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
526
Martha C. Nussbaum on how fear deforms our poli...
54 min
527
David French on “The Great White Culture War"
89 min
528
Your attention is being hijacked. Chris Bailey ...
62 min
529
Anand Giridharadas on the elite charade of chan...
90 min
530
I build a world with fantasy master N.K. Jemisin
79 min
531
Reup: Zephyr Teachout vs. Corruption
89 min
532
Is our economy totally screwed? Andrew Yang and...
68 min
533
Chef Marcus Samuelsson on immigration, creativi...
69 min
534
Why online politics gets so extreme so fast
62 min
535
Taking Trump’s corruption seriously
62 min
536
The surprising story of how American politics p...
62 min
537
The most important idea for understanding Ameri...
73 min
538
What economists and politicians get wrong about...
54 min
539
How to disagree better
94 min
540
Jaron Lanier’s case for deleting social media r...
77 min
541
The most clarifying conversation I’ve had about...
65 min
542
The Supreme Court vs. Democracy
64 min
543
Eric Garcetti on the lessons of Los Angeles
60 min
544
What Ellen Pao saw coming
51 min
545
The Green Pill
57 min
546
How Jane Mayer exposed Eric Schneiderman, Bush’...
71 min
547
Political power and the racial wealth gap
77 min
548
Tyler Cowen on the painful end of American comp...
84 min
549
A mind-expanding conversation with Michael Pollan
79 min
550
Optimism about America
78 min