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
476
Is the media amplifying Trump’s racism? (with W...
Ezra interviews Whitney Phillips
82 min
477
Rutger Bregman’s utopias, and mine
Ezra interviews Rutger Bregman
86 min
478
How white identity politics won the Republican ...
83 min
479
George Will makes the conservative case against...
70 min
480
What deliberative democracy can, and can’t, do ...
Ezra interviews Jane Mansbridge
51 min
481
Rod Dreher on America’s post-Christian culture ...
110 min
482
White threat in a browning America (Jennifer Ri...
73 min
483
Behind the panic in white, Christian America
91 min
484
An enlightening, frustrating conversation on li...
105 min
485
The cognitive cost of poverty (with Sendhil Mul...
93 min
486
Failing towards Utopia
20 min
487
Why liberals and conservatives create such diff...
90 min
488
Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo (Live!)
59 min
489
This changed how I think about love (with Aliso...
93 min
490
The plan behind Elizabeth Warren’s plans
49 min
491
Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
492
How Mitch McConnell convinced Michael Bennet to...
73 min
493
How the brains of master meditators change
68 min
494
Why good people are easily corrupted (with Lawr...
79 min
495
The art of attention (with Jenny Odell)
85 min
496
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housi...
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housing crisis
59 min
497
What kind of news is cable news? (With Brian St...
82 min
498
Contrapoints on taking the trolls seriously
75 min
499
The purpose of political violence
75 min
500
Ask Ezra Anything 3: Endgame
Ezra answers listener questions
90 min