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.
351
A serious conversation about UFOs
A religion scholar on UFOs, belief systems, and purgatory
88 min
352
A former prosecutor's case for prison abolition
Paul Butler on how our criminal justice system is broken — and how to fix it
64 min
353
Why Ta-Nehisi Coates is hopeful
The award-winning author on police violence, protest, and "the public"
89 min
354
Are humans fundamentally good? (with Rutger Bre...
Rutger Bregman on human nature, hierarchy, and hunter-gatherer societies
94 min
355
From politician to priest
Why Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib is giving up elected office and joining the Jesuits
118 min
356
Robert Frank's radical idea
Using contagion economics to solve our hardest problems
69 min
357
Why “essential” workers are treated as disposable
Mary Kay Henry on essential jobs, organizing, and the future of work
66 min
358
"The world’s scariest economist” on coronavirus...
Mariana Mazzucato on her "plan to fix capitalism".
79 min
359
A mind-bending conversation about quantum mecha...
Sean Carroll answers my dumb quantum mechanics questions — and yours.
76 min
360
Why the coronavirus is so deadly for black America
David R. Williams on the science behind Covid-19’s massive racial disparities
76 min
361
Jenny Odell on nature, art, and burnout in quar...
A truly cathartic conversation with Jenny Odell
63 min
362
An unusually honest conversation about wielding...
Rep. Pramila Jayapal on stimulus negotiations, the economy, and progressive power.
81 min
363
What should the media learn from coronavirus?
Coronavirus exposed weaknesses in our media ecosystem. Can we fix them?
91 min
364
Bill Gates’s vision for life beyond coronavirus
Bill Gates saw coronavirus coming. Here’s his plan to beat it.
48 min
365
An epic conversation with Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller on myth, translation, and writing a perfect sentence
77 min
366
The loneliness pandemic/Betraying “essential wo...
We have something a bit different today. Two episodes from our extraordinary colleagues at Today, Explained, both of them close to my heart.
44 min
367
Why Bernie Sanders lost and how progressives ca...
Sean McElwee on what the left got wrong in 2020
96 min
368
Scott Gottlieb on how, and when, to end social ...
When will social distancing end? When will life return to “normal”? And what will it take to get there?
45 min
369
Toby Ord on existential risk, Donald Trump, and...
81 min
370
Elizabeth Warren has a plan for this, too
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on coronavirus, leadership, and intergenerational justice.
47 min
371
What social solidarity demands of us in a pandemic
Social distancing isn’t enough. We need social solidarity.
62 min
372
Coronavirus has pushed US-China relations to th...
What’s happening between the US and China is truly scary
56 min
373
Is the cure worse than the disease?
Are we overreacting to coronavirus? An economist and a bioethicist weigh in.
62 min
374
An economic crisis like we’ve never seen
Annie Lowrey on the coronavirus depression
79 min
375
"The virus is more patient than people are"
Obama's Ebola Czar on why coronavirus is much worse
75 min