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.

Philosophy
Politics
News Commentary
201
The overwhelming, invisible work of elder care
57 min
202
How Big Tech benefits from the disinformation p...
52 min
203
Fannie Lou Hamer and the meaning of freedom
How a former sharecropper disrupted American politics
54 min
204
What the internet took from us
53 min
205
Trapped inside with Susanna Clarke's Piranesi
43 min
206
Bryan Stevenson on the legacy of enslavement
57 min
207
What's your status?
51 min
208
Is there a hack for enlightenment?
59 min
209
Fighting a world on fire with fire
56 min
210
Revolutionary Love
51 min
211
How to make meaning out of suffering
52 min
212
Ken Burns's latest on The Greatest
62 min
213
The road from 9/11 to Donald Trump
62 min
214
Rep. Pramila Jayapal on immigrants and America ...
45 min
215
Why America's obsession with rights is wrong
52 min
216
The news is by — and for — rich, white liberals
57 min
217
Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of sl...
55 min
218
Was the cruelty the point?
55 min
219
How seashells shaped the world — and predict ou...
52 min
220
Bill Maher on free speech, comedy, and his haters
45 min
221
Robert Reich wants you to take on the system
48 min
222
Marty Baron on the future of news
49 min
223
The death of cool
43 min
224
We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.
Professor Alex Wendt tells Sean Illing why he thinks the aliens might already be here
57 min
225
Philadelphia's progressive prosecutor
District attorney Larry Krasner talks about his reform agenda, rising gun violence, and how to take on the system
49 min