The Gray Area with Sean Illing
The Gray Area with Sean Illing takes a philosophy-minded look at culture, technology, politics, and the world of ideas. Each week, we invite a guest to explore a question or topic that matters. From the the state of democracy, to the struggle with depression and anxiety, to the nature of identity in the digital age, each episode looks for nuance and honesty in the most important conversations of our time. New episodes drop every Monday.
301
What it would take to end child poverty in America
Rep. Barbara Lee on why rebuilding the economy means investing in our kids
48 min
302
Hannah Gadsby on comedy, free speech, and livin...
How Hannah Gadsby's mind works
88 min
303
What would Keynes do?
What the 20th century’s most influential economist can teach us about rebuilding the US economy
98 min
304
A devastating indictment of the Republican Party
An insider perspective on the GOP’s march to Trumpism
56 min
305
How inequality and white identity politics feed...
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson on the conservative dilemma
73 min
306
Best of: Jia Tolentino on what happens when lif...
The New Yorker writer explains how technology has transformed the very nature of human interaction
100 min
307
Dadding out with Mike Birbiglia
73 min
308
A rabbi explains how to make sense of suffering
Why God can't solve our suffering problem
52 min
309
The crisis in the news
Margaret Sullivan on the disastrous state of local journalism -- and what we can do about it
46 min
310
Bryan Stevenson on how America can heal
A conversation is about truth and reconciliation in America
75 min
311
What a post-Trump Republican Party might look like
How Oren Cass is challenging conservative economic orthodoxy
76 min
312
Free speech, safety, and ‘the letter’
Yascha Mounk and I discuss free speech, safety, and ‘the letter’
85 min
313
The frightening fragility of America's politica...
Masha Gessen on whether American democracy can survive Donald Trump
63 min
314
Can artificial intelligence be emotionally inte...
A fun conversation about emotional intelligence, machine learning, and AI
72 min
315
Danielle Allen on the radicalism of the America...
The Harvard political theorist on democracy, prison abolition, and the American founding
67 min
316
Land of the Giants: The Netflix Effect
Land of the Giants is a podcast from our friends at Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network that examines the most powerful tech companies of our time.
17 min
317
Nicholas Carr on deep reading and digital thinking
How technology literally changes our brains
70 min
318
Your questions, answered
Ask Ezra Anything 2020 edition
78 min
319
Which country has the world's best healthcare s...
Ezekiel Emanuel on healthcare reform, coronavirus response and presidential leadership
68 min
320
The transformative power of restorative justice
sujatha baliga on how to radically reimagine our criminal justice system
72 min
321
Ross Douthat and I debate American decadence
Ross Douthat on American decline, utopian ambition, and the Catholic right
89 min
322
A serious conversation about UFOs
A religion scholar on UFOs, belief systems, and purgatory
88 min
323
A former prosecutor's case for prison abolition
Paul Butler on how our criminal justice system is broken — and how to fix it
64 min
324
Why Ta-Nehisi Coates is hopeful
The award-winning author on police violence, protest, and "the public"
89 min
325
Are humans fundamentally good? (with Rutger Bre...
Rutger Bregman on human nature, hierarchy, and hunter-gatherer societies
94 min