What do superheroes mean to us and who can identify with them?

John McGowan is joined by Clinical Psychologists Lauren Bryan, Gina Harwood and Alan Hebben-Wadey to talk about superheroes. What do superheroes do for us and are they there for all of us? Are they simply musclebound fantasies? Or representations of outsiders seeking acceptance? Can they help us get in touch with our inner hero? Or might they be more toxic? The panel discuss all these questions, and reflect on what it was like to be treated as an NHS superhero during the pandemic.

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Some links to things we talked about on the show:

Materials relating to the Power threat Meaning Framework can be found here.

Here is some information on the foundling Museum and the exhibition recently held there on Superheroes, Orphans and Origins.

As we discussed, Phil Zimbardo has spent recent years thinking about everyday heroism.

Is one of the takeaways from Into the Spiderverse that we can all “wear the mask”?

Please note The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any of the contributors employing organisations.

Producer: John McGowan

Music: http://www.bensound.com/