The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

This episode explores Marcus Aurelius’s ten reminders for keeping anger from taking control.

His advice centres on perspective: remember that people act from their own beliefs, that we make mistakes too, that we rarely know the full story, and that anger often harms us more than the original offence.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: The Attributes of a Calm and Gentle Person

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-the-attributes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores the balance between solitude, good company, and independent judgment.

Hume and Seneca both saw value in stepping away to think clearly, then returning to relationships that strengthen character and enrich life.

The danger is not society itself, but surrendering our judgment to the crowd and mistaking popularity for wisdom.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Do You Value Both Solitude and Company?

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-do-you-value

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores how remembering mortality can sharpen both attention and freedom.

Oliver Burkeman and Alan Watts show why the present matters precisely because it cannot be repeated, while John O’Donohue and Epictetus use the same awareness to put fear, status, and authority into perspective.

Life’s brevity asks us to be more present with the people we love and less willing to surrender our inner freedom to temporary pressures. Remembering death, in this sense, is not about withdrawing from life, but entering it more fully.

If you’d like to practice these principles, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Focus on the Joy, Not the Poignancy

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-focus-on

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 us decide what kind of person we want to be—and what must be protected when circumstances become difficult. And Socrates offers the clearest example: his preparation for adversity was simply a lifetime spent safeguarding what was truly up to him.

If you’d like to continue the practice, this Micro Morning Meditation will be helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: This is The Main Point of Philosophy

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-this-is-6fe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, resentment often adds a second layer of suffering that is largely our own.

A simple practice—pause, assess, and reframe—helps turn irritation into clearer judgment and, where possible, constructive action.

If you’d like to continue the practice, you might also find this Micro Morning Meditation helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: How to Stop Complaining

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-how-to-stop

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 deepen dependence rather than satisfy the soul.

Anthony de Mello sharpens the same insight: many of our chains are imaginary, formed by false ideas about what we need before we can truly live.

If you’d like to continue the practice, you might also find this Micro Morning Meditation helpful:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: You're Free Already

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-youre-free

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 pretending the future belongs to us.

Shakespeare, Seneca, and Suzuki Shōsan deepen the point by bringing death into view, not as a morbid fixation, but as a reminder that even ordinary days are not guaranteed.

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📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: When Others Judge You

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-when-others

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, while Epictetus shows where our attention truly belongs: on our judgments, choices, desires, and actions.

The Stoic task is to be cautious with what depends on us and confident toward what does not

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📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: The Stories of Insecurity

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-the-stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, act justly, and avoid adding needless disturbance to events.

Animals offer a simple model of presence: they don't argue with the past or rehearse the future, but inhabit what's directly before them.

👇 👇 👇

📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: The Stories of Insecurity

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-the-stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 into the open and examining them honestly.

Phil Hammond’s story of kindness as “the most powerful drug” adds a practical modern echo: when we don’t know what to do, kindness nearly always improves the situation.

👇 👇 👇

📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: The Stories of Insecurity

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-the-stories

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.