The Daily Stoic

Let us try to put some of our energy towards helping the less fortunate. Let's alleviate someone else's worry and fear.Feeding America | We donated the first $30,000 and would love your help in getting to our goal of $300,000—which would provide over 3 million meals for families across the country! Just head over to dailystoic.com/feeding—every dollar provides 10 meals, even a small donation makes a big difference.Resources Mentioned:- Action Against Hunger: https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/

Happy Thanksgiving! In today’s bonus episode, you will hear a powerful excerpt from Ryan’s interview with author and journalist Julia Baird about the real-life power of grace, forgiveness, and why letting go can be one of the bravest things you do. Feeding America | We donated the first $30,000 and would love your help in getting to our goal of $300,000—which would provide over 3 million meals for families across the country! Just head over to dailystoic.com/feeding—every dollar provides 10 meals, even a small donation makes a big difference.Julia Baird is an author, broadcaster, and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. Be sure to check out her books, Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark, Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire, and Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything. 

There's something wonderful about being together, family, traveling in from near and far good people enjoying good food, taking a break from the busyness of the world, reflecting on all the things you're grateful for, remembering and making new memories. That's what Thanksgiving, which we're celebrating here in the US today is all about.Feeding America | We donated the first $30,000 and would love your help in getting to our goal of $300,000—which would provide over 3 million meals for families across the country! Just head over to dailystoic.com/feeding—every dollar provides 10 meals, even a small donation makes a big difference.

After you have faced death, you can’t believe what people care about online. In this episode, Ryan sits down with bestselling author and legendary war reporter Sebastian Junger. Sebastian talks about why he refuses to get a smartphone, how technology gives us the illusion of control, Ambrose Bierce, and the multiple times he was nearly executed as a war reporter. Sebastian Junger is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, Fire, A Death In Belmont, War, Tribe, Freedom and In My Time Of Dying.   As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a special correspondent at ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world, and has received both a National Magazine Award and a Peabody Award. Junger is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film "Restrepo", a feature-length documentary (co-directed with Tim Hetherington), was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. He is also the founder and director of Ve

The Stoics said what needed to be said. But they weren’t jerks. Not on purpose anyway.

This is what it is to be a human. Some of it good, some of it better to resist. 

Seneca wasn’t perfect. He struggled, as all humans do, with inconsistencies between his philosophy and his actions. So, why should we listen to him?

Dive into the wild life of Diogenes, the philosopher who wasn’t afraid to challenge norms or even Alexander the Great. In today’s episode, discover how his bold actions and sharp wit left an enduring legacy and why historians still debate his famous sunbathing encounter with the young conqueror.Pick up a copy of Inger Kuin’s new book Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic. Thanks to Basic Books for allowing us to run this audio excerpt.

What can Diogenes teach us about the roots of Stoicism? In today’s episode, Ryan and classicist Inger Kuin break down the real gap between Stoicism and Cynicism, discussing why one trusted order and structure while the other thought most of society was nonsense. They get into Diogenes’ legendary stunts, the Stoics’ attempt to distance themselves from him, and why the world still needs people who question absolutely everything.Inger Kuin is a researcher, writer, and teacher focused on the intellectual history of ancient Greece and Rome. She is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia. Originally from The Netherlands, she publishes both in English and in Dutch.Check out Inger’s website: https://ingerkuin.com/Be sure to pick up a copy of Inger’s new book Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic. 

Marcus Aurelius didn't just study philosophy when he was young. To him, philosophy was a lifelong study, a process that he committed to.

Silly worries and petty rivalries. People arguing for no reason. People trying to accumulate more than they could ever need. This is what we do, isn’t it?

Diogenes wasn’t a Stoic… but without him, the Stoics don’t exist. His life was so bold, so uncompromising, and so brutally honest that it reshaped the entire philosophical world the Stoics inherited. In today’s episode, Ryan sits down with classicist Inger Kuin to unpack the wild and brilliant philosophy of Diogenes, the original cynic. Inger Kuin is a researcher, writer, and teacher focused on the intellectual history of ancient Greece and Rome. She is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia. Originally from The Netherlands, she publishes both in English and in Dutch. Be sure to pick up a copy of Inger’s new book Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic. Check out Inger’s website: https://ingerkuin.com/

Whether we’re beginning some creative work or we’re trying to solve some complex problem, we should never be starting from zero.

Culture has changed. Technology has changed. Work has changed. Politics have changed. The environment has changed. You think these changes could have been prevented. Yet what you’re forgetting is that this is how it’s always been.

People are weak. People are scared. People are afraid to go for what they want. It has always been thus.

We should fight, as Marcus Aurelius says, to be the person philosophy tried to make us. In this episode, Ryan shares why deciding to live with virtue can completely transform your life.

What’s the point of achieving success if you’re burned out, lonely, or exhausted? In today’s episode, Ryan sits down with Mark Manson (bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k) to talk about how the habits that help you “make it” are usually the same ones that burn you out later. Mark talks about the moment he realized he couldn’t keep living like a maniac, the changes he had to make in his 30s and 40s, and why he no longer trusts himself around certain decisions.Mark Manson is a bestselling author best known for The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k. In it, Mark looks at self-improvement not through avoiding problems or always being happy, but rather through improving amidst problems and learning to accept the occasional unhappiness. 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 Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/Watch Ryan's episode o

It seems insensitive to even suggest that someone “love” their fate. How are you supposed to love a breakup? Love that you buried someone? Love that you lost your business?

There’s even a famous old saying: Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make angry.

In this bonus episode, Ryan sits down with his friend and collaborator, Joe Byerly, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, writer, and host of From the Green Notebook. The two talk about the overlap between Stoicism and service, the discipline it takes to think clearly, and why wisdom isn’t something you’re born with. Joe Byerly is a recently retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 20 years of service, including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and command of a cavalry squadron in Europe. He’s earned multiple honors, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart.In 2013, he founded From the Green Notebook, a platform that helps leaders reflect, grow, and share their experiences. Joe’s passionate about the power of reading, writing, and self-reflection—and he’s the author of The Leader’s 90-Day Notebook and co-author of My Green Notebook: “Know Thyself” Before Changing Jobs.Follow Joe on Instagram @FromTheGreenNotebook and on X @jbyerly81Chec