Who Are You? Time to Remove the Mask

Who Are You? Time to Remove the Mask

From The Via Stoica Podcast — A Stoic Way of Life by Benny Voncken

May 25, 2026 · 12 min · Season 1 · Episode 72

About this episode

This episode explores the distinction between our true selves and the personas we present to the world through the lens of Stoic philosophy.

Who are you beneath the persona you perform for others? In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, we sit with that question and what Stoic philosophy says about the difference between the character we are building and the mask we wear for the world. Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism. Here, philosophy is not theory. It is the daily, honest work of examining who you are and how you show up. Most of us are building something for an audience. A reputation. A version of ourselves shaped by approval, attention, and the fear of not being enough. Marcus Aurelius wrote his Meditations for no one but himself: an audience of one. That is not a small detail. It is the whole point. The Stoics called our deepest aim eudaimonia: a well-ordered life, lived from the inside out, in accordance with your own nature and values. Not fame. Not wealth. Not the version of success that looks good on a screen. To get there, you have to strip away what is not truly yours: the noise, the performance, the need for external validation. And ask the harder question. When the audience disappears, when the algorithm moves on, who are you then? This episode will not answer that for you. It…

People in this episode

Host: Benny Voncken

Topics covered

  • identity
  • Stoicism
  • self-examination
  • eudaimonia
  • authenticity

Keywords

  • Stoicism
  • identity
  • self-discovery
  • Marcus Aurelius
  • eudaimonia
  • authenticity
  • philosophy

More episodes of The Via Stoica Podcast — A Stoic Way of Life

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Via Stoica Podcast — A Stoic Way of Life podcast page.