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
501
Reihan Salam makes the case against open borders
86 min
502
Jose Antonio Vargas on living undocumented in T...
84 min
503
Rebecca Traister: Women's rage is transforming ...
67 min
504
Patrick Deneen says liberalism has failed. Is h...
56 min
505
Francis Fukuyama’s case against identity politics
88 min
506
Carol Anderson on the myth of American democracy
52 min
507
Martha C. Nussbaum on how fear deforms our poli...
54 min
508
David French on “The Great White Culture War"
89 min
509
Your attention is being hijacked. Chris Bailey ...
62 min
510
Anand Giridharadas on the elite charade of chan...
90 min
511
I build a world with fantasy master N.K. Jemisin
79 min
512
Reup: Zephyr Teachout vs. Corruption
89 min
513
Is our economy totally screwed? Andrew Yang and...
68 min
514
Chef Marcus Samuelsson on immigration, creativi...
69 min
515
Why online politics gets so extreme so fast
62 min
516
Taking Trump’s corruption seriously
62 min
517
The surprising story of how American politics p...
62 min
518
The most important idea for understanding Ameri...
73 min
519
What economists and politicians get wrong about...
54 min
520
How to disagree better
94 min
521
Jaron Lanier’s case for deleting social media r...
77 min
522
The most clarifying conversation I’ve had about...
65 min
523
The Supreme Court vs. Democracy
64 min
524
Eric Garcetti on the lessons of Los Angeles
60 min
525
What Ellen Pao saw coming
51 min