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.
401
Best of: Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle
Anne Helen Petersen and Derek Thompson on what happens when work becomes an identity, and capitalism becomes a religion.
77 min
402
Republicans vs. the planet
Vox's Dave Roberts on the politics of climate change
97 min
403
The geoengineering question
Jane Flegal on the idea that could shatter the link between emissions and global warming
71 min
404
How to solve climate change and make life more ...
Entrepreneur Saul Griffith on why we have all the tools we need to fix climate change
91 min
405
Paul Krugman on climate, robots, single-payer, ...
The Nobel-prize winning economist explains it all
84 min
406
The moral philosophy of The Good Place (with Mi...
The geniuses behind TV's most philosophically-inclined sitcom discuss what it means to be a good person
99 min
407
When doing the right thing makes you a criminal
Direct Action Everywhere co-founder Wayne Hsiung explains why he decided to risk his freedom to expose extreme injustice.
99 min
408
Peter Singer on the lives you can save
Ezra chats with Peter Singer about the re-release of his book "The Life You Can Save".
73 min
409
Best of: The age of "mega-identity" politics
A conversation with Lilliana Mason about identity politics
75 min
410
Because podcast
Gretchen McCulloch on how the internet revolutionized language
77 min
411
There’s more to life than profit
Yancey Strickler on climate change, founding Kickstarter and the perils of profit
89 min
412
Having a bad day? Dave Eggers can help.
Dave Eggers and I discuss satire, the Trump presidency and the importance of disconnecting.
80 min
413
How Whole Foods, yoga, and NPR became the hallm...
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and Ezra Klein discuss why today’s rich are far less materialistic, but a far greater threat to equality
68 min
414
How social media makes us antisocial
Andrew Marantz explains the symbiotic relationship between social media platforms and the alt-right
89 min
415
ICYMI: Edward Norton’s theory of mind, movies, ...
107 min
416
Introducing Reset
Arielle Duhaime-Ross hosts Reset - the new tech podcast from Recode.
42 min
417
What a smarter Trumpism would sound like
Michael Lind discusses the new class war, China, and his theory of political settlement
82 min
418
The climate crisis is an oceans crisis
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson explains why oceans are essential to human life and how we are killing them.
69 min
419
We live in The Good Place. And we’re screwing i...
How bad is climate change? Scientist Kate Marvel explains.
81 min
420
Neoliberalism and its discontents
Wendy Brown and Noah Smith try to define one of the most confusing concepts in modern political discourse
89 min
421
The four words that will decide impeachment
Ezra Klein and Gene Healy discuss the meaning of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors"
52 min
422
We don’t just feel emotions. We make them.
A mind-blowing conversation with Lisa Feldman Barrett on how emotion is made
90 min
423
How politics became a war against reality
Peter Pomerantsev on modern propaganda, post-truth politics, and the authoritarian resurgence
84 min
424
The loneliness epidemic
A deeply personal conversation with Vivek Murthy about loneliness and its impact on the mind, body, and soul
76 min
425
Ibram X. Kendi wants to redefine racism
Is racism solely about policies that widen racial inequality? Ibram X. Kendi and Ezra Klein discuss.
85 min