Hi my name is Ciarán Mc Mahon and welcome to Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 and Media and Technology.

This podcast is based around the book of the same name I've edited which has just been published by Routledge.

Psychological Insights for Understanding COVID-19 and Media and Technology draws together chapters as they originally appeared before COVID-19 descended on the world.

Over the course of the following episodes, I'll be speaking with the authors of those chapters. I'll be asking them about their work and how it can help us to understand the complicated situation we find ourselves in today, in the year that is 2020 - a year I'm sure none of us will ever forget.

This book is particularly important because its topic area is one which was already complicated before the pandemic hit us - the interaction of human psychology with the media and technologies which have come to dominate our lives. That means everything from social media to algorithms to artificial intelligence and so on - this was already very complicated in 2019. And now, with the pandemic, and so many people trying to work from home, as well as study at home, and socialise remotely - not forgetting constantly trying to get accurate and reliable information about this virus - well, it's gotten a lot more complicated.

So in this podcast, that means we're going to be talking about lots of really important topics in the cyber psychological space. We're going to be talking about fake news, social media, conspiracy theories, belonging, online emotional lives and relationship formation, and identity. Are we still the same people we were before all this happened?

I am looking forward to speaking with these highly regarded international experts and bringing their insights to you. It promises to be an enlightening and important series of discussions!