The Daily Stoic
Episodes
Casey Neistat On The Purpose That Parenthood Gives You
15 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While on tour for his new book The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids, Ryan met up with his longtime friend and occ...
Do You Practice For Rejection? | A Little Knowledge Is Dangerous
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Part of the reason we’re afraid of things is that we’re unfamiliar. We don’t know what it’s like to bomb on stage in front of people, but it s...
You Have To Anticipate This Kind Of Behavior | Ask DS
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Richard III and in Othello, Shakespeare has two different characters utter the same line. Both Iago and a nameless orphan say, “I ...
Don’t Let Them Steal This Too
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People will take things from you (as we talked about recently with Epictetus and his lamp). People will betray you–as Marcus Aurelius was by his mos...
Melinda Moyer On Changing The World By Raising Curious Kids
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Melinda Moyer about how the death of her family dog became an opportunity to teach her children about emotions, why feelings of power...
This Is All There Is | 10 Stoic Quotes That Will Motivate You To Seize The Day
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the great moments in the history of comedy. At Comedy Central Presents: The Roast of Bob Saget, the comedian Norm Macdonald is up roasti...
What Are You Fueling? | Don't Look For The Third Thing
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the early days of the pandemic, many of us picked up new hobbies and habits. We started taking walks. We started cooking for ourselves. Some of us ...
The Life Of Seneca The Striver
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan narrates the chapter on Seneca the Striver from his own best-selling guide to all the major Stoics, Lives of the ...
Rachel Hollis On Learning From The Worst Moments, Measuring Success, And Doing Your Best
08 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan continues the second in his two-part discussion with Rachel Hollis about what she learned from the public backlash that she received from an inst...
You Are The Solution To Your Problem | Our Duty To Learn
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Life may have big challenges in store for us. What’s more certain, as we talked about recently, is the ‘petty hazards of the day.’ We may find o...
You Can Let This Make You Miserable, Or Come To Terms With It | Ask DS
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It doesn't matter how important you are. It doesn't matter how much money you have. It doesn't matter how used to getting your way you are, or how muc...
May This Be The Last One Standing
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For years, the Stoics had fought. First, they fought moral and spiritual decay, trying to preserve Rome’s traditions in the midst of all their ...
Andrew Wehrman On Why It Is Crucial To Study Pandemics Of The Past
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Andrew Wehrman about his new book The Contagion of Liberty: The Politics of Smallpox in the American Revolution, how and why response...
Can You Embrace The Challenge Like They Did? | How Stoics Develop a Strong Mindset
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The fact that America exists is the ultimate argument that Stoicism is not apathy and that philosophy is not mere theory. Because without Stoicism, it...
You Must Play It Like A Game | Protect Your Own Good
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Life may have big challenges in store for us. What’s more certain, as we talked about recently, is the ‘petty hazards of the day.’ We may find o...
Epictetus - Discourses Pt. 1
02 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan presents an excerpt from one of the seminal texts of Stoicism, the Discourses of Epictetus, read by Michael Reid....
Garland Robinette On The Stoic Principle That Shapes His Incredible Life
01 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Garland Robinette about the brain-altering effects of chasing dopamine, how he has coped with his morally injurious experience servin...
Yes, This Is How It Is | The Obstacle Is The Way
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly every day was a terror. People died of easily curable diseases. People starved to death. People were clapped into slavery. Wars broke out–fou...
It’s Really That Simple | Ask DS
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes we are so stuck, so in our own heads, so down on our luck that improvement–let alone a full recovery–seems impossible. Our business has ...
Build A Life You Aren’t Trying To Flee
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Of course, it’s lovely to take a vacation. It’s lovely to go to cool places. Even on the weekend, it’s lovely to go places and do things we can’...
Susan Sauve Meyer On Becoming A Better Person With Aristotle
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Susan Sauve Meyer about the work of making ancient philosophy accessible in today’s world, the insights that she has gained from te...
Can You Make It This Long? | How Stoics Find Balance In Their Life
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re supposed to put up with difficult people. We’re supposed to turn the other cheek. We’re supposed to find a way to smile through a tough si...
How To Astonish and Inspire For Centuries | What's in Your Way Is The Way
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Walter Isaacson’s wonderful biography of Leonardo Da Vinci, he spends a lot of time dissecting and exploring the ideas in Da Vinci’s notebooks....
The Most Beautiful Model Of A Perfect Life
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius’s father died when he was young. But then this young boy who was cursed by tragedy received a great gift. A gift that all children w...
Sam Gwynne On Progress, War, And Zeppelins
24 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Sam Gwynne about his new book His Majesty’s Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine, the triumph o...
We Can Get This Expensive Thing Cheap | The Long Way Around
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The rarest thing in the world is wisdom. The most expensive thing in the world is experience. How many truly wise people have you met? How many of the...
Give It Your All | Ask DS
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cato fought a losing battle. He was trying to preserve a Republic that was old and creaky in a rapidly changing world. He was trying to be honest and ...
Brett Crozier On Bravery, Impossible Decisions And What It Takes To Be A Leader
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Brett Crozier about his new book Surf When You Can: Lessons in Life, Loyalty, and Leadership from a Maverick Navy Captain, what it fe...
How To Not Be Afraid of Criticism | Marcus Aurelius' Advice For Better Days
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
No one likes to be found at fault. In fact, this is what many of us walk around fearing–that we’ll be exposed as imposters, we’ll be put on the ...
Words Count For Nothing | Take A Walk
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today the United States celebrates Juneteenth, the commemoration of the emancipation of slaves in America. Two years after President Abraham Lincoln’...
Ryan And Jordan Harbinger Live At The West
18 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jordan Harbinger is a podcaster, radio personality, entrepreneur and longtime friend of Ryan’s. So when he invited Ryan to come to The West in LA to...
Matthew McConaughey On The Art Of Livin’
17 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Matthew McConaughey in the second of a two-part interview about his new course: Roadtrip – the Highway to More, the importance of b...
Life Is Emotionally Abusive | No Shame In Needing Help
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One day everything is easy. The next, everything that can go wrong, does. One minute, everyone tells you you’re great. The next, they’ve all gange...
What To Do After You’ve Done Wrong | Ask DS
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca should have owned up to it. We’ve talked about this. He was 13 years in Nero’s service before he broke with the clearly broken emperor. It ...
It’s Not Your Fault, But It Is Your Responsibility
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So much happens in life. There is so much happening. Forget macro events—there are dogs that get sick in the middle of the night. There are trips th...
Matthew McConaughey On His Greenlights Philosophy, His Roadtrip Course And Feeling Gratitude For Life
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Matthew McConaughey in the first of a two-part interview about the philosophy behind his bestselling memoir Greenlights, how he aims ...
You Must Stay Outside of Time | 24 Life Changing Quotes From Epictetus
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Technology is advancing rapidly. While every generation has felt like it was impossible to keep up, today it really is mindblowing to try to understan...
This is Your Kingdom. Will You Rule It? | Try The Other Handle
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the first century AD, few would have argued that Epictetus was the most powerful person in Rome. Few would have argued that this lowly slave posses...
The Life Of Zeno The Prophet
11 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's audiobook reading, Ryan narrates a section of his own New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling book Lives of the Stoics: The Art ...
Troy Baker On How Stoicism Helps Him Be A Better Actor And Father
10 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Troy Baker about how practicing Stoicism enriches the life of the artist and the parent, why gratitude is so much more beneficial tha...
Just Keep Going | Solve Problems Early
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics accepted that life could be cruel and random. They knew people were stupid and annoying. They did not deny that death was ever present.You ...
Did You Get Your Bonus? | Ask DS
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Here’s a way to feel good every single day, no matter what happens. A way to appreciate even a day stuck in the airport or putting out fires.It’s ...
Peter Singer On Being Part Of The Solution
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Peter Singer about the tenth anniversary edition of his book The Life You Can Save, why he finds freedom in resisting attachment to m...
Late Is Better Than Never | Robert Greene's Favorite Stoic Lessons
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What new information could there have possibly been for Seneca, in 62 AD, when he finally broke with Nero? Nero had been deranged for years (as detail...
Help Them Be Better | Role Models
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One evening Epictetus woke up to hear someone in his house. Walking towards the noise, he found a criminal had stolen the iron lamp he kept burning in...
Cicero On The Paradox Of The Rich Man
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's audiobook reading, Ryan presents the sixth and final reading of Cicero's Stoic Paradoxes. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest politicia...
Wright Thompson On The Costs Of Greatness Throughout History
03 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Wright Thompson about his work studying the convergence of sports and culture, the evolution of society in conjunction with people’...
The Fever Has You | Ask DS
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Look at any millionaire, Seneca tells Lucilius in one of his letters, they are some of the poorest people in Rome. Money has made them obsess over pub...
Start The Clock. Just Start The Clock. | Plato's View
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We don’t like how long they’re taking to get back to us. It’s slowing down the process, keeping us from doing what we want to do. We don’t lik...
Try To Be Less Like Yourself
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A classic episode of Seinfeld begins with George Costanza having a revelation. "Every decision I've ever made in my entire life has been wrong," Georg...
Stephen A. Smith On Debating, Working, And Living With Authenticity
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Stephen A. Smith about his new memoir Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, why it is so important to be okay...
This is The Most Expensive Thing | The Best Stoic Insights On Raising Kids
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since Stoicism was founded, most of the Stoics have been wealthy…and yet almost to a letter, most of them have warned of the dangers and perils of w...
What Do You Pledge Your Sacred Honor To? | The View From Above
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the Founders signed the Declaration of Independence, they knew that this wasn’t some painless petition. This wasn’t some minor political stand....
Stoicism and Thought Leadership
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When an old friend from Ryan’s UC Riverside days reached out early on in the pandemic with an opportunity to speak at one of the premiere non-profit...
Tim Urban On Procrastination, Changing Habits, And Slow Improvement
27 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Tim Urban about his new book What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies, why everyone who wants to improve at something shou...
How The Stoics Got Rich | Stop Caring What People Think
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you think of Stoicism, you don’t usually think of words like “rich” or “wealthy.”But you should.Before he founded Stoicism, Zeno was a ...
It’s Never Too Late To Get Back | Ask DS
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you said some stuff you regret. Maybe the stress of the business has made you a nightmare of a boss lately. Maybe you’ve not been the parent y...
This Can Drive You Nuts, Or You Can Learn To Love It
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You clean and then it gets dirty. You do the dishes and then five minutes later, the sink is full again. You made it through your inbox in the morning...
David von Drehle On The Pursuit Of A Good And Meaningful LIfe
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with David von Drehle about his new book The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man, what he lear...
This Is Demanded Of You | 5 Stoic Secrets From The Ultimate Man Of Principle (Cato The Younger)
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca tried to teach it to Nero but Nero couldn’t grasp it. To be fair, most leaders, most powerful people, most governments and civilizations stru...
Ask Yourself These Crucial Questions | Practice True Joy
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a story of Musonius Rufus paying a thousand sesterces to a charlatan posing as a philosopher. When an observer stepped in to say that the ma...
Just Start Journaling
21 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's audiobook excerpt, Ryan cracks open his best-selling book Stillness Is The Key to read the chapter titled “Just Start Journaling,” whic...
Renée Mauborgne On Blue Oceans, Disruption, And Succeeding By Being Yourself
20 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Renee Mauborgne about her new book Beyond Disruption: Innovate and Achieve Growth without Displacing Industries, Companies, or Jobs, ...
Money Isn’t Rare | Learn, Practice, Train
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s interesting how infrequently money comes up in Meditations. Here was a guy who had incredible wealth, whose predecessors obsessed over it ...
Find A Way To Use What Life Hands You | Ask DS
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Change is a constant in life, and embracing it is key to living a fulfilling and meaningful existence. The Stoics recognized this fact and encouraged ...
Do You Have This Kind of Clarity?
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Warren Buffett, whose net worth is north of $100 billion, lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500. The NFL lineman turned mathematician ...
General Ty Seidule On Our Responsibility To Study, Understand And Grapple With History
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Ty Seidule about his book Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause, Henry Flipper and the less-...
Handle What You Control First | Robert Greene's 6 Stoic Concepts For A Fulfilling Life
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Life is frustrating. You’re waiting for people to get back to you. You’re waiting for approval on stuff. You’re waiting for things to ship. You’...
When Are You Going To Get This Together? | Count Your Blessings
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It doesn’t matter how old you are, it looms before you. Not death–although that’s always there–but the future itself. The future when you’re...
The Life Of Chrysippus
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's audiobook reading, Ryan presents the biography of the great Greco-Phoenician Stoic philosopher Chrysippus. Written by the prolific biograph...
MMA Legend Frank Shamrock On Conquering The Ego and Developing Honor
13 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Frank Shamrock about his memoir Uncaged: My Life as a Champion MMA Fighter, the convergence between the Stoic virtues and the tenets ...
What Gets The Best Part of Your Day? | Kindness Is Always The Right Response
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In those first moments you’re awake, how do you decide to start this fresh day? By reaching for the phone, for social media? We fill the sunlight ho...
Do You Make Time For this? | Ask DS
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Even when he was president, Jimmy Carter tried to carve out space for reflection and study. Just a few days after being sworn in, he was already askin...
When Is The Last Time You Challenged Yourself?
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s very easy to get comfortable. To build up your life exactly how you want it to be. Minimize inconveniences and hand off the stuff you don’t l...
Gretchen Rubin On The Power Of Exploring Your Senses
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Gretchen Rubin about her new book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World, how our rea...
The Personal Is Universal | Short Stoic Lessons From All Of Ryan Holiday's Books
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many artists—songwriters, poets, comedians, and so on—have said some version of the same idea: the personal is universal. Artists often find the m...
This Is A Great Pleasure | We Are A Product Of Our Habits
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Of the four Stoic virtues, Marcus Aurelius said justice was the most important. To him, it was “the source of all the other virtues.” After all, h...
Ryan And Guy Raz On Controlling Only What You Can
07 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When a recent Q&A session between Ryan and Robert Greene fell apart just hours before the conference due to emergency health concerns, the moment ...
Kevin Kelly On The Courage It Takes To Live Your Own Life
06 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Kevin Kelly about his new book Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier, how his remarkable life and career is sh...
Tie Your Well-Being To This | You Are The Project
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we know F. Scott Fitzgerald as one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century. Tragically, in his own time, many regarded Fitzgerald as a fa...
The Trouble Of Too Many Opinions | Ask DS
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It goes without saying that the man has changed the world for the better. He’s reinvigorated the American space program. He popularized electric car...
Keep In Mind How Fast Things Pass By
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1859, before he was president, before he suffered through that harrowing train ride to Washington on his way to office where many thought he would ...
Jason Singer Of Michigander On The Reality Of Being A Rock Star
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Jason Singer of the band Michigander about he and his wife getting back on track after a series of injuries, the humbling experience ...
This Is The Secret | 6 Stoic Examples Of Living A Great Life
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It seems obvious. If you want to be better at your job, work more. If you want to be more successful, focus on it entirely. Yet history doesn’t actu...
This Predicts Everything | Show, Don't Tell
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Who a person is determines what will happen and what they can do. It’s true in sports. It’s true in politics. It’s true in business. No matter h...
Control Your Emotions
30 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's audiobook excerpt, Ryan presents his reading of the section of his own book The Obstacle is the Way entitled “Control Your Emotions,” i...
Actor Alexander Ludwig on How Stoicism Helped Him Get Sober
29 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Alexander Ludwig about how studying Stoicism gave him the discipline to quit drinking, the power of surrendering to the moment, pursu...
Now That You Know, Do Better | Wants Make You A Servant
28 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We look back on things we clearly messed up. We were too preoccupied. We were too harsh. We were wrong. We didn’t know.And because we messed up, we ...
Make Them Do Their Own Stuff | Ask DS
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is a great story about a young Spartan woman, Gorgo, who would one day become queen. Despite her royal status, like all Spartans she was raised ...
Don’t Let Them Make You Bitter Or Mean
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Whatever you decide to do with your life, whatever path you decide to walk, people are going to stand in your way. They’re going to doubt you. ...
Rachel Hollis on Empathy and Emotional Acceptance
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of a two-part discussion, Ryan speaks with Rachel Hollis about how her success has been defined by perseverance and acceptance, the impor...
Don’t Waste Your Gifts | The Secret To Better Habits in 2023
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is, as we have talked about many times, a tinge of sadness in the story of Seneca. This immensely talented and wise man spent the best years of ...
You Can Never Do This Twice | The Freedom Of Contempt
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The first time was revelatory. The first time you watched Mad Men. Or The Godfather. Or cracked open Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Or heard Tom Pett...
The Life of Cleanthes
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's audiobook reading, Ryan presents the biography of the great Stoic philosopher, boxer, and successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head of...
Sarah Bakewell on Humanism and The Power of Connection
22 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Sarah Bakewell about her new book Humanly Possible: seven hundred years of humanist freethinking, inquiry, and hope, how growing up s...
There Is No More Or Less Time | Don't Let Your Attention Slide
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Three years removed from those eerie and strange days of the early pandemic, one thing that strikes us is how much time we seemed to have then. People...
Can You Fight To See Their Side? | Ask DS
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One gets the sense that Seneca, like many smart and active people, was often frustrated by other people. It is inevitable that someone like him—...
To Have A More Peaceful Home, Have Fewer Of These
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is an excerpt from Ryan Holiday’s latest book The Daily Dad (which you can preorder signed copies of now!).To Have A More P...
Comedian Katherine Blanford on Laughing At Life
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Katherine Blanford about her earning things throughout her comedy career, her Catholic upbringing, why the funniest moments come from...
There Are Dreams That Cannot Be | 9 Habits The Stoics Want You To Stop Doing
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius certainly hoped his reign would be peaceful and prosperous–as the fates had blessed his mentor Antoninus for 23 years. Certainly, he...