Excellent Podcast. Highly recommend the episode with Writer John Ganz - 1992: The year politics broke. Might be the only real explanation of how we got to where we are with our politics.

But some are so profound it’s hard to believe they exist. Gaza, Camus and the Logic of Violence is one. Deadly serious and profound moral debate for those who wrestle with God. Sean Illing and Robert Zartasky, wide awake, walking Camus’ terrible path, confront the terror of history while the Sam Harris’ of the world turn around and throw up a puppet show for idiots. When Ezra and Vox get it right, they get it very right.

Take a listen for a nice trip out of the comments section - brilliant guests and excellent host. I learn so much every time I listen

They scoured resumes to find a host with one original thought in their head and this is the best they could come up with.

Overall the topics are excellent and conversations engaging and provocative.

Everyone is certainly entitled their own opinion. One of mine is that politics don’t belong on a podcast about life style & spirituality or even philosophy. All of those things are not politics. Just saying. Anyways my two cents & your one star. Good luck to ya though.

I just finished the episode with Sebastian Junger. I have been a listener for a long time. I would recommend this show to people who enjoy The Ezra Klein show. The episodes tackle topics that can be difficult to pin down. The most recent episode discussed the topic of the afterlife or lack there of, and as a secular Buddhist, I had chills a few times during the episode. The first was when Sebastian described an episode of “communication” that happened while he was dreaming. His dad was experiencing a medical crisis as I recall and he had a dream about it as it was happening. This happened to me with my cousin. He had a PTSD episode and rolled out of a moving vehicle. As this happened, I had a dream that I was in the desert being shot at. In the dream, I rolled out of a vehicle. I can still hear the voice in my head yelling that we were under fire. I woke up in a cold sweat, and I almost never have dreams that vivid. My mom described something similar with my aunt. She had a dream that my aunt was in trouble. It turns out my aunt had been mugged and left for dead by a river. I never have found a good explanation for these events, but it seems strange that events this specific could happen to multiple people, and it does suggest that we are missing at least part of the picture. Anyway, I love these conversations. I always feel more enlightened after each episode. Thank you for all you do!

Always thoughtful- such a wonderful way to start my day.

Interesting and high quality listening

Nutritious and delicious brain food served up with excellent guests. Highly recommend.

Makes other philosophy podcasts seem superficial

Sean is a really thoughtful, empathetic interviewer and the conversations he has with guests are insightful. Even when an episode title doesn’t immediately capture my interest, I always end up enjoying each one.

Just listen.

Each episode is so revealing and insightful that it’s difficult to describe how well prepared and executed this show is. Always worth the wait each week.

This is BY FAR the best podcast for people who think! Thanks to Sean and the entire crew. Each episode seems to be better than the last!

.hh

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.