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
126
Does China control Hollywood?
58 min
127
Steve Bannon is still at war
45 min
128
The Fortress of Solitude saw it all coming
Constance Grady talks with author Jonathan Lethem about his prescient 2003 novel
34 min
129
The Philosophers: Stoic revival
59 min
130
Station Eleven's creator on the end of the world
Showrunner Patrick Somerville on why hope is necessary for survival
47 min
131
The racist origins of fat phobia
49 min
132
The fight for Ukraine — and democracy
49 min
133
The war on trans people
49 min
134
Michael Ian Black on being a better man
50 min
135
Carmen Maria Machado's haunted feminine
36 min
136
The rise and fall of America's monuments
45 min
137
The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Co...
55 min
138
Why accidents aren't accidental
47 min
139
Rethinking the "end of history"
56 min
140
Anita Hill finally gets even
55 min
141
Elites have captured identity politics
52 min
142
The moral dangers of dirty work
54 min
143
Did the sexual revolution go wrong?
53 min
144
Who decides how to conserve nature?
55 min
145
The Philosophers: Loneliness and totalitarianism
58 min
146
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 4: The fut...
59 min
147
Michael Lewis on why Americans distrust experts
52 min
148
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 3: The nuc...
51 min
149
The case for regret
45 min
150
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 2: Sanctions
56 min