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The Gray Area with Sean Illing
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
Vox

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... more

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Episodes

America’s reactionary moment

What just happened? It’s been almost two weeks since the presidential election, and many Americans are still grappling with the result.... more

18 Nov 2024 · 1 hour, 18 minutes
Well this is awkward

Philosopher Alexandra Plakias says there are no awkward people, only awkward situations. In her book, Awkwardness: A Theory, Plakias explains the... more

11 Nov 2024 · 1 hour, 1 minute
What just happened, and what comes next

This has been an unusual week. Sean and the TGA team are still sifting through it all and figuring out... more

08 Nov 2024 · 54 minutes
Does being "woke" do any good?

What does it mean to be "woke"? It's become a catchall term to smear or dismiss anything that has any... more

04 Nov 2024 · 56 minutes
Is America collapsing like Ancient Rome?

What can ancient Rome teach us about American democracy? The Roman Republic fell for a lot of reasons: The state became... more

28 Oct 2024 · 49 minutes
The world according to Werner Herzog

Sean Illing speaks with one of his heroes: Werner Herzog. Herzog is a filmmaker, poet, and author of the memoir Every... more

21 Oct 2024 · 1 hour,
Ta-Nehisi Coates on complexity, clarity, and truth.

How important is complexity? At The Gray Area, we value understanding the details. We revel in complexity. But does our desire... more

14 Oct 2024 · 1 hour, 13 minutes
Your mind needs chaos

In part three of our series on creativity, guest host Oshan Jarow speaks with philosopher of neuroscience Mark Miller about how our minds actually... more

09 Oct 2024 · 51 minutes
Musician Laraaji on the origin of creativity

Sean revisits his interview with musician Laraaji, a pioneer of new age music who has recorded more than 50 albums since... more

08 Oct 2024 · 47 minutes
Is AI creative?

What is the relationship between creativity and artificial intelligence? Creativity feels innately human, but is it? Can a machine be... more

07 Oct 2024 · 41 minutes
Happiness isn’t the goal

Children live with a beginner’s mind. Every day is full of new discoveries, powerful emotions, and often unrealistically positive assumptions... more

30 Sep 2024 · 53 minutes
A message from Sean

Sean Illing has a special message for all you listeners: Look at me! We’ve made our first-ever video episode. See Sean... more

27 Sep 2024 · 1 minute
What if we get climate change right?

Climate change has become synonymous with doomsday, as though everyone is waiting for the worst to happen. But what is... more

23 Sep 2024 · 48 minutes
Yuval Noah Harari on the eclipsing of human intelligence

Humans are good learners and teachers, constantly gathering information, archiving, and sharing knowledge. So why, after building the most sophisticated... more

16 Sep 2024 · 1 hour, 27 minutes
Why cynicism is bad for you

There’s a certain glamor to cynicism. As a culture, we’ve turned cynicism into a symbol of hard-earned wisdom, assuming that... more

09 Sep 2024 · 58 minutes
Poetry as religion

Sean Illing speaks with poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht, whose book The Wonder Paradox asks: If we don't have... more

02 Sep 2024 · 59 minutes
The jazz musician’s guide to the universe

How is the origin of our universe like an improvised saxophone solo? This week, Sean Illing talks to Stephon Alexander,... more

26 Aug 2024 · 57 minutes
Revisiting the "father of capitalism"

Sean Illing talks with Glory Liu, the author of Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher became an Icon of American Capitalism.... more

19 Aug 2024 · 55 minutes
Breaking our family patterns

Sean Illing speaks with marriage and family therapist Vienna Pharaon, whose book 'The Origins of You' aims to help us... more

12 Aug 2024 · 1 hour, 6 minutes
Why Orwell matters

In an Orwellian twist, the word “Orwellian” has been misused so much over the decades that it’s essentially lost its... more

05 Aug 2024 · 56 minutes
The timebomb the founding fathers left us

The US Constitution is a brilliant political document, but it’s far from perfect. This week’s guest, Erwin Chemerinsky, argues that... more

29 Jul 2024 · 55 minutes
Swear like a philosopher

You can’t drop an f-bomb on the radio, but fortunately for our guest, you can say anything you want in... more

22 Jul 2024 · 44 minutes
Taking Nietzsche seriously

Sean Illing talks with political science professor Matt McManus about the political thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher... more

15 Jul 2024 · 1 hour, 2 minutes
What India teaches us about liberalism — and its decline

Authoritarian tendencies have been on the rise globally and the liberal world order is on the decline. One hotspot of... more

08 Jul 2024 · 46 minutes
1992: The year politics broke

We’re living in an era of extreme partisan politics, rising resentment, and fractured news media. Writer John Ganz believes that... more

01 Jul 2024 · 44 minutes
The existential struggle of being Black

Nathalie Etoke joins The Gray Area to talk about existentialism, the Black experience, and the legacy of dehumanization.  Host: Sean Illing... more

24 Jun 2024 · 55 minutes
The world after nuclear war

A mile of pure fire. A flash that melts everything — titanium, steel, lead, people. A blast that mows down... more

17 Jun 2024 · 57 minutes
Gaza, Camus, and the logic of violence

Albert Camus was a Nobel-winning French writer and public intellectual. During Algeria’s bloody war for independence in the 1950s, Camus... more

10 Jun 2024 · 54 minutes
This is your kid on smartphones

Old people have always worried about young people. But psychologist Jonathan Haidt believes something genuinely different and troubling is happening... more

03 Jun 2024 · 53 minutes
Life after death?

Sebastian Junger came as close as you possibly can to dying. While his doctors struggled to revive him, the veteran... more

20 May 2024 · 52 minutes
The world after Ozempic

Ozempic and other new weight loss drugs are being touted as potential miracle cures for diabetes and obesity. Journalist Johann... more

13 May 2024 · 50 minutes
UFOs, God, and the edge of understanding

Religious studies professor Diana Pasulka was a total nonbeliever in alien life, but she began to question this after speaking... more

06 May 2024 · 46 minutes
How to listen

Most of us don’t know how to truly listen, and it’s causing all sorts of problems. Sean Illing is joined... more

29 Apr 2024 · 55 minutes
Everything's a cult now

The internet has fractured our world into a million little subcultures catering to the specific identities and habits of everyone... more

22 Apr 2024 · 53 minutes
Fareed Zakaria on our revolutionary moment

Is it possible that we are living through one of the most revolutionary periods in human history? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria... more

15 Apr 2024 · 45 minutes
Life is hard. Can philosophy help?

Philosophy may seem like a theoretical or abstract discipline in which unanswerable questions are debated to the point of tedium.... more

08 Apr 2024 · 51 minutes
The American dream is a pyramid scheme

Jane Marie is an expert in American bullshit. Her podcast The Dream explores life coaching, wellness, marketing, and other fraudulent... more

01 Apr 2024 · 46 minutes
The chaplain who doesn't believe in God

As a non-believer, Devin Moss never thought he would become a chaplain or a spiritual adviser, much less one who... more

25 Mar 2024 · 48 minutes
Can a friend be our most significant other?

Journalist Rhaina Cohen believes that modern culture undervalues friendships and discusses the ways in which deep friendships are distinct from... more

18 Mar 2024 · 50 minutes
The power of climate fiction

Stephen Markley’s novel, “The Deluge,” is an ambitious and terrifyingly realistic look at our collective future on a warming planet.... more

11 Mar 2024 · 47 minutes
The denial of death

It’s been 50 years since Ernest Becker’s breakthrough book The Denial of Death was first published, and its thesis has... more

04 Mar 2024 · 45 minutes
A brief history of extinction panics

Silicon Valley is in the middle of an AI frenzy, and many of its leaders believe this technology could eventually... more

26 Feb 2024 · 50 minutes
The new(ish) world order

America solidified its dominant posture in the international order following World War II and largely held that position for the... more

19 Feb 2024 · 42 minutes
The free-market century is over

Sean Illing talks with economic historian Brad DeLong about his new book Slouching Towards Utopia. In it, DeLong claims that... more

12 Feb 2024 · 54 minutes
Music and mysticism

Musician Laraaji joins Sean to talk about improvisation as meditation, the transcendent nature of laughter, and lessons from a long... more

05 Feb 2024 · 47 minutes
The case for banning...millionaires?

Political philosopher Ingrid Robeyns believes that there should be a maximum amount of money and resources that one person can... more

29 Jan 2024 · 53 minutes
The joy of uncertainty

For much of her life, author Maggie Jackson disliked uncertainty and thought of it as something to eradicate as quickly as... more

22 Jan 2024 · 48 minutes
A pro-worker work ethic

Americans have absorbed the “Protestant work ethic” — the idea that our value as human beings is determined by how... more

15 Jan 2024 · 41 minutes
How psychedelics can reinvent learning

If you’ve felt that learning new information or developing a new skill seems harder as you get older, you are... more

08 Jan 2024 · 37 minutes
Seeing ourselves through the darkness

When we find ourselves in a dark place, what if we didn't "lighten things up"? Sean Illing talks with philosopher... more

26 Dec 2023 · 55 minutes
Living Mindfully

Jon Kabat-Zinn helped kick off the American mindfulness movement with his bestselling book Wherever You Go, There You Are. On... more

18 Dec 2023 · 41 minutes
Taking anarchism seriously

Most people think anarchists want to live in a lawless society devoid of any structure or order. But anarchism is... more

11 Dec 2023 · 50 minutes
3,000 years of The Iliad

Constance Grady, a culture writer at Vox, is joined by Emily Wilson to discuss her bestselling translations of The Iliad... more

04 Dec 2023 · 36 minutes
Late-stage liberalism

Sean Illing is joined by John Gray, political philosopher and author of the new book, The New Leviathans: Thoughts After... more

27 Nov 2023 · 53 minutes
The case against free will

Sean Illing speaks with Robert Sapolsky, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the author of a... more

20 Nov 2023 · 58 minutes
A Jew and a Muslim get honest about Israel and Gaza

Zack Beauchamp, a Vox senior correspondent who writes about democracy and Israel, speaks with Shadi Hamid, a columnist at The... more

13 Nov 2023 · 1 hour,
How to keep panic from attacking

Sean Illing is joined by Matt Gutman, the chief national correspondent for ABC News, to talk about his new book,... more

06 Nov 2023 · 49 minutes
We Are What We Watch

Guest host Alissa Wilkinson speaks with Walt Hickey about his new book, You Are What You Watch: How Movies and... more

30 Oct 2023 · 56 minutes
Werner Herzog’s ecstatic truth

Sean Illing speaks with one of his heroes: Werner Herzog. Herzog is a filmmaker, poet, and author of the new... more

23 Oct 2023 · 56 minutes
The lessons of Sam Bankman-Fried

Michael Lewis joins Sean Illing to discuss his new book about Sam Bankman-Fried, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of... more

16 Oct 2023 · 55 minutes
Is America getting meaner?

Sean Illing and David Brooks talk about Brooks’s recent essay, “How America Got Mean.” They discuss the country's moral history,... more

02 Oct 2023 · 54 minutes
Naomi Klein on her doppelganger (and yours)

Every generation thinks they’re living through the strangest times, but is our generation right? Sean Illing speaks with writer and... more

25 Sep 2023 · 57 minutes
Should we press pause on AI?

How worried should we be about AI? Sean Illing is joined by Stuart J. Russell, a professor at the University... more

18 Sep 2023 · 57 minutes
Democracy’s existential crisis

Why is democracy worth saving? Sean Illing is joined by Astra Taylor, the author of the new book The Age... more

11 Sep 2023 · 51 minutes
Conservative socialism?

What will American politics look like after Trump? Sean Illing is joined by Sohrab Ahmari to discuss his new book,... more

28 Aug 2023 · 55 minutes
The benefits of utopian thinking

Why don’t we spend more time imagining a better future? Sean Illing is joined by Kristen R. Ghodsee, the author... more

21 Aug 2023 · 53 minutes
What Clarence Thomas really thinks

In this episode, which was originally published in August 2022, Sean Illing talks with Corey Robin, author of a 2019... more

14 Aug 2023 · 1 hour, 3 minutes
The new crisis of masculinity

What does masculinity mean these days? Sean Illing speaks with Christine Emba, a columnist at The Washington Post who wrote... more

07 Aug 2023 · 1 hour, 1 minute
How we all became a brand

What does it mean to be “authentic” in the digital age? Sean Illing speaks with Tara Isabella Burton about her... more

31 Jul 2023 · 52 minutes
The therapeutic potential of MDMA

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, MDMA (also known as molly or ecstasy) was dismissed as a club drug and became... more

24 Jul 2023 · 47 minutes
Is the journey to self-discovery pointless?

There are many ways people are trying to know themselves these days – from taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test... more

17 Jul 2023 · 52 minutes
Parenting through the climate crisis

Does being a parent today necessarily mean also being a climate activist? Sean Illing speaks with moral philosopher and political... more

10 Jul 2023 · 47 minutes
Seeing ourselves through darkness

When we find ourselves in a dark place, what if we didn't "lighten things up"? Sean Illing talks with philosopher... more

29 Jun 2023 · 56 minutes
Best of: A new philosophy of love

Sean Illing talks with Carrie Jenkins about her new book Sad Love, and her call to rethink the shape and... more

26 Jun 2023 · 59 minutes
The future of tribalism

Sean Illing talks with evolutionary anthropologist David Samson, whose new book Our Tribal Future delves into how tribalism has shaped... more

22 Jun 2023 · 52 minutes
When you can't separate art from artist

What do we do when an artist we love does something monstrous? Constance Grady, a culture writer at Vox, talks... more

15 Jun 2023 · 53 minutes
The case for not killing yourself

Sean Illing talks with Clancy Martin, professor of philosophy at University of Missouri Kansas City, about his powerful new book... more

12 Jun 2023 · 57 minutes
What comes after Black Lives Matter?

What is the future of the racial justice movement in America? Sean Illing talks with Cedric Johnson, professor and author... more

08 Jun 2023 · 57 minutes
Clickbait’s destructive legacy

Have clicks, likes, and shares driven media and democracy to the point of disrepair? Sean Illing is joined by Ben... more

05 Jun 2023 · 52 minutes
Simone Weil’s radical philosophy of love and attention

Sean Illing speaks with history professor Robert Zaretsky about Simone Weil, a 20th-century French writer and activist who dedicated her... more

01 Jun 2023 · 56 minutes
Peter Singer on his ethical legacy

Can we live a good life in a world where animals are factory farmed? Guest host Dylan Matthews talks with... more

25 May 2023 · 1 hour, 5 minutes
Why the poor in America stay poor

Are we responsible for keeping poor people poor? Sean Illing is joined by Matt Desmond, a sociology professor at Princeton... more

22 May 2023 · 54 minutes
The spiritual roots of our strange relationship to work

The pandemic caused many to rethink our relationship to work. But how did that relationship develop in the first place?... more

18 May 2023 · 53 minutes
Mysteries of the mind

What do we know — and what don't we know — about how the human mind works? Sean Illing talks... more

15 May 2023 · 53 minutes
Why we can’t just blame capitalism for everything

There are many debates within the American left, but the fundamental dispute is over the viability of the current system.... more

11 May 2023 · 49 minutes
Being human in the age of AI

Will AI change what it means to be human? Sean Illing talks with essayist Meghan O'Gieblyn, author of God, Human,... more

08 May 2023 · 53 minutes
A philosopher's psychedelic encounter with reality

Why don't more philosophers take psychedelic drugs seriously as a means of examining reality? Sean Illing talks with Justin Smith-Ruiu,... more

04 May 2023 · 51 minutes
The project of Socratic love with Agnes Callard

What happens when you apply the Socratic method to personal relationships? Philosopher Agnes Callard joins Sean Illing to discuss how... more

01 May 2023 · 52 minutes
The chemistry of connection

Could our brains make us less lonely? Sean Illing talks with psychiatrist and author Julie Holland, whose new book Good... more

27 Apr 2023 · 53 minutes
What a slow civil war looks like

Sean Illing is joined by reporter Jeff Sharlet, whose new book The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War takes... more

24 Apr 2023 · 56 minutes
How to listen

Most of us don’t know how to truly listen, and it’s causing all sorts of problems. Sean Illing is joined... more

20 Apr 2023 · 55 minutes
Why we can't give up on persuasion

Sean Illing is joined by Anand Giridharadas, author of The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts,... more

17 Apr 2023 · 53 minutes
Rep. Katie Porter's working-class politics

Rep. Katie Porter became well-known for using a whiteboard and asking tough questions during Congressional hearings. Her frank questions resonated... more

13 Apr 2023 · 47 minutes
The climate apocalypse will be televised

Guest host Alissa Wilkinson talks with Dorothy Fortenberry, a co-showrunner, executive producer, and writer on Extrapolations, the new star-studded anthology... more

10 Apr 2023 · 1 hour,
A philosopher takes on religious life

What would drive someone to renounce all their possessions, relationships, and ambitions to join a religious community? Sean talks with... more

06 Apr 2023 · 53 minutes
Your brain isn't so private anymore

Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with professor of philosophy and law Nita Farahany about her new book The Battle for... more

03 Apr 2023 · 1 hour, 5 minutes
Brian Stelter thinks the news has a reliability problem

Will the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News be a watershed moment? Is the media industry beyond repair? Sean... more

30 Mar 2023 · 56 minutes
How corporations got all your data

Sean Illing speaks with Matthew Jones, historian of science and technology, and co-author (with data scientist Chris Wiggins) of the... more

27 Mar 2023 · 54 minutes
The case for failure

Is our society's fixation with success hindering our ability to find humility? Sean Illing speaks with Costica Bradatan about his... more

16 Mar 2023 · 48 minutes
Poetry as religion

Sean Illing speaks with poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht, whose new book The Wonder Paradox asks: if we don't... more

13 Mar 2023 · 56 minutes
Revisiting the American Dream

In America, there's been an increase of available jobs, and there's also been a series of high-profile layoffs, strikes, and... more

09 Mar 2023 · 43 minutes
The cost of saving pandas

The giant panda is no longer endangered. This, of course, is good news. But the model of conservation that worked... more

06 Mar 2023 · 45 minutes
Breaking our family patterns

Sean Illing speaks with marriage and family therapist Vienna Pharaon, whose new book The Origins of You aims to help... more

02 Mar 2023 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
For Black horror fans, fact is scarier than fiction

Guest host Alissa Wilkinson talks with Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman about her new book, The Black Guy Dies First:... more

27 Feb 2023 · 51 minutes
Taking Nietzsche seriously

Sean Illing talks with political science professor Matt McManus about the political thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher... more

23 Feb 2023 · 1 hour, 5 minutes
The dark history of Silicon Valley

Sean Illing speaks with Malcolm Harris, a journalist, critic, and author of the new book Palo Alto: A History of... more

16 Feb 2023 · 1 hour,
The value of being a "hater"

Guest host Rebecca Jennings talks with Justin Charity, cultural critic and senior staff writer at The Ringer, about what it... more

13 Feb 2023 · 55 minutes
Behind the blue wall

Sean Illing speaks with Rosa Brooks, a former reserve police officer and current law professor at Georgetown University. Brooks wrote... more

09 Feb 2023 · 1 hour, 2 minutes
Best of: Imagine a future with no police

Guest host Fabiola Cineas talks with author, lawyer, and organizer Derecka Purnell about her recent book Becoming Abolitionists. They discuss... more

06 Feb 2023 · 1 hour, 3 minutes
Is America broken?

Sean Illing speaks with Alana Newhouse, the editor-in-chief of Tablet magazine. They discuss her recent essay on "brokenism," a term... more

02 Feb 2023 · 50 minutes
The creator of Fargo is done with good guys vs. bad guys

Sean Illing talks with Noah Hawley, the creator and showrunner of the anthology drama Fargo on FX, as well as... more

30 Jan 2023 · 55 minutes
Revisiting the "father of capitalism"

Sean Illing talks with Glory Liu, the author of Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher became an Icon of... more

26 Jan 2023 · 53 minutes
Can effective altruism be redeemed?

Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with Holden Karnofsky about effective altruism, a movement flung into public scrutiny with the collapse... more

23 Jan 2023 · 1 hour, 3 minutes
The roots of homelessness

Sean Illing talks with writer and reporter Jerusalem Demsas about the causes of homelessness in America. They discuss our ideas... more

19 Jan 2023 · 53 minutes
Can race be transcended?

Sean Illing talks with author Thomas Chatterton Williams about race and identity in America. Thomas has analyzed racial identity through... more

12 Jan 2023 · 46 minutes
Is ethical AI possible?

Sean Illing talks with Timnit Gebru, the founder of the Distributed AI Research Institute. She studies the ethics of artificial... more

09 Jan 2023 · 47 minutes
What do we owe animals?

Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with philosopher and author Martha Nussbaum about her new book, Justice for Animals. Martha discusses... more

05 Jan 2023 · 48 minutes
Best of: America's philosophy, with Cornel West

Sean Illing talks with Cornel West about the American philosophical tradition known as pragmatism. They talk about what makes pragmatism... more

22 Dec 2022 · 1 hour, 1 minute
Best of: The necessity — and danger — of free speech

Sean Illing talks with Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan about his new book The Paradox of Democracy, which he... more

19 Dec 2022 · 53 minutes
The church of celebrity

Guest host Alissa Wilkinson talks with Katelyn Beaty, author of the new book Celebrities for Jesus, about how the dynamics... more

15 Dec 2022 · 57 minutes
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
Can effective altruism be redeemed?
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
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Description

Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with Holden Karnofsky about effective altruism, a movement flung into public scrutiny with the collapse of Sam... more