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
176
The rise and fall of America's monuments
45 min
177
The Philosophers: America's philosophy, with Co...
55 min
178
Why accidents aren't accidental
47 min
179
Rethinking the "end of history"
56 min
180
Anita Hill finally gets even
55 min
181
Elites have captured identity politics
52 min
182
The moral dangers of dirty work
54 min
183
Did the sexual revolution go wrong?
53 min
184
Who decides how to conserve nature?
55 min
185
The Philosophers: Loneliness and totalitarianism
58 min
186
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 4: The fut...
59 min
187
Michael Lewis on why Americans distrust experts
52 min
188
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 3: The nuc...
51 min
189
The case for regret
45 min
190
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 2: Sanctions
56 min
191
The spirituality of parenting
43 min
192
The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 1: Why did...
55 min
193
The Philosophers: Resisting despair
How can Albert Camus help us understand the war in Ukraine, post-pandemic life, and the absurdity of our modern world?
51 min
194
What happened to American conservatism?
55 min
195
The limits of forgiveness
46 min
196
The madness behind The Method
62 min
197
David Cross is disappointed in you guys
44 min
198
Author Kiley Reid on why we read novels
42 min
199
The conversation about guns we're not having
59 min
200
Why does middle school suck?
60 min