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