Modern Meditations - Stoicism For The Real World
This podcast bridges the gap between the beautiful, concise teachings of the Stoics and everyday life, in a fun, not too stuffy and modern way. We share how Stoicism affects us personally, give practical ways to use it in your own life and have a fun time rapping, singing, creating sketches, fake commercials/holidays and many more things about Stoicism.
Episodes
In this New Year’s special, we revisit On the Shortness of Life and come to a deeply encouraging conclusion:
You’re not out of time, you’re just wasting it.
We break down Seneca’s idea of the Preoccupied vs. the Thrifty Guardian, aka:
- the person who’s always waiting for something better
- vs. the person who actually lives their life
Justin shares the moment that left him crying in his car before work (don’t worry,...
A horse can be proud of its own beauty. But if you’re proud of owning a beautiful horse, you’ve already confused what’s yours with what isn’t.
In this episode, we break down Enchiridion 6 and the Stoic warning against borrowed pride, deriving self-worth from status, outcomes, or association. What is actually yours is far narrower. Your judgment, your choices, your discipline, your restraint.
We bring in Gladiator as a...
In this episode, we take on one of Epictetus’ most uncomfortable claims: you’re not disturbed by events, only by the opinions you bring to them.
We unpack his three-tiered model of the mind (the untrained blames others, the novice blames himself, the wise blame no one) and follow the story of the Roman visitor who wants Epictetus to predict his future, only to be told that his fate depends entirely on the quality of...
In this episode of Modern Meditations, Bruce and Justin turn a weekend of budget hotels, dollar rental cars, $12 orange juice, and marathon gels into a masterclass on Stoic expectations. Drawing on Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and M. Scott Peck, they explore how life’s annoyances, whether waiting in line, traffic tailgaters, or bitter cucumbers, become easier to bear when you anticipate difficulty instead of assuming...
What’s the difference between loving deeply and clinging desperately? Epictetus thought the line was thinner than we like to admit. In Enchiridion Chapter 3, he reminds us that every embrace is an embrace of a mortal, every favorite cup is already broken, and every attachment comes with an expiration date stamped by nature. Sounds grim? Not really. It’s actually a roadmap for how not to be crushed when life does wha...
When Chris Martin paused a Coldplay concert to comment on a kiss-cam couple—“Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy”—he unintentionally exposed more than just awkward chemistry. Days later, both people were out of their jobs and their private lives had become public scandal. But the real story isn’t just the moment it’s what it reveals about desire, aversion, and what happens when we’re forced int...
We're onto a brand new book the Enchiridion (or 'the Handbook') this book was written by a former slave to help other reach inner freedom.
For this series we're reading the whole chapter every day and looking to understand the principles from real world experience. This week we explored Epictitus's first rule for inner freedom.
And... had some fun along the way...
Listen to Justin ace a stoi...
Book 1- 0:0:09
Book 2- 0:17:04
Book 3- 0:31:01
Book 4- 0:47:58
Book 5- 1:14:33
Book 6- 1:40:41
Book 7- 2:08:00
Book 8- 2:34:17
Book 9- 3:00:59
Book 10- 3:27:20
Book 11- 3:54:27
Book 12- 4:18:37
Becoming worthy of the world that created you is a tall order, but luckily Marcus has some tips! Learn about letting go of the past through Justin's experience in High School romance, and Bruce's rare brush with law enforcement (it gets ugly!).
The Poet David Whyte graces us again with some profound quotes on honesty and living in the present that help complement Marcus' words. We conclude once and fo...
The 12th and final book of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is full of gems. Marcus starts off telling himself how to become worthy of the universe that made him.
"if you shall not be afraid because you must some time cease to live, but if you shall fear never to have begun to live according to nature then you will be a man worthy of the universe which has produced you..."
Other nuggets and aphorisms to hi...
Bruce has found another hero to obsess about, no surprise it's the world's fastest marathoner: Eluid Kipchoge (a stoic adjacent runner.) In today's episode we break down some of the many lessons that can be learned from him through the lens of Marcus's beautiful quote in chapter 11:
"The pythagoreans bid us in the mornings to look to the heavens that we may be reminded of those bodies that c...
Book 11 of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.
Have you ever had a friend insist that a quote is relevant, additive, and deep, but you just don't get it? Listen to Bruce try to justify bringing in this quote from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and see if it resonates with you?
Have you ever wondered what the nature of life is? Marcus says, "A healthy pair of eyes should see everything that can be seen and not say, 'No! Too bright!&apo...
In Book 10 of Meditations, Marcus Aurelius reflects on the impermanence of life, the futility of seeking fame, and the importance of living in harmony with nature. He emphasizes resilience in the face of adversity, urging us to accept what we cannot change and focus on our duty. He reminds himself—and us—that external recognition is fleeting, while true fulfillment comes from acting with wisdom, justice, and integri...
This episode took us a year to make... Well, at least it is the byproduct of a year focused on focus and rest for Bruce. If you read between the lines of Meditations Book 9 you'll find an emperor who also shares an obsession with finding ways to increase his focus and find rest.
For instance Marcus says things like:
"You can remove out of the way many useless things among those which disturb thee, for they...
As is now Modern Meditations tradition we ended 2024 with reading Seneca’s “On The Shortness of Life” and sat down for a chat about how we did with this year that is not coming back.
We both saw meaningful ways that Stoicism had major impacts in our lives for the better, whether that be through breakups, travel, making major career moves, graduating college or deaths in the family.
And at the end...
On the 50th episode of Modern Meditations we break our format to give you two audio essays that changed our views on what it means to be a citizen of the world. In Meditations we read, “My city and country, so far as I am Antoninus, is Rome; but so far as I am a human being, it is the world."
The first, by Bruce, from his trip on Thailand and the lessons he learned from the East that would solve many p...
Experience Stoic literature first-hand by listening directly to the audiobook of Mediations by Marcus Aurelius.
Book 9 of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius contains absolute banger quotes such as:
9:20 "It is your duty to leave another man's wrongful act there where it is."
9:27 "When another blames you or hates you, or when men say about you anything injurious, approach their poo...
Discussing Book 8 of Marcus Aurelius' meditations is not for those unready to face the existential dread of facing themselves and what they were born to do... Are you?
We start with a fun teaser of "What is required of someone to be a Stoic?" Then we dive into the heavy-hitting themes of this book of Meditations with figuring out what you were born for.
Join to answer the most impo...
Experience Stoic literature first-hand by listening directly to the audiobook of Mediations by Marcus Aurelius.
Book 8 of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius contains absolute banger quotes such as:
8:16 "Remember that to change your opinion and to follow him who corrects your error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in your error."
8:22 "Attend to the matter which is befo...
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