The Daily Stoic
Episodes
Are You In Touch With Your Future? | Wherever You Go, There Your Choice Is
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Gandhi sat with a reporter one hot afternoon, he began experiencing some stomach pains. An attendant brought him a mudpack to place on his abdomen....
You Know You’ve Made This Mistake
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It is certainly true that people can do some awful things to each other. We hear of a trusted representative who is stealing from their clients. We he...
Champion Distance Runner Lauren Fleshman on the Power of Sport
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Lauren Fleshman about her new book Good For a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World, how the Stoics approached many of the gender ...
A Person Without Boundaries Is Not a Person | 7 Stoic Keys To Happiness
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s clear when you read about Cato and Marcus Aurelius that these were men of great reserve. Antoninus, too. They were friendly and kind of course,...
The Things You Own…Can’t Own You | The Wake Up
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To the Stoics, there wasn’t anything wrong with having money. Marcus Aurelius came from money. So did Cato. Seneca came from money and also made a l...
Steven Pressfield on Creating Work That Lasts
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with his friend Steven Pressfield during an impromptu walk along Town Lake in downtown Austin, Texas. The two discuss the life experiences...
Mark Manson and the Catastrophe of Success
14 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Mark Manson about the new documentary based on his astronomically successful book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, how being high...
Don’t Disgrace Yourself | Ask Daily Stoic
13 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Francis Bacon was a brilliant philosopher whose breakthroughs reverberate through our world today. He was also a human being and a politician. Less gl...
If You Are Studying Philosophy, It Is Well | The One Path To Serenity
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In one of his letters, Seneca tells us of an old Roman pleasantry that friends would exchange when greeting each other: “If you are well,” one wou...
A Stoic Isn’t Born. They’re Made.
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius wasn’t born Marcus Aurelius (literally, his name was Marcus Catilius Severus Annius Verus). Epictetus wasn’t born a sage–to say ...
Humble, The Poet on Being Free of Passion but Full of Love
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Humble, the Poet about his new book How to be Love(d), why our passions often get in the way of real love, viewing love as a service ...
You Can’t Keep It From Happening | How To Get Through Life's Most Difficult Situations
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When he was starting out in Hollywood, Judd Apatow began to have panic attacks. The stress of rewriting a script. Getting a film in on time. Managing ...
You Know What’s Coming | The Sphere Of Choice
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We worry about the future. About who might win an election we’re closely watching. About what some foreign leader might do. About the markets and yo...
How Country Living Can Improve Your Life
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan celebrates country living with this presentation of the first in a four-part reading of MD Usher’s translation of Princeton University Press’...
Steven Pressfield, Robert Greene, Jack Carr, Meg Mason, and Adam Hochschild on Writing
07 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan looks back on some of the best interviews of 2022 about writing. Featuring Steven Pressfield on what it takes to build discipline and why it’s ...
Don’t Join The Mob | Ask Daily Stoic - Habits
06 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan discusses how he cultivates better habits, people with habits that he admires, and books that you can read to help im...
Are You Ready For Combat? | Clarify Your Intentions
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not for posterity that the Stoics sat with their journals. It wasn’t whiney self-indulgence either. They weren’t cataloging their achieveme...
Don’t Make It Someone Else’s Problem
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“If it is not right, do not do it,” Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations, “if it is not true, do not say it.” But it’s worth pointing out th...
100 Lessons from Marcus Aurelius
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Meditations is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man giving advice to himself...
How To Train Yourself | 4 (Stoic) Secrets To The Good Life
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You don't lift a weight one time and become strong. You aren’t taught something once and it stays in your mind forever. You don’t do the right thi...
What We Want (And Deserve) More Than Anything | What’s Up To Us, What’s Not Up To Us
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We think we want to be rich. Or famous. Or powerful. We want to succeed, we want to achieve. We want more of this. We want less of that. These desires...
5 Usable Practices From Stoicism | Ryan Holiday Speaks At Ole Miss
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In April of 2022 Ryan Holiday traveled to Oxford Mississippi to speak to the Ole Miss Football team about 5 strategies that can improve your performan...
Tony Gonzalez, Keita Bates-Diop, Courtney Dauwalter, and Steven Rinella on Sports and Building Resilience
31 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan looks back on some of the best interviews of 2022 about sports and building resilience. Featuring football legend Tony Gonzalez on the path to be...
It Was Terribly Unfair…Yet | Ask Daily Stoic
30 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 41 AD, Seneca was exiled from Rome. He was at the height of his senatorial career but found himself facing trumped up charges from a petty emperor ...
This Is The Year! | Give Thanks
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We all have vices. We all have flaws. We all have things we know we want to change.Make this the year. This is the year you drive the bad habits out. ...
Transcend Your First Impression
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s perfectly reasonable to tremble in the face of danger, Donald Robertson writes in his wonderful book, How To Think Like a Roman Emperor, and it...
James Clear on How to Build Better Habits
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks with author James Clear about practical ways to shift your internal narrative, how to begin and maintain productive habitual action, being ...
This Will Not Free You | The Secret To Better Habits in 2023
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca had money and privilege. Lots of it.Yet where did it get him?It didn’t save him from illness, or spare him from years of convalescence. Does ...
How Much Longer Are You Going To Wait? | Turn Words Into Works
26 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is that weird time of year where we start to think about how we want the following year to go. We start thinking about what we call “resolution...
Theranos Whistleblower Tyler Shultz on Doing the Right Thing and Overcoming Fear
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Tyler Shultz about his new audiobook Thicker than Water, the harsh realities of being a whistleblower, how he overcame the fear of ba...
Habits and Addictions — Excerpt 2 from Steven Pressfield’s “Turning Pro”
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Back in October, Ryan presented the first of four audiobook excerpts from Steven Pressfield’s “Turning Pro.” In this excerpt Steven talks about ...
Push Through To The Finish Line | Ask Daily Stoic
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Cynic philosopher Diogenes was once criticized by a passerby for not taking care of himself in his old age, for being too active when he should ha...
It’s Time To Quit | Stake Your Own Claim
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dwight Eisenhower gave himself the order.Quit smoking.It had been a 38-year habit, and he knew it was time. His health was on the line. His ability to...
It’s Hard Work
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius wasn’t magically Marcus Aurelius. Cato wasn’t born that way. All their virtues–their assiduous self-control, their patient wisdo...
Former NBA Star Cuttino Mobley on Pursuing Greatness and Developing Balance in Life
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with former pro basketball player Cuttino Mobley about the challenges of adjusting to life after basketball, growing up with Kobe Bryant a...
This Is The Greatest Pleasure | 9 Habits the Stoics Want You to Stop Doing
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics were not afraid of joy, but they found joy in a different place than most people. It wasn’t pleasure. It wasn’t accumulating money. “...
You’re Not There Now (That’s A Good Thing) | Stake Your Claim
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to look at history and despair. Humans have been terrible to each other–going back to Marcus Aurelius’s time all the way through today...
18 Things You Didn’t Know About Marcus Aurelius
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It is amazing that Meditations, year after year and read after read, feels both incredibly timely and incredibly timeless (there’s a reason the book...
Jeremy Jones on Quieting the Mind and Confronting Fear with Snowboarding
17 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with snowboarder Jeremy Jones about his new book The Art of Shralpanism: Lessons from the Mountains, why having discipline on the mountain...
Find a Way To Use It | Ask Daily Stoic
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It would be nice to be a comedian, wouldn’t it? Not because it might make you rich and famous, though that would be nice. But rather, for the opport...
Difficult Things Are Good For You | A Simple Way To Measure Our Days
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When one thinks of a philosopher, they usually picture something like an ancient figure in a toga, or they think of a college professor in a tweed jac...
You Can't Give Up
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A new year is fast approaching, and it's that time of year in which some people will try again and some people won't.Which will it be? Who will you be...
Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski on the Wonder and Discipline of Mr. Rogers
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with authors Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski about their new book When You Wonder, You're Learning: Mister Rogers' Enduring Lessons for Rais...
It’s Your Fault, Not Theirs | How To Manage Your Time Like A Stoic (5 Time Management Tips)
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The causes of things are complicated, and rarely do they go how we’d like them to go. So it’s easy to point the finger— at other people, at unfa...
Where Are They Now? | Keep The Rhythm
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius loved history and he loved literature. He loved reading about the courts of past emperors. He loved the plays of the great Romans and ...
Musonius Rufus Stoic Fragments pt. 2
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Which is more effective: theories or practice? Should kings study philosophy? These are the questions that Musonius Rufus examines in the second half ...
Peter Singer on Practicing Effective Altruism Daily
10 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with professor of moral philosophy, author, and activist Peter Singer about the 10th anniversary edition of his book The Life You Can Save...
The Evidence Is In The Mirror | Ask Daily Stoic
09 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There was a message there in the mirror this morning. Did you see it? It must have been a strange experience for Marcus Arelius the first time he saw ...
There is Only One Thing To Do | Don’t Hide From Your Feelings
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It would be wonderful if the Stoics promised you some sort of breakthrough. One that solved for the messy divorce or the unfortunate bankruptcy. One t...
Passing Judgment Is No Way To Live
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You don’t know that someone acted wrongly or that they totally screwed a situation up, because you don’t know the full story. You don’t know the...
Professor Josiah Osgood on Cato, Caesar and the Battle for Rome's Legacy
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with historian of Rome Josiah Osgood about his new book Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato’s Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republi...
It’s Not A Bad Experience | Living Like A Stoic For 30 Days
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A night spent at the airport. A prison sentence. A two week bout with COVID. The crazy rush of the busiest season of the year for your business. We kn...
The Violence Of The Dog Days | Be Stingy With Time
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As summer now passes into fall and all too quickly fall turns to winter, it is worth stopping and thinking for a second. Where did that time go? Not l...
How To Be Content - The Search For The Good Life pt. 2
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nobody wrote about the “good life” more beautifully than Horace (65-8 BCE). In numerous writings, the Roman poet shared his wisdom on how to use v...
Adam Hochschild on Our Obligation to the Common Good pt. 2
03 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the second of a two-part interview, Ryan speaks with one of the great non-fiction writers and historians of our time, Adam Hochschild, about his cl...
It's Not What Happens. It's How You Bear It. | Ask Daily Stoic
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It doesn't matter who you are, the facts are the same. Marcus Aurelius was Emperor. Epictetus was a slave. Two different fates, but the same reality. ...
The Only Thing New In The World | Pretend Today Is The End
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We live in unprecedented times, we like to think. Our technology. Our conflicts. The state of the world. It’s all very new, it’s all very differen...
The Best Stuff Is An Accidental Byproduct
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius marvels at “nature’s inadvertence.” A baker, he writes, makes the dough, kneads it and then puts it in the oven....
Adam Hochschild on Our Obligation to the Common Good pt. 1
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of a two-part interview, Ryan speaks with one of the great non-fiction writers and historians of our time, Adam Hochschild, about how his...
No One Can Take This Away | Why Seeking Out Challenges Will Change Your Life
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“It is a vast kingdom to be able to cope without a kingdom,” Seneca wrote in his play, Thyestes. This was no mere word play. This was hard-wo...
What We Owe Each Other | Balance The Books Of Life Daily
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Roman Empire at that time was enormous. Jobs were scarce. Unemployment was high. Rapid expansion and economic stagnation had led to a sort of econ...
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers: How To Be Content - The Problem of Passion Pt. 1
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For many people, happiness is associated with contentment: being around family, enjoying work, having enough. But what are the secrets to obtaining a ...
Holocaust Survivor Dr. Edith Eger on Forgiving Over And Over Again
26 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to mother-daughter duo Drs. Edith Enger and Marianne Engle about their work in clinical psychology, the power of spreading kindness in a wo...
What To Do With What You’ve Been Given | Ask Daily Stoic
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday we took a minute to think of all that we have to be grateful for, all the blessings life has bestowed on us–even if those things didn’t ...
Convince Yourself That Everything Is A Gift | Train To Let Go Of What’s Not Yours
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today in America is Thanksgiving. It’s the day when we’re supposed to actively practice gratitude, and be thankful for all that we have. Yet this ...
Pity Is More Appropriate Than Anger
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of Meditations, Marcus Aurelius laments the kind of people he’s going to meet each day—the bitter, the stupid, the jealous, the p...
Professor Jennifer Baker on Understanding Modern Stoicism
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to Professor Jennifer Baker about her approach to teaching Stoicism, ethics, and political theory at the College of Charleston, what the St...
This Is The Day | How Stoicism Can Make You Happier
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is what we tell ourselves: Someday I will write my book. Someday I will travel abroad. Someday I will learn how to play guitar.But someday soon, ...
The Last Words Of Marcus Aurelius | Practice Letting Go
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the most haunting paintings you’ll ever see. More than 11 feet wide and 8 feet tall, painted in rich but dark oils, Eugene Delacroix (...
This Stoic Virtue Will Change Your Life
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You’d think that the more powerful you are, the more freedom you’d have. The more money and success you have, the more you can do. You’d think t...
Ramit Sethi on How to Generate Wealth
19 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to personal finance advisor, entrepreneur, author, and host of the I Will Teach You To Be Rich podcast, Ramit Sethi about helping couples g...
The Most Human Thing You Can Do | Ask Daily Stoic
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Years before he became president, Harry Truman owned a haberdashery that doubled as a local hang-out. A kid named Albert Ridge would often head there ...
Small Things Are No Small Thing | Judge Not, Lest…
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
George Washington’s favorite saying was “many mickles make a muckle.” It was an old Scottish proverb that illustrates a truth we all know: thing...
Time has a Way of Humbling Us
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In several of Seneca’s letters he speaks about the power of bloodletting as a medical practice. In one, he actually remarks—with some superiority—...
Clinical Psychologist Dr. Sue Johnson on Building Lasting Relationships
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to clinical psychologist, couples therapist, and author Dr. Sue Johnson about how Stoicism and Emotionally Focused Therapy complement and e...
Where Is Your Command Center? | Casey Neistat's 10 Stoic Practices (For Productivity)
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We get all sorts of messages. From the world. From social media. From other people. From our bodies. The question–the great difficulty of life–is ...
This Is Nothing To Brag About | Judge Yourself Not Others
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Oh, you’ve read the works of Heidegger? You finished all of Infinite Jest? You made it through all of Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning, all of Fa...
The Virtue That Made Marcus Aurelius So Great
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius did not come out of the womb a leader. Nor was he an emperor ‘by blood.’ In fact, when first told he was to be king, he wept—thi...
Yung Pueblo on How to Measure What Actually Matters in Life
12 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to the poet Yung Pueblo about his new book Lighter: Let Go of the Past, Connect with the Present, and Expand the Future, why servicing the ...
How To Make Better Use Of Your Time | Ask Daily Stoic
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Years before he became president, Harry Truman owned a haberdashery that doubled as a local hang-out. A kid named Albert Ridge would often head there ...
There’s Nothing Like This | Always The Same
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The rockstar Warren Zevon had been on the top of the Billboard charts. He’d been on the cover of Rolling Stone. He’d been admired by other great a...
This Is How You Strengthen Your Soul
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
According to the great Jesuit Monk Anthony DeMello, there are three intellectual feats that we struggle with on a regular basis, that are harder than ...
Sophia Amoruso on Building Resilience and Defining Success
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to Sophia Amoruso about how she has navigated the highs and lows of being a successful business woman, how to become great without becoming...
This Is Your Job As A Citizen | Why You Should Do Something Scary Every Day
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we have control over and what we don’t. Epictetus said,“The...
You Become What You Give Your Attention To | The Real Power You Have
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics were all about routine and repetition. They talked about fueling the habit bonfire. They would have agreed with Aristotle: we are what we r...
The Most Life Changing Marcus Aurelius Quotes
06 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor, born nearly two millennia ago (121 – 180). Marcus became the Emperor of the Roman Empire in 161 and ruled for n...
Kate Courtney, Karen Duffy, Meg Mason, and Susan Cain on Using Stoicism to Endure Life's Obstacles
05 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a compilation of some of the best Stoic wisdom from the Daily Stoic Podcast. Ryan talks to Kate Courtney about the important distincti...
We Are Not In Decline | Ask Daily Stoic
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A Sense of Urgency | Following The Doctor’s Orders
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the kitchen at Per Se, one of the best restaurants in the world, there is a sign. All it says is: A Sense of Urgency. That’s what a great chef, a...
Pursue Excellence, Not Credit
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps you remember reading The Odyssey in high school or college (or possibly you picked upEmily Wilson’s fabulous new translation at the Painted ...
Thomas Ricks on the Greatest War in American History
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to Thomas Ricks about his new book Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968, the philosophical methods...
Why We Admire Marcus Aurelius | Ancient Strategies For Finding Happiness
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius was smart. He was rich and powerful. He won wars and conquered territories.But that doesn’t explain why we are still talking about h...
We Are Not Alone | Accepting What Is
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ghosts are, of course, a silly thing to believe in (Athenodorus’ ghost story notwithstanding). Yet the Stoics would not have scoffed at Eleanor Roos...
The Professional — An Excerpt from Steven Pressfield’s “Turning Pro”
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this excerpt Steven talks about the difference between an amatuer and a professional, the qualities that a professional expresses, and he explains ...
Atticus the Poet on Modern Media and Remaining Anonymous
29 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan talks to the anonymous Instagram poet Atticus about how modern media has distorted old ideas, his experience meeting the Dalai Lama, the decision...
More Often Than Not | Ask Daily Stoic
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics were not perfect. Nothing illustrates this more than Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Why would Marcus have to write reminders about not los...
We Don’t See The Full Picture | We Reap What We Sow
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
History is a lie. It is written by the victors, as the saying goes. Which means the picture it produces is inherently biased by a particular point of ...
Stoicism Is Not A Form Of Self-Flagellation
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca was a very rich man. He had nice stuff. Critics at the time, and ever since, have found this to be indisputable proof of his hypocrisy. How can...
Kamal Ravikant on Facing Death and Loving Yourself
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode comes out for free on 10/26/22. Ryan talks to author and investor Kamal Ravikant about his recent near death experience, why the inner ga...
It’s Beyond Arrogant | 6 Insanely Useful Stoic Questions
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Human beings have been putting things off for as long as there have been things to do. We tell ourselves we’ll do it when we’re older, after we fi...