The Gray Area with Sean Illing

  • Patricia Lockwood’s big, beautiful internet brain

    Writer and Vox contributor Anne Helen Petersen talks with poet and novelist Patricia Lockwood about the experience of being extremely online. They discuss Lockwood’s book No One Is Talking About This, writing and religious upbringing,…


  • Who is the real George Soros?

    Vox’s Worldly host Zack Beauchamp talks with author and New Statesman editor Emily Tamkin about the life and legacy of George Soros. How did a Hungarian billionaire philanthropist become the No. 1 boogeyman of right-wing…


  • Introducing Unexplainable

    Unexplainable is a new podcast from Vox about everything we don’t know. Each week, the team look at the most fascinating unanswered questions in science and the mind-bending ways scientists are trying to answer them.…


  • The border, explained by someone who knows it intimately

    Aarti Shahani, NPR journalist and host of WBEZ podcast Art of Power, talks with investigative journalist and author Alfredo Corchado about the US-Mexico border. Trump’s actions created a new urgency for the political establishment to…


  • “Wintering,” wisdom, and weathering life’s darkest times

    Vox’s Sigal Samuel talks with the author of Wintering, Katherine May, about the lessons we can learn during life’s darkest seasons. They talk about our long collective pandemic winter, about how times of retreat can…


  • Reframing America’s race problem

    Vox’s Sean Illing talks with the author of The Sum of Us, Heather McGhee, about the costs of racism in America — for everyone. They discuss what we all lose by buying into the zero-sum…


  • Who owns the Western?

    Vox book critic Constance Grady talks with Vox gender identities reporter and novelist Anna North about Anna’s new book Outlawed. They discuss creating an alternative history, reimagining the Western, and having fun with the usually…


  • A Watchmen writer on race, TV, and tech giants

    The Undefeated’s culture critic Soraya Nadia McDonald talks with Emmy Award-winning television writer and producer Cord Jefferson. They discuss the transition from journalism to TV, delving into Jefferson’s move from Gawker to writing for hit…


  • Uncovering the history of psychedelics in Christianity

    Vox’s Sean Illing talks about the the little-known history of psychedelics and spirituality in the Western world with Brian Muraresku, author of The Immortality Key. What role did psychedelic drugs play in the rise and…


  • Biden’s immigration architect on racism, reform, and the Obama legacy

    NPR journalist, memoirist, and host of the upcoming WBEZ podcast The Art of Power Aarti Shahani talks with Cecilia Muñoz, a former aide to Obama and part of Biden’s transition team. It’s a conversation about…