Stoic Coffee Break artwork

Philosophy · Erick Cloward

Stoic Coffee Break

by Erick Cloward

"Act on your principles, not your moods." A weekly meditation on how Stoic principles can help you be a better human. https://stoic.coffee Follow us on social media: https://instagram.com/stoic.coffee

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Why You Need to Fight Better, Not Less | 392

Do you know how to fight well? Do you think that having relationship without conflict means that everything is just fine? In this episode we’re going to talk about why co

Sep 19
12 min

Why Socrates Would Hate AI | 391

AI seems to be everywhere at the moment. You can’t go a single day without someone posting about how AI sped up their work and solved all their problems. But with every t

Sep 9
14 min

Inner Critic vs. Inner Coach | 390

Beating yourself up doesn’t make you better person. Hating yourself doesn’t motivate you more. So what’s the difference between holding yourself high standards and punish

Sep 2
13 min

The Pressure Code: Interview with Performance Coach Jason Stacy | 388

Jason Stacy is a performance coach and author of The Pressure Code. He works with high performers including world tennis champion Aryan Sabalenka. In this episode we talk

Aug 28
1 h 33 min

The Game You Didn't Know You Were Playing | 388

So much of our lives are governed by rules that we aren’t even really aware of. Many of them we never even really question because we just assume that’s the way things ar

Aug 23
11 min

The Danger of Certainty | 387

Certainty and hubris have always been part of being human. It feels good to be certain, to believe that your opinion is the right one. We like leaders who sound certain a

Aug 12
18 min

Michael Lukich: The Stoic System Thinker | 386

Michael has built a career at the intersection of data, teaching, and strategy. Always circling the same question: “How do we make better decisions amid a complex reality

Aug 5
1 h 11 min

Keystone Habits: How One Good Habit Can Change Everything | 385

Habits are a key part of our lives. We have helpful habits that help us accomplish what we set out to do. We also have some that we’d like to get rid of. But what if I to

Jul 29
13 min

The Virtue of Reading | 384

When was the last time that you read a book. A serious book. Something stretched your mind? Something that you had to stop and go back and reread a sentence or paragraph

Jul 23
16 min

Interview with Jon Brooks: Stoicism and Emotions | 383

Jon Brooks is the host of the Stoic Handbook podcast and Substack page. In this episode we talk about the dangers of over-managing your emotions and finding ways to be a

Jul 14
1 h 05 min

What Does It Actually Take to Be Courageous? | 382

Courage, one of the four cardinal virtues of Stoicism, is what I consider the fuel for virtue, and really for living a good life. But what does courage actually look like

Jun 21
15 min

Interview with Kelly McGinnis: What it Takes to Really Lead | 381

Kelly McGinnis has a long and storied career working her way up the corporate ladder to CFO and later President of Thermo Fischer, a Fortune 100 company. In this episode

Jun 15
1 h 08 min

What's the Worst that Could Happen? | 380

“What’s the worst that could happen?” We’ve all heard this before. Usually it’s tongue in cheek just before something really bad does happen. But counterintuitively, it’s

Jun 5
10 min

Why Searching for Meaning Is Keeping You Stuck | 379

Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man on Earth. He had every external condition for a meaningful life — wealth, status, purpose handed to him by birth. And yet, his p

May 28
10 min

Collaborating with Reality: The Stoic Art of Being Present | 378

Far too often we’re never really in the moment. Maybe we’re stuck ruminating in the past over what we wished would have happened, or projecting out into the future our ho

May 19
16 min

The Power of Paradox: The Stoic Art of Holding Two Truths at Once | 377

Can two things be true at the same time? Can you hold two opposing ideas at the same time? Today I want to talk about how learning be be comfortable with opposites can wi

May 6
19 min

How Fear Creates the Failure It Fears | 376

Are you motivated by fear? What if that fear is actually at the root of why you’re not getting the results you’re going after? In this week’s episode I want to talk about

Apr 28
21 min

Before You Book the Therapist, Build the Foundations | 375

Do you need therapy in order to have a good life? What is the difference between therapy and philosophy? Today I want to discuss the differences and how you need to right

Apr 21
21 min

Why You'll Never Reach Your Ideal Self (And Why That's the Point) | 374

Do you have a clear picture of the person you want to become? And what happens when you fall short of that person — not once, but again and again? Today I want to talk ab

Apr 15
10 min

The Busy Trap: Seneca on Why You're Optimizing the Wrong Thing | 373

THE PROBLEM Are you too busy? Are you working too hard to be productive with every minute of your time? In today’s episode I want to talk about the perils of over-optimi

Apr 7
13 min

Chart trend

Position in the Philosophy chart (US), last 90 days.

#18
all-time peak
613
days in the top 50 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Stoic Coffee Break ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 4, 2026).

#61 ▼ 4 Philosophy US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

I didn’t know what to expect from this podcast - but it’s truly excellent. Cloward’s voice is amiable and soothing - but the themes are provocative and inspirational. I especially appreciate the quotations from the likes of Jung, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. (But James Clear? Really? Not quite in the same pantheon.)

Anglophile in Arcadia · Dec 2025

This show really helped me apply stoic principles to my life. I’ve been listening for over a year now and have learned from and enjoyed each episode. A recent episode titled “Are we making ourselves unhappy” hit on the core things that I’ve struggled with and prompted me to write this review.

Boogie1000 · Feb 2025

Eric does an amazing job bringing Stoicism into today’s perspective. His voice is so soothing and sets the tone for each episode so that I feel a meditative contemplation as I listen. I am new to Stoicism and this podcast has encouraged me to continue my exploration!

wellnessmumzy · Jan 2025

On my way to work I listen to about 12 episodes a week. They are reminders for me to keep my cool and only worry about that which is in my control… which isn’t very much! I also like the Stoic philosophy of self care through being the kind of person I want to be. I waste less time, get more goals accomplished, but I’m not as annoyed by things or as angry as I used to be.

SEGA!!! · Mar 2024

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Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Stoic Coffee Break, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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