Philosophy

Wisdom in the Best Books and Films Podcast

Bite-sized bits of wisdom from my favorite books and films.

wisdominbestbooks.substack.com

Latest Episodes:

Special Episode: Book Review of “Wisdom Takes Work” by Ryan Holliday Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get Kyle’s book from this episode: Principles Based Planning by Kyle J. Christensen. As an Amazon Associate this podcast earns from qualifying purchases.

📚 Get the book Kyle reviews: Wisdom Takes Work by Ryan Holiday. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

📚 Also mentioned: The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday (Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition).

📚 Also mentioned: Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

Learn more or get in touch with Kyle’s team at Unique Advantage: http://www.uniqueadvantage.biz

⭐ Support the podcast with a paid subscription: Subscribe here

## Description

This special episode is a first taste of the bonus episodes that will be for paid subscribers after January. My friend Kyle J. Christensen, a principles-based financial planner and the author of Principles Based Planning, reviews Ryan Holiday’s Wisdom Takes Work. Kyle shares how Holiday’s The Obstacle Is the Way and Lives of the Stoics led him to this final book in the Stoic virtues series, and why the opening story of Hercules at the crossroads is his favorite part: the choice between a life of ease and the sterner path of hard work. He connects it to financial planning and to the plan of salvation, shares his favorite quotes on becoming a lifelong student, and reminds us that reading means reading, and that wisdom is found in the doing.

“It would make him the name he was meant to be.”

Chapters:

00:00 Hook: Hercules at the crossroads

00:41 Intro: Kyle Christensen and Principles Based Planning

03:27 Kyle’s review begins: The Obstacle Is the Way

04:30 Lives of the Stoics, Cincinnatus and George Washington

06:00 Wisdom Takes Work: Hercules at the crossroads

08:04 Knowledge vs. wisdom: virtue and principles

08:59 Favorite quotes: becoming a student for life

11:28 Final thoughts on the book

11:56 Closing

Wisdom in the Best Books and Films: bite-sized nuggets of truth from great books and films, used to help us become better people. Hosted by Jake Bair.

Read or listen on Substack: https://wisdominbestbooks.substack.com

⭐ Paid subscription: https://wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

Questions, recommendations, or comments: wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

If you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share it with someone who’d like it.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

105. The Secret is to Wake Up Nov 01, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett: bookshop.org (buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast)

Have you ever had a stretch of life where everything felt clear and awake? In Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men, young Tiffany Aching faces a Fairy Queen whose great weapon is dreams. Tiffany answers her with one of my favorite lines in all of fantasy. In this episode I talk about those clear-headed seasons, why waking up is harder than dreaming, and how, even with ups and downs, we can grow from grace to grace.

“The secret is not to dream. The secret is to wake up. Waking up is harder.”

Chapters:00:00 Hook: “The secret is to wake up”00:08 Intro00:18 Welcome02:33 The Secret Is to Wake Up03:05 Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men04:17 Inside Tiffany’s head05:30 Waking up is harder05:49 A season of being awake07:05 Grace upon grace (John 1:16)07:22 Ups, downs, and an upward trend07:49 Closing thoughts

Wisdom in the Best Books and Films: bite-sized nuggets of truth from great books and films, used to help us become better people. Hosted by Jake Bair.

Read or listen on Substack: wisdominbestbooks.substack.com⭐ Paid subscription: wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribeQuestions, recommendations, or comments: wisdominbestbooks@gmail.comIf you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share it with someone who’d like it.

Tags: The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett, Tiffany Aching, Discworld, Nac Mac Feegle, fairy queen, fantasy, waking up, grace, John 1:16, Christian reflection, books, Wisdom in the Best Books and Films

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

104. King of the Golden River Oct 25, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

📖 Read it for free at this link.

⭐ Support the podcast with a paid subscription: Subscribe here

## Description

It’s the fourth Sunday of the month, so it’s story time! This week I read John Ruskin’s fairy tale The King of the Golden River. Last time we heard Ruskin tell us that art should ennoble us and make us better people, so now let’s see if his own story can do that. Two cruel brothers, Hans and Schwartz, ruin the beautiful Treasure Valley with their greed, while their little brother Gluck is kind to a strange visitor, melts down his golden mug, and meets the King of the Golden River himself. Who will reach the source of the river, and what makes water truly holy? This episode’s video includes new illustrations and animations of the story’s scenes.

“The water which has been refused to the cry of the weary and dying is unholy, though it had been blessed by every saint in heaven; and the water which is found in the vessel of mercy is holy.”

Chapters:

00:00 Hook: “Whoever shall climb to the top of that mountain”

00:24 Intro: paid subscriptions and book links

02:36 Why John Ruskin and The King of the Golden River

04:25 Chapter I: South-West Wind, Esquire, visits the Black Brothers

21:29 Chapter II: Gluck meets the King of the Golden River

33:06 Chapter III: Hans sets off for the Golden River

43:39 Chapter IV: Schwartz sets off for the Golden River

48:11 Chapter V: Little Gluck’s journey

56:23 Closing thoughts

Wisdom in the Best Books and Films: bite-sized nuggets of truth from great books and films, used to help us become better people. Hosted by Jake Bair.

Read or listen on Substack: https://wisdominbestbooks.substack.com

⭐ Paid subscription: https://wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

Questions, recommendations, or comments: wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

If you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share it with someone who’d like it.

## Tags

The King of the Golden River, John Ruskin, fairy tale, short story read aloud, Gluck, Treasure Valley, Victorian literature, kindness, mercy, greed, classic literature, audiobook, Wisdom in the Best Books and Films

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

103. You Have To Mean Not To Oct 18, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: The Seventh Gate by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

“I never meant for this to happen.” In The Seventh Gate, the final book of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Death Gate Cycle, Alfred tries to step out of the blame, and Jonathan won’t let him. In this episode I wrap up our Death Gate series with a story from a job where I handled radioactive materials, and a lesson my dad taught me when I was five: you have to mean not to.

“Mistakes do not require malice to require repair. You may not have meant to cause the problem, but once you know about it, you have to mean not to leave it there, and you have to mean not to repeat it.”

Chapters:

00:00 Hook: “You have to mean not to”

00:12 Intro: wrapping up the Death Gate Cycle

02:20 The Seventh Gate: Alfred and Jonathan

03:12 A story about radioactive materials at work

04:04 “You have to mean not to”

05:19 The lesson: mistakes require repair

05:52 Closing

Wisdom in the Best Books and Films: bite-sized nuggets of truth from great books and films, used to help us become better people. Hosted by Jake Bair.

Read or listen on Substack: https://wisdominbestbooks.substack.com

Questions, recommendations, or comments: wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

If you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share it with someone who’d like it.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

102. The Relation of Art to Religion Oct 11, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: Lectures on Art by John Ruskin. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

📖 Read it for free at this link.

Subscribe at:

wisdominbestbooks.substack.com

Feel free to contact me with any questions, recommendations, or comments at:

wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

I respond to all emails I receive and that is the best way to reach me. Also please share the show with others you think may be interested by sending them a link wherever you listen.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

101. Creatures to Act Oct 04, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the books from this episode: Into the Labyrinth by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, recommendations, or comments at:

wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

I respond to all emails I receive and that is the best way to reach me. Also please share the show with others you think may be interested by sending them a link wherever you listen.

Please subscribe on Substack where subscribers get more content starting November 2026! The link to subscribe is:

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

100. Shooting An Elephant Sep 27, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: A Collection of Essays by George Orwell. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

Link to the full story.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, recommendations, or comments at:

wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

I respond to all emails I receive and that is the best way to reach me. Also please share the show with others you think may be interested by sending them a link wherever you listen.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

99. The Face of Evil Sep 20, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: The Hand of Chaos by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, recommendations, or comments at:

wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

I respond to all emails I receive and that is the best way to reach me. Also please share the show with others you think may be interested by sending them a link wherever you listen.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

98. A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful Sep 13, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

📖 Read it for free at this link.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, recommendations, or comments at:

wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

I respond to all emails I receive and that is the best way to reach me. Also please share the show with others you think may be interested by sending them a link wherever you listen.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

97. The Flicker of Faith’s Candle Sep 06, 2026

Show notes

📚 Get the book from this episode: Serpent Mage by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. Buying through Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and this podcast.

Feel free to contact me with any questions, recommendations, or comments at:

wisdominbestbooks@gmail.com

I respond to all emails I receive and that is the best way to reach me. Also please share the show with others you think may be interested by sending them a link wherever you listen.

Get full access to Wisdom in the Best Books and Films at wisdominbestbooks.substack.com/subscribe

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