This week, Sean talks with Emily Baker-White, author of Every Screen on the Planet, about why TikTok feels uniquely addictive, how it turned social media into a push-not-pull entertainment feed, and what happens when human editors inside the company can override the algorithm.

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A few days after they spoke, TikTok was in the headlines again. So they jumped on a follow-up call to unpack the latest twists in the saga of who will ultimately control the app's US-operations.

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Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

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Guest: Emily Baker-White, reporter and author of Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok

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The Gray Area has been nominated for a Signal Listener’s Choice Award. Vote for The Gray Area here: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/thought-leadership

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The sun will save us

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Bill McKibben has spent four decades warning us about climate change. Much of what he predicted has come true. And yet, his new book Here Comes the Sun is more hopeful than you might expect. That’s because, for the first time, we have a genuine alternative: Solar and wind energy are now the cheapest, fastest-growing sources of power on Earth. The revolution has already begun.

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This week, Sean is joined by McKibben to talk about the peril and promise of this moment. They explore how close we are to catastrophe, why each fraction of a degree of warming matters, and how the fossil fuel industry is fighting a desperate last stand. They also discuss the politics of energy in the age of Trump, why Texas and Utah may hold surprising lessons, and how cheap, abundant power could transform not just the climate fight but democracy itself.

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This episode was made in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect team.

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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

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Free speech is often treated as a timeless and sacred right. But what if it’s more myth than reality?

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This week, Sean is joined by historian Fara Dabhoiwala, author of What Is Free Speech? They trace the history of free expression from 18th-century pamphleteers, to John Stuart Mill, to the digital platforms that dominate our lives today. They explore why speech is never just “speech,” how context and power shape who gets heard, the dangers of harmful speech, and the challenges of regulating platforms in a global media environment.

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Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO

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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

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Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE

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Rural health care is in crisis. Telehealth can help.

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Rural health care has been in crisis mode for decades due to a wide range of issues from distance to care to provider shortages and budget shortfalls. Rural residents may have to travel up to twice as far to access a hospital than those in urban areas. Staffing shortages mean that even when they do arrive they’re less likely to find the correct specialist. The American Medical Association reported that about 65 percent of rural areas have a shortage of primary care physicians. The list goes on, and despite multiple grants or special designations designed to help close these gaps, the issues persist. The reality is, rural areas need a range of options to better serve their communities. One that’s working right now is the use of telehealth to supplement care. The trouble is, telehealth is frequently overlooked and underfunded, but if used correctly, proponents say it could be a game changer for rural communities, where about 20 percent of Americans live.

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Thanks to our sponsor, T-Mobile: http://t-mobile.com/FirstResponders. T-Priority - a 5G network experience made for first responders.

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Sources and further reading:

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For more on telehealth’s effectiveness:

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https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9392842/

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https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/telehealth-health-it

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https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8430850/

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https://www.ruralhealth.us/blogs/2024/06/how-telemedicine-provides-unique-care-in-rural-settings

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For more about the barriers for health care access in rural areas:

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https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/healthcare-access

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https://www.ruralhealth.us/about-us/about-rural-health-care

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https://nihcm.org/publications/rural-health-addressing-barriers-to-care

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https://healersandpatients.web.unc.edu/2024/04/socioeconomic-and-systemic-barriers-in-rural-healthcare/

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https://www.ruralhealth.us/blogs/2025/06/rural-physician-burnout-and-staffing-shortage-impact-in-2025

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https://www.abpsus.org/emergency-physician-shortages-worsening-in-rural-america/