The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Latest Episodes:

Why we love drugs Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Sean Illing talks with author Michael Pollan about his new book This Is Your Mind on Plants, why some societies condemn drugs that other societies condone, what will happen as the war on drugs draws to a close, and whether or not taking psychedelic drugs can improve humankind.

We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey

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

Guest: Michael Pollan (@michaelpollan), author

References:

This Is Your Mind on Plantsby Michael Pollan (Penguin; 2021)
How to Change Your Mindby Michael Pollan (Penguin; 2018)
The Natural Mind: A Revolutionary Approach to the Drug Problemby Andrew T. Weil (HMH; 2004)
"Opium, Made Easy" by Michael Pollan (Harper's; Apr. 1997)
"The intoxicating garden: Michael Pollan on growing psychoactive plants" by Michael Pollan (Financial Times; July 9)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rugged majesty of revision Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Jamil Smith speaks with novelist and author Kiese Laymon in a far-ranging conversation about Laymon's reacquiring the rights to his own books, the struggle of retelling our own stories, and the challenges of articulating American narratives that include all Americans accurately.

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

Guest: Kiese Laymon (@KieseLaymon), author

References:

"What we owe and are owed" by Kiese Laymon (Vox; May 17)
Long Divisionby Kiese Laymon (Scribner; 2021)
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in Americaby Kiese Laymon (Scribner; 2020)
Heavy: An American Memoirby Kiese Laymon (Scribner; 2018)
"Why I Paid Tenfold to Buy Back the Rights for Two of My Books" by Kiese Laymon (Literary Hub; Nov. 10, 2020)
"'RS Interview: Special Edition' With Ta-Nehisi Coates" by Jamil Smith (Rolling Stone; Nov. 20, 2020)
"The Roots of Structural Racism Project: Twenty-First Century Racial Residential Segregation in the United States" by Stephen Menendian, Arthur Gailes, and Samir Gambhir (Othering & Belonging Institute; 2021)
"Black churches taught us to forgive white people. We learned to shame ourselves" by Kiese Laymon (The Guardian; June 23, 2015)
"Now Here We Go Again, We See the Crystal Visions" by Kiese Laymon (Vanity Fair; Nov. 19, 2020)

We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes about five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: vox.com/survey

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to forgive Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Sean Illing talks with Elizabeth Bruenig about how hard it is to forgive, how to balance our desire for justice with our humanity, and about how the age-old moral framework of forgiveness has met new challenges in the modern forum of social media.

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

Guest: Elizabeth Bruenig (@ebruenig), staff writer, The Atlantic

References:

“Not that Innocent” by Elizabeth Bruenig (The Atlantic; June 9)
“The Man I Saw Them Kill” by Elizabeth Bruenig (New York Times; Dec. 17, 2020)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What makes a great conversation? Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

Here's a look ahead at what's to come for Vox Conversations. Vox's Sean Illing welcomes colleague Jamil Smith to the podcast as an additional regular host. They talk about what drew each of them into journalism, their shared craft of interviewing, and about what qualities make for great conversations. Plus, they share some of the ideas and upcoming guests they're looking forward to in the coming weeks.

Look for new episodes of Vox Conversations twice a week, starting Monday, July 12th.

Hosts: Sean Illing (@seanilling) & Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introducing: Now & Then Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Now & Then is a new podcast from CAFE hosted by award-winning historians Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman. Every Tuesday, Heather and Joanne use their encyclopedic knowledge of US history to bring the past to life. Together, they make sense of the week in news by discussing the people, ideas, and events that got us here today.

Learn more: https://cafe.com/now-and-then/

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6wDS3Y2t0RyQ3ncCUxiNs6?si=nx7w7exNRZ-AWHLv9T1qZg&dl_branch=1

Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1567665859

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The science of dating Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

Relationships journalist and podcast host Andrea Silenzi talks with Logan Ury, behavioral scientist-turned-dating coach, and author of How to Not Die Alone. They discuss the decision-making that gets in the way of our dating lives, the case for finding a life partner, and what dating looks like in a post-pandemic, app-driven world.

Host: Andrea Silenzi (@andreasilenzi), podcast host

Guest: Logan Ury (@loganury), author; director of relationship science, Hinge

References:

How to Not Die Aloneby Logan Ury (2021; Simon & Schuster)
Irrational Labs
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find — and Keep — Loveby Amir Levine and Rachel Heller (2010; TarcherPerigee)
Why Oh Why, podcast

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Honoring Juneteenth with Ibram X. Kendi Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

In this special edition of Vox Conversations in honor of the Juneteenth holiday, Vox race reporter Fabiola Cineas spoke with author and podcast host Ibram X. Kendi before a virtual audience about the big ideas around being antiracist. They discussed where we are after a year protesting racism and police brutality, Kendi's approach to defining and fighting racism, and how we all can work to enact change.

Host: Fabiola Cineas (@FabiolaCineas), Reporter, Vox

Guest: Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram), Author; director and founder of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research

References:

Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi (Pushkin)
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (One World; 2019)
“Juneteenth, explained” by Fabiola Cineas (June 16; Vox)
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee (One World; 2021)
Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl (Basic Books; 2019)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Digital dictatorship Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

The internet was first conceived as a tool to promote free expression, to foster and enliven debate, and to strengthen democratic ideals. But it didn’t quite work out that way. In this episode, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp talks with Steven Feldstein, author of The Rise of Digital Repression, about how governing regimes use digital technology to repress their citizens; the threats posed by surveillance, disinformation, and censorship; and how democracies can backslide into authoritarianism.

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

Guest: Steven Feldstein (@SteveJFeldstein), Author; senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment

References:

The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance by Steven Feldstein (Oxford University Press; 2021)
“Maria Ressa: Philippine journalist found guilty of cyber libel” (June 15, 2020; BBC)
“[Senator Leila] De Lima’s four-year struggle in prison” by Vince Ferreras (Mar 16; CNN Philippines)
“Sandvine Technology Used to Censor the Web in More Than a Dozen Nations” by Ryan Gallagher (Oct. 8, 2020; Bloomberg)
“Social media is rotting democracy from within” by Zack Beauchamp (Jan. 22, 2019; Vox)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The man who proposed reparations in the 1860s Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

Vox’s Dylan Matthews talks with historian Bruce Levine about his book Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary and Fighter for Racial Justice. They discuss how Stevens — a person with anti-racist ideals so far outside the mainstream of his time — managed to be so effective, how he developed those ideals in the first place, and how to continue his fight today.

Host: Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), Senior Correspondent, Vox

Guest: Bruce Levine, Author; Professor (emeritus) of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

References:

Thaddeus Stevens: Civil War Revolutionary and Fighter for Racial Justice by Bruce Levine (Simon & Schuster; 2021)
Lincoln (2012; directed by Steven Spielberg; written by Tony Kushner, based on Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns-Goodwin)
The Birth of a Nation (1915; directed by D.W. Griffith; written by D.W. Griffith and Frank E. Woods)
Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy (1956)
The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution that Transformed the South by Bruce Levine (2014; Random House)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What pandemic recovery should look like May 27, 2021

Show notes

Vox's Emily Stewart talks with Janelle Jones, chief economist at the Labor Department, about what's actually going on with the US economy — and who are the workers most dramatically affected by the pandemic. They discuss the tasks ahead in an economic recovery, who should receive the most help, and how to put policies in place that do more than just return to the status quo.

Host: Emily Stewart (@EmilyStewartM), Senior Reporter, Vox

Guest: Janelle Jones (@janellecj), Chief Economist, Department of Labor

References:

“U.S. Labor Shortage? Unlikely. Here’s Why” by Heidi Shierholz (May 4, The Commons blog, Initiative for Public Discourse)
“Lumber mania is sweeping North America” by Emily Stewart (May 3, Vox)
“Black workers have made no progress in closing earning gaps with white men since 2000” by Elise Gould, Janelle Jones, and Zane Mokhiber (Sept. 12, 2018, Working Economics Blog)
“The U.S. economy could use some ‘overheating’” by Josh Bivens (Jan. 14, Working Economics Blog)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

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

This episode was made by:

Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected