Abigail Thorn | |
|---|---|
 Thorn in 2021 | |
| Born | (1993-04-24)24 April 1993 (age 32) Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Subscribers | 1.65 million |
| Views | 123.5 million |
| Last updated: 30 June 2025 | |
Abigail Thorn (born 24 April 1993) is an EnglishYouTuber,actress, andplaywright.[1][2] Thorn created theYouTube channelPhilosophy Tube in 2013, when she sought to provide free lessons inphilosophy in the wake of the 2012 increase in universitytuition fees in England. In 2018, her videos became more theatrical, beginning to incorporate dramatic studio sets, lighting, costuming and makeup. The channel has been positively received by critics and has over one million subscribers.
In 2019, Thorn hosted a livestream onTwitch in which she read plays from theComplete Works of Shakespeare for the mental health charitySamaritans. The stream lasted five days, featured a number of guests, and raised over £100,000 for the charity. In September and October 2022,The Prince—a play written by and starring Thorn—ranOff West End. Thetransgender-themed work is based on characters in Shakespeare'sHenry IV, Part 1 becoming self-aware.
Thorn publicly came out as atransgender woman in January 2021, with the videoComing Out As Trans – A Little Public Statement and the more theatricalIdentity: A Trans Coming Out Story.[3][4]
Thorn is fromNewcastle upon Tyne[5] and has two older brothers. She attended theRoyal Grammar School, where she was a member of anarmy cadets group. Thorn credits her discovery of philosophy to her teacher, as well as having taken the subject as anA-level course. She later studied Philosophy and Theology at theUniversity of St. Andrews, where she also participated in Mermaids and the St Andrews Revue. Thorn graduated with aScottish Master of Arts in Philosophy in 2015, coming top of her year. She then trained atEast 15 Acting School, completing aMaster of Arts awarded by theUniversity of Essex in 2017 before moving to London.[6][7]
In October 2019, Thorn discussed her sexuality in her YouTube videoQueer, where she came out asbisexual.[8][9] On 30 January 2021, Thorncame out as atrans woman.[10][11] She has spoken at protests in favour oftransgender health care and said that transgender liberation is a more important goal than transgender representation among fictional characters or celebrities.[12][13][14][15] Thorn cited the trans singerKim Petras and the feministAudre Lorde as influences in understanding her femininity.[15] Thorn is alesbian.[16]
Thorn began her YouTube channel, Philosophy Tube, as an educational channel in 2013 in response to the universitytuition fees in the United Kingdom tripling in 2012, rendering higher education less accessible. Thorn made it her mission statement to "[give] away a philosophy degree for free".[17][18] Thorn originally planned to record her lectures and upload them, rather than appearing in videos, but her university would not allow this.[19] Her first video titled "I think therefore I am" aboutRené Descartes was uploaded in May 2013.[20] Her first subscriber unsubscribed in protest when she first voiced feminist opinions.[21] Prior to transition, she presented the channel under the name Oliver Thorn.[2][22]
Thorn makes money from both YouTube advertisement revenue and crowdfunding onPatreon.[19] The channel's style progressed over a period of years from a direct style of talking to the camera about the works of philosophers such asRené Descartes andImmanuel Kant, to more theatrical productions.[23][19] In 2016, Thorn took part in the YouTube NextUp, a week-long training programme for YouTubers with under 100,000 subscribers.[17][24]
In 2018, Thorn decided to change her content creation, beginning to film at a studio with costumes and makeup. She was inspired by the 2018 conferenceVidCon, the channelContraPoints, and the ending of an abusive relationship.[25][23] She also used props such as snakes and horses.[19] Characters and music began to feature.[26][25]
Joel Burrows ofThe Latch said that these videos were characterised by their narratives, set design and monologues.[25] Kayleigh Donaldson ofPajiba described the works as "long-form think-pieces" with "detailed production design" that use aspects ofsketch comedy.[27]Emily St. James ofVox summarised that the channel covers both philosophical topics and "sociopolitical ideas of the current era from a leftist point of view".[26] For instance, a video about the former Trump advisor andBreitbart News co-founderSteve Bannon features Thorn performing a cover of aHadestown song, with lyrics about Bannon.[26]Food, Beauty, Mind features Kelly Slaughter, an exploitative technology company CEO.[25]
In January 2020, Dmitry Kuznetsov and Milan Ismangil, writing fortripleC, reported that the channel is a focus of an internet fan community centred around leftist YouTubers categorised as "BreadTube". The authors note fan crowdfunding, production value, criticism of thealt-right, use of citation and videos about broad topics as common BreadTube attributes that are employed by Philosophy Tube. As a case study, Thorn'sClimate Grief discussesclimate change through multiple personas, citingTimothy Morton's concept of hyperobjects andTerry Eagleton'sWhy Marx Was Right. In the video, Thorn criticises some right-wing and left-wing arguments and highlights indigenous philosophy.[28]
In 2021, Thorn reached one million subscribers. In an interview withInsider, Thorn said she had an idea for the final Philosophy Tube episode and that the channel's continuation depended on future acting roles. She saw it as successful due to her subscriber numbers, an invitation to be a featured creator at 2021 VidCon and other YouTube channels that were inspired by her.[21]
Thorn's 2018 video Suic!de and Ment@l He@lth [sic] examines societal attitudes to mental health, along with her personal experiences: she has a history ofself-harm andattempted suicide twice in her life.[23] She said in mid-2019 that she still received at least one email per day by a person who said the video saved their life.[26] Thorn's videoMen. Abuse. Trauma. is about men and mental health, with reference to her personal experiences.[26] The video is 35 minutes long, with the script entirely memorised by Thorn. There are no cuts or editing,[27] and a single costume change is facilitated by a slow camera pan across the room;[26] Thorn used the second of two takes.[26] Both the script and the style of the video reference the 1944Jean-Paul Sartre playNo Exit.[26] Emily St. James ofVox praised that the "tension and vulnerability that builds" is maintained by the lack of editing, and opined that in the video, "aesthetic form is inseparable from content".[26]
On 30 January 2021, Thorncame out as atrans woman via a public statement, posted on social media and recorded as the videoComing Out As Trans – A Little Public Statement.[10][11]Jezebel's Harron Walker described it as a "feminist, anticapitalist appeal in support [of] trans people's legal equality, physical autonomy, and broader liberation in the United Kingdom and beyond".[29] The statement discussed issues in access to healthcare, journalist fearmongering about transgender people and a lack of elected transgender representatives.[30][31] She also says that other issues in society like homelessness disproportionately affect the trans community.[32] "Abigail" trended onTwitter subsequent to the announcement.[33][3]
Thorn also releasedIdentity: A Trans Coming Out Story, which drew on the work of the American writerAudre Lorde and saw Rhys Tees acting in the role of Thorn's former self.[4] Thorn told theDaily Xtra that studying works by trans philosophers helped her gain insight about her identity, but that she felt significant societal pressure as a transgender public figure. Prior to the announcement, she had come out to friends and family but experienced difficulties in avoiding being publicly outed in day-to-day life, and in accessing trans spaces anonymously.[4] Her messages to other trans public figures went unanswered and she fell out of contact with a trans friend who told her that being transgender was "a curse".[34] Thorn had chosen to act as a man in some of her videos despite having realised she was transgender, and decided to keep her pre-transition videos public because of their educational content and artistic value, and as she did not think being transgender should be a source of shame.[35][21]
In a 2021 interview withBen Hunte for theBBC, Thorn described anxiety over publicising her transition, but felt that she could not have kept it private for much longer.[36] Thorn toldInsider that prior to her transition, when male fans would refer to her as a positive role model for masculinity, "it always felt like they were talking about someone else". She described: "I tried to do the man of the 21st century thing ... woke but also compassionate and fun and charming and sexy and all the rest of it ... and it all made me sort of miserable really. But I understand why some of my audience felt that way". When she came out, she felt external pressure to "perform a certain model of femininity", as a "white, stylish, eloquent, charming, non-threatening woman", saying that "that's kind of what British women are expected to be".[21]
In 2019, Thorn aimed to read theComplete Works of Shakespeare in order to raise money for theSamaritans, a UK charity that helps people in emotional distress. Thorn chose the charity because she said that its telephone hotline "saved [her] life when [she] was considering suicide".[5] She chose Shakespeare based on the idea that "Shakespeare features every human emotion", which she attributed toJudi Dench.[22] The stream was inspired by a January 2019 video game stream byhbomberguy which raised £278,000 ($340,000) for British transgender charityMermaids.[5] It was announced at the end of her YouTube videoMen. Abuse. Trauma., which was released in late July 2019.[27]
Streaming onTwitch,[22] Thorn began on Friday 23 August[37] and finished on Tuesday 27 August, streaming continuously with only a few hours per day for sleep.[22] Many internet personalities joined Thorn to voice roles in the plays, such asMara Wilson asLady Macbeth[22] andDominique "SonicFox" McLean asTroilus and Cressida'sHector.[38] Thorn initially expected to raise between $2,000 and $5,000, but said on Twitter that the stream had raised £109,447.54 (roughly $130,000) afterPayPal currency conversion fees.[5][39] Over 175,000 people watched the stream.[37] TheRoyal Shakespeare Company praised Thorn for the endeavour,[37] as did the Samaritans.[22]
In the second and third series ofLadhood, which were released onBBC iPlayer in 2021 and 2022, Thorn played the role of Iona, appearing in four episodes.[40][41][42][43] In May 2021, it was announced that Thorn would appear in a 10-episode television series,Django, a remake ofthe 1966 Western film.[44][21] The series was released in 2023.[45]
Thorn voiced Nocturne, a secondary character in the video gameBaldur's Gate 3.[46] The role includedmotion capture. Sarah Guinevere Smit ofRock Paper Shotgun lauded Nocturne's transgender identity, characterisation and diary entries.[15]The Mary Sue's Madeline Carpou described the character as "an incredibly sweet, lovely presence".[47]
She played Ensign Eurus in theStar Wars television seriesThe Acolyte released in June 2024,[48][49] and Sharako Lohar in aHouse of the Dragon episode released in August 2024.[50]
In November 2023, it was announced that Thorn had writtenDracula's Ex-Girlfriend, a short film about a dinner between two of Dracula's former partners.[51] It follows a theatrical adaptation ofDracula that was abandoned due toCOVID-19 lockdowns, which would have interpretedCount Dracula as a powerful, abusive man who manipulated people's insecurities.[25] Thorn starred alongsideMorgana Ignis andBrandon Rogers. The film began production in February 2024[52] and was released onNebula on September 13, 2024.[53]
Thorn wrote and was the acting lead in theOff West End play,The Prince, at theSouthwark Playhouse.[54][55] The show features characters becoming self-aware and trying to escape fromShakespeare's oeuvre, centring aroundHenry IV, Part 1 andHamlet.[56][57] It was funded by Nebula and a filmed performance was released on the platform in February 2023.[25][58] The eight-person cast was majority-trans.Previews began on 15 September 2022 and the performance run was from 19 September 2022 to 8 October 2022.[59][55]
The Prince has themes of transgender identity, politicalradicalisation and unhealthy romantic, platonic and familial relationships.[14][54] Thorn described it as "LikeThe Matrix if it was written in 1600".[54] The programme notes compare it to the playRosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which showsHamlet from the perspective of two minor characters.[60] Thorn said that Shakespeare is fit for trans allegory as performers were originally all male and the writing is dense with jokes about people dressing up as or being confused for other genders.[61] Thorn's character, Hotspur, is written by Shakespeare as having idealised manhood.[57] Thorn did not see it as a "queer play", but more generally one about "characters who are trapped for all sorts of reasons". She compared it to a period of concealing her gender on Philosophy Tube.[61]
The play received three stars out of five in reviews fromThe Guardian,The Daily Telegraph,BroadwayWorld,The Stage andThe Reviews Hub. A reviewer forThe Guardian, Kate Wyver, said that it is an "ambitious if slightly feverish exploration of transgression and transition within Shakespeare's plays" that "playfully questions the performance of gender and the roles we are all assigned".[62] Claire Allfree ofThe Daily Telegraph analysed thatThe Prince fit well with Shakespeare's use ofmetatheatre and themes of gender and performance.[57] However,BroadwayWorld's Cindy Marcolina believed that "the scripted ending stands on wobbly feet and the framing never gets the explanation it needs to be satisfyingly convincing".[63] Critics forThe Stage andThe Reviews Hub praised the transgender themes but criticised aspects of the writing.[64][60]
In February 2021, Thorn joinedNovember Kelly and Devon in hosting thepodcastKill James Bond!, a film review podcast which initially focused on theJames Bond films.[65][66] The podcast takes a critical angle, attempting in the words of its creators to "give 007 the socialist, feminist upcoming he so richly deserves".[67] It peaked at #1 onChartable's list of most popular film review podcast in the UK Thorn said that she got involved after Kelly suggested the podcast on Twitter. She was familiar with the Bond films from her childhood and believed that they are flawed "in interesting ways that say interesting things about Britain". She saw Bond as symbolic of a "British sort of military masculinity" and commented that both she and Kelly had been army cadets as children.[21] The podcast has also reviewed the film seriesBourne,Jack Ryan,OSS 117, andThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Thorn narrated the audiobook forAxiom's End (2020) byLindsay Ellis, alongside Stephanie Willis. For her narration she was jointly nominated for anAudie Award for Science Fiction.[68]
Shannon Strucci, writing for the magazineSight & Sound published by theBritish Film Institute, said that Thorn's videos "vary tremendously" in "tone and content". Strucci described the videos as "always well-researched, inventive, and theatrical".[69] The German broadcasterDeutsche Welle praised the videos as entertaining and elaborate in design.[70] The channel Philosophy Tube was recommended in the Slovak broadsheetSME.[71] The Irish author and broadcasterEmma Dabiri has enjoyed Thorn's videos.[72] In 2021, Philosophy Tube was recommended in a list of open access streaming content in an essay forChoice Reviews, and two reviewers forThe Guardian—Frances Ryan and Ammar Kalia—praised the channel.[73][74][75]
St. James described the videoMen. Abuse. Trauma. as "one of the best TV episodes of the year".[26] Dan Schindel ofHyperallergic described the same video as a "riveting half-hour", praising its lack of cuts.[76] The video was also praised by Lukáš Pokorný in the Czech magazineA2.[77] Thorn's videoQueer was one of 134 video essays included inSight and Sound as one of the "best video essays of 2019". Strucci reviewed for the magazine that the video was "illuminating and entertaining" as well as "joyful".[69]Gwendolyn Ann Smith, writing for theBay Area Reporter, praisedIdentity: A Trans Coming Out Story as "delving deeply into the very nature of being trans in ways [she has] not typically seen", in relation to the perspective thatgender transitioning is about "revealing the truth within" rather than "becoming something that we weren't".[78]
Schindel recommended the videoArtists & Fandoms.[79] St. James praised that, inSteve Bannon, Thorn "undercuts [Bannon's] entire shtick".[26] Merryana Salem, writing forJunkee, saidThe Trouble with the Video Game Industry was one of her "all-time favourite Youtube videos".[33] Salem later recommendedData—a video about ethical concerns ofdata mining—as one of "10 Video Essays That Will Get You Addicted To Video Essays".[80] Wil Williams ofPolygon reviewedData as one of Thorn's most underrated videos, comparing the format to aPlatonic dialogue and the interactive filmBlack Mirror: Bandersnatch.[81]
In 2022, Thorn was awarded anOff West End Theatre Award ("Offie") in the "OneOff" category. The awarding body credited her as "a pioneer for trans rights" across her YouTube work, Shakespeare charity livestream, and role inThe Prince.[82] Thorn was listed amongDiva's Power List of 100 influential LGBT individuals in 2022, 2023 and 2024.[83][84][85]
Thorn was nominated in the category Online Influencer for a 2021British LGBT Award. Thorn declined the nomination citing moral and political disagreements with the award's sponsors.[14][86][87]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Audie Awards | Audie Award for Science Fiction | Axiom's End | Nominated | [68] |
| British LGBT Awards | Online Influencer | — | Declined nomination | [87] | |
| 2022 | Off West End Theatre Awards | Special Award | Won | [82] | |
| BroadwayWorld UK / West End Awards | Best Leading Performer in a New Production of a Play | The Prince | Won | [88] | |
| Best New Production of a Play | Won |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–2022 | Ladhood | Iona | 4 episodes | |
| 2023 | Django | Jess | 6 episodes | [44] |
| 2024 | The Acolyte | Ensign Eurus | 2 episodes | [89] |
| House of the Dragon | Sharako Lohar | Episode: "The Queen Who Ever Was" | [50] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Prince | Hotspur | Filmed performance of stage play | [25] |
| 2024 | Dracula's Ex-Girlfriend | Belladona | Short | [52] |
| IDENTITEAZE | Val | Short film | [90] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Harmony: The Fall of Reverie | Nora | — | [91] |
| 2023 | Baldur's Gate III | Nocturne | — | [47] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Prince | Hotspur | Also written by |
| 2026 | Blink | [92] |
