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
576
Tyler Cowen on the painful end of American comp...
84 min
577
A mind-expanding conversation with Michael Pollan
79 min
578
Optimism about America
78 min
579
The New York Times’s lead Clinton reporter refl...
55 min
580
The age of "mega-identity" politics
74 min
581
Is American democracy really in decline? A debate.
110 min
582
Special episode: The Syrian conflict, explained...
57 min
583
Is modern society making us depressed?
87 min
584
Carol Anderson on White Rage and Donald Trump
91 min
585
The Sam Harris Debate
128 min
586
Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s hardest year, and...
46 min
587
Is Mitch Landrieu the "White, Southern Anti-Tru...
80 min
588
Melinda Gates (live!) on stopping climate chang...
50 min
589
A better conversation on guns
49 min
590
This isn’t Joe Kennedy’s grandfather’s Democrat...
61 min
591
Amy Chua on how tribalism is tearing America apart
59 min
592
How technology brings out the worst in us, with...
69 min
593
Steven Pinker: enlightenment values made this t...
65 min
594
Why my politics are bad with Bhaskar Sunkara
71 min
595
How Democracies Die
72 min
596
How to oppose Trump without becoming more like him
69 min
597
You will love this conversation with Jaron Lani...
95 min
598
The most clarifying conversation I’ve had on Tr...
73 min
599
Pod Save America’s Jon Favreau on Trump’s first...
58 min
600
The inside story of Doug Jones’s win in Alabama
59 min