The Daily Stoic

"It’s almost surreal to think about the things we were thinking about not long ago. How could we have been so naive? So entitled? How could we have missed the signs? Well, no matter, life has a way of letting you know that you’ve had your head up your own ass. And there is no other expression for what Western society, particularly but by no means limited to the progressive amongst us, has don...

"Don’t think of wisdom as something you get via epiphany or even a couple years of graduate school. No, it’s something you accumulate day by day—action by action, as Marcus Aurelius put it—over the course of a lifetime." Ryan points out the wisdom that can build up from small steps on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. And for another source of daily wisdom, get your 2021 Daily Stoic Page...

"We have good days. We have bad days. We will have, as Seneca experiences, moments of heartbreak and bad luck as well as strokes of good fortune and good timing. The question is how we’re going to respond to these swings of fate..." Ryan uses a poem by Rudyard Kipling to explain the poise with which we should all meet fate, on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. *** If you enjoyed this wee...

Ryan talks with author Amy Shearn about her own journey with Stoicism , how she and Ryan both wrestle with the concepts of Stoicism in a modern context, the role of women in Stoicism, and more. Amy Shearn is an American author and essayist. During the coronavirus pandemic, Shearn became fascinated by Stoicism; she wrote about her experience learning about, grappling with, and ultimately accepting...

"'“A trifle consoles us,' Blaise Pascal wrote, 'because a trifle upsets us.' We get so worked up about things that don’t matter—of course we can be convinced to drop them. Of course we can be easily distracted. This is why Marcus talks about the importance of having no opinion." Ryan discusses the importance of Marcus Aurelius's advice on today's Daily Stoic...

"Sometimes it can feel—especially lately—that we are, to use the novelist James Salter’s haunting phrase, just burning the days. We get up. We answer emails. We work. We eat. We sleep. One day bleeds into the next. What day is it again? The weekend? Already?" Learn how to break through that feeling in today's Daily Stoic Podcast. Also learn more about today's weekly meditation,...

On today's episode, Ryan goes in-depth into journaling, describing the benefits of journaling, how to get started, and more. *** If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoi...

Ryan talks with Instagram star Tank Sinatra about his unique approach to comedy, the best way to use or deal with anger, what philosophy tells us about how to handle our emotions, and more. Tank Sinatra, aka George Resch, is a Long Island dad who runs one of the biggest meme accounts on Instagram. Since launching the original account @tank.sinatra in 2015, Resch’s Instagram accounts (which also in...

"Most people see life as a kind of a race. They want to win. They want to get somewhere. They want to do it better than other people. Certainly, one can see how this approach can produce impressive results. By creating a competition, by creating a way to keep score, it’s natural that one will do well by those metrics.  The problem is that life isn’t a race, and even if it were, there’s no evi...

"This has probably not been the year you expected. Few of us went into 2020 expecting an impeachment, a pandemic, murder hornets, earthquakes, fires, record-setting unemployment and god knows what else has hit you individually. Blew out your knee? Lost a big client? A falling out? It’s easy to sit here and say this has been a bad year. But is it really so bad? Is it 1865 bad? Winter of 1777 b...

"When you look at a map of the world from a distance, everything seems smooth. The more you zoom in, the bumpier it gets. Suddenly, mountain ranges leap up at you. Enormous lakes emerge. Vast distances become apparent. In a sense, history is a lot like this, too." Ryan explains what becomes apparent if you take a step back from the day-to-day workings of history, on today's Daily St...

Ryan talks with Megha Rajagopalan, a world correspondent for BuzzFeed News, about her reporting in China about human rights and how history informs our understanding of geopolitics. Megha Rajagopalan is a world correspondent for BuzzFeed News. She has covered major stories in Asia and the Middle East, and has been based in China, Thailand, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Megha has also wri...

"Today is a day that Americans, as well as interested observers around the world, have been anticipating for some time. One of the most important elections in American history. November 3rd. For more than a year now, we’ve collectively been referring to this Election Day just by its month and day, not unlike September 11th in the US or 7/7 in the UK, for its consequential nature and the dread...

Ryan tells the story of Athenodorus versus the ghost, and reads today's weekly meditation about accepting whatever comes your way, on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. This episode is brought to you by Warby Parker , the online vision care boutique that delivers glasses right to your front door. Warby Parker has an amazing selection of the most stylish frames for your glasses. And with their...

On today’s Sunday edition of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks about the one thing that predicts everything—character—and why it’s so important, no matter our goals. Read “This Thing Predicts Everything”: https://ryanholiday.net/character/ *** If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the...

Ryan talks with writer Edward Ball about what has animated the racism of the past and present, the distinction between responsibility and accountability for horrific deeds, and how to reckon with the darkest parts of American history. Edward Ball is an author who writes about history and race. His most recent book, Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy, discusses Ball’s great-gra...

"There are two types of people in this world: The kind whose success makes them better and the kind whose success makes them worse. Nero and Marcus Aurelius began to be groomed for power at roughly the same age. One lusted for the throne, the other cried the day he found out he was selected for it. One murdered his step-brother, the other elevated his step-brother to an equal, making him the...

"It’s not the quantity that we should care about. Something earnestly made and sold for a fair price, whether it’s millions of units or a few dozen: that’s honorable. Something earned with real effort: that’s honorable, whether it’s earned by sweeping floors or managing a company." Ryan talks about why the effort poured into your work is in certain ways more important than the outcome of...

"There are lots of things you can pay people to do for you. You can pay them to mow your lawn or do your taxes. You can pay them to drive you from one place to another and you can pay them to sell things for you. But the one thing you cannot pay people to do for you is think." Ryan explains why mental focus is so critical in this current, chaotic moment, on today's Daily Stoic Podca...

Ryan speaks with Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams , about finding a diet that works for you, the trials of running a growing business during the coronavirus pandemic, and, of course, how the Stoics would have felt about ice cream. Jeni Britton Bauer is the founder and chief creative officer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Bauer dropped out of college to start selling ice cr...

"In one sense, it’s hard to argue with the statistics that any individual’s vote makes a difference. One person out of so many? When more than 50% of the population doesn’t even bother? In a country of gerrymandering and voter suppression? In the other, it’s stunning to think that the 2016 US presidential election, which saw some 135 million votes, was decided by roughly 77,000 ballots across...

On this special bonus episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan speaks with Robert Greene about the irrationality that runs through our society, the increasing frequency of scams and cons and how to deal with them, and the best strategy for focusing your political participation. Watch Ryan's talk with Robert Greene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM3MCxCqq5s This episode is brought to you by...

This week we launch a new feature—every Monday, Ryan sets an intention for the week based on his book The Daily Stoic Journal. In addition to the weekly intention, Ryan also reads today's email, which exhorts you to take the time to go outdoors and connect with nature. This episode is brought to you by Warby Parker , the online vision care boutique that delivers glasses right to your front do...

On today’s Daily Stoic Sunday podcast, Ryan gives a virtual talk at 92nd Street Y in New York City, discussing three of the most important Stoics, and takes audience questions. Get Lives of the Stoics: https://geni.us/LUN7 This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic . Four Sigmatic is a maker of mushroom coffee, lattes, elixirs, and more. Their drinks all taste amazing and they've full of...

Ryan speaks with Eric Musselman, head coach of the University of Arkansas men’s basketball team, about building on your mistakes to get better, why you need to use every tool at hand to succeed, how Musselman built his career as a coach, and more. Coach Eric Musselman has coached basketball for over 30 years. His tenure spans multiple leagues and levels, from minor league basketball to college and...