The Via Stoica Podcast — A Stoic Way of Life

Benny Voncken
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Philosophy
  • Updated Weekly

Via Stoica is a podcast dedicated to Stoicism as a lived philosophy and a practical way of meeting modern life. We draw from ancient texts and apply them to real challenges, emotional reactivity, discipline, purpose, relationships, and adversity. This is not about abstract theory. It is about practice, with attention to what is within our control. Each week, we explore Stoic themes through reflections, practical topics, and interviews. The views expressed are my own and for informational purposes only. Learn more at viastoica.com.

  1. A Stoic Conversation with Massimo Pigliucci: How to be a (Happy) Skeptic

    9 hrs ago

    A Stoic Conversation with Massimo Pigliucci: How to be a (Happy) Skeptic

    What does it mean to be both a Stoic and a skeptic? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, philosopher and author Massimo Pigliucci returns to discuss his new book How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic: a guide to building a philosophy of life rooted in Stoic virtue and the ancient art of proportioning belief to evidence. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Massimo Pigliucci is Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York, a former evolutionary biologist, and one of the most important voices in modern Stoic philosophy. This is his second conversation on the show. The discussion moves from the foundations of a philosophy of life to the ancient debate between the Stoics and the Academic Skeptics, and then to one of the most compelling figures in Western history: Marcus Tullius Cicero. Not a Stoic himself, but deeply shaped by Stoic ethics, Cicero lived through the fall of the Roman Republic, exile, personal grief, and death at the hands of Mark Antony's soldiers. His life, Pigliucci argues, is a model for holding strong convictions while remaining honestly uncertain about what you know and why. The episode also explores how skepticism is not the enemy of commitment but its most honest companion: that our beliefs should be proportioned to evidence, and that a life examined with intellectual humility is not weaker but more durable. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com Episode Outline: 00:00 Introduction to Massimo Pigliucci02:30 The Importance of Personal Philosophy11:46 Key Ingredients of a Philosophy of Life15:12 The Evolution of Skepticism in Philosophy19:31 Understanding Skepticism: Pyrrhonism vs. Academic Skepticism29:52 The Evolution of Persuasion and Belief33:15 Stoicism vs. Skepticism: A Philosophical Rivalry42:49 Cicero: The Relatable Philosopher52:05 The Structure of Cicero's Philosophy58:53 Future Endeavors: Exploring New Philosophies

    1hr 3min

  2. 3 days ago

    The People Pleaser: How to Stop Living for Other People's Approval

    People pleasing is not kindness. It is fear dressed up as generosity. In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we look honestly at what it means to stop living for other people's approval and start showing up as yourself. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode builds directly on the previous conversation about the scripts we inherit. People pleasing is what happens when we keep performing that script out of fear rather than choice. Most of us learned early that being agreeable was rewarded and that causing discomfort came at a price. That lesson becomes a habit, the habit becomes a pattern, and the pattern quietly erodes the person underneath it. You say yes when you mean no. You manage the emotions of others at the expense of your own. You lose track of where their needs end and yours begin. Epictetus was clear: what others think of you is entirely outside your control. Handing your life over to opinions you cannot control is not kindness. It is fear with a generous face. This episode of the Via Stoica Podcast asks the question most people pleasers never stop to consider: am I doing this because it is right, or because I am afraid of what happens if I do not? The in-between is yours. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    16 min

  3. 15 June

    Who Wrote Your Script? The Stoic Guide to Authentic Living

    How much of the life you are living was actually chosen by you? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we explore authentic living: the practice of examining the scripts inherited from parents, culture, school, and social media, and deciding for the first time which ones are genuinely yours. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode invites you to look honestly at the voices shaping your choices, not to blame them, but to see them clearly and to begin living from your own values rather than someone else's story. Most of us were handed a script before we could read it. Family wrote the early lines. School added more. Culture and religion filled in the gaps. And now social media rewrites it daily: feeding you someone else's version of success, happiness, and what a good life looks like. The Stoics called the faculty of conscious choice prohairesis, the one thing that has always been yours. Most people spend their entire lives using it to fulfil someone else's vision without ever noticing. This episode of the Via Stoica Podcast asks one of the most important questions in Stoic philosophy and in life: who wrote your script and why are you still listening to them? If you have ever felt that the life you are living belongs to someone else, this conversation is for you. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    18 min

  4. 8 June

    Amor Fati: How Do You Love Your Fate?

    What does it really mean to love your fate? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we look at one of the most used phrases in modern Stoicism, where it actually comes from, and what Stoic philosophy says about acceptance, fate, and how to show up when life does not go as planned. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Here, philosophy is not something you recite. It is something you practice, especially when the difficult moments arrive. Amor fati was never a Stoic phrase. Nietzsche coined it, and his version was radical: a total, eternal affirmation of everything that has ever happened, exactly as it happened. The Stoics had a different relationship with fate. They saw the world as a chain of cause and effect governed by the logos, and they asked a simpler question: Will you walk with it, or be dragged? That is where the real practice begins. Not in the good moments, when acceptance is easy, but in the ones that test you. The rejection, the injury, the plan that falls apart. Those are the moments Epictetus called the exam. The ones that show you how much you have actually learned. This episode will not tell you to love what hurts. It will show you how to welcome it anyway. Want to go deeper? Read the full guide: viastoica.com/how-to-practice-amor-fati/ Support the show🌐 viastoica.com▶️ YouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    18 min

  5. 1 June

    Stop Waiting: Take Responsibility for Your Soul

    Are you waiting for the right moment to start living your life? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we look at what Stoic philosophy says about responsibility: not the kind the self-help world sells you, but the deeper, more demanding kind. The responsibility for your own soul. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Here, philosophy is not theory. It is a daily practice of honest choices, taken one moment at a time. Most of us are waiting for something. For the situation to improve, for permission, for the stars to align. But every moment spent waiting is a moment of handing over the wheel to someone else and hoping they are driving in your direction. The Stoics called this the loss of your prohairesis: your capacity to choose, to act, and to become who you are. Self-knowledge is where this starts. You cannot take responsibility for someone you do not know. That means sitting with the uncomfortable parts, the patterns, the past experiences, the beliefs you have never examined. Not to judge them, but to understand them. Because once you know where you are, you can begin moving toward where you want to go. The lights are already on green. This episode will remind you of that. Support the show🌐 viastoica.com▶️ YouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    18 min

  6. 25 May

    Who Are You? Time to Remove the Mask

    Who are you beneath the persona you perform for others? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we sit with that question and what Stoic philosophy says about the difference between the character we are building and the mask we wear for the world. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Here, philosophy is not theory. It is the daily, honest work of examining who you are and how you show up. Most of us are building something for an audience. A reputation. A version of ourselves shaped by approval, attention, and the fear of not being enough. Marcus Aurelius wrote his Meditations for no one but himself: an audience of one. That is not a small detail. It is the whole point. The Stoics called our deepest aim eudaimonia: a well-ordered life, lived from the inside out, in accordance with your own nature and values. Not fame. Not wealth. Not the version of success that looks good on a screen. To get there, you have to strip away what is not truly yours: the noise, the performance, the need for external validation. And ask the harder question. When the audience disappears, when the algorithm moves on, who are you then? This episode will not answer that for you. It will help you start looking. Support the show🌐 viastoica.com▶️ YouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    12 min

  7. 18 May

    Control: The Side Most Choose to Avoid

    Everyone talks about letting go. But what about the side that actually demands something of you? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we look at what Stoic philosophy really asks of us when it comes to control and why most people stop at the easier half. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Here, Stoic philosophy isn't a wellness tip or a productivity hack. It's a serious and urgent call to examine who you are and who you are becoming. The dichotomy of control is one of the most recognized ideas in Stoicism. But the way it gets used today, mostly as permission to detach and move on, misses the deeper point entirely. Epictetus wasn't inviting passivity. He was demanding self-awareness, character work, and the kind of daily practice the Greeks called askesis. What is yours to work on is not just a short list. It's everything: your judgments, your habits, your values, your reasons for acting. That's where the real work of Stoic philosophy begins and where most people quietly step back. If you've ever felt like you understood Stoicism in theory but couldn't quite connect it to real life, this episode is a good place to start looking at why. Support the show:  viastoica.com  YouTube: @viastoica Produced by: Badmic.com

    17 min

  8. 11 May

    Feeling like a failure? Don't let your mind bring you down

    Do you ever feel like everyone else has it figured out and you're the only one falling behind? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we look at where that feeling really comes from and what Stoic philosophy teaches us about separating a setback from your identity. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Here, Stoic philosophy isn't theory. It's a practical tool for the moments when life feels like too much. Feeling like a failure rarely starts with one event. It starts with the standards we're measuring ourselves against and whether those standards were ever really ours to begin with. When we absorb other people's definitions of success, we hand them the answer key to our own lives. No wonder the results feel wrong. Self-awareness starts the moment we ask: whose expectations am I actually living by? The Stoics were clear. Character and how you act are the only real measures. Not money, not status, not how things look from the outside. This episode is for anyone who has felt stuck, inadequate, or quietly resigned to the idea that this is just who they are. It isn't. That's exactly where your agency begins. Support the show🌐 viastoica.com▶️ YouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    13 min
See All (125)

Ratings & Reviews

About

Via Stoica is a podcast dedicated to Stoicism as a lived philosophy and a practical way of meeting modern life. We draw from ancient texts and apply them to real challenges, emotional reactivity, discipline, purpose, relationships, and adversity. This is not about abstract theory. It is about practice, with attention to what is within our control. Each week, we explore Stoic themes through reflections, practical topics, and interviews. The views expressed are my own and for informational purposes only. Learn more at viastoica.com.

Information

You Might Also Like