What can ancient Rome teach us about American democracy?The Roman Republic fell for a lot of reasons: The state became too big and chaotic; the influence of money and private interests corrupted public institutions; and social and economic inequalities became so large that citize ...Afficher plus
The world according to Werner Herzog
Sean Illing speaks with one of his heroes: Werner Herzog.Herzog is a filmmaker, poet, and author of the memoir Every Man for Himself and God Against All. The two discuss "ecstatic truth," a term invented by Herzog to capture what he's really after in his work, why he's interested ...Afficher plus
Ta-Nehisi Coates on complexity, clarity, and truth.
How important is complexity? At The Gray Area, we value understanding the details. We revel in complexity. But does our desire to understand that complexity sometimes over-complicate an issue?Journalist and bestselling author Ta-Nehisi Coates thinks so.This week on The Gray Area, ...Afficher plus
Your mind needs chaos
In part three of our series on creativity, guest host Oshan Jarow speaks with philosopher of neuroscience Mark Miller about how our minds actually work. They discuss the brain as a predictive engine that builds our conscious experience for us. We’re not seeing what we see. We’re ...Afficher plus
Musician Laraaji on the origin of creativity
Sean revisits his interview with musician Laraaji, a pioneer of new age music who has recorded more than 50 albums since he was discovered busking in a park by Brian Eno. Laraaji and Sean discuss inspiration, flow states, and what moves us to create.This is the second conversatio ...Afficher plus