Share

cover art for Author Tom Nichols on the Assault on Modern Thinking | The Story We Tell Is Powerful

The Daily Stoic

Author Tom Nichols on the Assault on Modern Thinking | The Story We Tell Is Powerful

Ep. 1016
•

Ryan reads today’s daily meditation and talks to Tom Nichols about his new book Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy, how to bridge the gap between detailed knowledge and the public conversation, what it means to take your responsibilities as a citizen seriously, and more.

Tom Nichols is Professor of National Security Affairs, US Naval War College, a columnist for USA Today, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of The Death of Expertise and is also an instructor at the Harvard Extension School and an adjunct professor at the US Air Force School of Strategic Force Studies. He is a former aide in the US Senate and has been a Fellow of the International Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

AppSumo is the best way to automate all of the busywork that comes with running a business, so you can boost your productivity, scale beyond your skillset, and focus on what matters most to you. AppSumo is the leading digital marketplace for entrepreneurs. Now with awesome tools for authors too. Just go to https://social.appsumo.com/ryan-holiday PLUS: Use code ryanholiday at checkout for $20 free credits (limit first 500, new accounts).

Novo is the #1 Business Banking App - because it’s built from the ground up to be powerfully simple and free business banking that Money Magazine called the Best Business Checking Account of 2021. Novo makes banking easy and secure - you can manage your account in Novo’s customizable web, android, and iOS apps with built in profit first accounting and invoicing. Get your FREE business banking account in just 10 minutes at https://banknovo.com/STOIC

Ten Thousand makes the highest quality, best-fitting, and most comfortable training shorts I have ever worn. They are a direct-to-consumer company, no middleman so you get premium fabrics, trims, and techniques that other brands simply cannot afford. Ten Thousand is offering our listeners 15% off your purchase. go to Tenthousand.cc and enter code STOIC to receive 15% off your purchase.

LinkedIn Jobs is the best platform for finding the right candidate to join your business this fall. It’s the largest marketplace for job seekers in the world, and it has great search features so that you can find candidates with any hard or soft skills that you need. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit linkedin.com/STOIC to post a job for free. 

Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://DailyStoic.com/signup

Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook

Follow Tom Nichols: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

More episodes

View all episodes

  • This Is How You Should Think About It | 3 Stoic Exercises to Stop Taking Life for Granted

    15:09|
    We are lucky to get to do these things. Let’s think and act like it.🪙 We have a collection of items in the Daily Stoic store to help you in your own memento mori practice, check them out here: https://store.dailystoic.com/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • Your Obligation Remains The Same | Why Did You Choose Stoicism?

    14:19|
    Our job today and tomorrow is the same as it’s always been—to be good, to be wise, to stand up for what’s right, to resist what is wrong and evil. Nothing changes that.🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • How To Stay Calm When The World Feels Out Of Control

    16:52|
    Political dysfunction and uncertainty are nothing new. The Stoics lived through their own times of chaos, cruelty, and disorder. But they understood something about surviving times like these that we would do well to remember today.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_itTQaiu4G0🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • This is Your Chief Task

    02:40|
    The act of casting a ballot is in your control. You control whether or not you engage in the democratic process. And the Stoics are explicit on this point: the philosopher, they say, is obligated to contribute to the polis, and to participate in politics. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • BONUS | 3 Shows in 72 Hours

    21:35|
    In this bonus episode, follow Ryan behind the scenes as the Daily Stoic Live Tour takes him through Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit.🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9
  • Your Job is This Simple | Accepting What Is

    08:23|
    When misinformation and extremism and utter nonsense pervades…When cruelty and meanness become acceptable…When the system is falling apart and the center looks like it may not hold…Your job is simple. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • Stoicism, Democracy, and Personal Responsibility | Stacey Abrams

    44:48|
    You can't control everything that happens in politics, but you can control what you do with the power you have. In today’s episode, political leader, voting rights activist, and bestselling author Stacey Abrams joins Ryan to talk about the importance of accountability, the difference between outrage and action, why good leadership requires more than good intentions, and what Stoicism teaches us about our responsibility to make things better. Stacey Abrams is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, voting rights advocate, and political leader. She served 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, including seven as Democratic Leader, and made history in 2018 as the first Black woman to become a major-party nominee for governor in the United States. Following the election, she founded Fair Fight Action to protect voting rights and expand access to the ballot box.— Grab signed copies of Stacey’s books: Stacey’s Extraordinary Words | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/staceys-extraordinary-words?_pos=1&_sid=56a0eb53a&_ss=rWhile Justice Sleeps: A Thriller | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/while-justice-sleeps-a-thriller-avery-keene?_pos=2&_sid=56a0eb53a&_ss=rCoded Justice: A Thriller | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/coded-justice-a-thriller-avery-keene?_pos=3&_sid=56a0eb53a&_ss=rFollow Stacey on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/staceyabrams/?hl=enStacey’s podcast Assembly Required | https://www.youtube.com/@AssemblyRequiredPodcastGet Involved at 10StepsCampaign.Org | https://10stepscampaign.org/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • 43 Stoic Rules That Will Change How You Live

    34:16|
    Philosophy isn't supposed to be an intellectual exercise reserved for scholars. It's supposed to help you make better decisions, face difficulties, and figure out how to live. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vultJhU9XLU🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
  • If We Were Dying, It Would Be Easier | What Grief Teaches Us About Being Alive

    18:41|
    If only we could, as Marcus Aurelius said, let everything we do and say be that of a dying person, then we would get so much more right.Kate Bowler is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and professor of religious history at Duke University. She is the host of the podcast Everything Happens, where she has honest conversations about grief, joy, faith, love, and the realities of being human.Grab signed copies of Kate’s books Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, No Cure For Being Human (And Other Truths I Needed To Hear), and her latest book Joyful, Anyway at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/Follow Kate Bowler: Instagram, YouTube🪙 We have a collection of items in the Daily Stoic store to help you in your own memento mori practice, check them out here: https://store.dailystoic.com/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail--Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ironwall.com/DAILYSTOIC and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are.