The Gray Area with Sean Illing

  • Michael Lewis on why Americans distrust experts

    Sean Illing talks with writer Michael Lewis about why it is that Americans are so good at producing knowledge, but so bad at identifying and utilizing that knowledge — the central issue of the new…

  • The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 3: The nuclear threat

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the biggest and most confusing political events of our lifetimes. We aim to bring some clarity in this special four-part series from Vox Conversations and host Zack Beauchamp,…

  • The case for regret

    Sean Illing talks with writer Daniel Pink about his book The Power of Regret. They discuss why regret can be not only useful, but potentially the most valuable emotion we have. Daniel and Sean talk…

  • The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 2: Sanctions

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the biggest and most confusing political events of our lifetimes. We aim to bring some clarity in this special four-part series from Vox Conversations and host Zack Beauchamp,…

  • The spirituality of parenting

    Sean Illing talks with the author and self-described mystic David Spangler about parenting as a spiritual enterprise, where the parent communes in a radical way with the spirit of another and expands the limits of…

  • The War in Ukraine, Explained — Part 1: Why did Putin go to war?

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is one of the biggest and most confusing political events of our lifetimes. We aim to bring some clarity in this special four-part series from Vox Conversations and host Zack Beauchamp,…

  • The Philosophers: Resisting despair

    Sean Illing talks with author and professor Robert Zaretsky about the French philosopher, novelist, and journalist Albert Camus (1913–1960). Though Camus might be best known for his novel The Stranger, Sean and Prof. Zaretsky explore…

  • What happened to American conservatism?

    Vox’s Jamil Smith talks with Charlie Sykes — journalist, author, stalwart “never Trumper,” and a founder and editor-at-large of The Bulwark. They talk about the Republican response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the attraction of…

  • The limits of forgiveness

    Sean Illing talks with philosopher Lucy Allais about the nature, power, and limits of forgiveness. They talk about the role of forgiveness in the dissolution of apartheid in Allais’s native South Africa, the distinction between…

  • The madness behind The Method

    Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson talks with cultural critic and author Isaac Butler about his new book, The Method. They discuss the transformation that the craft of acting underwent, tracing its origins from Konstantin Stanislavski in post-revolution…

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