The Infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein’s Power
About this episode
Ezra Klein asks journalist Anand Giridharadas what the release of millions of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files reveals about American power. Giridharadas argues the files expose not just a 'barbaric pedophilia scandal' but the infrastructure of elite networking: Epstein was a broker trading connections, wealth, and ultimately human beings across ideologies and industries. He describes 'concentric circles of enablement' — a criminal core, enablers who knew and looked away, and prestige institutions (Harvard, MIT, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, law firms) that laundered Epstein's reputation even after his 2008 conviction. Epstein gamed elite trust networks, where centrality substitutes for character, and his mystique as the 'rich guy covered in women' attracted powerful men. Drawing parallels to Trump, Giridharadas argues both show how accumulated power makes misconduct 'unthinkable' to challenge — and indicts the paucity of elite bravery in resisting it.