What Do the Epstein Files Teach Us About Power?

Jeffrey Epstein was a financier and convicted sex offender whose network spanned the worlds of finance, politics, academia, and celebrity. Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice released what is now known as the Epstein Files. There are over 3 million pages, 2,000+ videos, and 180,000+ images, so far, including flight logs, emails, court filings, and internal notes detailing his activities and connections. Two rounds of document releases have so far painted an incredibly repulsive picture of sexual exploitation, trafficking, and elite complicity. Some of the highlights include: US President Donald Trump, who is mentioned in over 38,000 references, with the most serious allegation being a withdrawn 2016 federal lawsuit accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl at Epstein’s Manhattan residence.Silicon Valley billionaires, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and others, appearing hundreds of times. There are also emails and exchanges suggesting an international political network involving countries such as Israel, India, and Russia. All of this is merely scratching the surface of the Epstein files. To try and make sense of it all, we speak to Peter Beattie, Political Economist and Political Psychologist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Image Credit: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, 1993 via PicrylSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.