Practical Stoicism
Practical Stoicism is a podcast hosted by Tanner Campbell, a Stoic author and public philosopher. Each week, he explores various aspects of Stoicism from an orthodox yet practical perspective, aiming to help listeners understand and pursue perfect moral character. The podcast is independently owned, ad-free, and produced by a real human being.
Episodes
How to have healthy self-esteem
A healthy Stoic practice requires an accurate view of yourself. Think too little of yourself and you misunderstand your capacities; think too much of yourself and you do the same. In this episode, I explore self-esteem through a Stoic lens and explain why accurate self-knowledge matters to our pursuit of eudaimonia and sagehood.Apply for private coaching: https://stoicismpod.com/apply Support this
How to defend your standards kindly
In today's episode I discuss whether pursuing a dream is a Stoic thing to do, and how to talk about your ambitions without accidentally insulting the people who don't share them. Before digging in please be aware of all the ways this podcast is able to exist without ads or formal sponsorship:Private Stoic Life Coaching Practice: https://stoicismpod.com/coachingStoic Journaling Program: https://sto
How to find your own Stoic path
Apply for private coaching: https://stoicismpod.com/applySupport this podcast financially: https://stoicismpod.com/membersJoin my free community: https://stoicismpod.com/joinIn this episode, I explore why there is not always a single answer to the question, “What would a Stoic do?” Stoicism gives us a shared ethical framework, but it also takes seriously the particular roles, relationships, capaci
New book announcement: Living Stoicism
Pre-order today to get the audiobook and the paperback upon release in December. Pre-order here: https://livingstoicism.tannerocampbell.comCheers!
Do outcomes really not matter?
I'm responding to a thoughtful question from listener Alex Stevenson: if good decisions require us to learn from outcomes, then which outcomes should we actually value?Apply for private coaching: https://stoicismpod.com/apply Support this podcast financially: https://stoicismpod.com/members Join my free community: https://stoicismpod.com/joinI begin by revisiting a LinkedIn post about decision-mak
How to become more confident
Join the free community: https://skool.com/tannerocampbellApply for private coaching: https://stoicismpod.com/applySupport this podcast financially: https://stoicismpod.com/membersDesktop Wallpaper: https://canva.link/bl4qrgp1mb1w65uPhone Wallpaper: https://canva.link/eqpekigl4ga1ctrIn this episode, I explore one of the most valuable—and most misunderstood—benefits of practicing Stoicism: genuine
How to relax like a Stoic
Fill out the survey, get free stuff: https://stoicismpod.com/surveyApply for private coaching: https://stoicismpod.com/applySupport this podcast financially: https://stoicismpod.com/membersIn this episode, I explore what it actually means to relax from a Stoic perspective, and why so much of the advice we're given about relaxation misses the mark.I begin by questioning the common idea that relaxat
How to overcome our internal struggles
Apply for private coaching: https://stoicismpod.com/applySupport this podcast financially: https://stoicismpod.com/membersEpisode Summary:In this episode, I explore why so many of us stay stuck for years—even when we genuinely want to change—and why Stoicism, while powerful, is often only one part of the solution.I begin by sharing an update on my coaching practice and explain why one-on-one philo
How to stop procrastinating
In this episode, I explore procrastination from a Stoic perspective and argue that it isn't a problem of laziness—it's a problem of judgment.Drawing on Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and my own experience with ADHD, I explain why we often mistake temporary discomfort for a good reason to delay action. We tell ourselves we'll start when we feel ready, but readiness is rarely something we possess before b
How to Stop Caring What People Think
In this episode, I explore why criticism from other people affects us so deeply—and why, from a Stoic perspective, it often shouldn't.The episode begins with a chance encounter in a Starbucks that led me to reflect on something many of us experience: the discomfort of feeling judged. Whether it's criticism from a stranger, a colleague, or someone we care about, our first reaction is usually emotio
How to stop overthinking
Get the archives: https://www.stoicismpod.com/the-archive/In this episode, I explore what overthinking actually is from a Stoic perspective—and why most advice about it misses the point.We often think we're "thinking things through" when we're lying awake replaying conversations, imagining worst-case scenarios, or rehearsing events that haven't happened. But I argue that this isn't really thinking
How to engage in politics like a Stoic
Apply for private mentoring: https://tannerocampbell.com/applySupport my work: https://stoicismpod.com/membersSubscribe to my newsletter: https://stoicbrekkie.comIn this episode I'm tackling the thing nobody wants me to tackle: politics. Before you run away, I promise I'm not endorsing anyone or anything. What I'm interested in is how a Stoic engages politically, not who a Stoic votes for. I get i
Are Laws Un-Stoic?
Learn more about Stoic Brekkie by post here: https://stoicbrekkie.com/p/stoic-brekkie-is-returning-with-an-analogue-twistRegister your interest in Stoic Brekkie by post here: https://bypost.stoicbrekkie.com ------
Managing Anger as a Parent
In this episode, I talk about parenting, exhaustion, frustration, and the very real challenge of remaining Stoic when your emotional battery is running on empty.Stoic Mentoring: https://tannerocampbell.com/mentoringSunday 7th Webinar: https://stoictalks.uk/june-cosmologyUsing a story from my own 43rd birthday, I walk through a morning that did not go according to plan. What I wanted was a peaceful
Keeping Your Cool
In this episode, I talk about heat, irritability, anger, and why being physically uncomfortable can quietly erode our Stoic practice if we’re not paying attention.First, an announcement: after years of being asked, I’m officially opening applications for 1:1 Stoic mentoring and life coaching. This is a six-month mentorship for people who are serious about applying Stoicism deeply and consistently
Decide Like a Stoic
Support my work for as little as £0.87/wk: https://stoicismpod.com/members--In this episode, I lay out a practical, step-by-step Stoic framework for making decisions well.A lot of people interested in Stoicism know the quotes, know the terminology, and understand the broad concepts — but when an actual difficult choice appears in front of them, they still don’t know what to do. This episode is abo
You Cannot Be Just a Stoic
In this episode, I take aim at what I call “stoa shaming”—the habit of pointing out someone’s failure to be perfectly Stoic as a way of dismissing both them and the philosophy.You’ve seen it. Someone loses their temper, struggles with their weight, or makes a mistake, and the response is: “That’s not very Stoic of you.” On the surface, it sounds like a call to higher standards. In reality, it reve
We Must Say No To Thirsty Justice
Register for the May 9th workshop today: https://tannerocampbell.com/may--In this episode I work through how Stoic Justice differs from what we moderns typically mean by the word — because when we say "justice" today, we almost always mean retribution: rewards for the deserving, punishments for the rest. Stoic Justice isn't concerned with desert in that sense at all. It's concerned with giving eac
Silence Is Not Always Complicity
Stoic Journaling 50% OFF - Use code EASTER50 - https://stoicjournaling.com--Live in Leicester? Join me live on May the 23rd: https://tannerocampbell.com/events/stoicism-a-complete-framework-for-living-a-good-life--In this episode, I explore the idea that “silence is complicity” and whether that claim holds up under Stoic scrutiny.This phrase gets used as a kind of moral pressure—an attempt to forc
Stoic Endurance & Resilience
Join the Prokoptôn Journaling program: https://stoicjournaling.com use the code "BREKKIE" at checkout to save 25%--In this episode, recorded from the Isle of Raasay in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, I reflect on endurance and resilience—what they are, how they differ, and why both matter.The setting matters. The Highlands and islands confront you with something modern life often hides: limits. Weath
Will AI Destroy Our Purpose?
My Stoic Journaling Program is now 25% OFF with code "BREKKIE". Sign up at https://stoicjournaling.com.--In this episode, I explore a growing concern: will AI eliminate human work, and if it does, what happens to our sense of purpose?I start by acknowledging the reality in front of us. AI is rapidly improving across creative and technical domains. Tasks that once required human skill are now being
Why should Stoics journal?
Take advantage here: https://stoicjournaling.comUse the code "BREKKIE" at checkout for 25% off.That's it. Have a great rest of your week.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stoicism vs. The Manosphere
Join Prokoptôn, a private community of dedicated practicing Stoics working together to improve. Learn more at https://skool.com/prokoptonIn this episode, I respond to a surge of listener questions about masculinity following a recent documentary on the so-called “manosphere.” The central question is simple: what does Stoicism actually say about what it means to be a man?I begin by clarifying a cor
Can We Make Anger Useful?
Join Prokoptôn, a private community of dedicated practicing Stoics working together to improve. Learn more at https://skool.com/prokopton--In this episode, I explore Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations 6.27 and what it teaches us about anger. Marcus reminds us that when people do wrong, they do so because they believe their actions are beneficial or appropriate. Our task, therefore, is not to react with
Can Wars Be Just?
Join Prokoptôn, a private community of dedicated practicing Stoics working together to improve. Learn more at https://skool.com/prokopton--Support my work for as little as $1 a month: https://stoicismpod.com/members--Subscribe to my Stoic Brekkie newsletter: https://stoicbrekkie.com--I pull heavily from Leonidas Konstantakos' "Stoicism and Just War Theory" doctoral dissertation in this episode. I
Curse Moral Relativism!
Subscribe to the FREE Stoic Brekkie newsletter: https://stoicbrekkie.comI am a public philosopher. I am enabled to do this job, in large part, thanks to support from my listeners and readers. You can support my work, and keep it independent and online, at https://stoicismpod.com/membersIn this episode, I respond to a short clip discussing incest as an example of emotivism in meta-ethics. Emotivi
Zeno vs. Aristo on Indifferent Things
I am a public philosopher, it is my only job. I am enabled to do this job, in large part, thanks to support from my listeners and readers. You can support my work, keep it independent and online, at https://stoicismpod.com/members
Looking for more Stoic content? Consider my 3x/week newsletter "Stoic Brekkie": https://stoicbrekkie.com
In this episode, I take up a question that seems settle
Is Sex Work Un-Stoic?
I am a public philosopher, it is my only job. I am enabled to do this job, in large part, thanks to support from my listeners and readers. You can support my work, keep it independent and online, at https://stoicismpod.com/members
Looking for more Stoic content? Consider my 3x/week newsletter "Stoic Brekkie": https://stoicbrekkie.com
Musonius Rufus Discourse 12: https://archive.org/detail
Stoicism Is Not Compliance Nor Blind Obedience
I am a public philosopher, it is my only job. I am enabled to do this job, in large part, thanks to support from my listeners and readers. You can support my work, keep it independent and online, at https://stoicismpod.com/members
Looking for more Stoic content? Consider my 3x/week newsletter "Stoic Brekkie": https://stoicbrekkie.com
The Iris Council: https://iriscouncil.com
In this episo
Toxic Soil
I am a public philosopher, it is my only job. I am enabled to do this job, in large part, thanks to support from my listeners and readers. You can support my work, keep it independent and online, at https://stoicismpod.com/members
Looking for more Stoic content? Consider my 3x/week newsletter "Stoic Brekkie": https://stoicbrekkie.com
In this episode, I respond to a listener question promp
Seneca: Avoiding Crowds and Group Think
I am a public philosopher, it is my only job. I am enabled to do this job, in large part, thanks to support from my listeners and readers. You can support my work, keep it independent and online, at https://stoicismpod.com/members
Looking for more Stoic content? Consider my 3x/week newsletter "Stoic Brekkie": https://stoicbrekkie.com
In this episode, I revisit Seneca, a Stoic who often
Difficult People and Moral Progress
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In this episode I reset Practical Stoicism back to its foundations and begin a new chapter for the show by returning to the classical texts themselves. I explain why this version of the po
Trailer [Updated January 2026]
Welcome, to Practical Stoicism.This podcast is for the prokoptôn: the person making moral progress. In Stoic philosophy, a prokoptôn is not a sage and is not expected to be perfect. Sagehood is likely unattainable. What matters is direction, not arrival.Practical Stoicism rejects popular distortions of Stoicism as emotional suppression, hardship-seeking, or performative toughness. Endurance may de
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