwork

We introduce our season, a series of psychological case studies of the MCU characters who will return in Avengers: Doomsday. Keeden shares what he’s found out about the upcoming movie while Dr. Emilia Brown talks about what a ‘case study’ is and why case studies can help us love the MCU even more.

Journalist Jacob Ward joins us as we use Tony Stark and Ozymandias to explore the psychological dangers of when technology is created and distributed without limits. Bonus: stick around until the end to find out Jake’s perspective on how journalists are portrayed in comics!

Jacob Ward has a background in technology journalism and behavioral science with experiences that include 6 years as technology correspondent for NBC News and hosting "Hacking Your Mind" (NSF-funded PBS documentary series). He wrote the book "The Loop: How A.I is Creating a World without Choices and How to Fight Back” and hosts his weekly podcast, The Rip Current, about the invisible forces driving tech, money, and politics.

https://www.jacobward.com/

Psychology sources: Protecting Our Children Online and Examining the Harm of AI Chatbots

Keeden brings the comic book knowledge and Dr. Emilia Brown brings the psychology research to help us figure out if Bruce Wayne can truly be a superhero when he has so much money. We also explore whether psychology can answer the age-old question: Is Batman’s superpower his wealth?

Source: https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/wealth-empathy

We use the Fantastic Four’s Mister Fantastic to explore the similarities and differences between high intellect and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Dr. Brown shares information on autism and the importance of finding good sources when trying to self-diagnose.

Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism-spectrum-disorder

This episode has SPOILERS about the newest Fantastic Four movie. We share our thoughts on the movie, including Keeden’s annoyance at enjoying the movie. Dr. Brown explores if people’s reaction to Mister Fantastic’s directness and honesty in this multiverse would be an expected psychological reaction in our own.

For our Halloween episode we went with one of Keeden’s favorites, Van Helsing. We explore how Van Helsing’s personal experiences help to overcome prejudice and the struggle we all have in trying to overcome our initial reactions to a “monster” like Frankenstein’s who may be the most human of them all.

Since the beginning, comics have been a way to explore a variety of social injustices. We talk with Michael Miller, a justice-oriented theological consultant. Michael designed and taught a private high school class called MARVELous Justice that looked at the intersection of comics with social justice. Listen to this episode to find out why the school’s Catholic Sisters approving content on Black Panther, Squirrel Girl, and Harley Quinn isn’t as surprising as you might think.

Michael Miller: mycomicrelief.wordpress.com & https://www.michaeljmillerconsulting.com/

X: @My_ComicRelief

Instagram: @consultingtheologian

Threads: consultingtheologian

Bluesky: @mycomicrelief.bsky.social