The Daily Stoic

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Ryan Lavarnway on Sports and Philosophy Sep 24, 2022

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Ryan talks to professional baseball catcher Ryan Lavarnway about his experience being the only professional baseball player with a philosophy degree from Yale, the intersection of sports and philosophy, the ups and downs of being a professional athlete, and more.

Ryan Lavarnway is the current Detroit Tigers’ Triple A Toledo Mud Hens catcher and 2013 World Series Champion. He has held many valuable experiences, both in and out of the baseball field. A Yale University graduate, Ryan was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2008 where he won a World Series in 2013. Since making his MLB debut in 2011, Ryan has played in 10 MLB seasons for eight different teams. He also first played for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and was named Pool A MVP and rejoined the team for the 2020 Olympics.

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This Is Why You Should Stick Around | Ask Daily Stoic Sep 23, 2022

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There are moments where things are so bad it can seem like they’ll never get better. Perhaps we’re young and being bullied. Or we’re in the midst of some massive rush of negative publicity–maybe we’re being canceled, or as the Stoics often were, exiled. Or the political situation seems to deteriorate each day. Or we’re just so sick or in pain that we can’t get out of bed.

If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis and you live in the United States, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. For resources outside the United States please click here.

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All That Matters Is How We Respond | No Pain No Gain Sep 22, 2022

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It was the great Athenian leader, Pericles, who said that there was nothing wrong with poverty. It could be caused by so many things—a business failure, the sudden loss of a family’s breadwinner, theft, even just plain old back luck. Like the Stoics, he knew that Fortune could swoop in, and, in the blink of an eye, undo years of hard work and careful planning.

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Tim Miller on Political Games and Building Integrity Sep 21, 2022

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Ryan talks to political consultant and writer Tim Miller about his new book Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell, the game of American politics, how to maintain integrity in your work, and more.

Tim Miller is a former Republican communications operative who held moderate views and backed moderate candidates for years. But he says in practicing the arts of opposition research and planting negative stories about rival candidates, he worked with increasingly extreme right-wing media outlets and fed populatist outrage that would radicalize much of the Republican voter base. Tim examines this and considers why so many Republicans who thought Trump unfit for office nonetheless backed him, in his new book, Why We Did It. Tim is an MSNBC analyst, writer-at-large at The Bulwark, and the host of “Not My Party” on Snapchat. Tim was communications director for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign and spokesman for the Republican National Committee during Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. He has since left the GOP and become one of the leaders of the “Never Trump” movement.

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It's About Finding the Right Amount Sep 21, 2022

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When we hear the word “temperance,” C.S. Lewis observed, most of us in the modern world think of “abstinence.” Even when you look up the definition of abstinence, temperance is a synonym. But temperance, Lewis wrote, is actually about going to the, “right length but no further.”

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Don’t You See How Crazy This Is? | Discipline Is Destiny: Ruling Over Yourself Sep 20, 2022

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Sometimes things become so ordinary, such a normal part of life in polite society, that we fail to see how utterly insane they are. History is replete with these examples. Who would propose today that one human should be allowed to own another? Or that only one specific race and gender be allowed to vote? Just 100 years ago men wore one-piece bathing suits to the beach while women were forbidden from smoking in public, wearing pants, or owning property. It wasn’t so long ago that doctors thought lots of red meat and cigarettes were good for you. There were magazine ads about it.

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Would You Actually Be Able To Change? | On Handling Haters Sep 19, 2022

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Breaking news: an asteroid is hurtling towards earth and could destroy the planet. The judge rules: you have a year to get your affairs in order and report to prison for the mandatory maximum sentence. The doctor calls: you have a short time to live. The sirens sound: nuclear war has broken out and the end is near.

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Aristotle on How to Tell a Story Pt. 2 Sep 18, 2022

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Today’s episode features an excerpt from How to Tell a Story: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Storytelling for Writers and Readers translated by Philip Freeman as part of Princeton University Press’s Anient Wisdom For Modern Readers series.

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Elliot Ackerman on Storytelling and the Cyclical Nature of History Sep 17, 2022

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Ryan talks to author and journalist Elliot Ackerman about his new book The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan, the origins of storytelling, his experiences evacuating hundreds of refugees in Afghanistan, and more.

Elliot Ackerman is a former White House Fellow and Marine, and served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart. Elliot’s books have been nominated for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in both fiction and non-fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize among others. His writing often appears in Esquire, The New Yorker, and The New York Times where he is a contributing opinion writer, and his stories have been included in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Travel Writing.

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Face Down in the Moment | Ask Daily Stoic Sep 16, 2022

Show notes

The thing about life is that it’s not a thing. Life is a series of moments. As the great Annie Dillard said, how we spend our days is how we spend our lives—and how we spend our moments is how we spend our days.

📕Pre-order Ryan Holiday's new book "Discipline Is Destiny" and get exclusive pre-order bonuses at https://dailystoic.com/preorder

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