Sunday, July 13, 2025

NPR on superheroes

Does America Need a Hero?

Captain America shields on display during New York Comic Con 2023 - Day 1 at Javits Center on October 12, 2023 in New York City.
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for ReedPop

Captain America: an all-American superhero. Clad in red, white, and blue, he carries only a shield. And he fights only when he must. When it's right.

But what happens when what's right isn't so clear? And how does a comic book hero designed to represent America's values survive in a changing world?


Guests:

Danny Fingeroth, author of A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee and Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald's Assassin

Michael Goodrum, author of Superheroes and American Self Image: From War to Watergate

Rick Verbanas, co-host of the Captain America Comic Book Fans podcast

Steve Englehart, comic book writer and novelist

This episode included audio from the Senator Joe McCarthy Audio Excerpts collection, Archival Collections, Raynor Library, Marquette University.


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