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youtube_channel2018–present

Like Stories of Old

Summary

YouTube channel created by Tom van der Linden that analyzes films through philosophical, existential, and Jungian-psychological lenses, exploring themes of identity, meaning, grief, and heroism in popular cinema.

Core Contribution

Elevated the video essay as a medium for genuine philosophical inquiry, using films as starting points for explorations of Nietzsche, Jung, Frankl, and Heidegger accessible to a mass audience.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Jungian archetypes
  • existentialism
  • heroic journey
  • grief and meaning
  • film philosophy
  • depth psychology

Historical Influences

Carl Jung Viktor Frankl Friedrich Nietzsche Martin Heidegger Joseph Campbell

Intellectual Lineage

Video essay traditionJungian film criticismExistentialist philosophy

Allied Works

Like Stories of Old YouTube video archiveEssays on Arrival, The Tree of Life, Interstellar

Contemporaries & Peers

Nerdwriter1 Wisecrack Cinema Therapy Einzelgänger

Minds Influenced

Cinema philosophy YouTube subgenreWisecrack Philosophize This! audience crossover

Intellectual Posterity

Philosophy-oriented film YouTube genreAcademic-adjacent online discourse

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Like Stories of Old

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