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
276
How middlemen took over the economy
60 min
277
The necessity — and danger — of free speech
Free speech is essential for democracy. It may also be democracy's downfall.
50 min
278
Hacking coral sex to save the reefs
49 min
279
The price of keeping secrets
47 min
280
Does China control Hollywood?
58 min
281
Steve Bannon is still at war
45 min
282
The Fortress of Solitude saw it all coming
Constance Grady talks with author Jonathan Lethem about his prescient 2003 novel
34 min
283
The Philosophers: Stoic revival
59 min
284
Station Eleven's creator on the end of the world
Showrunner Patrick Somerville on why hope is necessary for survival
47 min
285
The racist origins of fat phobia
49 min
286
The fight for Ukraine — and democracy
49 min
287
The war on trans people
49 min
288
Michael Ian Black on being a better man
50 min
289
Carmen Maria Machado's haunted feminine
36 min
290
The rise and fall of America's monuments
45 min
291
The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Co...
55 min
292
Why accidents aren't accidental
47 min
293
Rethinking the "end of history"
56 min
294
Anita Hill finally gets even
55 min
295
Elites have captured identity politics
52 min
296
The moral dangers of dirty work
54 min
297
Did the sexual revolution go wrong?
53 min
298
Who decides how to conserve nature?
55 min
299
The Philosophers: Loneliness and totalitarianism
58 min
300
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 4: The fut...
59 min