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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. From the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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- iPad parents · 42 minWhen your aging parents can’t put down their phones, where does care end and control begin? In this episode, Vox reporter and producer Miles Bryan talks with internet culture…
- Who ruined your chocolate? · 41 minIf even chocolate is getting worse, what does that tell us about our economy and the state of life’s small pleasures? In today’s episode, Vox host Jonquilyn Hill talks to New…
- Why everyone is embracing populism · 27 minToday we’re bringing you an episode of the Vox daily news podcast Today, Explained. It’s a show that’s about the biggest stories of the day, and – like The Gray Area – it tries…
- How Silicon Valley learned to love war · 53 minSilicon Valley says it can build better weapons, faster and cheaper than traditional defense contractors. But what happens when the companies making those weapons also get a say…
- Is America a gerontocracy? · 47 minWhat does the country lose when one generation refuses to yield power? In this episode, Vox host Jonquilyn Hill talks with Idrees Kahloon, staff writer at the Atlantic, about…
- Inside the secret race to build artificial intelligence · 44 minWhat is happening behind the scenes of America’s largest AI companies? How could the squabbles, ideologies, and goals of their CEOs and engineers shape our future? In today’s…
- What makes a life good enough? · 44 minWhat does it mean to have a good life when so much feels wrong? In this episode of The Gray Area, guest host Jonquilyn Hill speaks with Vox journalist Rachel Wilkerson Miller…
- Can prediction markets be good for society? · 48 minCan prediction markets serve a purpose beyond gambling? In today’s episode, guest host Miles Bryan speaks with professor Finn Brunton in a conversation based on his recent…
- Our gender divide · 47 minWhat happens to a society when its members become increasingly wary of one another, and relationships break down based on gender lines? In today’s episode, guest host Christine…
- The death row assembly line · 59 minIs there a humane way for the state to kill someone? Guest host Miles Bryan sits down with New York Times Magazine writer and ProPublica reporter Pamela Colloff to pull back the…
- Is it bad to want to be rich? · 51 minIs wanting to be rich selfish? Does making money require exploiting other people? Or can the pursuit of wealth actually benefit society? In this episode guest host Sally…
- Why does killing a bug feel wrong? · 35 minThe Gray Area is taking a break today — but we’ve got something special for you. We’re dropping an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, Unexplainable from Vox. In it, host…
- How trauma became a status symbol · 43 minWe were told that airing our personal trauma in public would set us free. Instead, we got “the trauma script,” celebrity branding, and performative empathy. In today's episode…
- Inside the world of cash advance apps · 45 minIn today's episode, Vox senior reporter and producer Miles Bryan talks with writer Daniel Kolitz about his piece for The Baffler, "Paid Phones." Kolitz explains what it felt like…
- This is how you rule the world · 59 minWhat should a college teach? How to think? How to find a career? How to be a good citizen? What about how to acquire money, influence, and power? In today’s episode, guest host…
- Is starting a family becoming impossible? · 58 minWhy does it feel so hard to start a family today? How much of that is truly a personal choice? In this episode of The Gray Area, guest host Christine Emba sits down with…
- The millennial midlife crisis · 50 minIs "adulthood" a moving target? For millennials, hitting the milestones of the past — homeownership, secure careers, and financial independence — feels tougher than ever. We…
- How to be less neurotic · 40 minIf you could change anything about your personality, anything at all, what would it be? And why would you want to change it? Writer Olga Khazan spent a year trying to answer…
- Your body wasn’t built for a desk · 44 minWe’ve all heard that "sitting is the new smoking," but the research behind that phrase goes much deeper. How bad is sitting for you really? In this episode guest host Bryan…
- Why we want to believe in aliens · 51 minAre we truly alone in the universe? Despite the lack of hard evidence, belief in aliens and UFOs, officially known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), has shifted from the…
- Straight dating isn’t broken · 43 minHave you noticed the bad vibes around dating lately? Whether you’re swiping on apps or scrolling through social media, it’s easy to feel like the romantic landscape has become a…
- Kidneys for sale · 49 minIs it ever okay to put a price on a kidney? Why is it illegal to sell an organ, but perfectly legal to sell blood plasma? This episode explores the world of "repugnant…
- How memory changes you · 59 minWe like to think of memory as a record of the past. But that’s not really what it is. Memory doesn’t keep the past — it can also remake it. It stitches fragments into stories…
- Freud was right about one thing · 59 minSigmund Freud is probably the most famous psychoanalyst. Yet many of his theories have been critiqued or discredited. So is there anything we can still learn from the father of…
- Why straight dating feels bleak · 58 minThe internet is rife with chatter about “heteropessimism,” the feeling that gender relations are broken and heterosexual relationships are doomed. But is this just cynical…
- We’re postliterate · 52 minWhat happens when we read less? What does that do to our ability to understand complex ideas, or even think for ourselves?In today’s episode, guest host Jonquilyn Hill speaks…
- What does a parent owe their child? · 28 minThe Gray Area is taking a short break this week — but we’ve got something special for you. We’re dropping an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, Unexplainable. In it…
- The vanishing pleasures of daily life · 48 minSean talks with writer and philosopher Ian Bogost about his new book The Small Stuff. They discuss what modern life has lost in its pursuit of convenience, efficiency, and…
- How Google broke the internet · 41 minThe internet is changing. For years our primary gateway to the internet has been search engines: we ask a question, a list of websites pops up, and we choose which ones to click…
- The illusion of the ‘self’ · 44 minSean Illing talks with neuroscientist Gregory Berns, author of The Self Delusion. Berns claims that the idea of a unified, persistent self is a kind of illusion, and that we are…
- How MAGA is turning on itself · 47 minFor years, right-wing influencers and politicians have pushed the conservative movement to have more controversial, anti-establishment views. Why are some of those figures now…
- The global baby bust · 50 minBirth rates are dropping and global population growth is slowing. Why? We’re heard all the different speculation: It’s the economy. It’s housing costs. It’s the feminists. But…
- Why public opinion turned on AI · 45 minAI was supposed to make our lives better. Instead, it’s made many of us scared and angry. Communities are protesting data centers across the country, and polling shows most…
- A skeptic considers the case for God · 52 minSean talks with writer Liz Bruenig about faith, doubt, and the experience of believing in God in a modern, skeptical age. They discuss religious experience, the limits of…
- The “Godzilla El Niño” is coming · 43 minSean talks with journalist David Wallace-Wells about a looming climate event that could make 2027 one of the hottest years ever recorded. They discuss the return of El Niño, why…
- The “real” America at 250 · 47 minWho are America’s heroes? Who deserves our admiration and a place in our nation’s story? In today’s episode, guest host Jonquilyn Hill talks with constitutional law professor…
- How to fix America’s spiritual crisis · 48 minSean talks with Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy about the crisis lurking beneath America's political dysfunction. Murphy’s new book “Crisis of the Common Good” argues that the…
- The end of the human internet · 41 minSean talks with Atlantic writer Charlie Warzel about the increasingly weird experience of being online. They discuss AI-generated content, bots, algorithms, the “dead internet…
- The expectations on men · 49 minSean talks with journalist Jordan Ritter Conn about his book “American Men,” an intimate look at four men trying to figure out what manhood and masculinity have given them versus…
- Canceling Plato · 40 minWho gets to decide what’s taught in college classrooms? And should the answer be different at private colleges than at public universities? In today’s episode, guest host…
- How to feel more secure · 50 minSean talks with psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine about attachment, insecurity, and why our relationships shape us more than we think. They discuss his updated…
- The people who want AI to replace us · 49 minSean talks with writer Sigal Samuel about AI successionism, the growing movement that sees artificial intelligence as humanity’s rightful successor. They discuss why some people…
- Understanding our dreams · 48 minSean talks with dream scientist Michelle Carr about what dreams are, why we have them, and what they might reveal about the mind. They discuss nightmares, lucid dreaming, memory…
- Do we really need to work so hard? · 42 minAmericans have absorbed the Protestant work ethic: the idea that our value as human beings – and our eventual salvation – is determined by how hard we work. Political philosopher…
- The post-sex generation · 48 minSean talks with writer Christine Emba about the strange and increasingly anti-social world young people are inheriting online. They discuss the rise of “looksmaxxing,” the…
- Talk to strangers · 53 minSean talks with University of Chicago psychologist Nicholas Epley about the strange gap between our need to be social and how social we choose to be. They explore why we…
- Who needs experts? · 49 minAlmost a decade ago, Tom Nichols warned that Americans were losing respect for expertise. He didn’t expect things to get this bad. Sean talks with Nichols about his 2017 book…
- The myth of absolute freedom · 50 minSean talks with writer David Epstein about why unlimited freedom and endless choice often make us less creative, less focused, and less fulfilled. They discuss the hidden power…
- The college dream has failed · 48 minCollege was supposed to be a ticket to a better life. A degree meant a good job, a decent salary, and a brighter future. That promise is breaking down. For many graduates, a…
- Why progress is hard to see · 48 minIf someone asked you to describe the state of the world right now, odds are you’d reach for the bad news first: political division, AI panic, war, ecological crisis, unraveling…
