The Strong Stoic Podcast

Before serving in Vietnam, Jim MacKay entered a Franciscan monastery at seventeen. Across those very different paths, his desire to help people remained. I joined Jim at his home in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to talk about brotherhood, fear, rescuing wounded men, responsibility, and what he wishes people understood about those who return from war. What struck me most was his kindness. I went to hea...

We like to believe that difficulty inevitably makes us stronger. Sometimes it does. But some chapters simply ask us to survive with whatever pieces of ourselves we can protect. Through the life of Marcus Aurelius, this episode explores the limits of turning suffering into growth, the difference between acceptance and passivity, and why philosophy can help us carry what we cannot fix. You don’t hav...

Nobody starts as a master. When we see someone who is strong, skilled, or exceptionally good at what they do, we see the finished product. We don’t see all the years they spent being bad at it. Recently, after more than six years of podcasting, I found myself spending an hour and a half learning a basic audio-editing skill I probably should have learned years ago. I had no idea what I was doing. A...

JP Primeau is a strength coach, former university football player, and Olympic weightlifting coach in Nova Scotia. But this conversation isn't really about lifting. It's about what happens when the identity you've spent years building begins to change. JP and I talk about his transition from football into Olympic weightlifting and eventually coaching, what it feels like to go from b...

Jocko Willink’s philosophy of Extreme Ownership teaches leaders to take responsibility for everything that affects their mission. If something goes wrong, don’t make excuses. Own it and fix it. It is a powerful leadership doctrine—but is everything that happens truly your fault? In Episode 433, I examine Extreme Ownership through a Stoic lens. We explore why the philosophy works, how it restores a...

What if you worked hard at something for years and nobody noticed? Would the work still be worth doing? I've been wrestling with that question lately as I've become more focused on views, analytics, and growing The Strong Stoic. There's nothing wrong with wanting success, recognition, or influence. The danger begins when being noticed becomes the reason we do the work. Marcus Aureli...

Many of our emotional patterns were formed before we were old enough to understand what was happening. We learned what love, conflict, trust, danger, and security looked like by watching the people around us. Those early experiences helped build our internal alarm systems—but not every alarm remains properly calibrated. Anger may tell us that we perceive an injustice. Fear may tell us that we sens...

We have a tendency to postpone happiness. Once I get the promotion, I’ll be happy. Once I make more money, buy the new car, find the right relationship, or reach the next goal—then I’ll finally be satisfied. But eventually, you get some of those things. And something strange happens: You’re still you. In this Strong Stoic Unscripted, I talk about my own experience of upgrading from a Honda Accord...

If you attain something without integrity, the thing you attain will always have power over you. In The Hobbit , Gollum’s relationship with the Ring begins with murder. Bilbo’s begins with pity and mercy. Both possess the same corrupting object, but it does not shape them in the same way. In this episode, I use Bilbo and the Ring to explore the Stoic concept of preferred indifferents: money, power...

A former Anthropic researcher recently went on CNN and made a startling claim: AI could pose an existential threat to humanity within the next few years. I’m not an AI researcher, and I’m not here to tell you whether that prediction is right. What interests me is the much older—and much more human—problem underneath it: Human beings have a habit of developing power before developing the wisdom nec...

Ryan Holiday has introduced millions of people to Stoicism. But is what he teaches about success actually consistent with what the ancient Stoics taught? In this episode, I take a closer look at several of Holiday’s claims about success—not to tear him down, but to test those ideas against the philosophy itself. We explore why Stoic success cannot be measured purely by outcomes, what the Stoics ac...

If someone could hear your thoughts for a week, who would they expect you to become? Marcus Aurelius wrote that “the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” But not every thought stains us. An unwanted impulse is not character. The danger lies in the thoughts we repeatedly entertain, rehearse, defend, and eventually act upon. In Episode 429, Brandon explores how thoughts become words, w...

David Goggins believes in scheduled suffering, rejecting motivation and refusing to stop before the work is done. His philosophy has helped millions confront comfort, excuses and unrealized potential. But is Goggins actually a Stoic—and when does relentless discipline become self-punishment? In this episode, Brandon examines eight of Goggins’ central ideas through a Stoic lens, including the 40% R...

Living intentionally does not mean avoiding regret. It means deciding which regrets you are willing to carry. In this episode, Brandon is joined by Joshua Bertolotti for an honest conversation about busyness, rest, vulnerability and the difficult work of examining your own life. They discuss why we often plan ordinary tasks more carefully than our futures, how constant activity can conceal exhaust...

Why do certain insults stay with us while others have no effect at all? In this episode of The Strong Stoic Podcast, I examine what our emotional reactions reveal about us—and how to respond to difficult people without becoming passive, cruel, or emotionally numb. Sometimes anger exposes an insecurity. Sometimes contempt points toward a version of ourselves we fear becoming. Sometimes we suffer be...

Resentment often begins where an important boundary remains unspoken. In Episode 425, we examine why boundaries exist in every healthy relationship—and why setting one is not necessarily an act of rejection. A clear boundary tells another person what matters, what you are willing to participate in, and what you will do if the line is crossed. We also explore the difference between boundaries and p...

Have you ever stopped enjoying something that once gave your life meaning? Maybe it's the guitar that now gathers dust. The running shoes that haven't left the closet. The books you used to devour but can't seem to pick up anymore. In this episode, I explore why our interests naturally change throughout life, why there's nothing wrong with losing a passion, and what Stoicism ha...

Have you ever looked in the mirror and realized you’ve become someone you don’t respect? I have. In this deeply personal episode, I share a chapter of my life I’ve rarely talked about—the years after university when I slowly drifted into complacency. What began as well-earned rest became laziness, comfort, and eventually shame. One day I looked at the man I was becoming… and I didn’t like him. Thi...

Most people believe they know their limits. The truth is, they only know where they’ve chosen to stop. In this episode, I explore one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves—that discomfort equals incapability. Whether it’s grief, parenthood, illness, failure, or unexpected responsibility, history shows that ordinary people repeatedly rise to challenges they once believed impossible. Like the reserv...

Most of us don’t wake up wanting to be selfish, impatient, or unkind. So why is being good so difficult? In this conversation, I sit down once again with Corey to explore one of the oldest questions in philosophy, faith, and everyday life. Beginning with Rudyard Kipling’s timeless poem If— , we unpack what it really means to choose goodness when life becomes uncomfortable. We discuss why ego fight...

Most people hear Walk on the Moon  and think about astronauts. I think about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The father holding his newborn.  The recovering alcoholic walking into their first meeting.  The woman rebuilding her life after divorce.  The man finally leaving the job that’s been draining him for years. We all have a “walk on the moon.” In this episode, I use one of my favor...

We all know we should learn from our mistakes. But somewhere along the way, many of us confuse self-reflection with self-punishment. In this episode, I explore the difference between shadow work and self-loathing. Drawing from Stoicism, Carl Jung, Seneca, Dostoevsky, and Tolkien, I examine why looking honestly at our flaws is necessary—and why beating ourselves up for them isn’t. The goal isn’t to...

As we grow stronger, wiser, healthier, and more disciplined, a subtle danger emerges: contempt. It's easy to celebrate strength. It's much harder to remain compassionate toward weakness—especially the weaknesses we once saw in ourselves. In this episode, I explore a paradox at the heart of Stoicism: how to pursue excellence without developing disdain for those who are still struggling. F...

What happens when someone you love dies? In this conversation, I sit down with a returning guest shortly after the loss of his father. We explore grief, mortality, legacy, and the strange reality that every person we meet was once a child, a son, a daughter, and a dream in someone else’s mind. We discuss Stoic perspectives on death, why history remembers some people and forgets others, the danger...

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t the workout, the meeting, the difficult conversation, or the grieving process. It’s the first step. In this episode, Brandon reflects on a lesson shared by Jeff Nippard following the tragic loss of his partner and explores how a simple idea—just take the first step—can help us navigate grief, fear, depression, and resistance. Drawing on personal experiences from th...