How do we find the right kind of fear? In this episode, we talk about horror stories and what we are scared of with Bernice Murphy. We discuss the effect fear has on the brain with Ian Robertson, and we examine the relationship between the media and fear with Bruce Shapiro.
Bernice Murphy is Associate Professor in Popular Literature at Trinity College Dublin. She has published extensively on topics related to American Gothic and horror fiction and film, including The California Gothic in Fiction and Film (2022); The Suburban Gothic in American Popular Culture (2009); and The Highway Horror Film (2014). She was also academic consultant to The Letters of Shirley Jackson (edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman, 2021).
Ian Robertson is Co-Director of the Global Brain Health Institute and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, where he previously founded the Institute of Neuroscience. He is the author of several best-selling books, including How Confidence Works, which brings science-based strategies to non-specialists.
Bruce Shapiro is Executive Director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University. He is an award-winning reporter on human rights, criminal justice and politics. His books include Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America and Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America's Future.
Clips from the show
Franklin D. Roosevelt Inaugural Address (1933)
https://youtu.be/rIKMbma6_dc
Peeping Tom (1960)
https://youtu.be/B3kGTJDGTnw
This Is Marshall McLuhan - The Medium Is The Massage (1967)
https://youtu.be/cFwVCHkL-JU
The History of the Future podcast is co-created and co-hosted by Mark Little and Ellie Payne and produced by Patrick Haughey of AudioBrand. The Schuler Democracy Forum is an initiative of the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin. The Forum is generously supported by Dr Beate Schuler. For more information, see:https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/Schuler-Democracy-Forum.php