The Gray Area with Sean Illing

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The jazz musician’s guide to the universe Aug 26, 2024

Show notes

How is the origin of our universe like an improvised saxophone solo? This week, Sean Illing talks to Stephon Alexander, a theoretical physicist and world-class jazz musician. Alexander is the author of The Jazz of Physics and his most recent book, Fear of a Black Universe. This episode features music by Stephon Alexander throughout, from his latest 2024 album Spontaneous Fruitand his 2017 EP True to Self.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Stephon Alexander (@stephstem), theoretical physicist, Brown University

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Revisiting the "father of capitalism" Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

Sean Illing talks with Glory Liu, the author of Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher became an Icon of American Capitalism. Smith is most well-known for being the “father of capitalism,” but as Liu points out in her book, his legacy has been misappropriated — especially in America. They discuss his original intentions and what we can take away from his work today.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Glory Liu (@miss_glory), author; lecturer, Harvard University

References:

Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher became an Icon of American Capitalismby Glory Liu (Princeton; 2022)
Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life by Nicholas Phillipson (Yale; 2012)
Free to Choose: A Personal Statement by Milton & Rose Friedman (Harcourt; 1980)
“Adam Smith’s ‘History of Astronomy’ and view of science” by Kwangsu Kim (Cambridge Journal of Economics v. 36; 2012)

Works by Adam Smith:

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Breaking our family patterns Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Sean Illing speaks with marriage and family therapist Vienna Pharaon, whose book 'The Origins of You' aims to help us identify and heal the wounds that originated from our family, which shape our patterns of behavior in relationships and throughout our lives. Sean and Vienna talk about how we can spot and name our "origin wounds," discuss practical wisdom to help break free from the ways these pains grip us, and Sean directly confronts some real issues from his upbringing and family life.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Vienna Pharaon (@mindfulmft), marriage & family therapist; author

References:

The Origins of You: How Breaking Family Patterns Can Liberate the Way We Live and Love by Vienna Pharaon (G.P. Putnam's Sons; 2023)
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stressby Dr. Gabor Maté (Wiley; 2011)

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Why Orwell matters Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

In an Orwellian twist, the word “Orwellian” has been misused so much over the decades that it’s essentially lost its meaning. But George Orwell, author of the classics Animal Farm and 1984, was very clear in his beliefs. While he was progressive and prescient in many ways, he wasn’t without his flaws. This week, Sean Illing explores the real George Orwell with Laura Beers, the author of Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Laura Beers

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The timebomb the founding fathers left us Jul 29, 2024

Show notes

The US Constitution is a brilliant political document, but it’s far from perfect. This week’s guest, Erwin Chemerinsky, argues that many of today’s threats to democracy are a direct result of compromises made by the Founding Fathers centuries ago. Those mistakes have come back to haunt us, and they might destroy our democracy.

Erwin Chemerinsky’s latest book isNo Democracy Lasts Forever.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Erwin Chemerinsky

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Swear like a philosopher Jul 22, 2024

Show notes

You can’t drop an f-bomb on the radio, but fortunately for our guest, you can say anything you want in a podcast. This week, host Sean Illing talks to philosopher Rebecca Roache, author of For F*ck’s Sake: Why Swearing Is Shocking, Rude, and Fun about the philosophy and linguistics of swearing, and why certain four-letter words hold the magical power to both offend and delight.

Warning: In case it’s not obvious, this episode contains swearing.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Rebecca Roache (@rebecca_roache)

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Taking Nietzsche seriously Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

Sean Illing talks with political science professor Matt McManus about the political thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher with a complicated legacy, despite his crossover into popular culture. They discuss how Nietzsche's work has been interpreted — and misinterpreted — since his death in 1900, how his radical political views emerge from his body of work, and how we can use Nietzsche's philosophy in order to interpret some key features of our contemporary politics.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Matt McManus.

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd

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What India teaches us about liberalism — and its decline Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

Authoritarian tendencies have been on the rise globally and the liberal world order is on the decline. One hotspot of this tension lies in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi employs autocratic language and tactics to maintain power. But a recent election may indicate that voters are losing interest in this style of rule. Guest host Zack Beauchamp talks with scholar Pratap Bhanu Mehta about the past of the Indian liberal tradition and what the current politics of the world’s largest democracy say about the state of global politics.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Pratap Bhanu Mehta

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd

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1992: The year politics broke Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

We’re living in an era of extreme partisan politics, rising resentment, and fractured news media. Writer John Ganz believes that we can trace the dysfunction to the 1990s, when right-wing populists like Pat Buchanan and white supremacist David Duke transformed Republican politics. He joins Sean to talk about the 1990s and how it laid the groundwork for Trump. His book is When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: John Ganz (@lionel_trolling). His book is When the Clock Broke.

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd

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The existential struggle of being Black Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Nathalie Etoke joins The Gray Area to talk about existentialism, the Black experience, and the legacy of dehumanization.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Nathalie Etoke. Her book is Black Existential Freedom.

Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

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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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