This week on the LRB Podcast, a free episode from one of our Close Readings series. For their final conversation Among the Ancients, Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones turn to the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Said by Machiavelli to be the last of the ‘five good emperors’ who ruled Rome for most of the second century CE, Marcus oversaw deva ... Show More
Apr 29
James Lasdun's road trip to America's courts
‘Courtroom encounters present you with only a fragment of a person’s story, from which you may or may not be inclined to infer the rest,’ James Lasdun wrote recently in the LRB. Last October, he set out on a road trip across America, with the aim of attending as many different ki ... Show More
50m 12s
Oct 2025
Marcus Aurelius: The Philosopher Emperor
He's known as Rome’s philosopher-emperor and faced plague, rebellion and war in the East. Yet Marcus Aurelius ruled with a pen as much as a sword, finding peace in philosophy which still inspires the world today.In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Profess ... Show More
1h 9m
Sep 2025
Episode #236 ... Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
Today we talk about the collection of journals known as Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. We mark the differences between Stoicism, modern Stoic ethics, and the journals of Marcus Aurelius. We talk about the divine logos, indifferents, and how metaphysical assumptions ladder up int ... Show More
34m 39s
Jan 2025
Ancient solutions for modern problems | Stoicism Series PART 1 | Massimo Pigliucci
<p><strong>How to be a Stoic</strong></p><p>What can Marcus Aurelius teach you about the iPhone?</p><p>Join philosopher and author Massimo Pigliucci for part one of a series on the ancient practice of Stoicism, exploring and analysing ideas from Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus ... Show More
19m 10s