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Sean Illing

Sean Illing

Interviews writer and host of The Gray Area

Sean Illing the host of The Gray Area podcast. Before publishing things on the Internet, he taught politics and philosophy at a university. Before that, he served in the United States Air Force.

Latest articles by Sean Illing

Is America collapsing like ancient Rome?Is America collapsing like ancient Rome?
Audio
The Gray AreaMember Exclusive

Caesar, Trump, and the future of American democracy.

By Sean Illing
Ta-Nehisi Coates on complexity, clarity, and truthTa-Nehisi Coates on complexity, clarity, and truth
Play
The Gray Area

What the author saw in Palestine.

By Sean Illing
Creativity as a spiritual practiceCreativity as a spiritual practice
Audio
The Gray Area

Laraaji — ambient musician and onetime actor and comic — on laughter, surrender, and transcending the thinking mind.

By Sean Illing
Are humans the only ones that can be creative?Are humans the only ones that can be creative?
Audio
The Gray Area

Essayist and author Meghan O’Gieblyn on the meaning of art in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Sean Illing
The climate crisis is here. We can still have a better world. The climate crisis is here. We can still have a better world. 
Audio
Climate

Our hotter planet doesn’t have to be a hopeless planet.

By Sean Illing
Yuval Noah Harari on whether democracy and AI can coexistYuval Noah Harari on whether democracy and AI can coexist
Audio
The Gray Area

“If humans are so smart, why are we so stupid?”

By Sean Illing
The cost of cynicismThe cost of cynicism
Audio
The Gray Area

It’s irrational to be cynical, so why is it becoming more prevalent?

By Sean Illing
What George Orwell’s 1984 can teach us about 2024What George Orwell’s 1984 can teach us about 2024
Audio
The Gray Area

Orwell prized clear communication, so why are people misusing his name?

By Sean Illing
Is the United States in self-destruct mode?Is the United States in self-destruct mode?
Audio
The Gray Area

The crisis is in the Constitution.

By Sean Illing
The art and science of swearingThe art and science of swearing
Audio
Culture

And why you feel bad swearing around your friends’ kids, according to a philosopher.

By Sean Illing

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