Ep18 - The Psychology of Doctor Who: Dr. Travis Langley

Super psychologist Dr. Travis Langley talks about his new book Dr. Who Psychology, A Madman with a Box and what we can learn about ourselves from Dr. Who, the positive benefits of showing compassion and stability vs. change.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

  • The psychology behind Dr. Who and the humanity and personality of the character and how that relates to us.
  • Stability vs. change, and how our personality changes over time but our core traits remain the same. How you change certain things in your life.
  • The science behind compassion and how showing compassion benefits both people.
  • Why we’re afraid of being turned into something else, and how we can hang on to our sense of meaning, direction and purpose.

High Five Highlights:

  • Question he gets asked the most: Why Batman? (Answer: Because he’s the only super hero without super powers).
  • Advice he would give his younger self: Always remember life is good.
  • Favorite super hero: Batman.
  • When did he start using fiction to start teaching psychology: In 2007 he realized he could use the filter of fiction to teach real psychology.
  • The most important thing he’s learned in his life: Life is good, you get one life, live it well, have a job that is intriguing, not just one that pays the bills, scare yourself as part of having a full and interesting life.

Connect with Dr. Langley!

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Additional Info

  • Segment Number: 1
  • Audio File: which_way_is_life/1648bk2ep18.mp3
  • Featured Speaker: Travis Langley, PhD
  • Book Title: Dr. Who Psychology, A Madman with a Box
  • Guest Facebook Account: www.facebook.com/ThePsychGeeks
  • Guest Twitter Account: @Superherologist
  • Guest Bio: Travis-Langley-smallTravis Langley, PhD, editor of The Walking Dead Psychology: Psych of the Living Dead, and Star Wars Psychology: Dark Side of the Mind, is a psychology professor who teaches course on crime, media, and mental illness at Henderson State University. He speaks regularly on media and heroism at universities, conferences, and popular culture conventions including San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic Con, and Wizard World conventions throughout the world.

    Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics and other films have featured him as an expert interviewee, and the documentary Legends of the Knight spotlighted how he uses fiction to teach real psychology. Psychology Today carries his blog, “Beyond Heroes and Villains,” and he is one of 10 most popular psychologists on Twitter with over 100,000 followers: @superherologist.

    You can also keep up with Travis and the rest of the book’s contributors through Facebook.com/ThePsychGeeks.
  • Length (mins): 20:08
  • Waiver Received: Yes
  • Host: Bill Klaproth