Sean Illing speaks with one of his heroes: Werner Herzog. Herzog is a filmmaker, poet, and author of the new memoir Every Man for Himself and God Against All. They discuss "ecstatic truth," a term invented by Herzog to capture what he's really after in his work. Illing also asks him a range of big questions, such as why he is interested in Mars and whether he thinks humanity is destroying itself.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Werner Herzog, author, Every Man for Himself and God Against All

References:

Every Man for Himself and God Against All by Werner Herzog (Penguin Random House, 2023)

Of Walking in Ice by Werner Herzog

Last Whispers by Lena Herzog (2022)

“Werner Herzog Talks Virtual Reality” by Patrick House (The New Yorker, Jan. 2016)

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This episode was made by:

Producer: Katelyn Bogucki
Engineer: Patrick Boyd
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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STINCHFIELD TONIGHT NOVEMBER 5TH, 2025