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Great conversation with Fareed Zakeria on his Age of Revolutions new book, informative and insightful. Thank you.

What you are doing is so important! I just listened to the episode “The American Dream is a Pyramid Scheme” and I was just flabbergasted at the truth you were spitting. Thank you for telling us the truth about really important issues. And that episode led me to Jane Marie and her Podcast “The Dream” — which again, incredibly essential and challenging reporting. Thank all you journalists doing the hard work of investigating and reporting on the bad guys.

For fans of Plain English looking for something a little more philosophical, this is the podcast for you. It’s a small thing, but I like Sean’s pace and cadence with questions. Not too rapid fire.

I value this podcast more than any other I listen to. The breadth and depth of selected topics are unparalleled. I’m only glad Sean stopped asking the listeners to email him because I did and never heard back 😂

Terrific podcast! Fascinating & scary. The book is on my reading list. Both host & author - so compelling!

This podcast has become my go-to listen. I love the thought provoking guests and Sean is relatable and asks great questions. I’m always learning something new or getting inspiration. Thank you!

My deepest gratitude to you for showcasing this stunningly meaningful book. I read it over 20 years ago; at some level it’s lived in me since. Must watch the documentary and reread the book. Regards, Dan Torlone

I really appreciate this podcast. Interesting, engaging, sound—such a great resource. I’m often sending episodes to friends and family!

Stop. Talking about. Trump. You. Just. Giving. More. Creat. When. He should be in jail

Always thought-provoking. My favorite podcast!

I love how Sean is all over the board as far as topics and is willing to dive deep and be intellectually honest.

It keeps expanding the conversation. Big part of why I sub to VOX

Always interesting and thought provoking guests and discussions

I love the depth and realism of the convos. Keep up the good work!

This podcast is very thought provoking.

I particularly enjoyed the “Seeing ourselves through darkness” episode featuring Mariana Alessandri, who speaks meaningfully and expansively about emotions we often choose to ignore (e.g., pain, depression, and grief). Her insights on the human experience are moving.

Always interesting. Sean Illing is thoughtful, articulate and authentic. I always look forward to this podcast.

My favorite moment was with Jon Kabat-Zinn where Shaun asked about meditation being used as a tool to help us cope with a broken world rather than encouraging us fix the brokenness.

I love the content, the host, and the guests. Even subjects like cannibalism that I have no interest in learning about, I manage to stay engaged. I also appreciate that it’s short(ish). For some inane reason, people who make smart podcasts want to pontificate for 3+ hours about it. Who has time for that? Not I.

That Israel Palestine episode where he said the bombing was not genocidal. I mean wiping out an entire people can only be one thing.

I’ve long recommended this podcast, but have stopped doing so since listening to the episode on the Israeli siege of Gaza. For both parties to have claimed that this isn’t a genocide is blatant propaganda. There are mountains of evidence to prove otherwise. One need only scroll on social media for a couple minutes before finding pictures and videos of the mass extermination the Palestinian people are being subjected to. Honestly, it is such a shame that even this podcast has decided to participate in the mass, Israeli-fueled propaganda. Extremely disappointed.

Provative, thoughtful with a variety of interesting guests.

Sapolsky said in the 11-20-23 show that his position on the subject of free will was established as a teen and that he has thought this way for 50 years. It seems that open minded, curious intellectual development would be valuable among the philosophical elite.

That episode of a Muslim and a Jew discuss Israel is miserable. You guys are writers?! What do you write about? The absurdity of defining people and rules of engagements as if we are ruled by gods on mount olympics? You write about the definition of normalcy according to previous colonialist campaigns and pre-Geneva conventions? There are probably 10 different angles to engage with the topic better than that title inspired by “a jew and a muslim walk into a bar!” 🙄

I’m grateful to have found this podcast after wading through so much ego-addled “public intellectual” fare (paging Sam Harris). These are substantive conversations, and Sean Iling is a flexible thinker and clear communicator with many and varied interests. That he is not seeking my subscription dollars to build his personally branded empire bodes well for his long term trustworthiness. Bravo Sean, and bravo Vox.

I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how this show went wrong since Ezra Klein’s departure despite ample interesting topics. The lasted conversation with Michael Lewis on SBF came as a perfect example of how the host seemed incapable of (or not willing to?) understanding the the guest, and tried repeated to force hand him to somehow agree on his own view of the story, even though he’s much less knowledgeable about the whole thing; and the guest had offered his idea many times already. Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare incidents. Many of the potentially great conversations have been hindered by the host’s impulse (?) to debate a single contention, taking up a chunk of precious time which could be devoted to much broader and deeper understanding of the subject, whether or not we agree.

My favorite podcast! No matter the subject, Sean engages listeners with expansive thought on some of the most important philosophical foundations of modern life. Brilliant!

By far #1 in my top ten podcasts. In a tribal reactionary world this podcast encourages you to question and think about the world and your place in a complex society. Sean is an excellent host.

Interesting discussion. What I think David Brooks misses is the notion that in a society with very few safety nets where we are told that it is our responsibility to provide for all of our own needs it is a matter of survival for a lot of the population. This contributes to the individualistic point of view and a me first mentality. I would be interested to know if the same thing occurs in countries where strong safety nets support the citizens. DB seemed to imply that those countries don’t have the same challenges.

Great topics and guests.

I love listening to this podcast. The discussions are serious and thoughtful. I always learn something new. 5 stars!!!!

I love the deeper treatment of social issues.

Just had to unsubscribe from this show because it has descended into dorm room level pseudo-philosophy in almost every episode. Sean frequently muddles concepts and seems not to put much effort into understanding the intellectual contexts for his guests’ ideas, which means he is basically at the same level of knowledge as the listener and can’t do much to direct the conversation towards anything insightful. He often tries to justify his preexisting beliefs instead of honestly grappling with challenges to them. The show has also moved increasingly towards philosophers, which has facilitated the downward shift in quality with decreasing levels of specificity of the subject matter and groundedness in the real world.

If you’re going through very very difficult, tough times, then keep going.

Just listened to the episode on climate change and parenting. Feel as though the host pressed his own agenda on the question of having kids in the end. A little odd. It’s like he wanted to avoid the controversy from the guest. Lots of great material but not the first episode that I heard a sort of personalized track/ redirection in the interview. I would love less of that and more thoughtful questions. Great to find this podcast on philosophical themes!

...this is one the best pods out there. Always relevent. Always makes you think. Whether you like it or not. Keep it up..!

Constance Grady has a horrible vocal fry!! Please teach her to talk like a normal human. Otherwise love this show.

This podcast is a slay and a half.

Just listened to the episode on separating art from the artists and while not a fan I found it disgusting to include Kanye West in the conversation with Sexual abusers and pedophiles. If there needed to be an example of a black man R. Kelly as a current artist is right there in our faces with multiple Lifetime documentaries and he wasn’t mentioned. But at the end it was certain to be clear they weren’t equating TSwifts relationship as her being equal to actual horrible men but that caveat wasn’t given to Kanye. Who is terrible and annoying but is not an abuser

The Gray Area is where I can hear good full discussion on topics that are relevant and timely to the dialogues we are having across the US all in an hour or less.

It’s rare that I hear multiple points presented without being directly to a specific conclusion. Rare, and refreshing.

Love the show especially the episodes where Sean del es into philosophy

I like the show but it often feels like Sean Illing is only confident in the main thrust of the point he's making. He happily grasps at the details, but when he realizes he's not actually familiar with them, he becomes long winded and inevitably loses the thread. (On long winded, he often takes 1-2 minutes to ask fairly simple questions, which I find annoying.) Seems like it could be solved by Sean giving a bit more deference to his guests

deep, compassionate, intelligent conversations that have me thinking and acting differently.

Deep, rich, interesting and inspiring conversations. I think this is my new favorite podcast!

I’ve enjoyed this podcast since its launch despite increasing their episode release cadence recently, the quality has only continued to improve! Always thoughtful and timely discussions; a must-have in anyone’s podcast feed, but especially for those who enjoy philosophy.

I love this show because the themes Sean explores are profoundly fascinating and the conversations are dynamic, expansive and personal.

Excellent discussion. I loved how Dr Holland describes the effects and usefulness of Oxytocin for and in us all. As a labor and birth doula, I emphasize with my clients how we can elevate our levels of Oxytocin through love and touch and connectedness throughout their hours in labor, to enjoy labor and avoid desires for medication. Looking forward to hearing and learning more…thanks, Sean!

I love the topics covered on this podcast. The interviews and reporting are top notch. Save this one to your favorites!