The Daily Stoic13 Aug 2025

When Good People Lose Themselves to Tyrants | James Romm (PT. 1)

What makes smart, principled people work for the worst leaders? In this conversation, historian and author James Romm and Ryan dig into the timeless trap that’s snared some of history’s greatest minds, from Plato and Seneca to modern politics. They talk about the seduction of access, the slow erosion of integrity, and why walking away from a tyrant’s court is so much harder than it looks.

James Romm is an author, reviewer, and a Professor of Classics at Bard College in Annandale, NY. He specializes in ancient Greek and Roman culture and civilization. His reviews and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, the London Review of Books, the Daily Beast, and other venues. He has held the Guggenheim Fellowship (1999-2000), the Birkelund Fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library (2010-11), and a Biography Fellowship at the Leon Levy Center of the City University of New York (2014-15).

Follow James on Instagram @James.Romm and check out more of his work at his website, www.jamesromm.com

📚 Get signed copies of James' latest book Plato and the Tyrant, and his other books Dying Every Day, How To Die, and How To Give, at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/

🎙️ Listen to James Romm’s first episode on The Daily Stoic Podcast: https://dailystoic.com/romm/

📖 Preorder the final book in Ryan Holiday's The Stoic Virtues Series: "Wisdom Takes Work": https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/wisdom-takes-work

🎙️ Follow The Daily Stoic Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoicpodcast

🎥 Watch top moments from The Daily Stoic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dailystoicpodcast

✉️ Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail

🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/

📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(3073)

Pause and Reflect…Before You Regret | When Someone Is Rude, Respond Like This

We have an impulse. We have a provocation…and before we act, we should consider it. How is this really going to go?🪙 Carry The Daily Stoic Pause & Reflect Medallion as a reminder to pause. A pause cr...

30 Jul 15min

You Have This Freedom (If You Take It)

Marcus Aurelius lacked a freedom that we so readily take for granted...🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/🎙️ AD-FREE...

29 Jul 1min

How To Think For Yourself In A World Full Of Lies | David Pakman

When false information spreads faster than the truth, knowing how to think matters more than knowing what to think. In this episode, Ryan talks with David Pakman, host of The David Pakman Show, about ...

29 Jul 34min

If Money Could Talk, What Would It Say? | What Would the Stoics Tell Us Today?

Money isn’t evil. It can do real good. But it is a tool, not a measure of life. It can tell you what something costs, but not what it is worth.💡The Wealthy Stoic: A Daily Stoic Guide to Being Rich, H...

28 Jul 11min

BONUS | Are You Measuring Wealth Wrong? (with Sahil Bloom)

Some people have everything they thought they wanted and still feel like they’re losing. In this bonus episode, hear an excerpt from Ryan’s conversation with Sahil Bloom, author of The 5 Types of Weal...

27 Jul 11min

Where Does It Get You? | Keeping "The News" In Check

People have been doing the same things for as long as there have been people. 📕 Turn off the news and read these books instead:Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Po...

27 Jul 7min

Kate Bowler Challenges Stoicism’s Most Famous Idea

One of Stoicism’s most famous ideas does not sit right with bestselling author Kate Bowler. In this episode, Ryan and Kate discuss the pressure this idea can place on people facing illness, grief, and...

26 Jul 17min

9 Stoic Habits For A Better Life

Virtue is like any other skill. It’s not something you either have or you don’t. It’s something you practice, and the more you practice it, the better you become. This was Aristotle’s fundamental insi...

25 Jul 18min