x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

John Vespasian

JOHN VESPASIAN is the author of sixteen books, including “When everything fails, try this” (2009), “Rationality is the way to happiness” (2009), “The philosophy of builders” (2010), “The 10 principles of rational living” (2012), “Rational living, rational working” (2013), “Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief” (2014), “On becoming unbreakable” (2015), “Thriving in difficult times” (2016), “Causality: Aristotle’s life and ideas” (2024), “Foresight: Schopenhauer’s life and ideas” (2024),

science social sciences

All Episodes

6:10

Seneca on dealing with criticism

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

Conflict is the one of main sources of preoccupations in life. Interpersonal conflicts tend to generate higher anxiety than natural disasters. Most people find daily quarrels with their spouses more nerve-wrecking than one-in-a-lifetime damages inflicted by a volcano. In his 78th Letter to Lucilius, #seneca studied negative emotions and provided useful recommendations. The validation of those strategies relies on historical anecdotes and Seneca’s own experience. Seneca concentrated on how to deal

en

7:45

Seneca: effectiveness in the face of criticism

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

It is easy to dispense advice in retrospect and tell people what they should have done. It is far more difficult to make the right decisions in real time, while being bitterly criticised and publicly attacked. Psychological pressure is hard to resist, especially when it is coming at us from all directions. #seneca knew that, in the absence of a solid #philosophy , individuals tend to break down under pressure and commit one error after another. How do we preserve our #effectiveness in the face of

en

5:33

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 4)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

When a philosopher spends his life telling others what to do, it’s fair to ask if his own life has been a success. In the case of Seneca, the fact that he committed suicide at sixty-nine makes it hard to categorize his life as success. Emperor Nero had decided Seneca’s execution, but giving him first the order to commit suicide. If Seneca had refused, a Roman soldier would have killed him right away, decapitated him, and taken his head to Rome. In the Roman Empire, it wasn’t considered a sign of

en

5:53

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 3)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/09

It frequently happens that individuals will criticise someone else’s mistakes more readily than they will admit their own. We all find our own psychological defences hard to overcome and #seneca was the paramount example. When he became tutor to Nero, the future Roman Emperor, it didn’t take long for Seneca to realize that Nero was a psycho. In his mid-teens, Nero was already displaying alarming cruelty and paranoia. The encroaching #danger was written on the wall. Seneca possessed sufficient

en

5:41

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 2)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/05

Due to the edict issued by Emperor Claudius, #seneca spent eight years in exile in Corsica. His property, family and friends had remained in Rome. Since the imperial edict had not specified the length of the exile, Seneca believed that he would have to stay in Corsica for the rest of his life. When Seneca first set foot on Corsica, he was only forty-five years old, far too young to give up all hope. Nevertheless, he had witnessed how exile had gone for other people. None of them had been pardoned;

en

5:59

Philosophical lessons from Seneca’s life (Part 1)

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/05

When analysing the insights of great philosophers, I love to look at their biographies and see the practical implications. Do their biographies reflect the benefits of their insights? Did their choices prove particularly perceptive and clever? #seneca (4 BC-65 AD) passed the biography test with flight colours. His choices mirrored his philosophy and all his friends admired his #inspiring , reflective personality. I view as a minor issue that some of Seneca’s actions do not match his philosophical

en

6:39

How to use Seneca’s philosophy today

John Vespasian ·

2026/03/05

Philosophy is either perennial or false because it is based on the principles underlying the universe and human nature. Great thinkers such as #aristotle (384-322 BC) identified and codified those principles. When we affirm that Aristotle’s #philosophy is true, we mean that Aristotle has correctly identified those principles and then codified them in an intelligible manner. Generation after generation, people have been relying on a handful of philosophers to figure out the world. True answers help

en

6:58

Schopenhauer’s philosophy of life compared with Taoism

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/27

Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) was deeply familiar with Eastern philosophy, in particular #buddhism and #hinduism . He held in high regard the Eastern approach to stress reduction by reducing one’s emotional engagement. In Schopenhauer’s books, you won’t find a call for “nirvana” and other Eastern philosophical concepts. Nonetheless, he put forward recommendations that are similar to “nirvana.” There’s no doubt that Schopenhauer deployed great efforts to draw the best ideas from Buddhism and

en

6:15

Idealism in Schopenhauer’s views on love and...

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/27

In his works, Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) pointed out that #love #relationships often fail because people will initially idealise their beloved, and experience disappointment when they realise that their expectations do not match reality. Schopenhauer presented those views in “The world as will and representation” (1818) and in “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). He warned readers against seeking short-term pleasure without assessing the cost and risks involved. According to Schopenhauer, the

en

7:19

Schopenhauer’s influence on Freud

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/27

Sigmund #freud (1856–1939) did not acknowledge at every opportunity an intellectual debt towards Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860) because he claimed to have created the theory of the #unconscious or theory of #instincts as a driving force of human psychology. However, anyone familiar with Freud’s and Schopenhauer’s ideas cannot possibly fail to notice the close similarity between Freud’s theory of the unconscious and Schopenhauer’s ideas, in particular, the theory of the will (“life force”). Let us

en

6:04

Schopenhauer on ethics

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/25

The ethics system proposed by Arthur #schopenhauer (1788-1860) is similar to Ancient #stoicism in some aspects, but offers more complex explanations on the workings of nature, society, and human motivation. Schopenhauer theorised that life is fundamentally marked by the influence of the will (“life force”) which will generate a large amount of suffering and dissatisfaction if you fail to take countermeasures. The theory of the will was put forward by Schopenhauer in his work “The world as will and

en

8:07

Schopenhauer’s views on the self

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/25

What are the characteristics of the #philosophy of the self developed by Arthur #schopenhauer (1788-1860)? Which are the differences between his ideas and those of other philosophers? Schopenhauer outlined his philosophy in “The world as will and representation,” a book published in 1818. The book puts forward the “theory of the will” as an explanation for the cosmos, society, and human nature. According to this theory, the will (“life force”) is driving all living creatures to ensure their own

en

7:00

Opposition to Schopenhauer’s philosophy of education

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/25

There is fierce opposition to the #philosophy of #education put forward by Arthur #schopenhauer (1788-1860). The opposition goes beyond little details. It’s essential, fundamental, ferocious, and relentless. Schopenhauer created his own antagonists from the moment that he diverged from the doctrines of #plato (429-347 BC). You can find those doctrines in Plato’s book “The Republic.” Plato employed grandiloquent terms for describing his ideas about education. He spoke about a “just, harmonious

en

9:41

Aristotle’s perspective on the purpose of human life

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/05

If you wonder why so many people seem completely lost, unable to make good decisions, the answer is straightforward: They have no purpose in life. They have no goals, no #vision of what they want to achieve. They are going nowhere in particular and do not care if they get there or not. Since they have no sense of direction, they are incapable of consistent action. No wonder they feel stressed. In contrast, #aristotle placed purpose at the very centre of his view of ethics. Purpose is the magnet that

en

7:55

Key ideas in Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and...

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/05

The concepts of potentiality and actuality occupy the central position in Aristotle’s #metaphysics . They supply an invaluable intellectual tool to assess people and events for what they are, and for what they could become. They prompt you to assess not only what is self-evident, but also the latent capabilities and threats; they let you forecast the future by using #causality and logic, not magic and divination. Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality encompass three key ideas. Each of

en

5:08

Happiness and Aristotle’s views on the nature of...

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/05

I’m always amused when people talk about #philosophy with disdain, arguing that “it is a waste of time because it lacks any practical application.” This opinion, which is as widespread today as it was during Aristotle’s life (384-322 BC), is profoundly naive. It shows the inability to perceive the impact of abstractions on daily events. In fact, it matters a lot if your views on the nature of reality and existence are accurate. If your views (and those outlined by #aristotle ) are aligned with

en

5:58

The failed crusade against Aristotle’s philosophy of...

John Vespasian ·

2026/02/05

The philosophical innovations brought forth by #aristotle (384-322 BC) are momentous, truly revolutionary, especially in the field of logic. His identification of a precise method (which he called #syllogism ) to reach accurate conclusions allowed, for the first time in history, to conduct rational debates. Modern #civilisation is built on the pillars of Aristotle’s logic and the enemies of civilisation know that it can be undermined by severing those pillars. Without well-defined rules of #logic ,

en

11:37

Misunderstandings about Seneca’s ideas

John Vespasian ·

2026/01/28

It is not a coincidence that historians and philosophers have spread large misunderstandings of #stoicism , especially of the ideas presented by Seneca in his writings. They did so, not to destroy Seneca’s reputation, but to push their own doctrines to the forefront. They believed that, by undermining the appeal of Stoicism, people would be driven to accept opposite doctrines. Fortunately, those historians and philosophers did an awful job at undermining Seneca. I would argue that their distortions

en

7:59

Seneca on the fear of death

John Vespasian ·

2026/01/28

Historians have greatly exaggerated the importance of the Stoic insights on the fear of death. Seneca wrote about #death in his essays and in the Letters to Lucilius, but did little more than rehashing the views of earlier philosophers. I can summarise Seneca’s insights in two sentences: First, death is part of the normal life cycle, but hypochondriacs and paranoiacs will refuse to accept this fact. Second, it is wiser to devote one’s efforts to living wisely rather than #worrying about death

en

10:10

Seneca’s principles for thriving in life

John Vespasian ·

2026/01/28

Large numbers of philosophers have preached ideals that do not have anything to do with real life. When I read their works, I can only wonder if they spent one minute reflecting on work, success, prosperity or #happiness . #seneca exemplifies the opposite. He devoted his works to dealing with real-life concerns and supplied useful advice. He didn’t put forward ideals that he would not practise himself, even if he never achieved perfect consistency. In the essay “On the Happy Life,” Seneca gave us

en

355 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter