The Strong Stoic Podcast

The ancient Stoics were great people; truly. They pushed Stoicism forward, but, more importantly, they pushed critical thinking forward. Something that you will often read in the Stoic texts is a focus on contemplation, on philosophizing. Yet, the ancient Stoics were not Gods; they were people, and so were inherently flawed just like you and I. Seneca in particular knew this, and in one of his let...

One of the trends I've noticed throughout my lifetime is the increasing desire for pleasure. This is manifested in many different ways, from excessive partying to hook-up culture. Certainly, short-term pleasure is, well, pleasurable, but is it the best thing for you? Stoicism and Epicureanism share a significant amount of philosophical ideas, but a key difference is how they view pleasure. Th...

Kai Whiting is a lecturer in sustainability and Stoicism, and the co-author of the book Being Better: Stoicism For a World Worth Living In. Today, we discuss the difficult topic of humanity's relationship with animals. Has the general hypocrisy in which we view animals ever crossed your mind? For example, we categorize pigs as "food" and dogs as "family", despite pigs and...

Many adopt philosophy because they want to live a care-free life with no stress, and nothing to worry about. Many modern Stoics, in particular, adopt Stoicism because they think it will make them "cool, calm, and collected."There is certainly value in this aspect of Stoicism (and philosophy in general), but life is much more complicated than that. In fact, an ancient Stoic practice is th...

Should you completely limit your ambitions and desires, or should you strive for excellence? Should you throw away your newest iPhone and get a flip phone, or should you eagerly await next years model? Such questions may seem simple, but they are far from it. In fact, finding the right balance (if a balance is even to be found) can be quite difficult. In this episode, I'll be talking about ho...

Many Stoics begin Stoicism because they believe it's all about "cool, calm' and collected" and staying home, oblivious to the outside world since, after all, it's "out of their control".Of course, those aspects of Stoicism is important, but a particular idea that often gets overlooked is that of being pro-social. Stoicism promotes being social for the same reason...

Today I have the privilege of talking with Daniel Vargas, who is the host of The Stoic Sage Podcast and owner of his corresponding Instagram page. Daniel's podcast centres around Stoicism, but his focus is on teaching people how to think as opposed to what to think, which is an approach I can certainly get behind. Today we talk about how to reconcile the issues of your past, how to choose a p...

Let's say you decide that you hate your job. It's not providing any meaning in your life and you know you need a change. Great! It's not great that you hate your job, but it's certainly great that you are aware that you hate your job. The only thing to do now is to storm into you boss's office and quit your job. But is that the wise approach? Is that the practical approach...

Which kind of person are you: one who likes to re-watch and re-read fiction, or one who does not? Some absolutely love to re-watch their favourite movies. Others see it as a complete waste of time. If you have ever watched your favourite movie a second time, you'll quickly see that you notice more things the second time. Part of the reason is that you understand the overall story now, but ano...

If you're a fan of this podcast, you're likely a fan of self-improvement. It is a core theme. There's an interesting thing, though, that happens when we get better; our past self gets worse! Yes, as our current self improves, we are bound to look back and find things in our past behaviour which makes us cringe. I'm sure I'm not the only one that gets embarrassed sometimes...

In this episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Dr. Kai Whiting who is a lecturer and researcher in sustainability and Stoicism. Kai also just released a book, Being Better: Stoicism For A World Worth Living In, which he co-authored with Leonidas Konstantakos. One of my core values with this podcast is keeping it open to discuss any topic, especially those that may not be the easiest to dis...

Assumptions are generally not good; they leave you vulnerable. Imagine, for example, that you are crossing the road and you assume there are no cars coming. Guess what? You could easily find yourself in a hospital shortly after. However, in life, sometimes we need assumptions. In fact, some assumptions are fundamental to life. It's also worth pointing out that we see whatever we aim at, which...

If I could give you everything you've ever wanted right now, would you accept it? I'm not talking about material things like cars and cool looking key chains. No, I'm talking about the things that really matter in life: a loving partner, great kids, meaningful work, etc. We should all fear the darkness inside of us, however, we often fail to recognize that we also fear our light. We...

"Who cares if one more light goes out in a sky of a million stars? Who cares if someone's time runs out if a moment is all we are?"I'm sure we've all thought similar thoughts before. What is the purpose of life if it comes to an end? Why does one life matter if there are billions others? Such questions are easy to contemplate in the face of such a tragic life. Truly, there...

Memento mori translates as something like "remember that you will die". I'm sure many people, upon first finding Stoicism, think of this as quite the depressing statement. However, there's a lot to unpack with meditating on one's mortality. Death comes to us all, and so the acceptance of one's death is an invaluable thing for living a good life. It's not just the...

Are you a nerd? "No, of course not!" you may think. Or maybe you're thinking "hell yes!". The very word - nerd - can cause embarrassment and/or pride depending on who you're talking to. Though high school probably made you believe that being a nerd is something worth being picked on for, I beg to differ! Being a nerd is great, and we should all work on embracing our i...

What do you think about when you think of art? Is it famous paintings and sculptures? Or perhaps it's some modern abstract compilations? Actually, art is a very broad term. It's hard to define, truly. Perhaps we can say it is "the expression of beauty" or "the expression of the soul." In any case, art should play at least some part in your life. In fact, I would argue...

What's more powerful: nature or nurture? Is it always in the blood, or can we wash it out in the water? Fortunately for us, modern neuroscience sheds some much-needed light on this question. We now understand that, generally speaking, who we are is 50% nature and 50% nurture. Though, each specific trait isn't half, and it can vary considerably! In fact, the better way of thinking about i...

Virtue and justice are two of the four pillars of Stoicism. In fact, it's a core idea in many philosophies, though they don't all agree on what that really means. Aiming for the good is, well, good! However, is there ever a situation in which doing an "unethical act" is actually ethical? Life is bloody complicated; that much is for sure. The line between moral acts and immoral...

Today I have the privilege of speaking with Shane from Renaissance Wisdom. Shane runs a popular Instagram page titled "Renaissance Wisdom" where he shares ancient philosophical wisdom. He also provides his personal input and analysis to many of the ideas so that they can be applied to modern life. Shane is also an author. He is currently writing a book with a focus on the importance of p...

One of the key moments in our history and our individual lives is the moment we become conscious of our individual power. It wasn't always this way! There were points in time when people relied on external dogma - such as religion - to determine what is right and wrong. Would it surprise you to know that we are actually heading back towards this Group Think? That's right: we are losing t...

One of the hardest things we will ever have to deal with in our lives is the death of our parents. We all dread it, whether we are conscious of it or not. Still, many find strength in such times, and are able to get through this rough patch and move on with their lives. In this episode, I'll be talking about the importance of meaning in one's life, and why, though happiness is important,...

Picture this: you get arrested for no apparent reason. You tell yourself that it must be a mistake and it'll get sorted out, but before you know it you're being tortured into a confession for political crimes, and you're off to work in a labour camp for 10 years. It may horrify you to know that this is not fiction, but rather historical fact for millions of Russian citizens during t...

Humility, a core value for anyone interested in self-improvement, is tied in closely with modesty. But what's the difference? What does it mean to "live modestly", and why should you do it? We can define living modestly financially as "spending less than you make". The bottom limit is spending just enough to survive. Though, should you sell your nice clothes and wear rags?...

Disagreement can be very uncomfortable for everyone. However, it is important because the alternative to discussing controversial issues is war, and none of us should want that! Unfortunately, it seems that we are slipping away from being able to have productive conversations with those we disagree with. People are becoming ideologically possessed, and it seems to be the norm to simply disregard t...