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
John McWhorter, the anti-antiracist
61 min
252
The overwhelming, invisible work of elder care
57 min
253
How Big Tech benefits from the disinformation p...
52 min
254
Fannie Lou Hamer and the meaning of freedom
How a former sharecropper disrupted American politics
54 min
255
What the internet took from us
53 min
256
Trapped inside with Susanna Clarke's Piranesi
43 min
257
Bryan Stevenson on the legacy of enslavement
57 min
258
What's your status?
51 min
259
Is there a hack for enlightenment?
59 min
260
Fighting a world on fire with fire
56 min
261
Revolutionary Love
51 min
262
How to make meaning out of suffering
52 min
263
Ken Burns's latest on The Greatest
62 min
264
The road from 9/11 to Donald Trump
62 min
265
Rep. Pramila Jayapal on immigrants and America ...
45 min
266
Why America's obsession with rights is wrong
52 min
267
The news is by — and for — rich, white liberals
57 min
268
Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of sl...
55 min
269
Was the cruelty the point?
55 min
270
How seashells shaped the world — and predict ou...
52 min
271
Bill Maher on free speech, comedy, and his haters
45 min
272
Robert Reich wants you to take on the system
48 min
273
Marty Baron on the future of news
49 min
274
The death of cool
43 min
275
We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.
Professor Alex Wendt tells Sean Illing why he thinks the aliens might already be here
57 min