The Strong Stoic Podcast

John Giordano is an expert in the treatment of addiction, mental health, and the founder of The National Institute For Holistic Addiction Studies (NIFHAS). He is also the author of several books on addiction and recover. Over twenty years ago Giordano founded the prestigious G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center in North Miami Beach, Florida — a 62 bed in-patient/out-patient JCAHO accredit...

How often have you heard the advise: "just be you", or some variation it? "Just do you", "to thyself be true", etc. It's actually great advice! We absolutely SHOULD be true to ourselves, but there's a problem... it isn't always easy. Sometimes it is. That is, when society's expectations align with you being you. A lot of times, however, it is not e...

The Taos believed that life is divided between Chaos and Order. Too much order? No challenge. Too much Chaos? Well... Chaos. Though they believed the best life is lived right in the middle, it's rare that we are exactly in the middle. In fact, we often sway in between Chaos and Order throughout our lives. That means that sometimes, unfortunately, we find ourselves falling into Chaos. In this...

Play - it's all about having fun, right? Well, yes... and no. Play is actually vitally important for our development. In fact, it is very crucial in how we ingrain ourselves in society. Playing teaches us how to win, how to lose, how to court the opposite sex, our own physical limitations, and much more. In learning about play in humans, it's interesting to consider what "winning&qu...

Thuraya is the host of the Burnt Sugar Podcast. She was born in the Middle East into Islam and immigrated into a Western country when she was still a young girl. Having recognized the conflicts in many of the basic tenets of Islam and the West, she was challenged to question religion, values, and identity. In this episode, we discuss Thuraya's journey in determining her own identity and defin...

Imagine the most bitter, resentful, spiteful person. They stay inside all day, yet crave society. They have no friends, yet when they meet someone they instantly want to take advantage of them. They both love and hate themselves. This person is the character Dostoevsky created in his book "Notes From Underground". In all truth, we all have a little piece of this person inside of us. This...

Don't you just love it when people tell you to "not be so naive"? This is actually good advice - being naive leaves you very vulnerable, and there are undoubtedly people who will take advantage of that. At the same time, we must steer away from bitterness and resentment, and this mentality seems to be at odds with being naive. It's a bit of a conundrum: if we are naive, we get...

It's not uncommon to hear advice that presumes that people are entirely logical. In other words, they we are "slaves to our rationality". Examples of this include things like "just pull yourself up by your boot straps" or "just DO it!".Though things like discipline and perseverance are undeniably important, this advice doesn't consider humanity's basic...

There are "epochs" in life where we are essentially different people. Many of us, for example, are vastly different (hopefully so) than the teenage version of ourselves. Life goes on, and we are forced to go with it, but do we always do so with grace? Of course not! In fact, teenagers in adult bodies are a regular sight. This is a bloody shame, as they aren't living up to their pote...

Naya is a psychologist and cognitive behavioural therapist. She works with patients in her daily life where she helps her patients change their behaviour through changing their thoughts. CBT is actually built on Stoic principles, and so Naya is very knowledgeable about Stoicism as well. In this episode, we discuss psychology, the biggest problems she sees as a therapist, Carl Jung, accepting your...

Self-improvement is important for happiness in life, but also for the maintenance of society. We need competent people to keep the plumbing going! However, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. Improving oneself comes with a cost. As you become better, you inevitably lose people around you. This makes sense philosophically but also mathematically. There's less space at the top of the pyram...

We all want to be the hero! Of course we'd rather be like Mufasa than Scar, or Luke Skywalker than Darth Vader. The list goes on, but the essence is the same. In fact, not only is the archetype of "hero and villain" common, but it's really the only story that exists. Complex fiction is able to create complex characters with both good and evil within them, such as Batman, but ma...

We all have mothers, at the very least, maternal mothers. But what actually is "mother"? What does it represent? And, does it always have to be from our maternal mothers?"Mother" is really feminine energy. That isn't to say female energy, per se, but rather the symbolic representation of the feminine: chaos, nurturance, love, empathy, and so on. We absolutely need this for...

In this episode, I am joined by Shane Sorensen, who is most well-known by his Instagram page on philosophy, Renaissance Wisdom. Shane is also an author with a book coming out early next year. This is his second appearance on the podcast, and in this episode we talk generally about philosophy and the importance of (and danger in) questioning everything. Are some philosophies better than others? Is...

If you are a human being, you probably don't enjoy being wrong. It sucks, right? It kills our ego and makes us get off our intellectual high horse and think things through all over again. In the worst case, being wrong about something can completely dissolve our identity. Although there's no solution for the initial horrible feeling after being wrong, there is a certain perspective that...

There's never been a shortage of conspiracy theories. Many people are fascinated by conspiracies, sometimes to the point of obsession. But are conspiracies always the reason behind things like government manipulation? Do democracies always fall because of some diabolical person? A modern and current example is the COVID pandemic. Many are sceptical of things like vaccines, mask mandates, and...

No human being is perfect. We make mistakes. Sometimes, we do bad things on purpose. Such things are a part of life, but evil acts aren't always easy to come back from. Some sins are so bad that they are completely irredeemable. In this episode, I talk about a particular story in The Lord of the Rings. And no, you don't need to be a fan to understand this episode! Learn more about your a...

Jeremy Sherman is a researcher and writer studying the origins of life and the nature of jerks: why they exist and how we can stop ourselves from becoming one ourselves! He is also a philosopher who is familiar with many different philosophies, including Stoicism. This episode is a mix of science and philosophy, and myself and Jeremy tackle a vary wide array of topics while bringing together many...

It doesn't take much research into history to know that it is filled with unbelievable evil. Humans have been committing horrific acts to each other for as long as history has been recorded. The most recent atrocities happened in the 20th century less than 100 years ago. In this episode, we will be going through two perspectives: one from a Jewish side, and one from the Nazi side. Though I wo...

The dichotomy of control is one of the first things people learn about Stoicism, and what a powerful mentality it can be! However, it is often misunderstood in terms of its complexity. I've heard it argued from beginner Stoics that, unless it is 100% within your control, you should not worry about it. The follow up question to such a statement can only be: "but what is 100% within your c...

Joesphine Tite is a care-giver innovator, coach, and activist who promotes rethinking how we deal with death. Being exposed to aspects of death and mortality on a daily basis, she witnesses first-hand the issues we seem to have in dealing with, not just our own mortality, but the mortality of our loved ones. I'm not going to lie - this episode gets heavy, and we cover some very emotional topi...

This episode, we reach 100 episodes! This was a large milestone I set way before the first episode. I felt it would be a great time to discuss where the podcast has been and, most importantly, where it's going. I'll also be talking about goal-setting and how to do it so that you are both motivated to improve yet detached from the results at hand. Enjoy, and stay tuned for 100 episodes mo...

It's a common phrase, isn't it? And it makes sense: after all, many things in other people's lives are none of your business. This mentality, therefore, can be very powerful in many situations. However, is it ALWAYS powerful? Does it always 'work', or are there certain situations in which saying that it is none of your business is completely irrelevant to the situation at...

Sam Thiara is a professional who has created a personal journey as a storyteller, writer, workshop facilitator, problem solver, educator and entrepreneur. In this episode, we discuss identity: how to accept your past, define who you are now, and create your future. We also discuss humility, and the role it plays in success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're often told when we are graduating high school that those days are "the best days of your life". In a similar way, we are also told that the first "honey-moon" phase of a relationship is the best, the first year at work is the best, and so on. There seems to be this idea that the initial part of anything is the best, but is this true? Well... that really depends, does...