The Via Stoica Podcast — A Stoic Way of Life

Benny Voncken
  • 4.7 (14)
  • 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. 1d ago

    Does Your Legacy Matter? What If You Left Nothing Behind?

    Does your legacy actually matter, and what if you left nothing behind at all? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we look honestly at why so many of us build our lives around being remembered, and what the Stoics actually thought about that impulse. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Only twelve people have ever walked on the moon, and their footprints will likely outlast almost everything else humans have ever built, yet ask someone to name the seventh person to do it. That gap between permanence and memory says more about legacy than most of what gets written about it. This episode looks at the strange case of Marcus Aurelius, whose private journal was never meant for publication, and yet two thousand years later it remains one of the most read books in the world. He could not have controlled that, could not have predicted it, and never got to witness it. His actual legacy came from doing the work in front of him, not from chasing how he would be remembered. We also look at what happens when people build a career around legacy directly, from famous musicians and actors whose personal choices ended up defining how they are remembered, to the quieter ways all of us attach our sense of worth to something that will outlast us. Because here is the uncomfortable truth. You will not be there to see your legacy. So the only honest question left is what you do with today. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  2. Aug 17

    Are you relevant enough? To Whom and Why?

    Are you relevant enough, and relevant to whom exactly? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we look at why this question comes up so often during moments of change, and what Stoic philosophy actually says about the value we attach to being needed. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Relevance always exists in relation to someone or something else, at a particular moment, which means it was never a fixed thing to hold onto in the first place. Twelve people have ever walked on the moon, and their footprints will likely outlast almost everything else humans have built, yet ask someone to name the seventh person to do it. That gap between permanence and memory says a great deal about what we are really chasing when we chase relevance. The fear of becoming irrelevant is rarely about relevance itself. It is grief for something that mattered, a role that shifted, a relationship that changed shape, a chapter that ended without warning. This episode also looks at Hierocles and the Stoic idea of concentric circles, and why the people closest to you may deserve more of your attention than the audience you imagine is watching. The question worth sitting with by the end is simple. What does relevance actually mean to you, and who do you really want to be relevant for. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  3. Aug 10

    How Influencable Are You? Or Do You Trust Your Own Judgment?

    Family, friends, colleagues, and strangers on a screen all try to sway how you think and act. In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we look honestly at how influencable we really are, and what it takes to trust your own judgment instead. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. If the previous episode was about what we put out into the world, this one is about what we let in, and how easily that shapes the direction of our lives. Influence is not new, and it is not only found online. Family, teachers, partners, and friends have always had ways of nudging us toward what they believe is right, often with the best intentions and sometimes without either of us noticing. The moments that carry the most risk are rarely the ones that upset us. They are the ones that inspire and motivate us so strongly that we stop questioning them altogether. The Stoics called our capacity to choose our own judgments prohairesis, the one thing that always remains ours, no matter how loud or convincing the voices around us become. This episode explores what it actually looks like to receive information without surrendering your direction to it, and why the pause before you are swept along matters more than the source of the pull itself. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  4. Aug 3

    So You Have an Opinion? Does Everyone Need to Know?

    Do you really need to share that opinion? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we look at what drives the impulse to comment, react, and weigh in online, and what Stoic philosophy says about examining that impulse before we act on it. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode is not about whether you are allowed to have opinions. It is about what you do with them and why you feel the need to share them at all. Social media rewards reaction. Every post, every event, every scroll seems to demand a response, and the algorithm feeds on the comments and replies that follow. Underneath that pressure sits something older than any platform, the quiet pull to be relevant, to be heard, to matter in the moment. The Stoics called the practice of pausing before adding judgment to an impression the discipline of assent, and it applies just as much to a reply typed in anger as it does to any other reaction. Most opinions shared online skip that step entirely. This episode also looks at what changes when you start asking a harder question before you speak: what does this opinion actually reveal about you, your values, and what you are really seeking in that moment? Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  5. Jul 27

    Anger: The Stoic Way to Reclaim Your Sanity

    Anger protects us. It motivates us. It gets things done. These are the arguments people make for keeping it, and in this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we take an honest look at why Seneca called anger momentary madness and what that means for how we live. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode examines one of the most defended emotions in modern life and what Stoic philosophy actually says about it: not that we should suppress it, but that we should understand it well enough to choose differently. The Stoics made a clear distinction between the involuntary first flash of irritation and the full emotional response that follows. That gap is where your agency lives. When we add the judgment that an injustice has occurred and that we are right to be furious, we step through a door from reason into what Seneca called momentary madness. And unlike most emotions, anger is contagious. One angry person in a room changes the room. The Stoics were deeply pro-social and cultivating anger is a direct betrayal of that responsibility toward others. This episode also looks at what replaces anger when we choose not to walk through that door. Not emptiness or passivity, but the Stoic positive emotions: joy from doing the right thing, calm from acting in line with who you are, and the kind of presence that actually changes situations rather than inflaming them. Anger will come. What you do with it is entirely yours. Support the showviastoica.comYouTube: @viastoicaProduced by: Badmic.com

  6. Jul 20

    The Blame Game: Stop Pointing the Finger and Start Growing

    When did we stop asking what we could do better and start looking for someone else to blame? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we examine one of the most common and costly habits in modern life: the blame game, and what Stoic philosophy says about how to break it. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode is an honest look at how blame keeps us stuck, why it feels so comfortable, and what taking real responsibility for our lives actually looks like in practice. The shift did not happen overnight. A teacher approaching retirement described how in her early years, parents would tell underperforming children to work harder. Over time, that finger moved from the child to the teacher, from the self to everything outside it. That shift is not just happening in schools. It is happening in our relationships, our careers, and our inner lives. Epictetus placed blame squarely on the discipline of assent; we are not adding the correct judgment to what is happening. The discipline of desire reminds us that chasing externals makes blaming externals inevitable. And Epictetus described three stages of progress: the beginner blames everyone else, the intermediate blames themselves, and the advanced person simply does the work. The moment you stop blaming is the moment you start growing. Support the show viastoica.com YouTube: @viastoica Produced by: Badmic.com Note: In the episode, I attributed the three stages of blame to Marcus Aurelius. This is actually from Epictetus, Enchiridion 5. The wisdom is the same; the source just needed correcting.

  7. Jul 14

    Your Life Is Not Short. You Just Don't Know How to Live It.

    "Life is too short." It is one of the most common things people say and, according to Seneca, one of the most misguided. In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast we examine what the Stoics actually thought about time and why the problem is never how much of it we have. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode draws on Seneca's On the Shortness of Life to make an argument that is uncomfortable and liberating in equal measure: life is not short. We spend most of it somewhere else. Seneca observed that people guard their money and possessions carefully but give their time to anyone who asks. Every second lost is gone for good and we do not know when the last one will come. The people who complain loudest about life being short are often the busiest, but busy with the wrong things. This episode also explores what it looks like to design your life around what actually matters. Not as a distant goal to arrive at, but as a direction you can begin moving in today. When your values and priorities are clear, every small decision becomes deliberate and the feeling that life is passing you by begins to fade. As Seneca wrote, "Life is long, if only you knew how to use it." Read the full article: https://viastoica.com/how-to-design-your-life/ Support the showviastoica.com YouTube: @viastoica Produced by: Badmic.com

  8. Jul 6

    The Real Stoic View on Emotions: What Are They Telling You?

    What are your emotions really telling you? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we take a closer look at one of the most misunderstood aspects of Stoic philosophy: the real Stoic view on emotions and what they can teach you about yourself. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. This episode challenges the popular belief that Stoicism is about suppressing emotions and replaces it with something far more useful: understanding them as a source of information about your beliefs, your fears, and who you are becoming. The Stoics made a clear distinction between the involuntary first flash of feeling and the full emotional response that follows. That gap between the two is where your agency lives. By learning to pause and examine what judgment you have added to an event, you begin to see what your emotions are actually pointing at. Not an enemy to defeat or a wave to ride out, but a signal worth reading. This episode draws on the Stoic concepts of pathos, eupatheiai and propatheia to show how emotions rooted in false judgments take us away from reason, while emotions rooted in accurate ones can guide us toward virtue, better decisions, and more authentic connections with the people around us. If you have ever felt taken over by a reaction you did not choose, this conversation is for you. Read the full article: https://viastoica.com/what-your-emotions-are-trying-to-tell-you/ Support the showviastoica.com YouTube: @viastoica Produced by: Badmic.com

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4.7
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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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