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
426
Is the media amplifying Trump’s racism? (with W...
Ezra interviews Whitney Phillips
82 min
427
Rutger Bregman’s utopias, and mine
Ezra interviews Rutger Bregman
86 min
428
How white identity politics won the Republican ...
83 min
429
George Will makes the conservative case against...
70 min
430
What deliberative democracy can, and can’t, do ...
Ezra interviews Jane Mansbridge
51 min
431
Rod Dreher on America’s post-Christian culture ...
110 min
432
White threat in a browning America (Jennifer Ri...
73 min
433
Behind the panic in white, Christian America
91 min
434
An enlightening, frustrating conversation on li...
105 min
435
The cognitive cost of poverty (with Sendhil Mul...
93 min
436
Failing towards Utopia
20 min
437
Why liberals and conservatives create such diff...
90 min
438
Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo (Live!)
59 min
439
This changed how I think about love (with Aliso...
93 min
440
The plan behind Elizabeth Warren’s plans
49 min
441
Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
442
How Mitch McConnell convinced Michael Bennet to...
73 min
443
How the brains of master meditators change
68 min
444
Why good people are easily corrupted (with Lawr...
79 min
445
The art of attention (with Jenny Odell)
85 min
446
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housi...
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housing crisis
59 min
447
What kind of news is cable news? (With Brian St...
82 min
448
Contrapoints on taking the trolls seriously
75 min
449
The purpose of political violence
75 min
450
Ask Ezra Anything 3: Endgame
Ezra answers listener questions
90 min