Ego Check with The Id DM is an interview podcast series hosted by a licensed psychologist, Michael Mallen, Ph.D. The podcast delves into a variety of game types (e.g., tabletop roleplaying games, boardgames, videogames) from a psychological perspective. Dr. Mallen has been interviewing members of the gaming community for articles on his blog, The Id DM, since 2011 and is now posting these interviews for others to enjoy.
https://theiddm.podbean.com
episode 1: Chris Benefield on Magic: The Gathering, Digital Card Games, and GenCon 2012
This week I'm joined by Chris Benefield, a longtime friend I first met during our days in graduate school way back in 1998. Chris has a masters degree in Educational Psychology, and is now working toward an advanced degree to become a school counselor. In the episode, we discuss our history of arguing, "Who is the bigger nerd?" and explore how social comparison theory affects geekdom, "Sure, I'm a nerd - but I'm not THAT nerdy." I ask Chris why he cannot get into tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons, and he asks me why I'm unwilling to dive into Magic: The Gathering (MtG). He discusses the merits of MtG, and we explore how games like Hearthstone, SolForge, and Eternal scratch a similar itch. We delve into our approaches to mindfully engage in hobbies and time management, which leads into our use of social media - for better and sometimes worse. Along the way, we review our trip to GenCon 2012, and talk about trying to remain a nerd while parenting young children.
Enjoy the episode, and please provide feedback if you would like Chris and I to continue recording similar discussions as we are considering spinning this off into a separate podcast.