The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

This episode explores how expectation quietly robs us of the only time we ever truly have: today. Through a wry story from John O’Donohue and Seneca’s sharp warning about waiting on tomorrow, we see h...

18 Feb 6min

This episode is a quiet pause at the start of the day—a meditation on mornings as gifts rather than obligations. Drawing on Stoic gratitude and four short poems by Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Rumi, an...

11 Feb 5min

This episode examines a quietly radical insight: that much of our suffering comes not from pain itself, but from our attempt to escape it. Drawing a line between Alan Watts’ observation and Stoic acce...

4 Feb 7min

This episode reframes Stoicism not as a quest for unreachable perfection, but as a practice of steady progress. Drawing on the ancient idea of the prokoptōn—the one who makes progress—we explore why e...

28 Jan 6min

This episode reflects on how awareness of mortality sharpens our sense of what truly matters, through the unforgettable lesson Randy Pausch taught with a spilled soda and Marcus Aurelius’s reminder th...

21 Jan 5min

This episode explores the Stoic art of decatastrophizing—learning to meet fear by stripping events down to what they really are, rather than what our imagination makes of them.From Socrates calmly fac...

14 Jan 6min

This episode explores an often-overlooked Stoic lesson: that even wisdom, effort, and reflection must be practiced in moderation.Through David Hume’s gentle warning against burnout—and his nuanced eng...

7 Jan 6min

This episode dives into the Stoic idea of the “passions”—those powerful storms of anger, fear, envy, and grief that arise not from events themselves but from the judgments we attach to them.Epictetus ...

31 Des 20255min