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
301
How to replace everything in the industrialized...
58 min
302
Patricia Lockwood's big, beautiful internet brain
51 min
303
Who is the real George Soros?
53 min
304
Introducing Unexplainable
A new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know.
26 min
305
The border, explained by someone who knows it i...
51 min
306
"Wintering," wisdom, and weathering life's dark...
62 min
307
Reframing America's race problem
49 min
308
Who owns the Western?
45 min
309
A Watchmen writer on race, TV, and tech giants
52 min
310
Uncovering the history of psychedelics in Chris...
48 min
311
Biden's immigration architect on racism, reform...
58 min
312
The Capitol Siege and American Revolution
41 min
313
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
314
The Joe Biden experience
Ezra Klein and Evan Osnos discuss our new president
61 min
315
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
316
Peter Kafka and Kevin Roose on big tech's power...
26 min
317
Sam Sanders and Olivia Nuzzi on President Trump...
41 min
318
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
319
Best of: Ending the age of animal cruelty, with...
75 min
320
Best of: The moral philosophy of The Good Place
98 min
321
Best of: Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
322
Best of: Tracy K. Smith changed how I read poetry
85 min
323
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
324
Best of: An inspiring conversation about democr...
67 min
325
Michael Pollan on the psychedelic society
70 min