Show Notes
Betches Media Co-Founder Sami Sage joins Elise and Jena this week to discuss the systemic flaws to bear in mind as we continue our reading, and why Steve Bannon is a fulcrum in, well, all of this. Plus, context on AG Pam Bondi’s combative testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, the latest fallout from the files, and Jena makes a provocative bet.
Mentioned in this episode:
Ghislane Maxwell wants to cut a deal
Howard Lutnick faces calls to resign
Chappell Roan and other artists leave Casey Wasserman
Lawmakers react to unredacted files
Massie and Khanna release a list of six co-conspirators
Four Takeaways from Pam Bondi’s testimony before House Judiciary
Watch exchange between Ted Lieu and AG Pam Bondi
Sami Sage on Threads
Betches Media
Steve Bannon and Epstein and a global populist movement
Bannon and Epstein on Justice Brett Kavanaugh
The implications of the SCOTUS Chevron decision
Dr. Mark Landon received payments from Jeffrey Epstein
Democracy in Retrograde by Sami Sage and Emily Amick
Jeffrey Epstein and Leon Black
Les Wexner of Victoria’s Secret and Jeffrey Epstein
Morning Announcements podcast
Find Jena @jenafriedman on Instagram, or on her YouTube or Substack
Find Elise @elisewho on Instagram, @whoelise on TikTok, or on Substack
Join our Patreon at patreon.com/epsteinfilesbookclub where we have a running chat with the community and will start putting up video episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Epstein Files Book Club
Betches founder and Morning Announcements host Sami Sage returns as America barrels toward midterm elections and the potential for wider oversight investigations should Democrats retake the House. She shares why she thinks Americans need to be more angry about how corrupt American leadership is right now, what a Democratic House should actually do for oversight and accountability over the administration, and how the delusions of American society can help explain this moment.
Why do institutions continue to excuse and protect male violence? Elise and Jena sit down with gender and politics writer Andrea Gonzalez-Ramirez, of New York Magazine’s The Cut, to discuss institutional power and why systems continue failing to hold sexual aggressors and abusers accountable. She explains the reason why it feels like #metoo never happened, and the research-backed steps to make societies safer for everyone.
In the wake of the uproar over Cornell University’s response to allegations of gang rape by fraternity members on its campus, feminist philosopher and Cornell professor Dr. Kate Manne returns to discuss what it’s like on the Ivy League university's campus now, whether the #metoo movement made any progress, and why she believes abolishing fraternities is a responsible, legitimate way to address to the campus rape epidemic.
In light of the latest Jane Doe to bravely step forward with accusations of heinous rape and violence, this time against seven undergraduate fraternity members at Cornell University, we are bringing back an episode with Cornell professor and feminist philosopher Kate Manne, who painstakingly reviewed the interviews of Jane Doe 4, the woman who, says that at 13, was trafficked to Donald Trump by Jeffrey Epstein. A system that excuses sexual assault allows sexual predators into positions atop businesses, society, and governments. The Epstein network is the clearest example of the rape culture in which we live.
In the final part of our two-parter with independent journalist and attorney Katie Phang, who brought a historic lawsuit against the DOJ to release of all Epstein files , Phang explains why the original Epstein Files Transparency Act needs to be bolstered with the new bill — EFTA 2 — and the oversight and accountability that can come with a new Congress in January, if voters swing the balance of power back to the Democrats.