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How to understand your dreams & nightmares | The Gray Area - June 8, 2026 - Vox
Sean talks with dream scientist Michelle Carr about what dreams are, why we have them, and what they might reveal about the mind. They discuss nightmares, lucid dreaming, memory, consciousness, and whether dreams are just random brain noise or a kind of overnight therapy. They also explore why dreams feel so real and what the strange world of sleep can teach us about waking life.
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Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)
Guest: Michelle Carr
00:00 Intro
00:53 What are dreams for?
05:14 Are dreams simulations?
10:45 Why do we forget our dreams?
17:31 Why do we have nightmares?
26:31 What are lucid dreams?
41:28 Can lucid dreaming backfire?
42:51 Is there a connection between dreams and consciousness?
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Democrats in Virginia think they've found a winning message | America, Actually - June 5, 2026 - Vox
We went to Virginia to report on redistricting. What we found was a potential new message for Democrats to win over voters.
Gerrymandering is usually treated as an academic problem. In Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, it’s a gut punch for many Democrats. After courts struck down a voter-approved redistricting amendment, grassroots volunteers are facing an uphill battle against voter cynicism.
But now, Democratic candidates are pivoting away from abstract warnings about authoritarianism. Instead, they’re aiming at a new sweet spot: tying political corruption directly to the rising cost of living.
00:00 The midterms map battle
00:51 Ashland, VA: the center of the political universe
02:31 From Republican to Democratic protester: Katie Sitterson's journey
03:33 Why didn’t defending democracy work in 2024?
04:27 Maps whiplash and morale
09:06 How candidates are responding to gerrymandering
13:21 Linking corruption to affordability
18:01 Candidate forum at Libby Mill
23:12 Candidates pitch reforms
24:33 Takaways
America, Actually publishes video episodes every Saturday tackling key issues in politics, culture, and the economy. Subscribe to Vox’s YouTube channel to get them. Listen to episodes of America, Actually on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app.
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How the war in Iran could end affordable air travel - June 3, 2026 - Vox
Since the conflict in the Middle East led to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, about 20 percent of global oil supply has been choked off, sending prices sky-high, especially for jet fuel. So far, the war may already be costing the airline industry an additional $15 billion. Airlines have responded by raising ticket prices, charging more for bag fees, and cutting flights that they’ve deemed unprofitable because of higher fuel costs.
This price shock was a deciding factor in the May 2026 closure of Spirit Airlines. When a low-cost airline like Spirit goes under, it has a ripple effect through the entire industry, canceling flight routes and raising ticket prices all around.
But even if the war were to end and fuel costs stabilize, major airlines might not be willing to bring their prices back down. In fact, corporations seem all but guaranteed to take advantage of pressuring consumers to pay more to fly.
For over 40 years, flying has been an affordable way to travel. We’ve been living in an era of cheap flights that has shifted air travel from a luxury experience to a globalized mode of public transportation. This video explains how that era might be coming to an end.
Read more about the state of the airline industry and the impact of the war in Iran:
Changes in airfare in the US: https://onemileatatime.com/news/airline-fares-skyrocketing-data/
Reuters’ analysis of how the war is costing airlines: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/iran-war-saddles-global-companies-with-25-billion-bill-counting-2026-05-18/
Bill McGee on NPR discussing the state of the airline industry: https://www.npr.org/2026/04/26/nx-s1-5795931/how-the-iran-war-is-impacting-the-airline-industry
Peter Campbell’s piece on the Iran war and the future of cheap flights: https://www.ft.com/content/a8f9aa9b-94f7-4188-8c53-e18b614c373f
The Today, Explained newsletter covers the Spirit Airlines shutdown: https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/487758/spirit-airlines-shutdown
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Americans don’t know how to stop working | The Gray Area - June 1, 2026 - Vox
Americans have absorbed the Protestant work ethic: the idea that our value as human beings – and our eventual salvation – is determined by how hard we work. Political philosopher Elizabeth Anderson explains how this evolved, why it pervades everything, and why it’s no longer serving us.
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This episode originally aired in January of 2024.
Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)
Guest: Elizabeth Anderson, professor of public philosophy at the University of Michigan.
00:00 Intro
04:21 Why the Protestant work ethic still controls us
12:32 Why do treat wealth as a virtue and poverty as a vice
23:51 When making money becomes the point of life
30:40 Why can’t we have a better work-life balance?
32:35 How workers can reclaim their freedom
36:27 How to build support for a progressive work ethic
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