The Walled Garden

Chris Fisher was first introduced to Stoic tenets while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He also spent twenty years working in Silicon Valley, California, as a computer hardware specialist, software engineer, sales executive, and regional manager for a large software company. In 2004, Chris moved to Florida and returned to public service as a law enforcement officer. In preparation for his retire...

In this episode of the podcast, we share the initial lesson given by Sharon Lebell to The Walled Garden members in a recent meetup event entitled "How This Moment Can Change Everything." About Sharon: Sharon Lebell has been an inspiring writer and speaker about philosophy, spirituality, and religion for thirty years. She is best known as the author of the international bestseller The Art of Living...

About Our Guest: Brandon is most well-known for his podcast, The Strong Stoic Podcast, where he discusses philosophical ideas both solo and with guests. However, he does much more than just podcasting. He also coaches individuals to help them be their best selves, writes articles, plays music, manages projects, and several other things. Brandon is always in search of new opportunities that have th...

About our guest: StoicDan is the organizer of 6 philosophy meetups, including Orlando Stoics, which is the third-largest Stoic group in North America (7 years old, with over 1700 members). He is also a public speaker on Stoicism, Minimalism, and American Transcendentalism, and he often connects these topics with civil discourse, common ground, and women in philosophy. He's presented at 5 Stoicon c...

In this episode, Simon is interviewed by Sharon Lebell about his newly published book, The Poet & The Sage.  About The Poet & The Sage: The Poet & The Sage is an esoteric work of deep symbolism and archetypal metaphor. Delivered through the time-tested language of poetry and prose, The Poet & The Sage merges the worlds of philosophy, theology, mysticism, mythology, and narrative to...

About Jack Stafford: Jack Stafford is a British singer-songwriter and super troubadour. He is most well-known for his thought-provoking lyrics. He is on a mission to bring spirituality to the centre stage and mysticism back into the mainstream. Jack grew up in the UK but quickly moved to Amsterdam, where he lived and worked as a copywriter, musician and fashion designer. However, this led to burno...

About Our Guest: Joshua is a retired veteran, avid reader, and lifelong learner. He hosts In Search of Wisdom to engage in meaningful conversations on how to live in a complex world. He enjoys exploring the integration of timeless principles and practices with everyday life. Joshua is an ICF-trained Leadership Coach with a passion for collaborative partnerships. Joshua is currently pursuing a doct...

In this episode, Simon, Sharon and Kai discuss Emerson's passage on rediscovering our own connection with the divine in our age. Link to music from the beginning of the meetup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3jSct9cO_s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Simon sets the scene for our upcoming Walled Garden meetup on Emerson’s call for us to experience the enlightenment that our ancestors felt. The passage read comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays on nature.  The poem read was from Simon’s own storehouse.  You can read the rest of the poems in that collection and listen to the album, Pairidaēza Suite, here: https://thewalledgarde...

About our guests: Meghan Sullivan is the Wilsey Family College Chair in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, director of the God and the Good Life Program, and director of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. She has published works in many leading philosophy journals. Her first book, Time Biases, was published by Oxford University Press. Her work has been supported by grants from t...

About our guest: Paul O’Brien is an entrepreneurial strategist, philosopher, and raconteur who invented divination software and created the world’s largest astrology and divination eCommerce business, Tarot.com. He is a sought-after advisor, interview subject, and speaker, as well as author of The Visionary I Ching: A Book of Changes for the 21st Century, Intuitive Intelligence, and the Visionary...

About our guest: Erich Hatala Matthes is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Director of the Frost Center for the Environment at Wellesley College. His teaching and research focus on the ethics, politics, and aesthetics of art, cultural heritage, and the environment. He majored in English and Philosophy at Yale and earned his PhD in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley....

In this episode, Simon is joined by Western Australia based facilitator Ashley McCole to talk about how to deal with polarisation during the holiday period. Merry Christmas everyone!   To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com.  Use the promo code PRACTICALSTOIC to get a discount on the Caretaker membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Simon Drew speaks with friend and co-seeker Joe Tucker about  Stoic philosophy, sacred texts, and the modern search for wisdom.    To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code PRACTICALSTOIC to get over 20% off a caretaker membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Simon reads a letter regarding Seneca's wisdom, seeking the goods of the soul, perfecting our aims, and seeking the most important knowledge.  To join this week's meetup (launch of The Poet & The Sage), register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUlduCupj8tHN3cj1HuTcbYgS6wo6rqomPC  To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code PRACTICALSTOIC...

In this episode, we discuss ideas for social media engagement and The Walled Garden. Wrestling with moral and practical issues with social media, we come to a consensus regarding our strategy, which we hope will allow us to communicate effectively with our global audience. To register for this week's meetup, featuring a conversation between Sharon Lebell and Simon Drew on his new book, The Poet &a...

In this conversation between Walled Garden contributors and members, we discuss what we've learned throughout the past few weeks of inspiration sessions, and together we set the tone for future interactions and aims within the community.  Use the links below to register for our upcoming meetups in December. Social Media Strategy Meetup: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqc-6rpjstGdNk2p8-jOXvSA3D...

In this episode Simon Drew speaks to Michael Tremblay (PhD) - philosopher and contributor to the Stoa Meditation app. Website: https://www.tremblaymichael.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_MikeTremblay Academia: https://www.queensu.ca/philosophy/people/michael-tremblay Stoa Meditation App: https://stoameditation.com/ To join The Walled Garden community, use the promo code PRACTICALSTOIC to get ov...

Join the Walled Garden community at thewalledgarden.com. Use the promotional code PRACTICALSTOIC to get a special discount on a Caretaker membership for the first 100 members. In this episode, Simon speaks with Prof. Joseph Siracusa about the potential threat of a war with China. Prof. Joseph Siracusa is the professor of Political History and International Diplomacy at Curtin University. Born and...

In this last episode of our Inspiration Sessions, we hear from another contributor Sharon Lebell. Sharon is the author of "The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness" as well as an accomplished musician. Sharon shares her thoughts on what she envisions The Walled Garden being--a place of refuge where we can explore new ideas, find peace and meaning in our lives,...

In this episode Simon Drew introduces his first published book, The Poet & The Sage, which is now available for pre-order at thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage.  About the book: The Poet & The Sage is an esoteric work of deep symbolism and archetypal metaphor. Delivered through the time-tested language of poetry and prose, The Poet & The Sage merges the worlds of...

In the third episode of our Inspiration Sessions we hear from Kai Whiting. Kai is the author of "Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living in", a postdoctoral researcher in Stoicism and sustainability, and a current contributor the The Walled Garden. Kai gives an example of what he seeks to offer to The Walled Garden community through a dialiectic discussion on a variety of claims that are m...

Join the Walled Garden community at thewalledgarden.com. Use the promotional code PRACTICALSTOIC to get a special discount on a Caretaker membership for the first 100 members.  In this episode, Simon speaks with Prof. Joseph Siracusa about the history and event of 911. Prof. Joseph Siracusa is the professor of Political History and International Diplomacy at Curtin University. Born and raised in C...

Continuing our series on our vision for The Walled Garden, this week we hear from another contributor, Jake Bush. Jake shares his experiences growing up in rural Idaho and how spending time in nature contributed toward his philosophies on life. He discusses growing up in, and subsequently separating from the Mormon faith, traveling the world and learning of diverse belief systems and ways of livin...

This episode is the first of what will be four inspiration sessions within The Walled Garden. These sessions are designed to allow each contributing founder of The Walled Garden (Simon Drew, Sharon Lebell, Kai Whiting, and Jacob Bush) to share what it is that they'd like to contribute to The Walled Garden community.  Today, we're hearing Simon Drew read his epistle: On Radical Claims of Enlightenm...