The Via Stoica Podcast — A Stoic Way of Life

Benny Voncken
  • 4.7 (15)
  • Philosophy
  • 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. 2d ago

    A Stoic at Mont Saint-Michel: The Lessons of the Tides

    The tides around Mont Saint-Michel rank among the biggest in Europe, and the story of how people once tried to outsmart them holds a lesson about living with nature. In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, recorded at the foot of the abbey, I look at what happened when a causeway let visitors reach the island at any hour, and what it took to undo it. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. The causeway kept the sea from flowing through the bay, silt piled up, and the island slowly stopped being an island. Restoring the tides took about twenty years of work and a new bridge that lets the water move freely beneath it. The Stoics asked us to live in accordance with nature, which covers both the world around us and our own nature. We reflect on what happens when we bend a place, or ourselves, to our standards and desires instead of working with how things are, and how much simpler a modest life becomes once we stop fighting a rhythm that was already there. This is a short, reflective stop on a trip through France, and an invitation to ask where you might be rushing something that only needs time. Support the show viastoica.com YouTube: @viastoica Produced by: Badmic.com

  2. Oct 19

    Inside Michel de Montaigne’s Tower: A Tour of His Life and Mind

    Michel de Montaigne’s tower in the Dordogne is where he withdrew to read, think, and write his Essays. In this episode, I visit the Château de Montaigne with guide Pauline Gonzalez and walk through his library, his bedroom, and the rooms that shaped his thinking. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Montaigne was no academic, and he read the Stoics as a man looking for a way to live, which is why his tower belongs on this show. Pauline shows me the beams of his library, where he had quotes from the ancient writers painted so he could meet them again while he walked. We talk about his strict Latin upbringing, his deep friendship with Étienne de La Boétie, the family wine business, and why he chose to write in French. Montaigne took nature and his own life as his material, and he asked what it means to be human rather than what a philosopher should say. His Essays still read like a conversation with a friend, which makes them one of the best ways into philosophy as a practice for ordinary life. If you have ever wondered what a life of reading and reflection looks like in practice, this visit gives you a way in. Step inside Montaigne’s tower with me, and tell me in the comments which room stays with you. Come back to the Via Stoica Podcast for more conversations on living philosophy. Visit the Château de Montaigne24230 Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne, Dordogne, France, about 20 minutes from Saint-Émilion and 1 hour from Bordeaux. Open every day, with visits to the tower and the 19th-century château. Opening hours, prices and tickets: https://chateau-montaigne.com/en Guide: Pauline Gonzalez, Guide at Château de MontaigneDrone footage: Déclic et Décolle (@declic_et_decolle_photo) Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaChâteau de Montaigne: https://chateau-montaigne.com/enProduced by: Badmic.com

    Inside Michel de Montaigne’s Tower: A Tour of His Life and Mind

  3. Oct 12

    A Stoic Among the Carnac Stones: What Do They Tell Us?

    What do the Carnac stones in Brittany have to say to us? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, recorded as I walked among the long rows early one morning, I follow the questions these Neolithic stones raised about purpose, problems, and the simple life. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Farmers raised these stones thousands of years ago, and nobody knows for certain why, whether for ritual, burial, a landmark, or a map of the stars. Their silence sent me back to my own reasons for what I do, which people around me often cannot see but which can still be worth doing, especially when they help others. The stones also gave me a picture for how we handle our own problems. A challenge has a real core, and we tend to pile extra weight on top of it with our thoughts and stories. We ask which stones you actually need to carry, which ones you added yourself, and how to focus on the core of an issue instead of making it bigger than it has to be. We also ask whether the people who lived here stood closer to nature than we do, or whether what we lost is the connection to our own nature, which we find by listening to our values and principles. This is a short, reflective walk rather than a lesson, and a reminder that life can be simpler than we make it. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  4. Oct 5

    I Found Epictetus on Montaigne's Ceiling

    An Epictetus quote about the way we judge events sits painted on a ceiling beam in Michel de Montaigne's library tower, and I went to see it in person. In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, recorded at a campsite in France the day after my visit, I share what stood out about the place and the line he chose to keep overhead. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Montaigne was not a Stoic, yet he had dozens of sayings painted on his beams, some running left to right, others right to left or upside down, so he could read them from any angle while he paced around his study. The quote from Epictetus says that things themselves do not disturb us, only the opinions we form about them. Montaigne tested that idea on himself, and one of his essays tells of a friend whose body failed him for no physical reason, only because his mind expected it to. We look at why a man who doubted most claims to certainty kept this one in view, how modern cognitive behavioral therapy grew from the same insight, and what changes when we separate an event from the story we add on top of it. You do not need a tower full of maxims to try this, because you can pause, look at what actually happened, and ask which parts of your distress come from the facts and which come from the colour you added. An interview with our guide at the tower will follow in a later episode. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  5. Sep 28

    Carnuntum: The Roman City Where Marcus Aurelius Wrote

    What does the Roman city of Carnuntum look like today, and where did Marcus Aurelius write part of the Meditations? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, I walk through Carnuntum in Austria with Dr. Markus Wachter, managing director of the Museum of Carnuntum, to explore the ruins, the reconstructed Roman houses, and the story of a frontier city on the Danube. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This conversation steps outside the texts and into the place where one of the great Stoic emperors lived and worked during the Marcomannic Wars. Carnuntum began as a winter camp under Tiberius in 6 AD and grew into the capital of Upper Pannonia, with at least 50,000 inhabitants at its height. Dr. Wachter explains why the Romans chose this spot above the Danube, how the city developed, and why archaeologists have excavated only a small part of it. We visit the baths, which still heat with Roman techniques, walk through the homes of ordinary residents, and talk about the note in the Meditations that connects part of the work to Carnuntum. Visit CarnuntumWebsite: https://www.carnuntum.at/enAddress: Roman City Visitor Center, Hauptstraße 1A, 2404 Petronell-Carnuntum, AustriaSeason: Carnuntum opens from mid-March to mid-November, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with longer summer hours. Check the website for the current dates before you plan your trip.Good to know: The day ticket covers the Roman City Quarter and the Museum Carnuntinum. The amphitheaters and the Heidentor are free to visit. Whether you plan to go or simply love Roman history, this episode invites you to see the ancient world as a place where people lived. Aerial footage: © RSC Support the show🌐 viastoica.com▶️ YouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    Carnuntum: The Roman City Where Marcus Aurelius Wrote

  6. Sep 21

    A Stoic Conversation with Justin Mainous: The Agora Network and the Power of Socratic Dialogue

    What happens when philosophy stops being something you read about and becomes something you practice together? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, recorded in Prague, I sit down with Justin Mainous, one of the driving forces behind the Agora Network, a community built almost entirely on Socratic dialogue. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Justin's path to philosophy started with losing his faith in university and navigating real mental health struggles largely on his own. Teaching himself cognitive behavioral techniques eventually led him back to a name he half remembered, Epictetus, and from there into a philosophy of life he still practices today. We talk about building a community around questions rather than answers, why Justin sees his role as a mirror rather than a teacher, and dialogic thinking, the idea that focused thought lasts only seconds alone but can stretch for hours in genuine conversation. This is a warmer, more personal conversation than usual, and a good reminder that philosophy was never meant to be a solitary pursuit. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    A Stoic Conversation with Justin Mainous: The Agora Network and the Power of Socratic Dialogue

  7. Sep 14

    How AI Helped Unwrap 2,000-Year-Old Herculaneum Scrolls - The Vesuvius Challenge

    In June 2026, a team of papyrologists and AI researchers achieved something once thought impossible: reading an entire ancient scroll, carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, from beginning to end, without ever physically opening it. In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, I'm joined by Federica Nicolardi, lead papyrologist of the Vesuvius Challenge and Associate Professor of Papyrology at the University of Naples Federico II, and Maria Chiara Robustelli, a member of the Vesuvius Challenge papyrology team and postdoctoral scholar at the same university, currently preparing a critical edition of a Herculaneum scroll on the Stoics. We talk about how they each found their way into papyrology, what Pompeii and Herculaneum actually are and how differently they were buried by the eruption, the history of the Villa dei Papiri and its library, and how the Vesuvius Challenge used X-ray imaging and machine learning to virtually unwrap scrolls no one has been able to read in nearly two thousand years. At the heart of the conversation is PHerc. 1667: a philosophical treatise on impulse, human nature, and practical wisdom, found in a library that's almost entirely Epicurean, except for this one Stoic text. Its final surviving column names Aristocreon, the nephew and student of Chrysippus, raising the genuine possibility that this could be connected to Chrysippus himself, one of the most influential Stoic philosophers whose own writing has otherwise been lost to history. We close, as I do with most guests, by asking about their own personal philosophy of life. Topics covered: the Vesuvius Challenge, virtual unwrapping, Herculaneum papyri, the Villa dei Papiri, Pompeii vs Herculaneum, Philodemus, Stoic philosophy, Chrysippus, papyrology, and what it means to recover a voice from the ancient world. Learn more about the project:🏺 The Vesuvius Challenge: scrollprize.org📜 The PHerc. 1667 announcement: scrollprize.org/firstscroll Support the show🌐 viastoica.com▶️ YouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

    How AI Helped Unwrap 2,000-Year-Old Herculaneum Scrolls - The Vesuvius Challenge

  8. Sep 8

    The One Habit You Need in Life

    Most advice about habits is really about saving you time. This episode of the Via Stoica Podcast looks at a different kind of habit entirely, the one Epictetus considered the only one that actually matters. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. We all build habits to avoid the exhaustion of deciding everything from scratch every day, from what we eat to how we start our mornings. That kind of habit is useful and worth having. But it isn't the habit the Stoics were most concerned with. Epictetus taught that the real work is training your response to impressions, not your morning routine. His method was simple and demanding: since bad habits form through repeatedly giving in to an impulse, you fight them the same way, by deliberately practicing the opposite, on purpose, again and again, until it becomes second nature. This episode also looks at how to tell whether a habit still genuinely fits you, or whether it's something you inherited without ever choosing it, and why a habit that breaks the moment your circumstances change was never built well in the first place. Because the habit that actually shapes your character isn't the one that saves you five minutes each morning. It's the pause you train yourself to take before you react. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

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4.7
out of 5
15 Ratings

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.

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