Episodios

  • Gender Roles and the Rational Soul

    Gender Roles and the Rational Soul
    Nov 5 2025
    In this episode I take on a listener question about gender roles and Stoicism — whether they exist, how the Stoics would have defined them, and what any of it means for modern relationships. We look closely at Musonius Rufus, the so-called “fourth head” of the Stoic school, who argued that women and men share reason, virtue, and moral responsibility in equal measure — but who also, being a man of his time, fell back on some outdated assumptions about what that equality should look like in practice. From there, I unpack how we can read those ancient ideas without either dismissing them or accepting them wholesale. What would a Stoic say about “fifty-fifty” relationships today, about who pays for dinner, or who does the dishes? We’ll explore how justice and reason — not gender — define our roles, and how mutual care can guide modern partnerships without falling into pathos or ideology. Key takeaways from this episode include: Musonius Rufus saw virtue as genderless, even if his society didn’t. Stoicism asks us to perform our chosen roles justly, not conform to old scripts. Rational partnership — not cultural expectation — is what makes a relationship Stoic. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have questions, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    22 m
  • The Stoic Blot [with Jason Pack]

    The Stoic Blot [with Jason Pack]
    Nov 1 2025
    In this episode I talk with Jason Pack — a world-class backgammon grandmaster, geopolitical analyst, and host of Disorder, a podcast about what he calls “the global enduring disorder.” It’s an unexpected mix of topics: the psychology of high-stakes decision-making, the Stoic discipline of attention, and how lessons from the game board apply to politics, leadership, and life. What starts as a conversation about dice and probability evolves into a reflection on courage, restraint, and rational focus — the same virtues Stoicism trains in us every day. Key takeaways from this episode include: — Backgammon teaches Stoic focus: attention belongs to the present move, not to past mistakes or imagined futures. — “Tilting” in games — or in life — is what happens when emotion overruns reason; Stoic practice helps restore composure and clear judgment. — The best players (and the best leaders) understand their own dispositions — courage, restraint, or excess — and correct for them. — Stoicism and strategy both demand discernment between what’s up to us (our choices, our attitude) and what isn’t (chance, luck, politics). — In a chaotic world — Jason’s “enduring disorder” — wise cooperation and measured risk are the antidotes to reactive nationalism and impulsive power. — Whether in global politics or a roll of the dice, fortune favors those who prepare reasoned courage and act decisively when the moment comes. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com -- You can listen to Jason Pack's Disorder podcast here: https://linktr.ee/disorderpod and learn more about it here: https://disordershow.com/ Why Backgammon Can Help us Order the Disorder Marc Olsen and Jason Pack on what BG teaches us about life: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-132-why-backgammon-can-help-us-order-the-disorder/id1706818264?i=1000718750592 For more on Backgammon Galaxy visit - https://www.backgammongalaxy.com/ For a very fun video produced by Marc and featuring Jason about the World Backgammon Championship and what BG teaches about Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebkgCNS7OI -- If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    1 h y 1 m
  • Phi Curious [with Massimo Pigliucci]

    Phi Curious [with Massimo Pigliucci]
    Oct 23 2025
    In this episode I sit down with philosopher and author Massimo Pigliucci to talk about his book Beyond Stoicism—and why, in his view, no single philosophy can capture everything it means to live well. We dive into the limits of ancient Stoicism, what modern life can borrow from other Greco-Roman schools, and how practices like skepticism, tempered hedonism, and transcendence can enrich our pursuit of virtue today. Key takeaways from this episode include: — Stoicism was born from synthesis, and Seneca himself urged students to “scout” wisdom wherever it’s found. — A plural, evolving philosophy of life may serve human nature better than rigid allegiance to one school. — A balanced life draws on Stoic eudaimonia, Epicurean moderation, and skeptical humility. — Temperance, especially with pleasures like food, drink, and social media, is essential—sometimes the Stoic move is total abstention until self-mastery returns. — The Epicurean cure for the fear of death (“when death is, we are not”) remains one of the most rational and freeing insights in philosophy. — Reconnecting with nature, exercising logic and critical thinking, and cultivating moments of awe are timeless practices for a flourishing life. — Massimo’s forthcoming book How to Be a Happy Skeptic (Penguin/Random House, June 2026) explores Cicero’s life and the Stoic-skeptical blend as a model for thoughtful living today. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    59 m
  • What Stoicism Teaches About Courage Under Fire

    What Stoicism Teaches About Courage Under Fire
    Oct 15 2025
    In this episode I reflect on the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado — a living case study in courage, justice, and Stoic composure under pressure. I unpack what Stoic philosophy can teach us about moral action when outcomes are uncertain, why courage must always serve justice, and how to handle praise, power, and fear without losing our moral footing. Key takeaways from this episode include: — Courage, in Stoic terms, isn’t fearlessness but reasoned endurance in service of justice and the common good. — Justice is the crown of the virtues: it directs courage and forbids cruelty, even toward those we oppose. — Only what’s up to us — our choices, not outcomes — carries moral weight. — Honors like the Nobel are “preferred indifferents”: they can amplify virtue but never create it. — Cosmopolitan duty calls for wise solidarity — helping without controlling, respecting agency while serving truth. — The Stoic way to meet such stories is not partisanship, but character: to act bravely, justly, and humbly in our own spheres. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    21 m
  • How Much News Should a Stoic Consume?

    How Much News Should a Stoic Consume?
    Oct 8 2025
    In this episode I wrestle with how much news a practicing Stoic should actually consume. I define a “news media diet,” weigh different source types (fellow citizens, establishment outlets, and subject-matter experts), and argue for a role-driven, locality-first approach that respects our limits of time, competence, and control. I also share my own daily routine and a practical way to stay informed without burning out or being dragged into performative outrage. Key takeaways from this episode include: — Total awareness is impossible and counter-productive; Stoic attention should be selective, role-guided, and locally anchored. — Evaluate sources by access and incentives: citizens (high emotion, low access), establishment media (access but market pressures), experts (highest fidelity, hardest to parse). — Prioritize local → national → global, expanding outward where issues bilaterally affect your locality and where you can meaningfully act. — Caring doesn’t require omniscience: when you lack competence or control, prefer modest, concrete goods (e.g., legitimate humanitarian donations) over performative debate. — Build a bounded routine (e.g., brief market/finance scan, a neutral daily digest, one or two focused newsletters, 30 minutes on local coverage) and avoid doom-scrolling. — Stoic aim: enough awareness to fulfill your roles justly—no more, no less. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    21 m
  • Can We Stoics Take A Day Off?

    Can We Stoics Take A Day Off?
    Sep 28 2025
    In this episode I tackle a question that every practicing Stoic has probably wrestled with: can we ever take a day off from Stoicism? If the pursuit of virtue is supposed to shape every moment of our lives, does that mean we must always be vigilant, never resting? I explore what the ancient texts say, how the ancients themselves surely stumbled, and why purposeful rest isn’t a betrayal of Stoic practice but part of sustaining it. Key takeaways from this episode include: — While Epictetus and Marcus urge vigilance, they also admit we’ll falter — and the key is always to return to the path. — Rest is not an escape from virtue but a way of preserving our rational faculty so we can act justly, wisely, and with courage. — Burnout undermines Stoic practice; deliberate rest strengthens it. — The ancients weren’t sages, and neither are we — taking breaks is part of the human condition and consistent with Stoic growth. — If you nap beside the Stoic path, the path will still be there in the morning. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    11 m
  • The Stoic Perspective on Abortion

    The Stoic Perspective on Abortion
    Sep 21 2025
    In this episode I take on one of the hardest and most emotionally charged topics of our time: abortion. Not to argue politics or to inflame division, but to examine how Stoicism frames the issue. We look at both pro-life and pro-choice arguments through Stoic logic, explore why rational agency is the core of the debate, and consider what it means to respect the choices of others when those choices belong to them and not to us. Key takeaways from this episode include: — For Stoics, moral weight belongs to rational agents — the pregnant person, not the fetus, since reason is what grounds justice and responsibility. — A Stoic pro-life case emphasizes Nature’s purpose, duties of care, and respect for a future rational being; a Stoic pro-choice case emphasizes rational deliberation, virtue, and justice in context. — Abortion is not, at its core, a political issue but a moral one — politicizing it strips the pregnant person of their proper role as the rational agent in the decision. — The Stoic response to abortion is twofold: deliberate with integrity if you face the choice yourself, and respect the rational deliberation of others if they face it instead. — Justice means giving to each what is due — and in the case of abortion, what is due is the dignity of rational agency. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    16 m
  • From Defense to War: A Stoic Response to America’s Rebrand

    From Defense to War: A Stoic Response to America’s Rebrand
    Sep 12 2025
    In this episode I unpack the recent announcement that the U.S. Department of Defense is being renamed the Department of War — and why, from a Stoic perspective, that shift in language and intent is antithetical to virtue. I explore what a true warrior ethos looks like according to Stoic philosophy, why intentions matter more than branding or rhetoric, and how populist theatrics around power can easily drift away from justice and wisdom. Key takeaways from this episode include: — The Stoic warrior ethos is not about “maximum lethality” or offense, but about justice, self-control, wisdom, and courage in the face of conflict. — Words and names may be performative, but they reflect values — and the move from “defense” to “war” signals an embrace of ambition, anger, and cruelty rather than virtue. — Stoics judge the morality of military action by its intent: is it for justice and the common good, or for dominance and destruction? — Populist leaders often confuse performative strength with true moral strength; Stoics would remind us that virtue, not spectacle, is the real measure of power. — As Seneca reminds us, our task while we live is to practice humanity, not to be a terror to others. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Más Menos
    24 m