The Gray Area with Sean Illing Vox Media Podcast Network
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- Society & Culture
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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 certainty, embrace ambiguity, and get some cool takes on a very hot world. New episodes drop every Monday.
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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 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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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. 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.”
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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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 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
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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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 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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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 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.
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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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 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 Area
Guest: J. Bradford DeLong (@delong), author; professor of economics, U.C. Berkeley
References:
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.
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This episode was made by:
Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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Customer Reviews
Hands down my favourite podcast
Hi from Devon, England…
Genuinely, I treasure this pod and anticipate each ep with much glee! Its not just that I chime personally with Sean’s outlook and values, but that the generosity and magnanimous spirit he approaches each guest (esp one’s he has disagreement with) fills a much needed gap in today’s far-too-combative discourse. He doesn’t suffer “fools” but doesn’t dwell on this (looking at you Sam Harris) - rather the attention is fully focused on the understanding of difficult issues and exploration of possible explanations / solutions. It’s a joy, well done all involved.
My only quibble: would love a Twitter / FB group or similar for exploring the topics more with other listeners after each ep. Thoughts?
Ru D
Matt Desmond
Another great discussion, thanks Sean
Interesting style
The content of the interview really depends on the interviewee, the style of this show really lets them unspool their take on a given topic. Sure the host often has opinions too but the format works quite well as a dialogue, gets a little bit more out of them than a straight set of questions. Generally the guests have just published a book on exactly that, so this is a nice way to get a synopsis of their theory. Theme music is on point.