Cover image of The Gray Area with Sean Illing

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

The Gray Area with host Sean Illing is a philosophical take on culture, politics, and everything in between. We don’t pretend to have the answers, but we do offer a space for real dialogue. Resist cer... Read more

Ranked #1

Podcast cover

Best of: Alison Gopnik changed how I think about love

Best of: Alison Gopnik changed how I think about love

Happy Thanksgiving! We will be back next week with brand new episodes, but on a day when so many of us are thinking abou... Read more

26 Nov 2020

1hr 35mins

Ranked #2

Podcast cover

Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s hardest year, and what comes next

Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s hardest year, and what comes next

It’s been a tough year for Facebook. The social networking juggernaut found itself engulfed by controversies over fake n... Read more

2 Apr 2018

51mins

Similar Podcasts

Ranked #3

Podcast cover

Jenny Odell on nature, art, and burnout in quarantine

Jenny Odell on nature, art, and burnout in quarantine

One of my favorite episodes of this show was my conversation with Jenny Odell, just under a year ago. Odell, a visual ar... Read more

7 May 2020

1hr 8mins

Ranked #4

Podcast cover

Best-of: Bryan Stevenson

Best-of: Bryan Stevenson

Here, at the holidays, I wanted to share some of my favorite episodes of the show with you. Bryan Stevenson tops the lis... Read more

27 Dec 2018

1hr 34mins

Most Popular Podcasts

Ranked #5

Podcast cover

Biden's immigration architect on racism, reform, and the Obama legacy

Biden's immigration architect on racism, reform, and the Obama legacy

NPR journalist, memoirist, and host of the upcoming WBEZ podcast The Art of Power Aarti Shahani talks with Cecilia Muñoz... Read more

11 Feb 2021

1hr 4mins

Ranked #6

Podcast cover

Ta-Nehisi Coates: "There’s not gonna be a happy ending to this story"

Ta-Nehisi Coates: "There’s not gonna be a happy ending to this story"

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an author at the Atlantic. His book, Between the World and Me, won the National Book Award, and was ... Read more

14 Dec 2016

1hr 46mins

Ranked #7

Podcast cover

Best of: Michael Lewis reads my mind

Best of: Michael Lewis reads my mind

Michael Lewis needs little introduction. He’s the author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short, The Blind Side, The ... Read more

28 Dec 2020

1hr 46mins

Ranked #8

Podcast cover

Ta-Nehisi Coates on my “cold, atheist book”

Ta-Nehisi Coates on my “cold, atheist book”

This one was a pleasure. Ta-Nehisi Coates joined me in Brooklyn for part of the “Why We’re Polarized” tour. His descript... Read more

17 Feb 2020

1hr 15mins

Ranked #9

Podcast cover

Malcolm Gladwell on the danger of joining consensus opinions

Malcolm Gladwell on the danger of joining consensus opinions

Malcolm Gladwell needs no introduction (though if you didn't know the famed author has launched a podcast, you should — ... Read more

23 Aug 2016

1hr 35mins

Ranked #10

Podcast cover

Where Jonathan Haidt thinks the American mind went wrong

Where Jonathan Haidt thinks the American mind went wrong

Jonathan Haidt is a psychologist at New York University and the co-founder of Heterodox University. His book The Righteo... Read more

26 Nov 2018

1hr 53mins

Ranked #11

Podcast cover

Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle

Work as identity, burnout as lifestyle

In the past few months, two essays on America’s changing relationship to work caught my eye. The first was Anne Helen Pe... Read more

22 Apr 2019

1hr 24mins

Ranked #12

Podcast cover

Having a bad day? Dave Eggers can help.

Having a bad day? Dave Eggers can help.

I’ve wanted to have Dave Eggers on the show for a while now. Eggers has not only written a vast range of books (a deeply... Read more

18 Nov 2019

1hr 25mins

Ranked #13

Podcast cover

The conservative mind of Yuval Levin

The conservative mind of Yuval Levin

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently is the way we often conflate two very distinct things when we assign p... Read more

9 Jan 2020

1hr 21mins

Ranked #14

Podcast cover

Nathan Robinson’s case for socialism

Nathan Robinson’s case for socialism

“Socialism” is simultaneously one of the most commonly used and most confusing terms in American politics. Does being a ... Read more

6 Jan 2020

1hr 43mins

Ranked #15

Podcast cover

Bill Gates on stopping climate change, building robots, and the best books he's read

Bill Gates on stopping climate change, building robots, and the best books he's read

Bill Gates is one of those people for whom "needs no introduction" is actually true. The polymathic Microsoft founder no... Read more

23 Feb 2016

44mins

Ranked #16

Podcast cover

Are humans fundamentally good? (with Rutger Bregman)

Are humans fundamentally good? (with Rutger Bregman)

Dutch historian and De Correspondent writer Rutger Bregman got famous for the lashings he gave Tucker Carlson and the as... Read more

1 Jun 2020

1hr 39mins

Ranked #17

Podcast cover

Taking Trump’s corruption seriously

Taking Trump’s corruption seriously

The question of whether President Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election has consumed Washington since the ... Read more

2 Aug 2018

1hr 7mins

Ranked #18

Podcast cover

Pete Buttigieg’s theory of political change

Pete Buttigieg’s theory of political change

First off. Hello! I’m back from paternity leave. And this is a helluva podcast to restart with.Pete Buttigieg is a Rhode... Read more

1 Apr 2019

1hr 2mins

Ranked #19

Podcast cover

David French on “The Great White Culture War"

David French on “The Great White Culture War"

David French is a senior writer for National Review and one of the conservatives I read most closely. About a month ago,... Read more

10 Sep 2018

1hr 35mins

Ranked #20

Podcast cover

Neoliberalism and its discontents

Neoliberalism and its discontents

“Neoliberalism” is one of the most confusing phrases in political discourse today. The term is often used to describe th... Read more

24 Oct 2019

1hr 34mins

“Podium: AI tools for podcasters. Generate show notes, transcripts, highlight clips, and more with AI. Try it today at https://podium.page”