About

The show was started and launched in July 2019.

This podcast explores the psychology portrayals in film. We discuss the accuracy, implications, consequences among audiences, and trivia of the films. We occasionally insert periodic teaching examples or discussion questions so instructors of psychology can use the podcast episodes or parts of episodes in their courses.

We explore all film genres and all subdisciplines of psychological science.

Where psychology meets film!

Creator/Producer/Editor/Host

Smiling man with a neatly trimmed beard and short brown hair, wearing a light blue button-up shirt, standing on a brick path with green grass and trees in the background.
Dr. Alex Swan

Hi there! I’m an associate professor of psychology at Eureka College. I started this podcast because I love all things psychology and film — why wouldn’t I want to just sit and chat with friends and colleagues about these two things?

I’m based in Peoria, Illinois and record episodes remotely in my basement office. I am married to Astrid, and we have Ollie and Ellie as human children, as well as Murphy and Chloe, our dog children.

Frequent Contributors

Dr. Wind Goodfriend
Dr. Wind Goodfriend

Hello CinemaPsych fans! I’m a full professor of psychology at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. I love the combination of psychology and popular culture, so I’m honored to be a repeat guest on this fun podcast. My areas of research are (1) stigma for gender/sexual minorities and (2) prevention of relationship violence. I also firmly believe that every movie is about psychology.


Dr. Anthony Zoccollilo

Fondest greetings to the CinemaPsych Podcast Universe. I am currently a Senior Teaching Professor at Texas A&M University in beautiful Corpus Christi, TX. One of my favorite things that I get to do is talk about the intersection of psychology and film. I regularly get to enthrall my students with a Psychology and Film course, but about once a year, I get to have a conversation with Alex from his basement about a thoughtfully curated topic that endlessly entertains me both in researching it and in recording with him. I am deeply indebted to Alex and each of his weekly co-hosts for enlightening and entertaining me. Not to mention, providing content that ultimately influences my teaching. I am the Quentin Tarantino of the CPPU — I steal from every episode ever recorded.


Dr. Ed Hansen

I’ve always loved the movies. Movies aren’t just an escape though. They are a great way to examine, in a relatively short period of time, someone else’s way of looking at the world and what they have to say about it. What a great tool for exploring psychological concepts in a classroom! The book might usually be better, but film is still my favorite art form, and I love finding ways to incorporate movies in my classes at Florida State University whenever I can. It’s been a blast contributing to CinemaPsych with Alex, and I hope my episodes have given other instructors some ideas for their own classes.