Quick note: As I thought about the past few posts, and then tried to come up with resources to point you towards, I realized that a lot of my reading and learning has been at the level of primary texts; that is, reading Sartre, Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty, etc. These are pretty tough entry points, and since I am working on putting together my existential group this fall, I’ve been trying to come up with more normal-person resources. But I admit, it’s a little thin.

Stuff to explore online

Existential Comics. I’m not kidding. First off, it’s hilarious. Second, Corey Mohler (the creator) does offer you little windows into philosophy’s heavy hitters. Each character generally plays an (obviously comedic) role in each narrative that somehow reflects the philosophical positions that philosopher held.
Some philosophy YouTubers

Mark Thorsby contributed to me getting through grad school. His videos are definitely in-depth — this isn’t philosophy lite — but he’s crystal clear and really knows his stuff.
This is more if you’re just interested in philosophy generally, but Jared Henderson is someone I’ve been following more lately. He also has an excellent Substack. He doesn’t generally get into existentialism per se, but his approach to philosophy is quite accessible.

The Existentialists podcast. This one is great for actually applying existential psychology principles to our lives. Not just philosophy, but really existential psych.
Both the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy are, again, fantastic philosophy resources generally. Keep in mind that these articles are written by professional philosophers who are not always the best at thinking about how to apply philosophy to lived reality. But if you get excited about existentialism (or any other philosophy!), they’re invaluable resources for pointing you in future directions.
This may feel a little intimidating, but Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism Is a Humanism is genuinely quite accessible. Personally, as an old Gen X lady, I’d recommend printing it off instead of trying to read it online, but whatever works for you!
And of course, if you’ll be in Washington State this fall, I’ll be leading an existentialist psychotherapy group. Because it’s an actual therapy group, you do have to be in Washington to participate. But I’m genuinely excited about this group. My goals are to help people 1) start to figure out what role the intellect plays in therapy, and 2) get their feet under them with existentialism.

Books

Full disclosure: I haven’t actually read this one yet, but I swear I’m going to! At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell is one that I keep meaning to get to. My phenomenology professor recommended it, so it’s got to be good, right? I’m guessing it has a bit of a French bias, but that’s pretty common.
My #1 recommendation for getting started with thinking existentialism in your actual life: On Being and Becoming by Jennifer Gosetti-Ferencei. Gosetti-Ferencei isn’t a psychotherapist, but/and she does a fantastic job of walking the edge between explaining the philosophy and talking about it in terms of human life. We’ll be using this book in the therapy group this fall.
If you feel up for a primary text (though I might suggest starting with the aforementioned Existentialism Is a Humanism), The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon feels particularly salient for our times. I’m convinced that Fanon’s young death is one of the greatest tragedies of 20th century philosophy. Fanon was a psychiatrist, Martiniquais, and an absolutely brilliant analyst of what colonialism had done/was doing to the psyches of both colonized and colonizer.