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Mythic Mind

Andrew Snyder

Pursuing wisdom through primary and secondary worlds.

Mythic Mind is a conversation about stories, thought, and the inner life. We read literature and philosophy, talk through film and games when they help, and ask what these works reveal about the soul, the good life, and the Christian imagination. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis and Narnia, Kierkegaard, Beowulf, myth and fairy stories, Tolstoy, and the great books all take their turn at the table.

Hosted by Andrew Snyder, Ph.D., the show gathers fellow readers and thinkers around a common table. Some episodes are lessons. Most are recorded discussions. All of them aim at seeing more clearly, not merely consuming more content.

New seasons take up a shared theme across the Fellowship. Listen on your own, then join the wider conversation in the Mythic Mind Fellowship: https://mythicmindfellowship.com/membership

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mythic-mind--5808321/support.

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30 episodes
weekly
Avg 39 min
English

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Episodes 30

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Monday · 38 min
194 - The Death of Ivan Ilyich: Am I Guilty?
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/mIgiz_wQbXk We all know we will die one day. It is another thing to consider that it is I who am going to die. In this Mythic Mind conversation, Dr. Andrew Snyder (professor of philosophy and theology) is joined by...
- Transcript
October 5 · 54 min
193 - Kierkegaard on Man's Highest Perfection
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/lJXOC2PfR3M We are pressed to dissolve into the mass, to wear a demographic as a self, or to win identity from whatever community we most esteem. Kierkegaard’s answer cuts the other way: the glory of the human being...
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September 28 · 43 min
192 - Exploring the Psyche: Why Socialism Is Poison to the Soul
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/Juoxi8xM5eQ Socialism is often sold as justice, necessity, or the only way to win. This Exploring the Psyche episode asks a harder question: what does that bargain do to the soul? In Mythic Mind episode 192, Dr....
September 21 · 1 hr 15 min
191 - Exploring the Psyche: Identity and Becoming a Self
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/iXr8KuutfW0 When Boethius lost everything, Lady Philosophy told him the wound beneath the wound: you have forgotten who you are. That diagnosis still lands. Who are you when the roles, tests, and labels fall away?...
September 15 · 1 hr 16 min
190 - Exploring the Psyche: The Importance of Home
In this Mythic Mind Exploring the Psyche conversation, Dr. Andrew Snyder talks with licensed therapists Jeremy Kee and Tyler Finders about the value of home: roots and responsibility, the fear of committing to the wrong thing, hobbits who leave the...
- Transcript
September 10 · 1 hr 17 min
189 - Anxiety Means You Can Choose
Anxiety is usually treated as a disease to be eliminated. Medication and psychotherapy have their place, but what if, in our pursuit of so-called mental health, we are lobotomizing something essential to being human? In this Exploring the Psyche...
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August 31 · 1 hr 25 min
188 - A Life Well Lived
In this inaugural episode of our fall "Exploring the Psyche" season, I discuss "living well" with Tyler Finders and Jeremy Key, both of whom are clinical psychotherapists and Christian thinkers. Keep up with all things Exploring the Psyche at...
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August 27 · 6 min
187 - Fall Season: Exploring the Psyche
Between podcasts with professionals in the field, discussions of philosophy, film, and video games, Inkwell articles, a course on Kierkegaard, and more, Mythic Mind will be "Exploring the Psyche" this fall! Join the Fellowship or otherwise keep up...
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August 13 · 2 min
188 - August Update
Here are some quick updates about what is happening with Mythic Mind this month. If you are not already a Fellow or Companion and you would like access to Mythic Mind Academy and Readings from the Inkwell, go...
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August 10 · 13 min
186 - A Review of the BBC's That Hideous Strength (Readings from the Inkwell)
C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength is a profound, still very underread story that provides penetrating insights into the growing forces of dehumanization that drive much of our culture. In 2025, the B.B.C produced an audio drama adaptation. Here is...
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August 4 · 18 min
186 - Exploring the Psyche
In this episode, I discuss our upcoming Fellowship-wide seasonal theme and share a reading from the Inkwell. If you are not already a Fellow or Companion and you would like regular access to Readings from the Inkwell, go...
- Transcript
July 28 · 20 min
185 - The Mythic Mind Fellowship is Moving!
[This episode is best as video. Watch at https://youtu.be/tFrz6G_Avg4 Starting at the beginning of August, we will begin transitioning to our new home at http://www.mythicmindfellowship.com! This is an exciting new chapter that will facilitate...
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July 25 · 16 min
184 - English Romanticism w/ Josh Traylor
In this lecture from his "English Poems and Poets" course, classical teacher Josh Traylor provides a broad overview of literary Romanticism 19th century England. Josh has listed his course at an incredible rate for us, so take advantage of his offer...
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July 20 · 34 min
183 - What is Romanticism? w/ Josh Traylor
In this lecture from his "English Poems and Poets" course, classical teacher Josh Traylor explains what Romanticism is, what it is not, why it is ambiguous, and how we should understand it as a European cultural movement in the late 1700s and in the...
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July 16 · 34 min
182 - The Two Towers, Part 2: Helm's Deep and the Palantir
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/_XTGWHb0iDY Tolkien once wondered whether a film could cut Helm's Deep. In the book it still teaches how hope arrives at dawn, and how a seeing-stone can undo the unwary. In this Mythic Mind Lord of the Rings study,...
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July 13 · 10 min
181 - J.R.R. Tolkien and the Long Defeat
What does the future hold? What has been let go by the past? How should we view the moving horizon? In this episode, I draw from Tolkien's letters, The Lord of the Rings, and his essays, "The Monsters and the Critics" and "On Fairy-Stories," to...
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July 9 · 1 hr 38 min
180 - AI Storytelling: What Remains Properly Human
Watch the video: https://youtu.be/1jTkmfAQ9SI We live amid tribal AI arguments: every machine-made frame is "slop," or every model is just a new paintbrush. This Mythic Mind conversation slows down between those poles with a technologist and a...
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July 6 · 34 min
179 - The American Heritage: 250 Years of Liberty
What is the American heritage? To whom does it belong? For this special episode of Mythic Mind, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and reflect on some of the things that make the United States of...
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July 3 · 34 min
178 - The Two Towers, Part 1: The Departure of Boromir to The King of the Golden Hall
We are continuing our Lord of the Rings study with the Book III, Chapters 1-6. Watch the video of this episode and subscribe to my YouTube channel here:https://youtu.be/ueNTOpwZInI Get the book: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien...
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June 29 · 4 min
177 - Earendil the Mariner
From Norse legend to Christian Anglo-Saxon poetry to the skies of Middle-earth, we are taking a look at Earendil the Mariner, the first enduring character of Tolkien's legendarium. Watch the video of this episode and subscribe to my YouTube channel...
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