The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

This explainer episode will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what the circles of concern are and how you can use them to guide your Stoic practice. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Roman senator Cato the Younger died in 46 BC but during his lifetime and in the years since his death, he has widely been considered as a near-perfect living embodiment of Stoicism. He was known for his moral integrity, his tenacity in supporting just causes and his immunity to bribes at a time when such corruption was commonplace. He was a respected military tribune who led from the front and...

The story I'd like to share in today's episode comes from Seneca's On Tranquility of Mind essay and features some interesting and entertaining details from the life of a philosopher called Julius Canus. Seneca's underlying motivation for holding Canus up as a role model in this story was to demonstrate how one can maintain a calm mind in the face of adversity. What Julius Canus faced is likely to...

The Greek Stoic philosopher Cleanthes was originally a boxer who took up philosophy when he came to Athens and eventually became the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head of the Stoic school around 262 BC. He supported his studies by working as a water-carrier at night and the short anecdotes we have about his life provide good lessons on humility and simple living. The biographical stori...

Today's Stoic story takes the form of two short anecdotes from the life of the philosopher Paconius Agrippinus. The examples from Agrippinus's life are used by Epictetus in his Discourses to demonstrate to his students what it truly means for one to desire only what is up to them to be averse to what is not. They also show how the Stoics in general believed in practicing the virtue of courage by s...

The Stoics knew how useful stories and examples could be in the illustration of philosophical lessons. Clear descriptions and explanations of principles are vital of course but demonstrating them in practice is an invaluable tool in helping people to understand them. The example I share in this episode comes from Seneca's Consolation to Marcia, which was a letter the Stoic statesman sent to his fr...

What we can learn from dogs, the animal that Socrates called "a true philosopher." The video mentioned in this episode: This golden retriever has shown us all the true meaning of optimism, hope and gratitude 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A reading of the fourth book of Marcus Aurelius's twelve-book work. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

☀️ Micro Morning Meditations: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/subscribe ---- "For the morning is the youth of the day, when everything is bright, fresh, and easy of attainment; we feel strong then, and all our faculties are completely at our disposal. Do not shorten the morning by getting up late, or waste it in unworthy occupations or in talk; look upon it as the quintessence of life, as to a...

This explainer episode will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what the Stoic motto of living according to Nature means and how you can use it in everyday life. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Desire has a reliable way of making us view our lives through the lens of what we don’t have. This lens obscures from our sight the many blessings we already have and puts us into a discontented state of ungratefulness. Thankfully, Stoicism helps us find a better perspective. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted...

This short explainer episode will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what the Stoic sage is and how you can use it in your Stoic practice. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A reading of the third book of Marcus Aurelius's twelve-book work. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This short explainer episode will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what the Stoic reserve clause is and how you can use it in your Stoic practice. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is a guided Stoic meditation that aims to help bring you back to the present moment. It’s something you’ll hopefully find valuable to return to when thoughts about the past and future get a little overwhelming. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

This short explainer episode will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what the dichotomy of control is and how you can use it in your Stoic practice. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"It’s typically human to feel affection even for people who make mistakes. The feeling is a response to the thoughts that they’re your kin, that they’re led astray against their will by their ignorance, that shortly both of you will be dead, and especially that he did you no harm, because he didn’t make your command center worse than it was before." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.22 📻 FOR MORE...

A short exploration of Seneca's advice to his friend Lucilius and the following related sentiment from the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer: "Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death." 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicis...

This short explainer episode will provide you with a straightforward understanding of one of the elements of Stoicism that can sometimes be confusing - what the philosophy considers to be good, what it considers to be bad, and what it considers to be indifferent. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. Se...

In this interview with Jon Brooks, I share my journey into Stoicism and how it has helped me find meaning and purpose in life. I discuss how I was introduced to Stoicism through the Tim Ferriss podcast and William B Irvine's book "A Guide to the Good Life". I also explain how Stoicism's focus on personal responsibility and practical philosophy resonated with me and led me to start creating content...

What keeps people coming back to a Roman Emperor’s 2000-year-old journal? To help answer that question, in this episode I share one short lesson from each of the twelve books of the Meditations. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This short explainer will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what negative visualization is and how you can use it in your Stoic practice. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A reading of the second book of Marcus Aurelius's twelve-book work. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This short explainer will provide you with a straightforward understanding of what Amor Fati is and how you can use it in your Stoic practice. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Young Plato is a fantastic documentary about a headmaster embarking on a quest to teach children to use philosophy to examine their own thoughts and question the world around them. There are certainly plenty of lessons that older generations can learn too. 📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENT Check out What Is Stoicism? on Substack: https://whatisstoicism.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast...