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
451
Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
452
How Mitch McConnell convinced Michael Bennet to...
73 min
453
How the brains of master meditators change
68 min
454
Why good people are easily corrupted (with Lawr...
79 min
455
The art of attention (with Jenny Odell)
85 min
456
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housi...
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housing crisis
59 min
457
What kind of news is cable news? (With Brian St...
82 min
458
Contrapoints on taking the trolls seriously
75 min
459
The purpose of political violence
75 min
460
Ask Ezra Anything 3: Endgame
Ezra answers listener questions
90 min
461
The disillusionment of David Brooks
93 min
462
Emily Oster schools me on parenthood
51 min
463
Lessons from Vox’s first 5 years
90 min
464
Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle
79 min
465
How social democrats won Europe — then lost it
64 min
466
In defense of white-backlash politics
96 min
467
Identity, nationalism, and fatherhood
103 min
468
An ex-libertarian’s quest to rebuild the center...
81 min
469
How whiteness distorts our democracy, with Eddi...
86 min
470
Pete Buttigieg’s theory of political change
56 min
471
Meet the policy architect behind the Green New ...
79 min
472
The somewhat fractured state of American conser...
58 min
473
American politics after Christianity, with Ross...
74 min
474
Why Gov. Jay Inslee is running for president on...
62 min
475
ICYMI: Julia Galef
88 min