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Is it possible that we are living through one of the most revolutionary periods in human history? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria believes that we are and argues that the convergence of AI and the global backlash against liberal democracy are upending political orders around the world. He joins Sean to talk about how this period relates to history’s most impactful revolutions, both political and technological.
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Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Fareed Zakaria (@fareedzakaria). His new book is Age of Revolutions.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Philosophy may seem like a theoretical or abstract discipline in which unanswerable questions are debated to the point of tedium. But MIT professor Kieran Setiya believes that philosophical inquiry has a very practical and applicable purpose outside of the classroom — to help guide us through life’s most challenging circumstances. He joins Sean to talk about self-help, FOMO, and midlife crises.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Kieran Setiya. His book is called Life is Hard.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Jane Marie is an expert in American bullshit. Her podcast The Dream explores life coaching, wellness, marketing, and other fraudulent industries and exposes their exploitative practices. Her book, Selling the Dream, takes an even closer look at multilevel marketing schemes like Amway and Herbalife and gives historical context to this multibillion-dollar — and distinctly American — enterprise.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Jane Marie. Her podcast is The Dream and her book is Selling the Dream.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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As a non-believer, Devin Moss never thought he would become a chaplain or a spiritual adviser, much less one who counsels hospital patients with terminal illnesses and inmates on death row. Devin joins Sean to talk about his improbable journey, the death penalty, and the role of religion in an increasingly secular society.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Devin Moss. His podcast is The Adventures of Memento Mori.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Journalist Rhaina Cohen believes that modern culture undervalues friendships and discusses the ways in which deep friendships are distinct from but no less meaningful than romantic partnerships.
Guest host: Sigal Samuel (@sigalsamuel)
Guest: Rhaina Cohen (@rhainacohen). Her book is The Other Significant Others.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Stephen Markley’s novel, “The Deluge,” is an ambitious and terrifyingly realistic look at our collective future on a warming planet. He joins Sean to talk about the 10-year process of writing the book, the current political struggle over climate action, and how we can confront and mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Stephen Markley. His book is “The Deluge.”
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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It’s been 50 years since Ernest Becker’s breakthrough book The Denial of Death was first published, and its thesis has become more relevant than ever. Filmmaker Jef Sewell is the co-creator of a new documentary about Becker called All Illusions Must Be Broken. It features never-before-heard audio of the enigmatic anthropologist and puts his theories in a modern context.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Jef Sewell. Find out more about the film at www.twobirdsfilm.com
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Silicon Valley is in the middle of an AI frenzy, and many of its leaders believe this technology could eventually result in human extinction. Tyler Austin Harper breaks down the most outlandish predictions, some of the more plausible problems AI poses, and how this moment reminds him of earlier extinction panics.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Tyler Austin Harper (@Tyler_A_Harper). Read his piece in the New York Times here.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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America solidified its dominant posture in the international order following World War II and largely held that position for the following half-century. But as problems have accumulated at home and abroad, Americans are reconsidering their country’s role in the world, and so are its leaders. Alex Ward, author of The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump, joins us.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Alex Ward (@alexbward). His book is The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump.
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Sean Illing talks with economic historian Brad DeLong about his new book Slouching Towards Utopia. In it, DeLong claims that the "long twentieth century" was the most consequential period in human history, during which the institutions of rapid technological growth and globalization were created, setting humanity on a path towards improving life, defeating scarcity, and enabling real freedom. But... this ran into some problems. Sean and Brad talk about the power of markets, how the New Deal led to something approaching real social democracy, and why the Great Recession of 2008 and its aftermath signified the end of this momentous era.Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray AreaGuest: J. Bradford DeLong (@delong), author; professor of economics, U.C. BerkeleyReferences: Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century by J. Bradford DeLong (Basic; 2022)The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek (1944)The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi (1944)Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter (1942)"A Short History of Enclosure in Britain" by Simon Fairlie (This Land Magazine; 2009)"China's Great Leap Forward" by Clayton D. Brown (Association for Asian Studies; 2012)What Is Property? by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1840)The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order by Gary Gerstle (Oxford University Press; 2022)Apple's "1984" ad (YouTube)The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes (1936)"The spectacular ongoing implosion of crypto's biggest star, explained" by Emily Stewart (Vox; Nov. 18)"Did Greenspan Add to Subprime Woes? Gramlich Says Ex-Colleague Blocked Crackdown" by Greg Ip (Wall Street Journal; June 9, 2007)"Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same," from President Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address (Jan. 27, 2010)"The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" by Karl Marx (1852)Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein (Simon & Schuster; 2020)The Paradox of Democracy: Free Speech, Open Media, and Perilous Persuasion by Zac Gershberg and Sean Illing (U. Chicago; 2022) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app.Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcastsThis episode was made by: Producer: Erikk GeannikisEditor: Amy DrozdowskaEngineer: Patrick BoydEditorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. HallLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Musician Laraaji joins Sean to talk about improvisation as meditation, the transcendent nature of laughter, and lessons from a long life in sound and spirit.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Laraaji. His music can be found at https://laraajimusic.bandcamp.com/
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Be the first to hear new episodes of The Gray Area by following us in your favorite podcast app. Links here: https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Political philosopher Ingrid Robeyns believes that there should be a maximum amount of money and resources that one person can have. She tells Sean how much is too much and why limiting personal wealth benefits everyone, including the super rich.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Ingrid Robeyns. Her book is Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth.
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
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Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Cristian Ayala
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For much of her life, author Maggie Jackson disliked uncertainty and thought of it as something to eradicate as quickly as possible. But when she began to explore the uncertain mind, she discovered new scientific findings showing that uncertainty is critical for astute problem-solving and creativity. She joins Sean to talk about what she learned and how being unsure can lead to a better, more hopeful life.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Maggie Jackson. You can find her books and more at https://www.maggie-jackson.com/
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Americans have absorbed the “Protestant work ethic” — the idea that our value as human beings is determined by how hard we work and how much money we make. Elizabeth Anderson explains how this evolved, why it pervades everything, and why it sucks.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Elizabeth Anderson, professor of public philosophy at the University of Michigan.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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If you’ve felt that learning new information or developing a new skill seems harder as you get older, you are not wrong. Neuroscientist Gul Dolen has studied brain capability and joins us to talk about the times in human development when our brains are especially adept at learning and retaining new information, and how MDMA and other psychedelics can be used to induce these moments and unlock the brain’s potential.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Gul Dolen. Learn more about her work at www.dolenlab.org.
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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When we find ourselves in a dark place, what if we didn't "lighten things up"? Sean Illing talks with philosopher Mariana Alessandri, whose new book Night Vision offers a new way of understanding our dark moods and experiences like depression, pain, and grief. Alessandri describes the deep influence of what she calls the "light metaphor" — the belief that light is good and darkness is bad — and the destructive emotional cycles it has produced. They discuss the influence of Stoic philosophy, Aristotelian ethics, and contemporary self-help — and explore what new paradigms for emotional intelligence might entail. This episode was originally published on June 29th.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Mariana Alessandri (@mariana.alessandri), professor of philosophy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; author
References:
Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moods by Mariana Alessandri (Princeton; 2023)
Plato's "allegory of the cave" from the Republic, VI (514a–520a)
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (1952)
The Encheiridion (or "Handbook") of Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 125 AD)
The Dialogues and letters of Seneca (c. 4 BC – 65 AD)
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD)
The Tusculan Disputations of Cicero (106 – 43 BC)
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine (Sounds True; 2017)
Our Lord Don Quixote by Miguel de Unamuno (1914; tr. 1968)
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa (Aunt Lute; 1987)
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app.
Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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Jon Kabat-Zinn helped kick off the American mindfulness movement with his bestselling book Wherever You Go, There You Are. On its 30th anniversary, he joins Sean for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to be mindful in the attention economy, why mindfulness has skyrocketed in popularity, and how to think about the commercialization of an ancient practice.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness pioneer and author of Wherever You Go, There You Are. Learn more about his work at https://jonkabat-zinn.com and follow him at https://twitter.com/jonkabatzinn and https://www.facebook.com/kabatzinn
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Be the first to hear new episodes of The Gray Area by following us in your favorite podcast app. Links here: https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area
Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Most people think anarchists want to live in a lawless society devoid of any structure or order. But anarchism is actually a serious political philosophy that’s more focused on egalitarianism than it is on chaos. Philosopher Sophie Scott-Brown is an anarchist in this tradition, and she makes the convincing case that anarchism is the only political philosophy poised to deal with the uncertainty of the modern world.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Sophie Scott-Brown research fellow at the University of St. Andrews and the Director of Gresham College in London, and the author of the book Colin Ward and the Art of Everyday Anarchy.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Brandon McFarland
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Constance Grady, a culture writer at Vox, is joined by Emily Wilson to discuss her bestselling translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey. They unpack the buzz surrounding them and the significance of The Iliad today.
Host: Constance Grady, (@constancegrady), culture writer, Vox
Guest: Emily Wilson, classics professor and translator of The Iliad and The Odyssey
References:
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (W.W. Norton, 2023)
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (W.W. Norton, 2018)
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
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This episode was made by:
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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Sean Illing is joined by John Gray, political philosopher and author of the new book, The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism. They discuss Thomas Hobbes and the origins of liberalism, the current state of democracy, and the very uncertain future of the global liberal order.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: John Gray, author and political philosopher
References:
The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism by John Gray (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023)
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651)
Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.
Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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