The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

The Life You Practice in Private

This episode explores the ancient instruction to “know thyself” as the foundation of a philosophical life. Julian, Pigliucci, and Epictetus show that self-knowledge helps

The Stoic Cure For Complaining

This episode examines the habit of complaining and the power we retain over our response. Seneca and Epictetus remind us that while frustrations are unavoidable, resent

You Are Freer Than You Think

This episode examines wealth, desire, and the freedom that comes from needing less. Seneca warns that fortune’s gifts often become traps, because external success can de

Fearless Energy in an Uncertain Life

This episode reflects on what happens when life interrupts our carefully arranged plans. The Stoic reserve clause—“if nothing prevents me”—helps us plan without pretendi

The Road to a Happy Life

This episode uses Seneca’s image of the road to ask whether we are moving with purpose or merely following the crowd. A clear destination helps us resist distraction, w

The Stoic Reset for a Complicated Mind

This episode uses animals as a reminder to return to the present moment. Hadot and Marcus Aurelius show that life is lived only in the now, where we can think clearly,

Kindness: The Most Powerful Drug in the World

This episode explores conversation and kindness as forms of care for the soul. Socrates saw dialogue as essential to self-knowledge, a way of bringing hidden thoughts i

How to Live When Life Is Short

This episode reflects on the shortness of life without turning it into panic. Oliver Burkeman’s “four thousand weeks” gives us a blunt measure of our limits, while Sene

See Clearly, Act Well, Accept the Rest

This episode explains Epictetus’s three disciplines as a practical way of returning to the present moment. The Discipline of Assent helps us judge clearly, the Disciplin

Live Your Philosophy Before Time Runs Out

This episode uses the thought of a “last day” to test the distance between our values and our actions. Montaigne, Seneca, and Lucretius show how reflecting on death can

When More Becomes Too Much

This episode looks at how the chase for novelty and the habit of overextension both unsettle the mind. Cicero reminds us that possessions and technologies are not good

Don’t Pray for Easier Homework

This episode treats life’s difficulties as assignments rather than interruptions. Epictetus reminds us that we don’t get to choose every task Fortune sets, but we do ch

How to Bend Without Breaking

This episode explores the Stoic partnership between foresight and acceptance. Preparing for setbacks doesn’t mean expecting misery—it means building the resilience to m

Your Bonus Life Begins Now

This episode explores gratitude as a Stoic practice, emphasizing the transformative power of attention. By imagining what we might have already lost—or even our own dea

Live Like a Philosopher

This episode returns philosophy to its ancient meaning: not something merely studied, but something lived. Pierre Hadot shows that figures like Marcus Aurelius practice

Your Attention Is Your Life

This episode examines the attention we surrender to screens, busyness, and distraction. Eric Pickersgill’s phone-free photographs reveal how strange our habits can look

You’ve Survived More Than You Think

This episode reflects on the quiet evidence of resilience we carry with us: the fact that we have survived every difficult moment that once seemed unbearable. Seneca’s

The Only Thing You Need to Be

This episode explores Stoicism as a love of wisdom and a daily practice of character. By understanding virtue as human excellence—thinking clearly, acting justly, facing

How to Stop Missing Your Life

This episode turns Seneca’s call to “hold every hour in our grasp” into something more concrete. Through Montaigne’s habits of writing and walking, and Matt Haig’s refle

The Stoic Case Against Anger

This episode examines anger through the lens of Seneca and Epictetus. Seneca warns that anger harms us first, clouding reason and undermining self-control, while Epictet