The Gray Area with Sean Illing

By: Vox
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  • Summary

  • 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.
    © 2019 Vox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Philosophy Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
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Episodes
  • Politics after Covid

    Politics after Covid
    Apr 28 2025
    There are lots of stories to tell about the Covid pandemic. Most of them, on some level, are about politics, about decisions that affected people’s lives in different — and very unequal — ways. Covid hasn’t disappeared, but the crisis has subsided. So do we have enough distance from it to reflect on what we got right, what we got wrong, and what we can do differently when the next crisis strikes? Professor Frances E. Lee — co-author of In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us — thinks we do. In this episode, she speaks with Sean about how our politics, our assumptions, and our biases affected decision-making and outcomes during the pandemic. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: Frances E. Lee, professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton and co-author of In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    51 mins
  • Halfway there: a philosopher’s guide to midlife crises

    Halfway there: a philosopher’s guide to midlife crises
    Apr 21 2025
    Philosophy often feels like a disconnected discipline, obsessed with tedious and abstract problems. But MIT professor Kieran Setiya believes philosophical inquiry has a practical purpose outside the classroom — to help guide us through life’s most challenging circumstances. He joins Sean to talk about self-help, FOMO, and midlife crises. This episode originally aired in April 2024. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: Kieran Setiya, author of Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way and Midlife: A Philosophical Guide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    55 mins
  • Whatever this is, it isn’t liberalism

    Whatever this is, it isn’t liberalism
    Apr 14 2025
    What exactly is the basis for democracy? Arguably Iiberalism, the belief that the government serves the people, is the stone on which modern democracy was founded. That notion is so ingrained in the US that we often forget that America could be governed any other way. But political philosopher John Gray believes that liberalism has been waning for a long, long time. He joins Sean to discuss the great liberal thinker Thomas Hobbes and America’s decades-long transition away from liberalism. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: John Gray, political philosopher and author of The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    58 mins
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Profile Image for Maxwell Sanders

Intellectually Stimulating

Every conversation features intricate knowledge and stimulates so much thought. I always feel like I understand the world a little more after every episode

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great conversation

great questions and dialogue! What a treasure to find this podcast, and I look forward to listening to more.

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Good Food for Thought

I’ve never heard of this author and really enjoyed the episode. Having spent a life walking the line of science and “alternative” healing, he’s given me a fresh perspective and a lot to research and think about.

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