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.
126
The necessity — and danger — of free speech
Free speech is essential for democracy. It may also be democracy's downfall.
50 min
127
Hacking coral sex to save the reefs
49 min
128
The price of keeping secrets
47 min
129
Does China control Hollywood?
58 min
130
Steve Bannon is still at war
45 min
131
The Fortress of Solitude saw it all coming
Constance Grady talks with author Jonathan Lethem about his prescient 2003 novel
34 min
132
The Philosophers: Stoic revival
59 min
133
Station Eleven's creator on the end of the world
Showrunner Patrick Somerville on why hope is necessary for survival
47 min
134
The racist origins of fat phobia
49 min
135
The fight for Ukraine — and democracy
49 min
136
The war on trans people
49 min
137
Michael Ian Black on being a better man
50 min
138
Carmen Maria Machado's haunted feminine
36 min
139
The rise and fall of America's monuments
45 min
140
The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Co...
55 min
141
Why accidents aren't accidental
47 min
142
Rethinking the "end of history"
56 min
143
Anita Hill finally gets even
55 min
144
Elites have captured identity politics
52 min
145
The moral dangers of dirty work
54 min
146
Did the sexual revolution go wrong?
53 min
147
Who decides how to conserve nature?
55 min
148
The Philosophers: Loneliness and totalitarianism
58 min
149
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 4: The fut...
59 min
150
Michael Lewis on why Americans distrust experts
52 min