The Gray Area with Sean Illing

  • A Yellowjackets creator spills his guts

    Vox’s Constance Grady talks with Bart Nickerson, the co-creator of new TV show Yellowjackets, which airs on Showtime. Yellowjackets follows a girls’ soccer team, stranded in the Canadian wilderness in 1996 as teenagers — and…


  • A scientist’s case for “woo-woo”

    Sean Illing talks with David Hamilton, a scientist and former research chemist turned author, about his new book Why Woo-Woo Works, in which he offers a scientifically-grounded defense of alternative practices like meditation, crystals, and…


  • Imagine a future with no police

    Vox’s Fabiola Cineas talks with author, lawyer, and organizer Derecka Purnell about her recent book Becoming Abolitionists. They discuss Derecka’s journey to defending the idea of police abolition, and what that position really entails. They…


  • Novelist Lauren Groff on the other Matrix

    Vox’s Constance Grady talks with novelist Lauren Groff about her latest book, the National Book Award finalist Matrix, before a virtual audience for the Vox Book Club. They discuss the enigmatic historical figure at the…


  • Are we living in a simulation?

    Sean Illing talks with philosopher David Chalmers about virtual worlds and the nature of reality, and other topics that stem from Chalmers’s new book Reality+. In this far-reaching discussion, Sean and Prof. Chalmers get into…


  • Rep. Jamie Raskin on living through the unthinkable, twice

    Vox’s Dylan Matthews talks with Congressman Jamie Raskin about the tragic loss of his son Tommy, who was twenty-five years old when he died at the end of 2020. Rep. Raskin also speaks about the…


  • Best of: Why fascism in America isn’t going away

    Vox’s Sean Illing talks to Yale professor and author Jason Stanley about why American democracy provides such fertile soil for fascism, how Donald Trump demonstrated how easy it was for our country to flirt with…


  • Best of: Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of slavery

    Vox’s Jamil Smith talks with author Clint Smith III about his book How the Word Is Passed, which documents the writer’s personal journey visiting sites that embody the legacy of American slavery. They discuss the…


  • Best of: We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.

    Vox’s Sean Illing talks with international politics professor and amateur ufologist Alex Wendt about why it’s time to start thinking more seriously about the earth-shattering implications of discovering extraterrestrial life. They discuss the taboos against…


  • Chris Bosh on winning (and losing everything)

    Vox’s Jamil Smith talks with NBA legend Chris Bosh about his basketball career, his youth, and his legacy. They discuss Bosh’s transition to the NBA, his role on the controversial Miami Heat teams that won…