Yesterday

Is starting a family becoming impossible?

Why does it feel so hard to start a family today? How much of that is truly a personal choice? In this episode of The Gray Area, guest host Christine Emba sits down with journalist Anna Louise Sussman to discuss her new book, Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age o ... Show More

58m 1s

Sep 11

The millennial midlife crisis

Is "adulthood" a moving target? For millennials, hitting the milestones of the past — homeownership, secure careers, and financial independence — feels tougher than ever. We aren't just having our individual midlife crises; we are simultaneously navigating economic, cultural, and ... Show More

49m 55s

Sep 7

How to be less neurotic

If you could change anything about your personality, anything at all, what would it be? And why would you want to change it? Writer Olga Khazan spent a year trying to answer those questions, and documented the experience in her new book Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of ... Show More

39m 35s

Feb 2023

Malcolm Harris, "Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World" (Little, Brown, 2023)

Palo Alto is nice. The weather is temperate, the people are educated, rich, healthy, enterprising. Remnants of a hippie counterculture have synthesized with high technology and big finance to produce the spiritually and materially ambitious heart of Silicon Valley, whose products ... Show More

1h 1m

Mar 2023

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Malcolm Harris take a closer look at wealth and capitalism

Today's episode features interviews with two people who've given a lot of thought to capitalism's role in modern society. First, Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about his new book, It's OK to be Angry About Capitalism, and how he views the way politicians appe ... Show More

17m 15s

Jan 2024

Part One: Tech Bros Have Built A Cult Around AI

<p>Robert sits down with Ify Nwadiwe to talk about the weird cult that's formed around AI, and some of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley. (Adapted from his article in Rolling Stone: <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-companies-advocates-cul ... Show More

1h 3m

Aug 2024

Trump, Elon, and Silicon Valley’s Political Sway

Audie talks with journalist Kara Swisher about the rise of Silicon Valley’s big donors and how Trump won some of them over. Plus, how Kamala Harris’ California roots have worked to her advantage with tech donors. Kara is the author of “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story.” Learn more a ... Show More

30m 31s

Feb 2025

We talk to the guy who knows Silicon Valley’s darkest secrets

Episode 680: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Nick Bilton ( https://x.com/nickbilton ), investigative journalist and author of American Kingpin and Hatching Twitter. — Show Notes: (0:00) Intro (7:03) Inside a criminal ... Show More

1h 18m

Oct 2023

Silicon Valley on the Couch

Why is Silicon Valley where it is? How did a narrow valley in California become the epicenter of the computer age? People usually say it’s because of Stanford, or the weather. But the answer may be something much more … Freudian. In this episode, Malcolm puts William Shockley—inv ... Show More

46m 10s

Jul 2023

Why we can't just blame capitalism for everything

We’re sharing an episode of The Gray Area from our friends at Vox. The Gray Area is a philosophical take on culture, politics, and your daily life. In the episode we’re sharing with you today, host Sean Illing speaks with New York Magazine writer Eric Levitz about the viability ... Show More

50m 19s

The dark history of Silicon Valley