Practical Wisdom

About Practical Wisdom

Practical Wisdom is a short weekly podcast produced by Prof. Massimo Pigliucci of the City College of New York. The idea is to do a deep dive into some of the most crucial philosophical writings of a wide range of Greco-Roman authors in search of insights that may be useful for modern life. Available also on Apple, Google, and Spotify. figsinwintertime.substack.com (https://figsinwintertime.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Massimo Pigliucci

Category

education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Jul 2023

Latest episode

22 Jul 2025

Latest episodes

68 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Jul 2025

   Epictetus on what we should be focusing on

   “‘But I would have that which seems best to me happen in every case, no matter how it comes to seem so.’ You are mad; you are beside yourself. Do you not know that freedom is a noble and precious thing? But for me to desire at haphazard that those things should happen which have at haphazard seemed best to me, is dangerously near being, not merely not noble, but even in the highest degree shameful. For how do we act in writing? Do I desire to write the name ‘Dio’ as I choose? No, but I am taught to desire to write it as it ought to be written. What do we do in music? The same. And what in general, where there is any art or science? The same; otherwise knowledge of anything would be useless, if it were accommodated to every individual’s whims.” (Discourses, 1.12) Figs in Winter: Stoicism and Beyond is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Figs in Winter: a Community of Reason at figsinwintertime.substack.com/subscribe (https://figsinwintertime.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   29 Apr 2025

   Epictetus on family affection

   “When an official came to see him, Epictetus, after making some special enquiries about other matters, asked him if he had children and a wife, and when the other replied that he had, Epictetus asked the further question, What, then, is your experience with marriage? — Wretched, he said. — To which Epictetus, How so? For men do not marry and beget children just for this surely, to be wretched, but rather to be happy. — And yet, as for me, the other replied, I feel so wretched about the little children, that recently when my little daughter was sick and was thought to be in danger, I could not bear even to stay by her sick bed, but I up and ran away, until someone brought me word that she was well again. — What then, do you feel that you were acting right in doing this? — I was acting naturally, he said. … This is the way, said the man, all, or at least most, of us fathers feel. — And I do not contradict you either, answered Epictetus, and say that it is not done, but the point at issue between us is the other, whether it is rightly done.” (Discourses, 1.11) The Philosophy Garden: Stoicism and Beyond is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Figs in Winter: Stoicism and Beyond at figsinwintertime.substack.com/subscribe (https://figsinwintertime.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   22 Apr 2025

   Epictetus on people’s obsession with material goods

   “If we philosophers had applied ourselves to our own work as zealously as the old men at Rome have applied themselves to the matters on which they have set their hearts, perhaps we too should be accomplishing something. I know a man older than myself who is now in charge of the grain supply at Rome. When he passed this place on his way back from exile, I recall what a tale he told as he inveighed against his former life and announced for the future that, when he had returned to Rome, he would devote himself solely to spending the remainder of his life in peace and quiet, ‘For how little is yet left to me!’ — And I told him, ‘You will not do it, but when once you have caught no more than a whiff of Rome you will forget all this.’ … Well, now, what did he do? Before he reached Rome, letters from Caesar met him; and as soon as he received them, he forgot all those resolutions of his, and ever since he has been piling up one property after another. I wish I could stand by his side now and remind him of the words that he uttered as he passed by here, and remark, ‘How much more clever a prophet I am than you.’” (Discourses, 1.10) The Philosophy Garden: Stoicism and Beyond is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Figs in Winter: Stoicism and Beyond at figsinwintertime.substack.com/subscribe (https://figsinwintertime.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

9,428,741

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

16 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 70 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

70

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

82

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.