Geeky Stoics

4:47

Stoic Lessons in Game of Thrones

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/10/29

A podcast addition to Geeky Stoics“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well”- Epictetus, Enchiridion, 8.Grey Worm looks at Missandei, with a profound seriousness on his face but a sort of sadness in his eyes. He has not just accepted what happened to him, but he has chosen something akin to gratitude.“If the masters never cut me, I never am Unsullied. I never stand in the Plaza of Pride when

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4:36

Geeky Stoics Takes a Walk in the Woods

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/10/14

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.geekystoics.comA few weeks ago, Riley and I got together in Northern Virginia to spend some time working on Geeky Stoics’ future. For me, the highlight was taking a morning walk out in the Manassas Battlefield Park and sharing some ideas with each other about why we take fiction so seriously. The goal was a candid conversation. At the heart of this exchange is a commo…

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3:18

Luke, Moses, Jonah and The Call

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/10/07

“There’s no difference between responsibility and adventure” is something said by Jordan Peterson in his most recent chat with Joe Rogan. I scribbled that one down as soon as I heard it. It resonated for a few reasons, chief among them that accepting responsibility in my own life around age 20 led me to the life I have now…with a beautiful wife of 13 years and an equally lovely daughter of 13. The adventure has been unbelievable and has taken me in so many directions I didn’t anticipate.Like most

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4:57

Hobbits, Rebels, Death Stars and Home

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/10/01

Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings have two very similar moments. As a great threat makes itself known in each world, a band of potential heroes circle up to assess the danger and devise a plan. In Star Wars: Rogue One this is the “rebellions are built on hope speech” delivered by Jyn Erso who has discovered the plans for the Death Star and wants to lead the fractured Rebel Alliance in stealing them. The Rebels are divided and hardly interested in risking everything over a rumor. In The Lord of the

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5:02

Why I Do This Newsletter

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/08/02

Owen: "We don't need anything from you, Kenobi." Obi-Wan: "It's just a toy."Owen: "It's a lot more than that."―Owen Lars to Obi-Wan KenobiI’ve been thinking a lot today about why I do this. Here’s what I came up with. Geeky Stoics is about drawing out the transcendent from the entertaining. It’s about reaching beyond “escapism” and expanding your potential in the real world through the enjoyment of other worlds. Every place we visit, we take something home. You travel to South Carolina….you come

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35:05

Warm Memories Push Us Forward

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/07/24

Why do our warmest memories sort of hurt? You know the feeling. An old home video from childhood where you’re opening Christmas presents in the company of siblings and cousins, or the memory box from high school full of photos and scribblings featuring your long-lost best friends. We miss these times. Though they were challenging at the time (being a teenager is hard) you can’t help but look back on those years as more…simple. Today, we want to show you a short YouTube video called “A Love Letter To

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5:26

A Time For Yelling

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/06/20

“What view is one likely to take of the state of a person’s mind when his speech is wild and incoherent and knows no restraint?” The Roman known as Seneca asked this question sometime around the year 50 AD in a collection of letters now published as Letters From A Stoic. It’s possible I like this book more than Stoicism’s seminal text, Meditations. It’s very practical. Seneca was a lawyer, senator, political advisor and philosopher, and his letters are chock full of very strong takes on matters such

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4:36

Strong, Empty Feelings

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/06/13

Clive Staples Lewis (C.S. Lewis), known to friends and family as “Jacksie” (or Jack), was a stridently opinionated young man from the earliest age. He was a bookworm, an avid enjoyer of mythology and you could even say he was a bit too pleased with himself for it. During an unpleasant period of Lewis’ life (age 15) studying at Malvern College, a boys’ prep school, Lewis began to form an aspect of his personality he’d work a lifetime to keep in check: scorn. Malvern valued athletics above everything

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6:47

Climb The Desk, See Differently

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/06/03

Yesterday I revisited a Robin Williams classic, the Dead Poets Society. This movie likely inspired a generation of English teachers, based on how many times this movie was shown to me in school by a teacher with a twinkle in their eye. Everyone fancies themselves the Williams character, Mr. Keating, who teaches his students about language, romanticism, and “carpe diem”. It’s a great movie and aged well. In a sense, Dead Poets is standard fare for the inspirational drama genre. Its main beats

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8:29

I Don't Think About You At All

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/05/29

Once there was a Gnat who flew over the meadow with much buzzing for so small a creature and he settled on the tip of one of the horns of a Bull. After he had rested a short time, the Gnat made ready to fly away. But before he left he begged the Bull's pardon for having used his horn for a resting place."You must be very glad to have me go now," said the Gnat"It's all the same to me," replied the Bull. "I did not even know you were there."Ouch! This is one of my favorite of Aesop’s Fables. Like the

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2:59

It's Okay To Just Enjoy Things

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/05/27

Nothing is worse than losing your sense of who you are. That’s what Riley wrote about for Geeky Stoics just a few days ago. C.S. Lewis worried about this too. He had this sense that Satan himself would love nothing more than to alienate the individual from the person in the mirror. That horrible, empty feeling when you look at yourself and don’t like what you see. The hatred of your own unique voice or reflection. That’s part of what we discussed in today’s Geeky Stoics Book Club!C.S. Lewis writes

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7:54

Let's Do This Together

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/05/25

The problems on Naboo were deeper than a droid army invasion in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Their planet was divided. One culture and species above the water, another pushed below. The Gungans are sort of a George Lucas stand-in for an indigenous people, while the human beings of Naboo are like colonial settlers. “The Naboo” came from off-world and ran the Gungans off their land. That’s hundreds of years of galactic history.By time we get to The Phantom Menace, the Gungans loathe the

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12:29

This Is a Field Manual, Not a Retreat

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/05/13

Life is comfortable in the ivory tower. You can look down on the rest of the world from the observatory window, seated next to your collection of books chock full of ancient wisdom and quips. The Jedi Order was trapped in this state during the years leading up to the Star Wars prequel trilogy (Episodes I, II, III). The Jedi Council literally sat around at the top of an ivory-looking tower on Coruscant, projecting outward their enlightenment and supernatural power as they looked out on Coruscant from

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3:31

Touch Grass (Test Impressions)

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/05/02

“In a given year, you meet (dozens) or more people you spend enough time with to appraise their character. Think about them: How many do you think are decent, normal people who do volunteer work, help shovel after a storm, look out for family and neighbors?” This is a question asked often by Jim VandeHei of Axios when he’s speaking to audiences across the country, and it’s an important one. Do you think of the real human beings in your personal network as someone who’d chip in when there’s a need? I

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9:20

Ahsoka the Stoic, Ahsoka the Rock

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/04/12

Happy Friday, Geeky Stoics! I hope you all had a positive week. Today I’ve got a short reflection on Stoicism and emotion, and whether or not the two can co-exist. A popular criticism of the philosophy is that it’s “cold” and “harsh”. I strongly disagree and will use Ahsoka from Star Wars as a case study in ‘stoic’ as a character trait. First, two questions for you all. * Do you enjoy or make use of the Audio versions of our articles? Or do you listen to the Geeky Stoics podcast? It takes quite a

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7:32

Interested in Stoicism? Watch Star Wars

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/04/08

Stephen Kent of Geeky Stoics lists off similarities between Stoic Philosophy and Star Wars. Get full access to Geeky Stoics at www.geekystoics.com/subscribe

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7:27

The Only Thing They Need You To Be

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/04/05

In Dune, Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) does not want to be the ruler of his people. His father, Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) of the House Atreides, aims to help him down that path as gently as possible. Like many young characters at the start of their Hero’s Journey, Paul does not want the responsibility of power. He doesn’t crave its weight. Leto would have preferred to be a pilot himself, but here he is, a monarchal ruler instead. It’s a classic motif. Young princes don’t know how to be kings

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6:03

So We Put On A Mask

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/03/18

In the new live-action adaptation of Airbender, Uncle Iroh is reflecting on the suffering of his nephew, Prince Zuko, who has been banished from home for not being as cutthroat and ruthless as his father would like him to be. Zuko tries very hard to impress his father, but Zuko has a big heart, and it makes the task impossible.Zuko lives his life day to day not being his true self, not letting that heart show. The reason is simple. Showing his heart got him hurt very badly when his father laid fire

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4:47

Make-Believe "Future You"

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/03/14

Insights from C.S. Lewis and George Washington on being better than we actually are. Turns out “fake it to make it” might actually be a decent mantra for self-improvement. This is Geeky Stoics. A Podcast and Newsletter about the wisdom to be found in popular culture.TRANSCRIPTI've been thinking a lot lately about imposter syndrome and when exactly I'm going to feel like the person I one day wish to be.There's a future me out there who I believe is more disciplined and entrepreneurial, creative,

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1:00

Just Say Sorry, It's Okay

Geeky Stoics ·

2024/03/01

If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Get full access to Geeky Stoics at www.geekystoics.com/subscribe

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