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.
1
Happiness isn’t the goal
Are we wired to worry?
51 min
2
A message from Sean
Sean Illing has a special message for all you listeners: Look at me!
1 min
3
What if we get climate change right?
A marine biologist tells Sean why he shouldn't be a "climate sad boy"
45 min
4
Yuval Noah Harari on the eclipsing of human int...
79 min
5
Why cynicism is bad for you
Psychologist Jamil Zaki explains why cynicism is a trap, and how to avoid it
55 min
6
Poetry as religion
The paradoxes of living a meaningful life are worth exploring... even if there's no God
51 min
7
The jazz musician’s guide to the universe
A cosmologist uses jazz to help make sense of the multiverse
49 min
8
Revisiting the "father of capitalism"
What we get wrong about moral philosopher Adam Smith
47 min
9
Breaking our family patterns
How our "origin wounds" from childhood hold us back, according to an acclaimed marriage and family therapist
58 min
10
Why Orwell matters
The author of Animal Farm and 1984 is now an adjective. But what does "Orwellian" actually mean?
48 min
11
The timebomb the founding fathers left us
The Constitution is the crisis
48 min
12
Swear like a philosopher
Sean Illing talks to philosopher Rebecca Roache about why swear words hold the power to offend and delight.
41 min
13
Taking Nietzsche seriously
Sean Illing talks with political science professor Matt McManus about the political thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher with a complicated legacy.
58 min
14
What India teaches us about liberalism — and it...
Zack Beauchamp is joined by scholar Pratap Bhanu Mehta to discuss the past and present of Indian liberalism and what it says about the future of global politics.
43 min
15
1992: The year politics broke
Writer John Ganz joins Sean to discuss the conservative movement of the 1990s and how it foreshadowed the MAGA movement and the hyper-partisan politics of today.
41 min
16
The existential struggle of being Black
Nathalie Etoke joins Sean to talk about how the struggle for Black liberation is inextricable from the philosophical tradition of existentialism.
51 min
17
The world after nuclear war
Journalist Annie Jacobsen scares the hell out of Sean by describing the terrifying realities of a nuclear missile attack.
53 min
18
Gaza, Camus, and the logic of violence
Professor Robert Zaretsky joins Sean to discuss Albert Camus’s thoughtful response to the French-Algerian conflict and how those lessons might apply to the ongoing war in Gaza.
51 min
19
This is your kid on smartphones
Professor Jonathan Haidt joins Sean to discuss the effects of smartphones and social media on the mental health of young people.
50 min
20
Life after death?
Journalist Sebastian Junger has never been a New Age mystic. But a brush with death forced him to question the fundamental nature of reality.
49 min
21
The world after Ozempic
Journalist Johann Hari breaks down the research surrounding the weight loss drug, his personal experience using it, and what he fears might happen to young women, the culture, and the people who need it most.
47 min
22
UFOs, God, and the edge of understanding
Religious studies professor Diana Pasulka joins Sean to talk about alleged alien encounters, how they parallel religious experiences, and how our current moment is shaping the discussion around extraterrestrial life.
42 min
23
How to listen
The essential art of listening and how it’s different from simply hearing
51 min
24
Everything's a cult now
Writer Derek Thompson on how absolutely everything feels like a cult. And why we’re never going back.
50 min
25
Fareed Zakaria on our revolutionary moment
Fareed Zakaria reflects on the modern history of revolution and explains why we’re living in a uniquely consequential period.
41 min