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
How to replace everything in the industrialized...
58 min
252
Patricia Lockwood's big, beautiful internet brain
51 min
253
Who is the real George Soros?
53 min
254
Introducing Unexplainable
A new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know.
26 min
255
The border, explained by someone who knows it i...
51 min
256
"Wintering," wisdom, and weathering life's dark...
62 min
257
Reframing America's race problem
49 min
258
Who owns the Western?
45 min
259
A Watchmen writer on race, TV, and tech giants
52 min
260
Uncovering the history of psychedelics in Chris...
48 min
261
Biden's immigration architect on racism, reform...
58 min
262
The Capitol Siege and American Revolution
41 min
263
Why fascism in Post-Trump America isn't going away
Vox's Sean Illing and Yale professor Jason Stanley discuss why American democracy provides such fertile soil for fascism
40 min
264
The Joe Biden experience
Ezra Klein and Evan Osnos discuss our new president
61 min
265
What it means to be a "good" rich person
Exploring the anxieties of wealthy people and their desire to be seen as "middle class."
46 min
266
Peter Kafka and Kevin Roose on big tech's power...
26 min
267
Sam Sanders and Olivia Nuzzi on President Trump...
41 min
268
Best of: We don’t just feel emotions. We make t...
A mind-blowing conversation with Lisa Feldman Barrett on how emotion is made
90 min
269
Best of: Ending the age of animal cruelty, with...
75 min
270
Best of: The moral philosophy of The Good Place
98 min
271
Best of: Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
272
Best of: Tracy K. Smith changed how I read poetry
85 min
273
What I’ve learned, and what comes next.
Ezra reflects on his time with Vox, what he's learned, and what comes next.
38 min
274
Best of: An inspiring conversation about democr...
67 min
275
Michael Pollan on the psychedelic society
70 min