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Why modern life is designed to keep you anxious — and what to do about it | The Gray Area - March 2, 2026 - Vox

We use the word “anxiety” to describe stress, dread, worry, panic, even vibes. Which just goes to show: We really don’t know what anxiety is, or where it comes from, or what we’re supposed to do with it.

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Today’s guest is philosopher Samir Chopra, author of Anxiety: A Philosophical Guide. Chopra argues that anxiety is a permanent feature of being human and the price of being a free, self-conscious creature in an uncertain world. Sean and Samir talk about the difference between fear and anxiety, why modern life seems engineered to keep us on edge, and what Buddhism, existentialism, and Freud can teach us about the anxious mind.

Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

Guest: Samir Chopra, author of Anxiety: A Philosophical Guide

1:22 What is anxiety?

9:30 Are we an anxious generation?

13:05 Buddhism and anxiety

18:55 Acceptance vs. resignation

22:05 The existentialist view on anxiety

26:50 Freud and the psychoanalytic view of anxiety

30:23 How can philosophy help you with anxiety?

31:56 Practical advice for dealing with anxiety

We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.

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Rep. Ro Khanna takes on the “Epstein class” | Today, Explained - February 28, 2026 - Vox

Our politics are deeply divided — there’s Democrat vs. Republican, there’s left vs. right. But maybe the biggest divide in our politics is the insider vs. outsider divide.

That’s only gotten more noticeable in recent months, as issues like the Epstein files and artificial intelligence have pitted the elites against everyone else. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is at the center of both of those issues. He wrote the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He brought one of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse survivors to this week's State of the Union address. And he’s coined the term “the Epstein class” — the group of wealthy and connected individuals that he wants to bring to accountability. Even if they’re fellow Democrats.

Khanna represents Silicon Valley in his district, so he has worked with companies like Google and Meta for years. That puts him at the forefront of one of the important political and economic questions of the coming year: Is AI about to put us all out of work? And is the government prepared to do anything about it?

00:00 Intro

1:52 Advocating for Epstein survivors

4:31 Forcing the release of the Epstein Files

5:23 Pushing for a vote on Iran strikes

6:32 Should Dems work with Trump?

9:41 Holding the “Epstein class” accountable

15:03 Should Dems have done more to stop Epstein?

18:10 Tech leaders and income inequality

19:03 Is there an AI tsunami?

19:42 Are Dems anti-AI?

22:00 CA tax on billionaires

23:56 Is Khanna making a presidential bid?

Today, Explained publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics and culture. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. New episodes of Today, Explained drop every day of the week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite listening app.

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Gen Z men want babies. Gen Z women don’t. | The Gray Area - February 27, 2026 - Vox

A lot of Gen Z men sound surprisingly excited about fatherhood. A lot of Gen Z women…do not.

And that divide — and the national handwringing about it — says a lot about the changing status of men and women in this country, and the uncomfortable realization that for American policymakers, not all children are created equal.

Today’s guest on The Gray Area is Vox reporter and bestselling novelist Anna North, who covers kids, parenting, and American family life. She writes the Vox newsletter Kids Today, and her latest chart-topping novel is Bog Queen. She recently reported on the gap between young men and young women on parenthood and what that might tell us about gender roles, relationships, and the future of family formation in a politically polarized country.

Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

Guest: Anna North, Staff Writer, Vox

3:30 The poll that revealed a massive parenting gender gap in Gen Z.

11:20 Why "Tradwife" content and traditional values are finding a new audience.

15:43 The Gen Z family split

23:11 The "Care Crisis" and the trauma of modern immigration enforcement on children.

26:15 The future of the American family in 2026 and beyond.

And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday.

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To fight authoritarianism, America should look to Brazil - February 24, 2026 - Vox

On January 8, 2023, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed federal buildings in the country’s capital. Their goal? Overthrow the results of an election they claimed was rigged, despite no credible evidence of fraud.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Brazil’s January 8 looked a lot like the January 6 attack on the US capital, just two years earlier: mob violence, an insurrection, and a defeated leader who refused to concede.

But the aftermath could not be more different. Jair Bolsonaro is now serving a 27-year prison sentence, while Donald Trump is president, again.

So how did two democracies, facing similar threats, end up with such different outcomes? This video explains how Brazil’s democratic system worked to hold “the Trump of the Tropics” accountable and what the US could learn from the aftermath.

Read more about Brazil’s response:

Vox correspondent Zack Beauchamp’s deep dive into what Brazil got right: How one country stopped a Trump-style authoritarian in his tracks | https://www.vox.com/politics/479290/brazil-democracy-trump-bolsonaro-multiparty

The Brazilian Report breaks down the details of Bolsonaro’s coup plans: Anatomy of a coup attempt | https://newsletters.brazilian.report/p/bolsonaro-coup-right-pistachio

Carnegie Endowment’s podcast, The World Unpacked, breaks down the trial and conviction of former Bolsonaro | Did the Bolsonaro Trial Really Save Brazil's Democracy? | https://carnegieendowment.org/podcasts/the-world-unpacked/did-the-bolsonaro-trial-really-save-brazils-democracy

The New Yorker’s excellent profile of Alexandre de Moraes includes a lot more detail on how the judge became an enemy of Trump and Elon Musk, in his mission to crack down on election misinformation: The Brazilian Judge Taking On the Digital Far Right | https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/14/the-brazilian-judge-taking-on-the-digital-far-right

The New York Times Op Ed, co-written by Filipe Campante, who is featured in the video: Brazil Just Succeeded Where America Failed | https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/opinion/trump-bolsonaro-conviction-democracy.html

The Economist’s take on how countries recover from populism: Brazil offers America a lesson in democratic maturity | https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/08/28/brazil-offers-america-a-lesson-in-democratic-maturity

This story was supported by a grant from Protect Democracy. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.

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How mindfulness got weird | The Gray Area - February 23, 2026 - Vox

Mindfulness is everywhere now, which is kind of weird.

What started as a countercultural practice has become a productivity hack and a billion-dollar app ecosystem. On one level, it’s great that more people are meditating. But somewhere along the way, the whole thing got flattened. When mindfulness is mainly about optimizing your output, we’ve probably missed the point.

Today’s guest is Jon Kabat-Zinn, pioneer of the American mindfulness movement and author of the mega-bestseller Wherever You Go, There You Are. Jon’s work helped bring meditation into medicine, schools, sports, and everyday life. He’s also spent decades reminding people that mindfulness isn’t about escape, self-improvement, or becoming some perfectly serene version of yourself.

Sean and Jon talk about what mindfulness actually is, why being present is so damn hard, and what happens when industry turns meditation into another tool for self-optimization.

This episode originally aired in December of 2023.

Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)

Guest: Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.

00:00 Intro

03:02 Mindfulness vs. mindlessness

13:12 What to do when you have a lapse in attention

19:36 The mindfulness industry

34:10 Recognizing this moment

36:46 A meditation led by Jon Kabat-Zinn

And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday.

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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