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
66 episodes
#66 – On the Shortness of Life (New Years Special): Why Justin Was in Tears, The Power of Home Depot, Faces Over Causes, High ROI Living & The 2025 Aurelius Awards
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, ak...
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Season 4
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Episode 66
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1:03:24
#65 – Enchiridion Ch 6: How to Stop Taking Pride in What Isn’t Yours, The Handsome Horse, Gladiator, and How to Avoid Patricide
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, deri...
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Season 4
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Episode 65
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44:09
#64 - Enchiridion Ch 5: How to Stop Blaming Others, Yourself, or Anyone at All. The Difference Between Philosophers & Sellers of Vegetables, The Three Stoic Levels & The History of Insane Clown Posse
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 b...
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Season 4
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Episode 64
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48:31
#63 - Enchiridion Ch 4: How to Stop Being Surprised By Life: Death by Paper Cuts, Swinging Snakes, Budget Hotels & The History of Bathing
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,...
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Season 4
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Episode 63
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30:00
#62 – Enchiridion Ch 3: How to Love What You Can Lose: Anaxagoras’ Comeback, Mortal Hugs, and the Bigger-or-Badder Test
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 alre...
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Season 4
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Episode 62
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33:32
#61 - Enchiridion Ch 2: How Not to be Miserable - Mastering Desire, Disaster, and the Coldplay Kiss Cam
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 ...
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Season 4
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Episode 61
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33:43
#60 - Enchiridion Ch 1: Epictetus’ First Rule for Inner Freedom, Beyonce's Not a Stoic, Justin's Pop Quiz, Going Deeper W/The Dichotomy of Control & Desert Island Discs Pt 2
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 princ...
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Season 4
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Episode 60
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51:10
#59 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Full Audiobook Reading)
Book 1- 0:0:09Book 2- 0:17:04Book 3- 0:31:01Book 4- 0:47:58Book 5- 1:14:33Book 6- 1:40:41Book 7- 2:08:00Book 8- 2:34:17Book 9- 3:00:59Book 10- 3:27:20Book 11- 3:54:27B...
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Season 4
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Episode 59
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4:38:03
#58 - Meditations Book 12: Becoming Worthy of the World that Created You, Kissing Gone Wrong, Bruce Turns Himself In, and the Grass Could be Greener on THIS Side
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!)....
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Season 4
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Episode 58
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57:13
#57 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Book 12 (Audiobook Reading)
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...
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Season 4
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Episode 57
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19:57
#56 - Meditations Book 11: No Human is Limited, There Is No Veil Over a Star, Fake Work vs Real Work, The Myth of 'Self Care', Only the Disciplined Are Free & Lessons From Kipchoge
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 ...
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48:00
#55 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Book 11 (Audiobook Reading)
Book 11 of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.
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24:53
#54 - The Nature of Nature & How to Have a Wise Relationship With It, Justin Reveals his Hypocrisy & Why Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is Profound
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? <...
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Season 4
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Episode 54
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51:41
#53 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Book 10 (Audiobook Reading)
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 c...
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27:51
#52 - Meditations Book 9: How to Deepen Your Rest & Sharpen Your Focus Like a Stoic, Marcus's Bedtime Stories & Is There Life After TikTok?
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 t...
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36:43
#51 - On The Shortness of Life (New Years Special) - Bruce’s Breakup & New Startup, 2 Week Justins, The 2024 Aurelis Award Show, & The Sacredness of Time
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 ma...
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57:29
#50 - On Being a Citizen of The World (Audio Essays)
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; bu...
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Episode 50
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25:38
#49 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Book 9 (Audiobook Reading)
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 ano...
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Season 4
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Episode 49
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27:07
#48 - Meditations Book 8: The Why Were You Born-isode, Gradual Coherence, Do You Find Meaning or Does Meaning Find You and the Parable of the Turkey Cult
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 b...
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Season 4
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Episode 48
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57:27
#47 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Book 8 (Audiobook Reading)
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...
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Season 4
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Episode 47
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27:26
#46 - The Deathisode
Happy Halloween! What a perfect time to discuss death! On this spooky holiday we open with Data asking Picard to grant him a gift... mortality. We discuss how we deal with mortality and why it is such a gift to be alive and that we all die.&nbs...
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Season 4
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Episode 46
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35:39
#45 - Meditations Book 7: How Much Does Happiness Cost? Instagram Life vs The Simple Life, The Happiest Man in the World, Elon Musk's Life Algorithm & Autotelic activities
Can we just say, "What a chapter?!" Book 7 has many riveting themes, including... Simplicity! Marcus says, "Always bear this in mind; and another thing too, that very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life." To explore that ...
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Season 4
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Episode 45
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42:09
#44 - Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Book 7 (Audiobook Reading)
Book 7 of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius focuses on Stoic themes like living in harmony with nature, accepting the impermanence of life, and the importance of rationality. Marcus considers valuable things such as how little is nece...
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Season 4
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Episode 44
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27:07
#43 - Meditations Book 6: To Move From One Unselfish Act to Another, Why You Don’t Exist, Big Mind vs Small Mind, Can You Have Two Souls? & Koans
Your favorite Stoic podcast is back, as we work our way through Meditations Book 6 which is all about the unself. Marcus makes quite the claim in this chapter that “The only rewards of our existence here are an unstained character and unselfish...
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Season 4
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Episode 43
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35:30
#42 - Meditations By Marcus Aurelius Book 6 (Audiobook Reading)
Book 6 of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius focuses on Stoic themes like living in harmony with nature, accepting the impermanence of life, and the importance of rationality. Marcus emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things, urg...
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Season 4
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Episode 42
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28:34