Derren Brown on Marcus Aurelius's Meditations
"The pursuit of fame is, in a way, the obvious secular response to seeking an afterlife."
To Himself: Reading a Book Marcus Aurelius Never Meant for Us
The Meditations was never meant to be read. Derren Brown shows what it costs, and what it gives, to eavesdrop on an emperor writing himself back to human.
Read the introduction →- 2 A Weak Way In Episode 2 · 14 min
- 3 Green or Blue Episode 3 · 12 min
- 4 Desire, Action, Assent Episode 4 · 14 min
- 5 The Meaning of Life Is That It Ends Episode 5 · 12 min
- 6 Vain Hopes Episode 6 · 14 min
- 7 Authorship Episode 7 · 13 min
- 8 Fire and Breath Episode 8 · 13 min
- 9 The Judgment Machine Episode 9 · 14 min
- 10 Virtue Is Its Own Reward Episode 10 · 14 min
- 11 People Who Smell Like Goats Episode 11 · 12 min
- 12 The Happy-Clappy Years Episode 12 · 14 min
- 13 Anima, Pneuma, Psyche Episode 13 · 14 min
- 14 Wrestling, Not Dancing Episode 14 · 14 min
- 15 Talent Plus Energy Episode 15 · 14 min
- 16 The Third Death Episode 16 · 14 min
- 17 Practising Death Episode 17 · 14 min
- 18 The Skull on the Desk Episode 18 · 12 min
- 19 Are You Ever Going to Be Good Enough? Episode 19 · 14 min
- 20 Children as Leaves Episode 20 · 14 min
- 21 Boogies Episode 21 · 12 min
- 22 All Is As Thinking Makes It So Episode 22 · 14 min
- 23 The Actor Leaves the Stage Episode 23 · 11 min
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The Questions these books keep starting →
Does Stoicism Actually Work When Things Go Wrong?
What if the Stoicism being sold to you has Marcus Aurelius exactly backwards?
Go deeper →How to Read Marcus Aurelius's Meditations for the First Time
Skip Book One, start with Two or Four, carry Hadot's three disciplines — Derren Brown's method for a book that only opens on rereading.
Go deeper →What Is Marcus Aurelius's Meditations About?
The Meditations is a Roman emperor's private Stoic notebook — Derren Brown reads it as the warmest account of how to live ever written.
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- What Does the A on Hester's Chest Actually Mean? Megan Marshall on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
- Was Thoreau Selfish? The Question of Self-Reliance John Kaag on Henry David Thoreau's Walden
- What Is Kant's Categorical Imperative? Paul Guyer on Immanuel Kant