Linda Interviews Michael Hanson

June 24, 2013June 23, 2013 Linda interview, Linda Hansen-Raj, Star Wars

Recently I sat down with Michael Hanson, author of Star Wars: The New Myth, a content-rich treatise of the archetypes found in Star Wars. He’s not only a capital markets analyst and a Ph.D. in psychology, but he’s pretty hip: his doctoral thesis was a Jungian analysis of Batman! His undergraduate thesis was the basis for Star Wars: The New Myth. So despite having double-majored in Integrative Biology and Psychology at Cal, I was a bit daunted meeting Michael. After all, Jung’s theories, though made popular by Joseph Campbell, are rich in complexity and profound in their depth.

I quickly found that what makes Michael Hanson a rare kind of genius is his ability to take an esoteric topic – Jungian archetypes – and bring them into the vernacular. In essence, sharing his genius with the rest of us. Our conversation ranged from Greek mythology to Jung and Freud, Japanese Samurai and Star Trek, feminism and Hindu myths. Mike is so enthusiastic and engaging I couldn’t help but get caught up in our discussion, and left feeling a bit smarter myself.

I hope you enjoy the Star Wars portion of our conversation, including some speculation of its future.

Linda has been a Star Wars fan from the time she saw Episode IV in the theatre with her parents and insisted on being Han Solo while playing with the neighborhood kids. She’s now a fangirl who splits her time learning to twirl a bo staff like Ray Park, jumping horses, writing fanfic she dreams up on her commute to work, and spending time with her husband and their own feisty Padawan version of Ahsoka. She can be reached at Linda.HansenRaj@gmail.com and on Twitter.