The Stoic Heart Podcast

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. We’ve all heard it — or perhaps we’ve even said it ourselves: “That’s in the past; you just need to get over it.” While Stoicism teaches us not to be prisoners of the past or paralyzed by things outside our control, ignoring history, holding grudges, or demanding that someone adopt a sanitized version of events does...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. Waiting for external decisions, whether hearing back on a critical grant, waiting out a job application process, or waiting on delayed responses from colleagues, frequently suspends our ability to plan and act. When our next steps depend on outcomes determined entirely by others, it is easy to slip into cycles of ob...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. Sharing modern public spaces often means contending with an erosion of decorum — from coffee shop patrons and transit riders treating public areas like private soundstages to coworkers conducting loud speakerphone calls right next to us. When other people’s entitlement or lack of awareness disrupts our environment,...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. Not every friendship ends in a dramatic fallout, a major argument, or a formal breakup. Many simply lose their momentum, tapering off as our lives, priorities, and stages shift. Yet, it is common to carry a nagging sense of guilt, wondering if we should have tried harder to resuscitate a connection that has naturall...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. What makes a meaningful apology, and why is saying “I’m sorry” sometimes so difficult? In this episode, we’re talking about the art of apologizing through the lens of Stoic philosophy and real-life relationship dynamics. From the trap of saying “I’m sorry you feel that way” to the temptation of deflecting blame onto...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode, we explore the dynamics of unsolicited advice, and examine what to do when someone offers a suggestion, tries to troubleshoot, or tells a tangential story about their own experiences when all you really wanted was a listening ear. From the impulse to fix a partner’s emotional state to passive-aggres...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode, we expand on previous discussions about applying Stoicism in the classroom to explore a broader human dynamic: mentorship. Whether you are a teacher, a coach, a manager, or an experienced guide, mentoring is meant to be an act of genuine benevolence — helping and supporting another person. However,...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. We’ve all experienced that sharp, uncomfortable pang of a secret reaction: Someone we know gets a grant, wins an award, lands a major opportunity, or hits a milestone we’ve been striving for — and instead of feeling pure joy, a bitter wave of resentment or inadequacy creeps in. In this episode, we dive into the comp...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. We’ve all experienced it. A thought feels so important that we simply have to say it immediately. A concern, an idea, a compliment, a correction — even an expression of love can become poorly received when it interrupts the wrong moment. In this episode, we explore why successful communication isn’t only about hones...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. One of the most persistent misconceptions about Stoicism is that it asks us to suppress our emotions. If that’s true, what does that mean for romantic love? Are the excitement, desire, butterflies, and deep emotional connection that often accompany relationships somehow “un-Stoic”? In this episode, we explore whethe...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. A returned pair of shoes should have been a minor inconvenience. Instead, it prompted a larger question: When we encounter a small act of dishonesty, is it enough to say that it does not affect us—or does justice require us to care? In our latest episode of The Stoic Heart® Podcast, we consider what happens when the...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. We’ve all been there: a partner or close friend comes to us, distressed by a complicated, messy situation with their family. It is easy to feel like an outsider, and equally easy to slip into one of two extremes — either checking out entirely to maintain our own “stoic calm,” or jumping in to validate every complain...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode, we consider our relationships with animals. While Stoicism is often associated with human-to-human interaction, we discuss how the principles of care, nature, and emotional regulation offer a profound framework for how we live with, care for, and love our animal companions. Moving past the conventio...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode, we draw on 55+ years of combined teaching experience to discuss how Stoic philosophy can serve as a practical toolkit for both educators and students. From non-traditional learning environments like prisons and technical institutes to more traditional college settings, we share how we actively apply...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. When we encounter other people, our first impressions and judgments often arrive quickly — and not always accurately. The Stoics remind us that appearances are one thing, but the stories we tell ourselves about them are another. In this episode, we explore how our assumptions, emotions, and expectations shape the wa...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. Modern culture often encourages us to expect one person to be our partner, best friend, confidant, and source of nearly all our fulfillment. But is that expectation realistic — or prudent? In this episode, we explore what the Stoic tradition can teach us about friendship, marriage, and the wider communities that enr...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode, we explore the Stoic understanding of self-mastery as the ongoing discipline of governing our judgments, choices, and actions. We discuss how self-mastery develops through daily practice and careful attention to what lies within our control — and we examine the difference between reacting impulsivel...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public, so feel free to share it. In this episode, we discuss a recent unplanned trip to the hospital for Greg’s emergency appendectomy. In the midst of an unexpected middle-of-the-night hospital visit, we found ourselves not in a treatment room, but in a chaotic hallway packed with over 50 other patients (our accidental “roommates”), all of whom w...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode of The Stoic Heart® Podcast , we tackle the subject of compromise. We discuss that it’s not a “magic bullet” or a one-size-fits-all solution – especially when faced with the dangers of examining the hidden psychological traps of settling for the middle ground. We discuss why true harmony in any relat...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this episode of The Stoic Heart® Podcast , we clear up a common misconception about our work with The Stoic Heart®: that it’s only meant for romantic or partnered relationships. Drawing from our years together, as well as our own diverse personal and professional experiences, we explore how Stoic principles serve...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. Whether you’re speaking to a partner, a co-worker, a family member, or a friend, not paying attention to your tone in conversation can unfortunately yield some pretty quick escalations and even unwanted results. In our Reducing Conflict and Building Connection workshop , we focus on examining your tone as one of the...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. One aspect of disciplined communication in relationships involves applying a measure of prudence and self-control to what you’re intending or tempted to say to your partner. This can be in ordinary conversation, in tense situations, even in the middle of an angry argument. It involves applying three criteria which m...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. Sharing conversational space with other people might not strike you immediately as something that justice bears upon, but if you think through what it involves, you can see the connection between the virtue and how we carry out conversation. This becomes especially important within intimate personal relationships. O...

Thanks for reading The Stoic Heart®! This post is public so feel free to share it. In this first episode of The Stoic Heart® podcast, Andi and Greg discuss one particular useful Stoic practice, that of choosing to insert a pause (or even just slowing down) after the responses we have to the situations we find ourselves in with other people, in particular to what they do, say, the attitude they dis...