The Gray Area with Sean Illing

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The joy of uncertainty Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

For much of her life, author Maggie Jackson disliked uncertainty and thought of it as something to eradicate as quickly as possible. But when she began to explore the uncertain mind, she discovered new scientific findings showing that uncertainty is critical for astute problem-solving and creativity. She joins Sean to talk about what she learned and how being unsure can lead to a better, more hopeful life.

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

Guest: Maggie Jackson. You can find her books and more at https://www.maggie-jackson.com/

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd

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A pro-worker work ethic Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

Americans have absorbed the “Protestant work ethic” — the idea that our value as human beings is determined by how hard we work and how much money we make. Elizabeth Anderson explains how this evolved, why it pervades everything, and why it sucks.

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

Guest: Elizabeth Anderson, professor of public philosophy at the University of Michigan.

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd

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How psychedelics can reinvent learning Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

If you’ve felt that learning new information or developing a new skill seems harder as you get older, you are not wrong. Neuroscientist Gul Dolen has studied brain capability and joins us to talk about the times in human development when our brains are especially adept at learning and retaining new information, and how MDMA and other psychedelics can be used to induce these moments and unlock the brain’s potential.

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

Guest: Gul Dolen. Learn more about her work at www.dolenlab.org.

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Patrick Boyd

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Seeing ourselves through the darkness Dec 26, 2023

Show notes

When we find ourselves in a dark place, what if we didn't "lighten things up"? Sean Illing talks with philosopher Mariana Alessandri, whose new book Night Vision offers a new way of understanding our dark moods and experiences like depression, pain, and grief. Alessandri describes the deep influence of what she calls the "light metaphor" — the belief that light is good and darkness is bad — and the destructive emotional cycles it has produced. They discuss the influence of Stoic philosophy, Aristotelian ethics, and contemporary self-help — and explore what new paradigms for emotional intelligence might entail. This episode was originally published on June 29th.

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

Guest: Mariana Alessandri (@mariana.alessandri), professor of philosophy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; author

References:

Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moodsby Mariana Alessandri (Princeton; 2023)
Plato's "allegory of the cave" from the Republic, VI (514a–520a)
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (1952)
The Encheiridion (or "Handbook") of Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 125 AD)
The Dialogues and letters of Seneca (c. 4 BC – 65 AD)
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD)
The Tusculan Disputations of Cicero (106 – 43 BC)
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
It's OK That You're Not OKby Megan Devine (Sounds True; 2017)
Our Lord Don Quixote by Miguel de Unamuno (1914; tr. 1968)
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestizaby Gloria Anzaldúa (Aunt Lute; 1987)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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Living Mindfully Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

Jon Kabat-Zinn helped kick off the American mindfulness movement with his bestselling book Wherever You Go, There You Are. On its 30th anniversary, he joins Sean for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to be mindful in the attention economy, why mindfulness has skyrocketed in popularity, and how to think about the commercialization of an ancient practice.

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

Guest: Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness pioneer and author of Wherever You Go, There You Are. Learn more about his work at https://jonkabat-zinn.com and follow him at https://twitter.com/jonkabatzinn and https://www.facebook.com/kabatzinn

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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Taking anarchism seriously Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

Most people think anarchists want to live in a lawless society devoid of any structure or order. But anarchism is actually a serious political philosophy that’s more focused on egalitarianism than it is on chaos. Philosopher Sophie Scott-Brown is an anarchist in this tradition, and she makes the convincing case that anarchism is the only political philosophy poised to deal with the uncertainty of the modern world.

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

Guest: Sophie Scott-Brown research fellow at the University of St. Andrews and the Director of Gresham College in London, and the author of the book Colin Ward and the Art of Everyday Anarchy.

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Jon Ehrens
Engineer: Brandon McFarland

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3,000 years of The Iliad Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

Constance Grady, a culture writer at Vox, is joined by Emily Wilson to discuss her bestselling translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey. They unpack the buzz surrounding them and the significance of The Iliad today.

Host: Constance Grady, (@constancegrady), culture writer, Vox

Guest: Emily Wilson, classics professor and translator of The Iliad and The Odyssey

References:

The Iliad by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (W.W. Norton, 2023)

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (W.W. Norton, 2018)

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:

Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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Late-stage liberalism Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

Sean Illing is joined by John Gray, political philosopher and author of the new book, The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism. They discuss Thomas Hobbes and the origins of liberalism, the current state of democracy, and the very uncertain future of the global liberal order.

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

Guest: John Gray, author and political philosopher

References:

The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalismby John Gray (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023)

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651)

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:

Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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The case against free will Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

Sean Illing speaks with Robert Sapolsky, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and the author of a new book called Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will. They discuss the concept of free will, whether it actually exists in the way we think it does, and what it means for society if free will is indeed an illusion.

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

Guest: Robert Sapolsky, author, Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will

References:

Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will by Robert M. Sapolsky (Penguin Random House, 2023)

Behave by Robert M. Sapolsky (Penguin Random House, 2018)

“Robert Sapolsky Doesn’t Believe in Free Will. (But Feel Free to Disagree.)” by Hope Reese (New York Times, October 2023)

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:

Engineer: Rob Byers
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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A Jew and a Muslim get honest about Israel and Gaza Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

Zack Beauchamp, a Vox senior correspondent who writes about democracy and Israel, speaks with Shadi Hamid, a columnist at The Washington Post, research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary, and author of The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea. They discuss the October 7 attack, the subsequent war in Gaza, what it means for Israelis and Palestinians, and how Jews and Muslims in the United States can find common ground amidst their communities’ grief.

This conversation was recorded on November 2, 2023.

Host: Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), senior correspondent at Vox

Guest: Shadi Hamid, (@shadihamid), columnist and Editorial Board member at The Washington Post, research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary, and author of The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea.

References:

“Reducing Hamas’s terrorism to a problem of ‘evil’ is a mistake” by Shadi Hamid (The Washington Post, Oct. 2023)

The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Ideaby Shadi Hamid (Oxford University Press, 2022)

“Everything you need to know about Israel-Palestine: A comprehensive guide to the basics of the world’s most controversial conflict” by Zack Beauchamp (Vox)

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

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

This episode was made by:

Engineer: Rob Byers

Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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