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