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. From the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Philosophy
Politics
News Commentary
226
How middlemen took over the economy
60 min
227
The necessity — and danger — of free speech
Free speech is essential for democracy. It may also be democracy's downfall.
50 min
228
Hacking coral sex to save the reefs
49 min
229
The price of keeping secrets
47 min
230
Does China control Hollywood?
58 min
231
Steve Bannon is still at war
45 min
232
The Fortress of Solitude saw it all coming
Constance Grady talks with author Jonathan Lethem about his prescient 2003 novel
34 min
233
The Philosophers: Stoic revival
59 min
234
Station Eleven's creator on the end of the world
Showrunner Patrick Somerville on why hope is necessary for survival
47 min
235
The racist origins of fat phobia
49 min
236
The fight for Ukraine — and democracy
49 min
237
The war on trans people
49 min
238
Michael Ian Black on being a better man
50 min
239
Carmen Maria Machado's haunted feminine
36 min
240
The rise and fall of America's monuments
45 min
241
The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Co...
55 min
242
Why accidents aren't accidental
47 min
243
Rethinking the "end of history"
56 min
244
Anita Hill finally gets even
55 min
245
Elites have captured identity politics
52 min
246
The moral dangers of dirty work
54 min
247
Did the sexual revolution go wrong?
53 min
248
Who decides how to conserve nature?
55 min
249
The Philosophers: Loneliness and totalitarianism
58 min
250
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 4: The fut...
59 min