Jeffrey Epstein - the podcast files
There is no suggestion that appearing in the documents implies any wrongdoing: but, what so far do we know about Jeffrey Epstein’s connections into podcasting? We know he listened - possibly from the unergonomic desk pictured above: but what else do we know?
Lawrence Krauss, a former astronomy professor and host of The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss, spoke repeatedly with Epstein about his podcast in January 2019, asking for money, which Epstein was happy to give - until he seemed to withdraw, worried about conflict between the podcast and his foundation. At one point in 2017, Epstein asks him how to get onto the Joe Rogan show. “Can you introduce me, I think he’s funny”, he says. Rogan didn’t reply; and in a news report Rogan says he declined.
At another point, Krauss is asking Epstein’s staff for a room in one of Epstein’s NY apartments to record a (video) podcast.
Epstein was subscribed to the newsletter of Peter Attia, the host of The Peter Attia Drive, a health and fitness podcast. Unsurprising - it appears Attia was his physician. He’s reported to appear in the files more than 1,700 times.
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who hosts Masters of Scale, hosted a dinner with Epstein in attendance in 2015.
Deepak Chopra, a wellness guru and host of Deepak Chopra’s Infinite Potential, spoke with Epstein about having dinner together. He’s reported to have at least a dozen meetings with Epstein.
The #1 way that people discover new podcasts is by a personal recommendation. Shows that were recommended to Epstein include The Dan Bongino Show (by Kathy Ruemmler, a Goldman Sachs lawyer who has since resigned); The Joe Rogan Experience (#1169, with Elon Musk, by Juleanna Glover, a former advisor to Elon Musk); Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast (an episode with Jackie Marling, from a redacted contact); an NPR podcast about technology, discussing brain technology (from “Anistasiya”, presumed to be Anastasiya Siroochenko, a Ukrainian real-estate agent).
Epstein bought “Airfoil for Mac”, from Rogue Amoeba, to stream audio round his house. He also used Spotify as a premium user, signing up in 2011. Emails from Spotify suggest that he listened to Michael Bublé and Pitbull; others shared music tracks with him. Spotify added podcasts in 2015.
Podcasts really do reach everyone; and while none of the above suggests any wrongdoing, the Epstein files clearly post more questions than answers.
