The Daily Stoic

In today's episode, Ryan Holiday sits down with legendary biographer Walter Isaacson for a wide-ranging, deeply thoughtful conversation recorded live at the Texas Tribune Festival. They talk about Walker Percy and The Moviegoer, how Stoicism shows up in fiction, and why the ancient virtues still matter in the modern world. They talk through Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Viktor Frankl, and why history tends to outlast the noise of the present moment.

Most people will enter 2026 hoping life just gets better. Jesse Itzler knows that’s not how real change happens. In today’s episode, Jesse breaks down the three simple rules he follows every year to guarantee it doesn’t slip by.He explains why change has to start before January, how locking in the right priorities forces everything else off your calendar, and why more hustle isn’t the answer in 2026. If you want a year that actually feels different — and you want a plan you can stick to — this episode shows you how.Jesse Itzler is an entrepreneur, author, endurance athlete, former rapper, and part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks. He is the author of two books, Living With A Seal where he lived and trained with David Goggins for 31 days. His other book is Living with the Monks where he lived with an isolated religious community in the mountains of upstate New York. He co-founded Marquis Jet, helped build ZICO Coconut Water, and created the viral New Year planning tool called the&n

Fortune doesn’t care about our plans and preferences. No, Seneca reminds us, she behaves as she pleases. 

These are disorienting times. Cruel times. Dysfunctional times. And it’s natural to want someone, anyone, to step in and fix it. But they’re not going to. That’s not how this works.Make 2026 the year where you finally bring yourself closer to living your best life. No more waiting. Demand the best for yourself. The Daily Stoic New Year New You challenge begins January 1, 2026. Learn more and sign up today at dailystoic.com/challenge.

The pressure of being great changes when you’re carrying more than your own ambition. In today’s episode, Ryan sits down with Paralympian Ezra Frech to talk about the discipline required to compete at the highest level and the weight that comes with representing more than just yourself. Ezra shares what it actually takes to be a top professional Paralympian, his experience growing up with a disability, the role his parents played in building his confidence, and more. Ezra Frech is an American track and field athlete who competes in high jump, long jump and sprinting events. He is a two-time Paralympian, having competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and won two gold medals at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. Ezra co-created and produced a three-part docuseries called Adaptive with NBC Sports + Peacock. Check it out here! Follow Ezra on Instagram and TikTok @EzraFrech and on YouTube @ItsEzraFrechMake 2026 the year where you finally bring yoursel

 How are you helping? What are you doing? How are you acting like a Stoic as opposed to just ‘being stoic?

The world needed Marcus Aurelius to become the person we admire and study today. This required conscious and consistent effort on his part. You’re no different. And you know it.Make 2026 the year where you finally bring yourself closer to living your best life. No more waiting. Demand the best for yourself. The Daily Stoic New Year New You challenge begins January 1, 2026. Learn more and sign up today at dailystoic.com/challenge.

Shallowness and cruelty and stupidity may be rampant, but we must resist it—resist it without bitterness or despair—by being bright lights in a dark time.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Stoics were trying to do what we’re all trying to do now: find some peace. For them, philosophy wasn’t an academic hobby. It was something they leaned on to remember what they could control and to let the rest go. That’s why their words still hold up today and continue to help people stay calmer, clearer, and more level-headed. In today's episode, you'll hear eight Stoic lessons you can use to feel a little more steady and at peace.Make 2026 the year where you finally bring yourself closer to living your best life. No more waiting. Demand the best for yourself. The Daily Stoic New Year New You challenge begins January 1, 2026. Learn more and sign up today at dailystoic.com/challenge.

It’s easy to defend yourself. It’s harder to tell the truth. In today’s episode, Ryan sits down with journalist Olivia Nuzzi for a raw, unfiltered conversation about what it really means to get through dishonor honorably. In the wake of her recent scandal, Olivia opens up about how small compromises compound into big consequences, why accountability still matters in a culture that rewards shamelessness, and the strange grace of being forced off a path you didn’t realize was destroying you.From 2017 to 2024, Olivia Nuzzi was the Washington corre­spondent for New York magazine. Most recently she was the West Coast Editor for Vanity Fair. Her new book, American Canto, is out now.

Did you know that Meditations wasn’t the only book that Marcus Aurelius wrote? 

It’d be wonderful if we always did what we know we want or need to do. But that’s not how the world is. It is filled with temptations, distractions, and forces tugging us toward the rocks.Make 2026 the year where you finally bring yourself closer to living your best life. No more waiting. Demand the best for yourself. The Daily Stoic New Year New You challenge begins January 1, 2026. Learn more and sign up today at dailystoic.com/challenge.

How does Camila Cabello stay centered in the chaos of fame?  Today’s bonus episode brings back an evergreen lesson from her Daily Stoic episode that’s worth hearing again.

Being the smartest person in the room is usually where the trouble starts. In today’s episode, Ryan sits down with journalist and author Helen Lewis to talk about genius, ego, and why so many “brilliant” people eventually spin out. They discuss the myth of the lone genius, why smart people overthink themselves into bad ideas, and how ego quietly wrecks careers, reputations, and entire movements. ​​Helen Lewis is a staff writer at The Atlantic who writes about politics and culture. Her first book, Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights, was a Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times book of the year. She has written for The New York Times, the Guardian, The New Statesman, and Vogue. She is the host of the BBC podcast series The New Gurus and Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat, and co-host of Radio 4’s Kafka vs Orwell and Strong Message Here. She won the 2024 Kukula Award for excellence in nonfiction book reviewing.Check out Helen Lewis’ book The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous IdeaFol

“Well-being is realized by small steps,” Zeno would say looking back on his life, “but is truly no small thing.”

We’re set in our habits. We’re quick-tempered, we eat poorly, we’re easily distracted. We skip exercise, we put stuff off, we make excuses. How did that work out for you in 2025?Make 2026 the year where you finally bring yourself closer to living your best life. No more waiting. Demand the best for yourself. The Daily Stoic New Year New You challenge begins January 1, 2026. Learn more and sign up today at dailystoic.com/challenge.

The sooner you realize that you are not the center of the universe or the intended recipient of everything, the more understanding you can be, the less judgment you’ll feel required to have. 

Every crisis creates the same instinct in people: go back to the wisdom that has outlasted everything else. In today’s episode, Ryan and Mark Manson dive into why Stoicism keeps coming back during moments of crisis, why world leaders and big thinkers have leaned on it for centuries, and what its modern resurgence gets right and wrong.Check out Ryan’s FULL episode on Solved with Mark Manson on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Grab Mark’s books: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k Journal, and Everything Is F***ked: A Book About Hope, at The Painted PorchFollow Mark on YouTube,  and check out more of his work at https://markmanson.net/

Even the giants of history couldn’t outrun insecurity, comparison, or the feeling of not having enough. In today’s episode, Ryan continues his conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin to talk about why success rarely feels satisfying in the way you expect, why the goalposts always seem to move, and how Andrew has seen this pattern play out in some of the wealthiest and most accomplished people in the world.Andrew Ross Sorkin is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times. He wrote the bestselling book Too Big to Fail and co-produced a movie adaptation of the book for HBO Films. He is also a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions. His new book is 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation. You can grab signed copies of 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin at The Painted Porch: https://www.thepaintedporch.com/Follow Andrew Ross Sorki

The myth of the self-made man is just that, a myth. There has never been such a thing.