CinemaPsych Podcast

Episode 036: Wait, the Prison Was a Metaphor? The Shawshank Redemption (1994) with Justine Egan-Kunicki

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Justine Egan-Kunicki in a discussion of the various psychological concepts in the classic prison film, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), a film based on a novella by Stephen King that doesn't have any horror or supernatural elements. Just good old fashioned, mid-century prison brutality! It is set in Maine, though... anyway, the episode explores psychological prison, institutionalization, and hope. It stars Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in perhaps two of their best roles. You can't help but smile as the end of the movie sweeps you away to Mexico!

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Legal stuff:
1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended).
2. Intro and outro music by Sro ("Self-Driving"). Used under license CC BY-SA 4.0.
3. "Et Voila" used under license.

Episode 035: Mental Health, Sexuality, and Suicide, Oh My! The Hours (2002) with Crystal Steltenpohl

Join Alex and Dr. Crystal Steltenpohl in a discussion of the various psychological concepts in the crushing, but a poignant look at relationships and happiness, film The Hours (2002). The film stars Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep as three women struggling with their mental health, relationships, and happiness, connected by the story written by the famous Virginia Woolf. Listen, Nicole Kidman's prosthetic nose was great to be like Virginia, but it didn't change color!

Check out Crystal on Twitter! Also, don't forget to pop over to the Open Scholarship Knowledge Base.

Full episode notes and transcript available here.

Episode 034: This is One Reality Show That Definitely Isn't Ethical—The Truman Show (1998) with Mehwish Safdar

Join Alex and Virginia Commonwealth University undergrad Mehwish Safdar in a discussion of the various psychological concepts in the wildly unethical, but touching lark The Truman Show (1998). The film stars Jim Carrey, in a shift from his sillier roles earlier in the 90s, as the titular Truman Burbank. He's the real person in an elaborate reality show. Joining him are Ed Harris and Laura Linney as the creator Christof and his fake wife, respectively. It's a fantastic ride and could be useful in discussions beyond ethics!

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Twitter (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to check out our Patreon and/or Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!

Full show notes and transcript available here.

Episode 033: With L-Dopa, You Too Can Do the Hokey Pokey (But Only if You're Rigid)—Awakenings (1990) with Sara Bagley

 

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Sara Bagley in a discussion of the psychological concepts in the wonderful film based on the book of the same name, written by Dr. Oliver Sacks, Awakenings (1990)! The film stars Robin Williams as a facsimile of Dr. Sacks and Robert De Niro in one of his strongest method roles. We discuss everything you wanted to know about L-Dopa and dopamine, among this wild trip based in truth.

 

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Twitter (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

 

Don't forget to check out our Patreon and/or Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!

 

Full episode notes here.

Episode 032: How Stalking and Insurance Scams Drive a Person Insane—Unsane (2018) with Alex Swan

Join Alex in a solo episode as he discusses the psychological concepts in a sleeper indie thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh, Unsane (2018). It stars Claire Foy as a woman suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from a stalker, but everyone at the health clinic thinks she's delusional, because who stalks these days, amirite? Anyway, it's a cautionary tale about believing women and insurance scams! The idea for covering this film came from a General Psychology class Watch Party on Alex's Twitch.tv channel (https://twitch.tv/cogpsychprof).

Full episode notes & transcript can be found here.

Episode 031: CinemaPsych at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference 2021—What's Your Film Pedagogy?

Join Alex in a special episode of the podcast! In this ep, Alex hosts a Roundtable Discussion at the Annual Conference of the Midwestern Psychological Association, held virtually in 2021 due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. Several educators in psychology joined to discuss their film pedagogy.

Full episode notes, including the participants info and an episode transcript, go here.

Episode 030: I Can't Get Over the Stalker Behavior! 50 Shades of Grey (2015) with Kiersten Baughman

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Kiersten Baughman in a discussion of the psychological concepts in the poorly-acted but provocative BDSM LARP, 50 Shades of Grey (2015)! Starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, this film really shows how a stalker can ultimately win: just be rich!

Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Twitter (@CinPsyPod). We'd love to hear from you!

Don't forget to check out our Patreon and/or Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!

Full episode notes and transcription can be found here.

Episode 029: It's Just a Jump to the Right... of Acceptance? The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) with Wind Goodfriend

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Wind Goodfriend in a discussion of the psychological concepts in the outrageous but important cult class film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)! We do the Time Warp again to discuss the sex, sexuality, and gender-bending concepts that are all over this wild musical. The message here is, don't dream it, BE IT!

 

Check our Dr. Goodfriend's new Audible course, The Science of Love.

 

Full episode notes and the return of the episode transcription can be found here!

Episode 028: It Really is Hard to Forget This Film—Still Alice (2014) with Shana Southard-Dobbs

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Shana Southard-Dobbs in a discussion of the psychological concepts in the somber and illustrative film, Still Alice (2014)! Alzheimer's disease is front and center in this tour de force by Julianne Moore. Both Shana and I thought some of the aspects of the film came too close to home, but not for the memory loss, but that it happens to a college professor and cognitive scientist! Full episode show notes can be found here.

Don't forget to check out our Patreon and/or Paypal links to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo!

Episode 027: Honey, Where's My Dinner? Pleasantville (1998) with Will Ryan

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Will Ryan in a discussion of the psychological concepts in the whimsical fairy tale, Pleasantville (1998)! This film has so many lovely allegories, so we explore as many as we can in a short amount of time. Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are fantastic in these early roles of their careers, with William H. Macy doing a great job asking... "Where is my dinner?" Full episode notes can be found here.