Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Libraries Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

The Imperfects

Ryan Holiday - A Stoic Life & Death

31 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is Stoicism and how can it help us?

0.031 - 9.566 Ryan Holiday

Stoicism is this idea that we don't control what happens, we control how we respond to what happens. The idea for the Stoics is that, you know, we should always try to respond with virtue.

0

9.626 - 25.532 Hugh van Cuylenburg

In 2014, Ryan published The Obstacle is the Way, his first exploration into Stoic philosophy. Since then, Ryan has published more books on Stoicism. Ryan has spent his life searching for wisdom in the words of others, and in doing so has quietly helped millions of people feel less lost on their own.

0

25.883 - 46.971 Ryan Holiday

When you're dealing with a jerk, that's an opportunity, right? Like they don't only cause problems. They are also presenting you a chance, you know, to be patient, to be considerate, to be creative. That's kind of the mentality of the Stokes. Again, you don't control so much of the interactions that we have in life. Those are the kinds of things the Stokes want us to focus on.

0

47.552 - 69.643 Ryan Holiday

It's wrong to think of death as something that happens at the end of your life. Death is behind us. Every minute that passes is dead to you. How do you spend your time accordingly? If you know, hey, I'm paying for this with a day of my life. Often the things that we chase that we think are going to make us happy have the exact opposite effect.

0

Chapter 2: How can we reframe worrying about the future?

69.623 - 88.767 Ryan Holiday

This is something we see happening in the US right now where you have these like tech billionaires who have to stay on the administration's good side. You would like to think like, hey, if I ever had $100 billion, no one could tell me what to do. No, actually, I'd have to go to the fucking Melania premiere.

0

88.787 - 92.391 Josh van Cuylenburg

No spoilers, please, Ryan. I haven't seen the Melania.

0

96.893 - 101.661 Hugh van Cuylenburg

So we are about to chat to Ryan Holiday who is just – I can't believe this is happening.

0

101.681 - 115.726 Josh van Cuylenburg

I can't believe it either. It feels like we get to speak to lots of interesting people, but this is someone who has really affected – well, at least definitely your life in a huge way. Mine in a way. Josh couldn't give a shit.

0

Chapter 3: What is the illusion of freedom according to Stoics?

0

116.688 - 120.675 Josh van Cuylenburg

No, no, but it is. He's one of the bigwigs.

0

120.875 - 126.665 Hugh van Cuylenburg

He's huge. And so we'll chat to him in a second. But after we have that conversation, we're going to come back.

0

Chapter 4: How can we navigate feelings of being a bad friend?

126.785 - 147.454 Hugh van Cuylenburg

We don't often do this after Academies, but I've just got a little quick reflection I want to share with people around. We'll be talking about stoicism and I'm going to chat about five stoic quotes that have had a huge impact on my life, especially through some of the challenging stuff we've been through as a family with,

0

147.434 - 166 Hugh van Cuylenburg

neurodiverse parenting and then my burnout last year and unexpected diagnosis along the way. The stuff that Ryan, and I can't wait to tell him this in a second, but the stuff that I've discovered that he has looked into has been life-changing for me. Let's transition to Ryan Holiday.

0

167.448 - 168.952 Josh van Cuylenburg

This is so exciting.

0

Chapter 5: What does practicing presence mean in daily life?

169.393 - 187.413 Josh van Cuylenburg

Very, very exciting. Many people will recognize the name of the man that we have on today. So we want to get straight into it. So please get so excited for the man himself, Marcus Aurelius. It's an absolute pleasure. Absolute pleasure to have you here.

0

Chapter 6: How can contemplating death improve our lives?

187.774 - 200.013 Hugh van Cuylenburg

He is here behind me. He is. For those of you who are listening and not watching, Marcus Aurelius' head is on a shelf behind Ryan Holiday, so that's what's happening there.

0

200.033 - 203.158 Josh van Cuylenburg

Well, a statue of the head. Yeah, sorry.

0

Chapter 7: What are five quotes that encapsulate a Stoic life?

203.527 - 207.313 Josh van Cuylenburg

I mean, we know you're a collector, Ryan, but not to that extent.

0

207.334 - 217.351 Hugh van Cuylenburg

Exactly. Ryan, we're so thrilled to have you with us here today. I'm going to read a bio on you in a second. But before we do that, I just want to show you something.

0

Chapter 8: How can we apply Stoic principles to modern challenges?

218.192 - 221.097 Hugh van Cuylenburg

Do you know much about our national sport cricket?

0

222.173 - 243.27 Ryan Holiday

I know a little bit about cricket. And then I did see a video once of somebody reading one of my books, like during the middle of a cricket match. Oh, wow. Like some athlete was, what other sport can you read during the middle of it? I guess it's only cricket, but it's a great sport for writing.

0

243.25 - 251.667 Ryan Holiday

Yeah, but some star cricket player was sitting on the bench reading my book on stillness, which I thought was hilarious.

0

253.251 - 263.031 Hugh van Cuylenburg

Well, I just want to show something very quickly. So, well, I've got a photo here of someone. It is Pat Cummins, who's the captain of the Australian cricket team. I don't know if you can see that there, but...

0

263.011 - 264.855 Josh van Cuylenburg

Oh, yeah.

264.895 - 267.18 Hugh van Cuylenburg

Yes. Do we look alike?

267.581 - 267.922 Ryan Holiday

Yes.

267.982 - 269.305 Hugh van Cuylenburg

I mean, well, two things.

269.325 - 269.826 Ryan Holiday

There we go.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.