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
201
Fannie Lou Hamer and the meaning of freedom
How a former sharecropper disrupted American politics
54 min
202
What the internet took from us
53 min
203
Trapped inside with Susanna Clarke's Piranesi
43 min
204
Bryan Stevenson on the legacy of enslavement
57 min
205
What's your status?
51 min
206
Is there a hack for enlightenment?
59 min
207
Fighting a world on fire with fire
56 min
208
Revolutionary Love
51 min
209
How to make meaning out of suffering
52 min
210
Ken Burns's latest on The Greatest
62 min
211
The road from 9/11 to Donald Trump
62 min
212
Rep. Pramila Jayapal on immigrants and America ...
45 min
213
Why America's obsession with rights is wrong
52 min
214
The news is by — and for — rich, white liberals
57 min
215
Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of sl...
55 min
216
Was the cruelty the point?
55 min
217
How seashells shaped the world — and predict ou...
52 min
218
Bill Maher on free speech, comedy, and his haters
45 min
219
Robert Reich wants you to take on the system
48 min
220
Marty Baron on the future of news
49 min
221
The death of cool
43 min
222
We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.
Professor Alex Wendt tells Sean Illing why he thinks the aliens might already be here
57 min
223
Philadelphia's progressive prosecutor
District attorney Larry Krasner talks about his reform agenda, rising gun violence, and how to take on the system
49 min
224
Fareed Zakaria on the fate of democracy
65 min
225
Jane Goodall on the power of hope
The world's foremost expert on chimps wants us to remember we're animals, too
56 min