Geeky Stoics

We are witnessing the decline of Star Wars’ cultural dominance. In this week’s podcast, we’ll explore the current state of Star Wars, from its cultural impact to the storytelling challenges, and speculate about how the franchise might revive itself. We have a book coming this year!!! The Great Escape: 30 Reflections on Stoicism, Faith, and the Wisdom of Great Stories . Be the first to get early ac...

In this week’s live stream and podcast, Geeky Stoics is exploring the concept of toxic empathy, its implications, and how it influences society, politics, and relationships. Riley and Stephen delve into the nature of empathy, moral virtue, and the importance of balancing compassion with discernment. Chapters: * 01:08 What Is Toxic Empathy? * 04:33 Empathy in Literature and Media: Star Wars and Nar...

Today’s reading of The Screwtape Letters focuses on Chapter 3, a letter about personal/family relations and the importance of managing your impressions regarding facial expressions, tone of voice and other mannerisms. Things can break down rapidly when a relationship drifts toward enmity and assumed bad faith, and Lewis’s warning here is to reflect on how you let yourself off the hook for grating...

Good morning! At our recent retreat, I came across a wardrobe with a semi-magical tea room inside… so naturally, I decided to crawl in and record a video podcast (typical). This was filmed by Jon of First Time Readers , a truly great channel for Tolkien analysis, and it focuses on a passage from C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books that I enjoy and return to often. By the way, we are now signing people up for...

Behind the scenes of the first Geeky Stoics retreat This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.geekystoics.com/subscribe

I don’t like to turn my brain off when enjoying a movie, show, or book. For me, the point has never been to “escape” the real world or be off in La-La Land; it’s to think more deeply. If a story isn’t engaging me on the level of morality, ethics, political thought….I get kind of bored. So, I’ve always criticized fellow fans of, say, Star Wars , who argue in the comments that they expect a story to...

There’s a scene in The Empire Strikes Back that never gets old. It’s kept its grip on me to this day. Luke in the Dagobah swamp, staring down the task he’s already decided is impossible. “It’s too big,” he says. And Yoda’s quiet reply exposes the lie most of us carry: that truth is limited to what we can see, touch, and control. Luminous beings are we. This week’s video is a reflection on that mom...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.geekystoics.com Uncle Ben from Spider-Man serves as an introduction to wisdom and “maxims” for many kids around the world. It all starts with the movies we watch and the books we read. Here’s Uncle Ben in the 2002 movie…. “This guy, Flash Thompson, he probably deserved what happened. But just because you can beat him up doesn’t give...

This one feels different. It’s the first time I’ve ever made something this personal for Geeky Stoics , pulling back the curtain on my struggle as I lost myself in my Air Force career, and how I found my way back, training for a Half Iron Man. It’s a story about identity , ambition , and the moment you realize you’ve been chasing someone else’s version of success .And the only way I knew how to te...

News reports this October showed a surge in Bible sales across the United States and the UK, confirming what so many people can feel and polls have supported…which is that a religious revival is happening in the West. Generation Z, which Pew Research defines as being born between 1997 and 2012 . Members of the generation — also known as Zoomers — have been increasingly drawn toward religion, parti...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.geekystoics.com Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join us for our next live video in the app and upgrade your subscription to get more involved in the community.

Hobbits are curious creatures. Simple taste, a love of “good tilled earth” and yet surprisingly courageous. And according to Dr. Christopher Snyder, they might hold the key to living the good life. This week, I had a delightful conversation with Dr. Snyder, medieval historian, Tolkien scholar, and author of Hobbit Virtues: Rediscovering Virtue Ethics Through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lor...

Updating your perspective on the world can, for some, be like seeing for the first time. Many of us have seen videos of colorblind people getting access to new tech that helps them see the full spectrum. When they tap in for the first time, it’s overwhelming and emotional. Something true shines through a veil that they’ve been burdened with forever. I remember when I started to reconnect with my f...

It’s time for another long-form podcast! In this episode, we welcome Parker Settecase of ParkNotes Parker's Ponderings for a deep dive into the limits of Stoicism, the role of the God/Logos in this philosophy, and how these same ideas filter through Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and more. TOPICS WE’LL GET INTO * The overlap between Stoicism and Christianity: How Stoic principles align and dive...

Andrew Heaton is a comedian, political commentator, author, and political orphan best known for his skits on ReasonTV . I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Andrew for many years and traveling in similar media circles. We both love to chat and interview people, and so when I saw he’d joined Substack, I knew we’d have to do something together. Both Heaton and I love to talk about fantasy and sci-fi, so...

Somehow …Monday returned. Welcome back! This morning I am headed into Washington, DC to speak to a group of young professionals about communication and breaking through both the noise and polarization. These are tough times for getting your message across. Ears are closed. Eyes are covered. Impressions are set. How do we break through? I’ll share a few brief thoughts. It’ll be brief mainly because...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.geekystoics.com Once you go down the Stoicism rabbit hole, you can’t escape the ubiquitous appeal and words of Marcus Aurelius in Meditations . It’s everyone’s favorite, and for mostly good reason. But Seneca's Letters From A Stoic are even better.

On a flight layover in the UK, Geeky Stoics visits the home, grave and world of famed author, philosopher and academic: C.S. Lewis This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.geekystoics.com/subscribe

We’re experimenting here at Geeky Stoics. Both Stephen and I have really missed the long-form podcast and discussion format, going back to my original podcasting days at the Star Wars Report and Stephen’s at Beltway Banthas . I’m so glad we get to introduce this format here on Substack, featuring a very special guest: Master Samwise. Samwise has a YouTube channel not dissimiliar from our own, wher...

If you want to understand the intellectual fault lines of the 20th century, you don’t need to go to a fancy college. You can just sit down with some old movies. We don’t touch on horror movies often on Geeky Stoics, in fact, this is a first. I just finished KINGDOM OF CAIN , a fascinating book about how horror and murder point toward evidence of God. It’s a fresh approach to Christian apologetics...

Hopefully, you’re caught up on Geeky Stoics and enjoyed the panel conversation we hosted with Ryan Holiday of the Daily Stoic. The conversation covered Stoicism and Objectivism, two distinct philosophies with a lot in common and even more in conflict. Now you can move on to the next piece of programming we cooked up for you: a one-on-one interview with Holiday. This came together at the last minut...

It’s a good day to be a Geeky Stoics subscriber here on Substack! You all get first access to this week’s video conversations with Ryan Holiday of the Daily Stoic. I told you about the trip to Palm Springs , and it was to moderate this panel tackling the differences and overlaps of Stoicism and Objectivism. To recap: Stoicism is ancient Greek and Roman philosophy rooted in self-mastery, emotional...

"What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears. New ills will come, or old ones will return. Meanwhile, keep your spirit cheerful." - Epictetus, Discourses The other day, my daughter was stressed about some complicated logistical stuff happening two days in the future. She was visibly distraught and trying to figure out what to be prepared for in case it all went b...

This week, I put together an essay I’ve been dying to make for well over a year. This is about Star Wars: Andor and whether or not the show supports a Marxist lens on freedom in a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars fans online had a field day with the words and deeds of one character, Nemik, who not only writes a “manifesto” for the Rebellion but also wears in Ushanka -style hat. Naturally, this got...

My family has taken to teasing me over my annual surprise when a shrubbery or tree on our property shows signs of life around March or April. I must admit, I do look at my plants in the winter and think to myself, “ Well, that’s it. They’re dead. ” And I do this every year. I kneel at the side of my bushes and snap their branches to check the inside for moist green. I stare at them for long period...