The Strong Stoic Podcast

What would you do if you had one day left to live? Who would you see? How would you feel? Such a question is nauseating to contemplate, truly, but it does offer some keen insight. It extends quite naturally into the question of: what does it mean to really live? Many of us have long-term goals in life and are dead-focused on achievement. At the same time, life is filled with all kind of extraordin...

Motivation isn't particularly hard to come by. It's easy to watch documentaries of people climbing mountains, for example. This commonly motivates people. We think "man, if he can do it so can I!". Though that is most definitely true, you are feeling that motivation from your couch. Actually climbing the mountain is a whole other story. Yes, it will be physically challenging, b...

Donald Robertson is a writer, cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist and trainer. He's written several books, inclusing How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, and has a new graphic novel coming out on Marcus Aurelius called Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. In this episode we talk about Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism, cognitive behavioural therapy (and how we may be bringing up kids...

Every now and then, an artist releases something that takes the world by storm. Fame has something to do with it, but not all. After all, not every single song a famous musician releases rises to the top. So then, what else is it? Art generally has different layers of meaning - a high level meaning, and a much deeper one. What makes a particular work of art great is that it represents a fundamenta...

Life is tough. It's full of pain and suffering, but more particularly, grief, loss, our own inadequacies and evil, embarrassing moments from our past (just to name a few). These things weigh your heart down over time. It's a burden, each and every one. Unfortunately, your heart will only get heavier over time; that is something you cannot change. But that doesn't mean you are powerl...

Human beings are rational, right? We can control our emotions and reason our way through morality. At least that's what many of us think and feel. The truth is much more complicated. In fact, in many ways, our rationality is not ultimately in charge, especially when it comes to morality. Moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt developed an analogy to explain how our moral psychology actually works...

Kai Whiting is a lecturer in sustainability and Stoicism. This is the third time Kai has been on the podcast, and in this episode we tackle (yet again) a rather controversial topic: is it stupid for modern man to believe in God? As always, the intent here isn't to sway you to believe in God or not but rather to offer perspective. Enjoy, and check out Kai's work including his co-authored...

One thing that humans universally struggle with is dealing with life's inevitable suffering and pain, so much so that we often catch ourselves and others purposefully avoiding the beautiful aspects of life because we are afraid of the negative emotions that will follow. For example, have you ever thought that relationships are to be avoided because at least you won't get hurt? Or that wo...

2021 was a ride. The podcast has evolved over the years while, at least I hope, maintaining the spirit with which I began. This episode will be a compilation of some of the best moments from 2021. Enjoy, and here's to the New Year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas! Or should I be saying Merry Couch Potato Time! Yes, it is indeed that time of year where many of us are taking some (hopefully) much-needed rest. I'm sure you're settling into that couch dent rather nicely and have developed a nice system for keeping snacks within reach yet fresh. If you're looking for justification on being a sloth this holiday break, well... I&apo...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, friends! :) This will be a short, chill episode. I want to go over gratitude, family, and what's to come for 2022.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fools seem to come up oddly often in stories. In hero stories, for example, there is bound to be at least one stumbling fool. On the other end, comedy shows and movies are centered around a fool, such as The Simpsons. We can't help but to be drawn to Homer Simpson despite his lack of, let's say, wisdom. But what draws us to fools? Why do we like them? And do we ALWAYS like them? Learn mo...

Simon Drew is an alignment coach, poet, author, musician, and photographer. He has a Bachelor of Music Performance and is currently studying for a Master of Divinity. He is most well known for his work with the Practical Stoic Podcast, which has since evolved into The Walled Garden. His first book recently got released - The Poet & The Sage. Please check out Simon's work at:https://www.si...

Nobody likes someone who does a good deed and immediately tells the world of their virtue. There are certainly conspicuous examples, such as announcing to your coworkers that you've contributed to a charity. There are also more subtle examples, such as politicians discussing climate change. For some reason, virtue signalling seems to make the virtuous act not-so-virtuous. But why? Firstly, wh...

The world has been at peace for quite some time. Historically speaking, this certainly isn't the norm. War has been the norm, not peace. Obviously, cooperation is of tremendous value. We all grow together when we are united towards a common goal. But is this always an option? Or is there a place for, dare I say it, conflict and war? It's a really complicated question. Of course we should...

Joshua  is the host of he podcasts In Search of Wisdom  and Philosopher, Monk, & Mystic where he engages in meaningful conversations on how to live in a complex world. In addition to the podcasts, he also writes articles on wisdom, has a weekly email called PATH, and offers coaching and consulting. All of his work is captured under "The Perennial Leader Project", which can all be fou...

You often hear people saying that you should "stand up straight". Likely, they are talking about the health benefits of having good posture - reduced pain over time being one. However, is there more to this than just the physical aspects? Is standing up straight actually representative of some deeper philosophical idea? On this episode, I talk about why you absolutely should stand up str...

The word "hierarchy" comes up quite often, but what does it really mean? Is it just those at the top oppressing everyone else below? Or is it something that, perhaps, even has some good aspects? And is it even possible to eliminate the bad aspects of the hierarchy, or hierarchies in general? In this episode, I explore the tangly topic of hierarchies. My goal is not to offer any judgement...

Today I speak with Tim Ash, a recognized authority on evolutionary psychology and marketing and the author of the recently released book Unleash Your Primal Brain: Demystifying How We Think and Why We Act. Tim and I had a great discussion on the human condition. We cover sleep, group dynamics, being an individual, evolution, and much more. You can find Tim at the below links:Website: https://timas...

You're here because you think I've found the immortality code, right? Or maybe you think I know a good place to buy psychedelics? Though those may be true, this episode will actually be covering a philosophical view of conquering death. Interestingly enough, this idea is a very, very old idea. It dates back to Ancient Egypt with a story that you may not be directly familiar with but one...

In the West, we highly value the individual. Surely, all of our laws are built on the individual. However, human beings have evolved in groups, and so our psychology is fundamentally built on tribes. This can create a conflict: should we conform to the group or be an individual? If we always conform to the group, we risk group destruction. At the same time, if we always speak up against the group,...

Language is an interesting thing. We don't choose our mother tongue in the same way that we don't choose where we are born, yet the language we speak literally shapes our lives. Human beings have been speaking for a very, very long time. So long that you could even say that our whole identity is built on the language we speak. In this episode, I talk with a quebecois (from Quebec) friend...

Ad hominem is a very common logical fallacy which can be simply stated as a character attack. Essentially, when a person does not have an actual rebuttal to an argument, they will often try to derail the conversation to focus on the character flaws of the person making the argument. BUT does that mean there is no room for character evaluation? Should you care about people's character at all?...

The movie "Moana" is an archetypal story that was told incredibly well (and with a bit of good humour thrown in). Like many archetypal stories, the origins can be traced back to ancient religions and very old philosophical ideas, such as that of Chaos and Order. Moana is the hero, of course, who is able to save her island and her people using their foundational values... but it wasn&apos...

One of the things that doesn't paint humanity in a good light is how we deal with good news from others. Good news in our own lives? Well, that's just amazing! Good news for someone else? Meh. It turns out that there's actually a reason behind it, and, dare I say, a logical one. However, it is truly a shame that we can't be truly happy for others when they tell us good news. Li...