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
301
Fannie Lou Hamer and the meaning of freedom
How a former sharecropper disrupted American politics
54 min
302
What the internet took from us
53 min
303
Trapped inside with Susanna Clarke's Piranesi
43 min
304
Bryan Stevenson on the legacy of enslavement
57 min
305
What's your status?
51 min
306
Is there a hack for enlightenment?
59 min
307
Fighting a world on fire with fire
56 min
308
Revolutionary Love
51 min
309
How to make meaning out of suffering
52 min
310
Ken Burns's latest on The Greatest
62 min
311
The road from 9/11 to Donald Trump
62 min
312
Rep. Pramila Jayapal on immigrants and America ...
45 min
313
Why America's obsession with rights is wrong
52 min
314
The news is by — and for — rich, white liberals
57 min
315
Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of sl...
55 min
316
Was the cruelty the point?
55 min
317
How seashells shaped the world — and predict ou...
52 min
318
Bill Maher on free speech, comedy, and his haters
45 min
319
Robert Reich wants you to take on the system
48 min
320
Marty Baron on the future of news
49 min
321
The death of cool
43 min
322
We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.
Professor Alex Wendt tells Sean Illing why he thinks the aliens might already be here
57 min
323
Philadelphia's progressive prosecutor
District attorney Larry Krasner talks about his reform agenda, rising gun violence, and how to take on the system
49 min
324
Fareed Zakaria on the fate of democracy
65 min
325
Jane Goodall on the power of hope
The world's foremost expert on chimps wants us to remember we're animals, too
56 min