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
251
The rugged majesty of revision
Jamil Smith in conversation with author Kiese Laymon on revision, restoration, and repair
54 min
252
How to forgive
53 min
253
What makes a great conversation?
Hosts Sean Illing and Jamil Smith introduce themselves and reintroduce Vox Conversations, a podcast exploring big ideas and hard questions together with bright minds and deep thinkers.
21 min
254
Introducing: Now & Then
A new history podcast from CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network
57 min
255
The science of dating
52 min
256
Honoring Juneteenth with Ibram X. Kendi
Ibram X. Kendi on racism, systemic change, and whether an antiracist America is even possible
47 min
257
Digital dictatorship
54 min
258
The man who proposed reparations in the 1860s
Abe Lincoln's forgotten abolitionist ally
62 min
259
What pandemic recovery should look like
54 min
260
The gift of getting old
52 min
261
Freedom, and what it means to have a body
50 min
262
Why are we so worried about Satan?
58 min
263
How to be wrong less often
48 min
264
The complicated history of wildlife conservation
What can the past tell us about the future of fighting extinction?
65 min
265
How to replace everything in the industrialized...
58 min
266
Patricia Lockwood's big, beautiful internet brain
51 min
267
Who is the real George Soros?
53 min
268
Introducing Unexplainable
A new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know.
26 min
269
The border, explained by someone who knows it i...
51 min
270
"Wintering," wisdom, and weathering life's dark...
62 min
271
Reframing America's race problem
49 min
272
Who owns the Western?
45 min
273
A Watchmen writer on race, TV, and tech giants
52 min
274
Uncovering the history of psychedelics in Chris...
48 min
275
Biden's immigration architect on racism, reform...
58 min