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.
26
Musician Laraaji on the origin of creativity
Sean revisits his interview with musician Laraaji, a pioneer of new age music who has recorded more than 50 albums since he was discovered busking in a park by Brian Eno.
44 min
27
Is AI creative?
The first conversation in our three-part series about creativity
38 min
28
Happiness isn’t the goal
Are we wired to worry?
51 min
29
A message from Sean
Sean Illing has a special message for all you listeners: Look at me!
1 min
30
What if we get climate change right?
A marine biologist tells Sean why he shouldn't be a "climate sad boy"
45 min
31
Yuval Noah Harari on the eclipsing of human int...
79 min
32
Why cynicism is bad for you
Psychologist Jamil Zaki explains why cynicism is a trap, and how to avoid it
55 min
33
Poetry as religion
The paradoxes of living a meaningful life are worth exploring... even if there's no God
51 min
34
The jazz musician’s guide to the universe
A cosmologist uses jazz to help make sense of the multiverse
49 min
35
Revisiting the "father of capitalism"
What we get wrong about moral philosopher Adam Smith
47 min
36
Breaking our family patterns
How our "origin wounds" from childhood hold us back, according to an acclaimed marriage and family therapist
58 min
37
Why Orwell matters
The author of Animal Farm and 1984 is now an adjective. But what does "Orwellian" actually mean?
48 min
38
The timebomb the founding fathers left us
The Constitution is the crisis
48 min
39
Swear like a philosopher
Sean Illing talks to philosopher Rebecca Roache about why swear words hold the power to offend and delight.
41 min
40
Taking Nietzsche seriously
Sean Illing talks with political science professor Matt McManus about the political thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher with a complicated legacy.
58 min
41
What India teaches us about liberalism — and it...
Zack Beauchamp is joined by scholar Pratap Bhanu Mehta to discuss the past and present of Indian liberalism and what it says about the future of global politics.
43 min
42
1992: The year politics broke
Writer John Ganz joins Sean to discuss the conservative movement of the 1990s and how it foreshadowed the MAGA movement and the hyper-partisan politics of today.
41 min
43
The existential struggle of being Black
Nathalie Etoke joins Sean to talk about how the struggle for Black liberation is inextricable from the philosophical tradition of existentialism.
51 min
44
The world after nuclear war
Journalist Annie Jacobsen scares the hell out of Sean by describing the terrifying realities of a nuclear missile attack.
53 min
45
Gaza, Camus, and the logic of violence
Professor Robert Zaretsky joins Sean to discuss Albert Camus’s thoughtful response to the French-Algerian conflict and how those lessons might apply to the ongoing war in Gaza.
51 min
46
This is your kid on smartphones
Professor Jonathan Haidt joins Sean to discuss the effects of smartphones and social media on the mental health of young people.
50 min
47
Life after death?
Journalist Sebastian Junger has never been a New Age mystic. But a brush with death forced him to question the fundamental nature of reality.
49 min
48
The world after Ozempic
Journalist Johann Hari breaks down the research surrounding the weight loss drug, his personal experience using it, and what he fears might happen to young women, the culture, and the people who need it most.
47 min
49
UFOs, God, and the edge of understanding
Religious studies professor Diana Pasulka joins Sean to talk about alleged alien encounters, how they parallel religious experiences, and how our current moment is shaping the discussion around extraterrestrial life.
42 min
50
How to listen
The essential art of listening and how it’s different from simply hearing
51 min