The Gray Area with Sean Illing

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Is there a hack for enlightenment? Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Sigal Samuel talks with scholars and authors Wesley Wildman and Kate Stockly about their book, Spirit Tech: The Brave New World of Consciousness Hacking and Enlightenment Engineering. They discuss high-tech tools like brain stimulation and neurofeedback-guided meditation that purport to enrich our spiritual lives, what possible risks they may pose to our psyches, and the ethical implications of technology-induced shortcuts to transformative meditative states. They also talk about whether such spiritual experiences are authentic rather than simulated, and whether brain-based spirit tech might help humans evolve as a species.

Host: Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), Senior Reporter, Vox

Guests: Wesley Wildman (@WesleyWildman) and Kate Stockly (@KateJStockly), authors and researchers

References:

Spirit Tech: The Brave New World of Consciousness Hacking and Enlightenment Engineering by Wesley Wildman and Kate Stockly (Macmillan; 2021)
SEMA (Sonication Enhanced Mindful Awareness) Lab, University of Arizona Center for Consciousness Studies (Dr. Jay Sanguinetti & Shinzen Young, co-directors)
VR Church; Bishop D.J. Soto

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall

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Fighting a world on fire with fire Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Sean Illing talks with climate scholar Andreas Malm about his book How to Blow Up A Pipeline. They discuss the failure of decades of protests and appeals to curb the actions of the fossil fuel industry. And they explore why, despite dire evidence like the increasingly common scourge of wildfires and disastrous weather events, the climate change movement hasn't moved beyond peaceful protest — and why Malm argues the time for escalation is now.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Andreas Malm, associate professor, Lund University

References:

How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fireby Andreas Malm (Verso; 2021)
"Uganda, Tanzania, oil firms sign accords to build $3.5 billion pipeline" by Elias Biryabarema (Reuters; Apr. 11)
"The Energy Future Needs Cleaner Batteries" by Drake Bennett (Bloomberg; Sept. 23)
"Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition" by Rupert Way, Matthew Ives, Penny Mealy, and J. Doyne Farmer (INET Oxford Working Paper No. 2021-01; Sept. 14)
"Fossilised Capital: Price and Profit in the Energy Transition" by Brett Christophers (New Political Economy; May 12)
The Ministry for the Futureby Kim Stanley Robinson (Hachette; 2020)
"The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus (1942)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall

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Revolutionary Love Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Jamil Smith talks with author, activist, and filmmaker Valarie Kaur about her memoir See No Stranger and the Revolutionary Love Project. They discuss Kaur's personal experiences of the racism that followed 9/11, the idea of responding to violence and hatred with love, and why, two decades after 9/11, her project is more relevant than ever.

Host: Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Guest: Valarie Kaur (@valariekaur), author, activist, and filmmaker

References:

See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Loveby Valarie Kaur (One World; 2020)
Divided We Fall, dir. by Valarie Kaur (2008)
"Indianapolis Sikh Community Mourns 4 Of Its Members Killed In Shooting" by Jeannette Muhammad (NPR; Apr. 18)
"How 9/11 convinced Americans to buy, buy, buy" by Emily Stewart (Vox; Sept. 9)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall

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How to make meaning out of suffering Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

Vox’s Sean Illing talks with David Wolpe, senior rabbi of the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, about the role and nature of God, how religion and spirituality can address our modern problems, and how to make sense and meaning out of the suffering and pain we experience. This episode was recorded in the summer of 2020 and first appeared as part of the Future Perfect series The Way Through.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: David Wolpe (@RabbiWolpe), senior rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles

References:

"Religion without God: Alain de Botton on 'atheism 2.0'" by Sean Illing (Vox; Feb. 24, 2018)
Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times by David Wolpe (Penguin Random House; 2000)

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This episode was made by:

Producers: Jackson Bierfeldt & Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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Ken Burns's latest on The Greatest Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Jamil Smith talks with acclaimed documentary filmmakers Ken and Sarah Burns. The father-daughter team discuss their latest documentary about The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, trying to say something new about a famous and already well-documented figure, how to tell the best story from 500 hours of raw footage, and what it's like when filmmaking centered around American history is the family business.

Host: Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Guests: Ken Burns (@KenBurns) & Sarah Burns (@sarah_l_burns), documentary filmmakers

References:

Muhammad Ali, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, & David McMahon (premieres Sept. 19)
King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero by David Remnick (Vintage; 1999)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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The road from 9/11 to Donald Trump Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

Sean Illing talks with national security reporter Spencer Ackerman, author of the new book Reign of Terror. They discuss the staggering changes to our country in the 20 years since 9/11; the flaws, misdeeds, and injustices of the “war on terror” and the regimes that have executed it; and how America was led by the worst act of domestic terror on its own soil down a vicious, bellicose, and anti-democratic path to an authoritarian president like Trump.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman), national security reporter, author

References:

Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman (Viking; 2021)
"The Fight Over the 'Ground Zero Mosque' Was a Grim Preview of the Trump Era" by Tim Murphy (Mother Jones; Sept. 9)
"Trump Ramped Up Drone Strikes in America's Shadow Wars" by Spencer Ackerman (The Daily Beast; Nov. 26, 2018)
"The Lessons of Anwar al-Awlaki" by Tim Shane (New York Times Magazine; Aug. 27, 2015)
Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecyby Charlie Savage (Hachette; 2015)

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Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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Rep. Pramila Jayapal on immigrants and America after 9/11 Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

Aarti Shahani, host of the WBEZ Chicago podcast Art of Power and author of the memoir Here We Are, talks with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) about how 9/11 changed the relationship between immigrants and America. They discuss Jayapal's experience on 9/11 as a first-generation Indian migrant, as well as how her reaction to the attacks and their aftermath shaped her political trajectory and professional career as an activist — and, eventually, a member of Congress.

Host: Aarti Shahani (@aarti411), Host, Art of Power

Guest: Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal), U.S. Representative (D-WA)

References:

Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman's Guide to Politics and Political Changeby Pramila Jayapal (New Press; 2020)
"Without A Country: Pramila Jayapal On The Problems Immigrants Face" by Madeline Ostrander (The Sun; Nov. 2008)
Jama v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 543 US 335 (2005)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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Why America's obsession with rights is wrong Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Zack Beauchamp talks with Columbia law professor Jamal Greene about his book How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession With Rights Is Tearing America Apart. They discuss how the US obsession with rights and their protections gives too much power to judges and the courts, makes it difficult for ordinary citizens to find reasonable solutions to legitimate problems, and has made this country's legal system not only nonsensical but dangerous.

Host: Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Guest: Jamal Greene (@jamalgreene), Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

References:

How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession With Rights Is Tearing America Apart by Jamal Greene (HMH Books; 2021)
"From Guns to Gay Marriage, How Did Rights Take Over Politics?" by Kelefa Sanneh (New Yorker; May 24)
Lochner v. New York, 198 US 45 (1905)
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 US __ (2018)
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 US 570 (2008)
"Texas's radical anti-abortion law, explained" by Ian Millhiser (Vox; Sept. 2)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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The news is by — and for — rich, white liberals Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

Vox’s Sean Illing talks with professor and media researcher Nikki Usher about her new book News for the Rich, White, and Blue, which documents systemic problems in the ways journalists and institutions decide what counts as news and whom the news is for. They discuss racial, gender, and class biases in the industry, developing a “post-newspaper consciousness,” and the role of place in shaping our civic life.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Nikki Usher (@nikkiusher), senior fellow, Open Markets Institute Center for Liberty and Journalism; professor, University of Illinois

References:

News for the Rich, White, and Blueby Nikki Usher (Columbia University Press; 2021)
Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politicsby Nicole Hemmer (U. Penn Press; 2018)
"Leslie Moonves on Donald Trump: 'It May Not Be Good for American, but It's Damn Good for CBS'" by Paul Bond (Hollywood Reporter; Feb. 29, 2016)
Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click Americaby Alec MacGillis (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2021)
Stuck in Place: Urban Neighborhoods and the End of Progress toward Racial Equality by Patrick Sharkey (U. Chicago Press; 2013)
"The Media's Post-Advertising Future Is Also Its Past" by Derek Thompson (The Atlantic; Dec. 31, 2018)
Prism Reports
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
The 19th
City Bureau

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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Clint Smith III on confronting the legacy of slavery Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

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 power of this re-confrontation, how to bridge the gaps in education and awareness of America's past, and the experience of Black writers in a nation that is "a web of contradictions."

Host: Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Guest: Clint Smith III (@ClintSmithIII), Staff writer, The Atlantic

References: