The Daily Stoic

Some fathers show us who to become. Others show us who not to become.
In this Father’s Day weekend episode, Ryan looks at two very different examples of fatherhood. First, he reflects on Marcus Aurelius and the extraordinary influence of Antoninus Pius, the adopted father who taught him compassion, humility, discipline, responsibility, and how to hold power without being changed by it.
Then Ryan talks with Tom Junod about the harder side of inheritance: what it means to love a father who caused pain, kept secrets, inspired fear, and still shaped the man his son became. Tom’s new book, In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man, is about masculinity, moral injury, family secrets, and the lifelong work of deciding which parts of your father you carry forward and which parts you refuse to repeat.
Tom Junod is senior writer for ESPN, where his work has won an Emmy and the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. He is a two-time winner of the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, and a winner of the James Beard Award for essay writing. Previously he was a staff writer at GQ and Esquire. The film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was based on his article in Esquire.

Follow Tom on Instagram | @tom_junod

📚 Grab signed copies of In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/

👉 Join The Daily Dad Society before Father’s Day and get $60 off your yearly membership with code FATHERSDAY: https://dailydad.com/society

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Today in the US, we celebrate Juneteenth, the commemoration of the emancipation of slaves in America. It’s wonderful to note the moments of historical progress like Juneteenth. But we have to remember that beautiful language pales in comparison to beautiful acts.

In today’s episode, Ryan talks with General Ty Seidule about memory, monuments, and what it means to tell the truth about the past. They discuss the difference between memory and nostalgia, why commemoration should reflect our values, and how American history is full of heroes worth honoring.

Ty Seidule served in the U.S. Army for more than three decades, retiring in 2020 as a brigadier general. He is a professor emeritus of history at West Point and received its distinguished faculty award. In 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appointed Seidule to the Congressional Naming Commission tasked with redesignating Department of Defense assets which honor Confederates, where he was elected vice chair.

Follow Ty on Instagram | @tyseidule

📚 Books Mentioned:
How The Word Is Passed
Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause
A Promise Delivered: Ten American Heroes and the Battle to Rename Our Nation’s Military Bases

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Getting to a place where you know yourself, where you have controlled your needs, where you understand and live by your values is an incredibly wealthy place. Do you have it?

🎶 Song lyrics: A Satisfied Mind (Bon Iver version)

🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/

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Feeling deeply is not a weakness. The challenge is learning how to experience those emotions without letting them take control. In today’s episode, Ryan talks with clinical psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Becky Kennedy about the tools kids and adults need to stay steady when feelings run high.

They talk about why some people become overwhelmed more easily, how to speak for a feeling instead of from it, the difference between understanding and approval, and why repairing a relationship often matters more than handling every moment perfectly.

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist, bestselling author, and the founder and CEO of Good Inside, a parenting platform that gives parents practical tools for raising emotionally healthy kids. Named “The Millennial Parenting Whisperer” by TIME, Dr. Becky is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be and host of the chart-topping podcast Good Inside with Dr. Becky.

👉 Check out Dr. Becky’s community and platform for parents: Good Inside

📱 Follow Dr. Becky | Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify

📚 Grab signed copies of Dr. Becky’s books Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be and Leave Me Alone!: A Good Inside Story About Deeply Feeling Kids at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/

🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/

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We are in the process of filling our banned books library here in Bastrop, Tx and if you want to be part of this project, you can send your books to:

Painted Porch Bookstore
ATTN: Banned Books
912 Main St
Bastrop, Tx 78602
United States

📚 Pick up your own copy of the books mentioned in this episode from The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/

🎥 Watch this episode on Ryan Holiday's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyaPwChvq6Y

🎙️ 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
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.