Read By: Elif Batuman

Published: May 5, 2020, midnight

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Elif Batuman on her selection:

I chose to read from Epictetus because he has always made me feel better at times when I have felt anxious about things outside of my control. Basically, Epictetus transforms \\u201cthings out of my control\\u201d from something I have to worry extra about, into something I get to be proud of myself for not worrying about at all! For Epictetus, freeing ourselves from worry is a heroic feat, like being in the Olympics. I wrote about him once here.

Discourses and Selected Writings at Bookshop.org

Music: "Shift of Currents" by Blue Dot Sessions // CC BY-NC 2.0

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