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
276
The complicated history of wildlife conservation
What can the past tell us about the future of fighting extinction?
65 min
277
How to replace everything in the industrialized...
58 min
278
Patricia Lockwood's big, beautiful internet brain
51 min
279
Who is the real George Soros?
53 min
280
Introducing Unexplainable
A new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know.
26 min
281
The border, explained by someone who knows it i...
51 min
282
"Wintering," wisdom, and weathering life's dark...
62 min
283
Reframing America's race problem
49 min
284
Who owns the Western?
45 min
285
A Watchmen writer on race, TV, and tech giants
52 min
286
Uncovering the history of psychedelics in Chris...
48 min
287
Biden's immigration architect on racism, reform...
58 min
288
The Capitol Siege and American Revolution
41 min
289
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
290
The Joe Biden experience
Ezra Klein and Evan Osnos discuss our new president
61 min
291
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
292
Peter Kafka and Kevin Roose on big tech's power...
26 min
293
Sam Sanders and Olivia Nuzzi on President Trump...
41 min
294
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
295
Best of: Ending the age of animal cruelty, with...
75 min
296
Best of: The moral philosophy of The Good Place
98 min
297
Best of: Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
298
Best of: Tracy K. Smith changed how I read poetry
85 min
299
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
300
Best of: An inspiring conversation about democr...
67 min