The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

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

👇 👇 👇

📻 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.

This episode reflects on the shortness of life without turning it into panic.

Oliver Burkeman’s “four thousand weeks” gives us a blunt measure of our limits, while Seneca’s story of Julius Canus shows how calm can survive even under the shadow of death.

The Stoic point isn't to master time or escape mortality, but to stop wasting what remains on denial, anxiety, or impossible self-optimization.

Since we can't know how many weeks are left, the task is to inhabit the present with attention, courage, and dignity.

👇 👇 👇

📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

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

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Allow Yourself To Live
https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-allow-yourself
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.