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
Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo (Live!)
59 min
477
This changed how I think about love (with Aliso...
93 min
478
The plan behind Elizabeth Warren’s plans
49 min
479
Michael Lewis reads my mind
101 min
480
How Mitch McConnell convinced Michael Bennet to...
73 min
481
How the brains of master meditators change
68 min
482
Why good people are easily corrupted (with Lawr...
79 min
483
The art of attention (with Jenny Odell)
85 min
484
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housi...
Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housing crisis
59 min
485
What kind of news is cable news? (With Brian St...
82 min
486
Contrapoints on taking the trolls seriously
75 min
487
The purpose of political violence
75 min
488
Ask Ezra Anything 3: Endgame
Ezra answers listener questions
90 min
489
The disillusionment of David Brooks
93 min
490
Emily Oster schools me on parenthood
51 min
491
Lessons from Vox’s first 5 years
90 min
492
Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle
79 min
493
How social democrats won Europe — then lost it
64 min
494
In defense of white-backlash politics
96 min
495
Identity, nationalism, and fatherhood
103 min
496
An ex-libertarian’s quest to rebuild the center...
81 min
497
How whiteness distorts our democracy, with Eddi...
86 min
498
Pete Buttigieg’s theory of political change
56 min
499
Meet the policy architect behind the Green New ...
79 min
500
The somewhat fractured state of American conser...
58 min