Peter and the wolves: Mandelson falls but Epstein scandal spreads

Summary

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Economist Podcasts — "Peter and the Wolves: Mandelson Falls but Epstein Scandal Spreads"

Date: February 4, 2026
Hosts: Jason Palmer, Rosie Blore

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Intelligence unpacks three key stories:

1. The explosive fallout of the Jeffrey Epstein file release in Britain, focusing on Peter Mandelson, a leading Labour politician whose career has collapsed amid scandal.
2. Ryanair’s unusual but dominant business model and how it’s outdistanced competitors despite a “we don’t care if you hate us” customer ethos.
3. A surprising new study examining why same-sex sexual behavior is common in the animal kingdom, unraveling the evolutionary puzzle behind it.

Interviews with The Economist’s correspondents offer insightful, sometimes wry analysis in classic Economist style.

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1. Mandelson, Epstein, and a Political Earthquake

(Starts ~02:00)

The Scandal’s Unspooling ([02:50]–[08:13])

• Peter Mandelson’s Background ([03:21]–[04:26])

  • Duncan Robinson (Britain political editor) describes Mandelson as a pivotal architect of New Labour—serving under Blair and Brown—yet always “a very controversial figure.”
  • Mandelson had multiple career setbacks due to scandals (undeclared loan, “nefarious passport scandal,” though was technically cleared of wrongdoing).
  • Mandelson’s flaws were seemingly balanced by his political aptitude: “People knew that he had these flaws, but they knew that he also had these abilities that they seemed to think that they couldn't do without.” — Duncan Robinson [03:55]
  • Recently, Keir Starmer controversially appointed Mandelson as British Ambassador to the US, a role usually for “career diplomats.”

• Epstein Connections Get Worse ([04:26]–[05:50])

  • Previously known to be acquainted, but the new file release revealed “thousands of emails, often using quite sort of affectionate, peculiar language” between Mandelson and Epstein. — Duncan Robinson [04:36]
  • Allegations that Epstein paid for Mandelson’s partner’s osteopath course (tens of thousands of dollars).
  • "Peter Mandelson denies doing anything wrong." — Duncan Robinson [04:59]
  • Newly released documents show Mandelson sharing confidential government memos with Epstein.
  • Most shocking: “...he was probably the number two or number three most important person in the country at that point, sending private information to his friends. It is a remarkable scandal.” — Duncan Robinson [05:38]

• Why Was Mandelson Appointed Amidst Known Links? ([05:50]–[06:47])

  • Mandelson remained influential in Labour, especially valued by Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.
  • Arguments for his ambassadorial post: his EU trade experience was considered essential for UK–US relations.
  • Starmer’s government “knew they were taking a gigantic risk.”

• Aftermath and Possible Next Steps ([06:47]–[08:13])

  • Mandelson resigns from Labour Party and House of Lords but still holds a peerage—stripping it would require new legislation. “Everything becomes quite sort of medieval very, very quickly.” — Duncan Robinson [07:02]
  • Police are investigating if the leaking of memos broke the law; prison time is possible.
  • For Starmer, this threatens political identity: “Keir Starmer's entire selling point was that he is a clean broom...there's a strange irony that...he then appointed this man who was very much like the others.” — Duncan Robinson [07:34]

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2. Ryanair: “Ooh, You Are Awful (But I Like You)”

(Begins ~10:00)

Ryanair’s Brash Brilliance ([10:00]–[16:18])

• Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s Iconoclast ([10:00]–[10:47])

  • Simon Wright (industry editor) notes O’Leary’s infamous “outspoken or controversial” style. O’Leary sparred with Elon Musk, who insulted him for declining Starlink satellite Wi-Fi; O’Leary fired back with a “big idiot sale.”
  • O’Leary: “You know it is very good for our bookings...we love these PR spats...” [10:35]

• Business Model Secrets ([11:03]–[12:36])

  • Ryanair, under O’Leary, grew to Europe’s largest airline: over 640 planes, 208 million passengers expected this year, double EasyJet’s and triple Wizz Air’s volume; net margin at 15% (vs. industry avg. 4%).
  • Simon Wright: “Airlines are a way of losing money generally. And Ryanair makes some money and makes an awful lot of it.” [11:31]

• Pinching Pennies—And Customers ([12:02]–[14:34])

  • Ryanair perfects the low-cost model (borrowed from Southwest) and educates passengers to tolerate fewer amenities:
    • “Re-educating passengers about how they fly... looked a little bit like taking them for a ride.” — Simon Wright [12:15]
    • Uses cheap, out-of-the-way airports; if customers don't want that “perhaps you should have done so.” [13:13]
    • Massive cost savings: single aircraft model, opportunistic buying from Boeing, quick expansion into markets vacated by failing airlines (e.g., Alitalia).

• Drag Effect on the Industry ([14:34]–[15:35])

  • Legacy airlines (BA, etc.) forced to adopt Ryanair’s add-on fee model just to compete: “Their only concession to luxury... was to give me a tiny bottle of water and two biscuits.” — Simon Wright [15:19]

• Future and Resilience ([15:35]–[16:18])

  • Ryanair’s scale and discounts insulate it in downturns; giant orders for fuel-efficient Max 10 jets will keep costs low.
  • O’Leary likely to remain as CEO, with little threat to his position.
  • “In the meantime, it's very unlikely Mr. Musk or anyone else will have any chance of unseating him.” — Simon Wright [16:17]

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3. Same-Sex Sexual Behavior: Not a Paradox, But Survival

(Begins ~16:33)

Exploring Evolutionary Function ([16:33]–[21:52])

• The Big Puzzle ([16:33]–[17:11])

  • Bella King (news desk): Over 1,500 animal species show same-sex sexual behavior, raising the evolutionary question: why has this “non-reproductive” trait persisted?
  • “It’s actually not a paradox at all. Same sex sexual behavior doesn't preclude different sex sexual behavior, but it is a puzzle.” — Bella King [16:47]

• Hypothesis: Social Bonding? ([17:11]–[17:46])

  • Prevailing theory: same-sex behavior fosters group bonding and mitigates internal conflict, yet data has been sparse or anecdotal.

• New Research Approach ([17:51]–[18:51])

  • Imperial College researchers reviewed 500+ publications on non-human primates (23 species with multiple instances).
  • Correlated these instances with climate, predator density, life-history traits, and social group structure.

• Findings: Extreme Environments = More Cohesion ([19:04]–[19:59])

  • Same-sex sexual behavior was more frequent where survival requires group cohesion—harsh climates, plentiful predators.
  • Example: Vervet monkeys, who depend on group warning calls for survival.

• Traits Associated with the Behavior ([20:11]–[21:18])

  • More common in species with:
    • Greater sexual dimorphism (males larger than females)
    • Longer lifespans
    • Bigger, more hierarchical groups
  • Suggests behavior helps manage social tension and “promote harmony within groups.” — Bella King [21:11]

• Still a Puzzle ([21:18]–[21:52])

  • The evidence is correlational, not conclusive.
  • “All that can be said for certain is that this behavior is really widespread...and it's an important part of primates social repertoires.” — Bella King [21:44]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “People knew that he had these flaws, but they knew that he also had these abilities that they seemed to think that they couldn't do without.” — Duncan Robinson on Mandelson [03:55]
• “It's remarkable to have a very senior member of government...sending private information to his friends. It is a remarkable scandal.” — Duncan Robinson [05:38]
• “Airlines are a way of losing money generally. And Ryanair makes some money and makes an awful lot of it.” — Simon Wright [11:31]
• “Ooh, you are awful, but I like you.” — Simon Wright quoting comedian Dick Emery, a summation of Ryanair's business model [13:23]
• “Same sex sexual behavior doesn't preclude different sex sexual behavior, but it is a puzzle. Something so widespread must presumably have some evolutionary function.” — Bella King [16:50]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Epstein files & Peter Mandelson scandal: [02:50]–[08:13]
• Ryanair, O’Leary, and airline industry: [10:00]–[16:18]
• Same-sex sexual behavior in animals: [16:33]–[21:52]

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This summary omits advertisements and course promotions, focusing strictly on the episode’s journalistic content and analysis.

Transcript

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[Jason Palmer]

The Economist. Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm Jason Palmer.

[Rosie Blore]

And I'm Rosie Blore. Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

[Jason Palmer]

Love it or hate it. And really, a lot of people with any opinion at all hate it. Ryanair is a low cost airline success story. We ask how it's gained such a lead over its competitors, even though it never much focused on treating customers well.

[Rosie Blore]

And the natural world provides many examples of homosexual behavior. But what characteristics connect the different animals or their communities that display it? The answer suggests that it's not about fun or pleasure, it's for survival. But first, The fallout from the latest Jeffrey Epstein file release is continuing, not least in Britain. It's raised further difficult questions for the former Prince Andrew and his ex wife Sarah Ferguson. But the greatest odium has been heaped on a totem of Britain's Labour Party as one of the biggest political scandals of recent decades now unfolds.

[Duncan Robinson]

After about three decades of being one of the most influential people in politics, Peter Mandelson's career now finally appears to be completely over. After pretty shocking emails he sent to Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire pedophile financier emerged.

[Rosie Blore]

Duncan Robinson is our Britain political editor.

[Duncan Robinson]

He faces potential criminal investigations and the fallout for Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister is only just beginning.

[Rosie Blore]

Duncan, you talk about him as a huge figure in British politics. For those who don't know Peter Mandelson as well, tell me about what role he's played.

[Duncan Robinson]

Peter Mandelson was one of the architects of New Labour, so the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown government that dominated British politics for 13 years. But he was always a very controversial figure. So even at that time, he lost one job over an undeclared loan. He lost another job over a nefarious passport scandal. It should be noted that Peter Madison was technically cleared of any wrongdoing over the passport scandal. But each time he was sort of welcomed back into the fold. People knew that he had these flaws, but they knew that he also had these abilities that they seemed to think that they couldn't do without. And the latest person to fall foul of this was Keir Starmer, who brought people Manderson back in as the British Ambassador to America. And that was quite unusual because they don't normally let political quote unquote, appointees become senior ambassadors. It's normally career diplomats. So that was a relatively strange and controversial decision when they made it.

[Rosie Blore]

And what do we now know about Mandelson's involvement with Jeffrey Epstein?

[Duncan Robinson]

We knew a little bit about their relationship before there were photographs of them together. Peter Mandelson had talked about how he regretted ever having known Jeffrey Epstein. But what's changed in the past few weeks and months is the depth of that relationship. There are thousands of emails, often using quite sort of affectionate, peculiar language between them both. It was clearly a very close relationship. There seems to be the allegation that Jeffrey Epstein was paying Peter Mandelson's partner, now husband, to do an osteopath course. And this is tens of thousands of dollars. So it' very peculiar indeed. And we should say that Peter Manson denies doing anything wrong throughout this entire process.

[Rosie Blore]

And it's the new release of documents that's really changed the picture. Right.

[Duncan Robinson]

The latest releases were extremely surreal. There's one picture of Peter Mandelson in his underpants chatting to a woman. It's a very, very undignified situation. But the most shocking thing has been that Peter Manson was often sending Jeffrey Epstein with confidential, secret memos meant to be sent to the Prime Minister or being forwarded to effectively Peter Mandelson's billionaire ma. And that is the part that's really, really shocked people in Westminster. It's remarkable to have a very senior member of government. Peter Manderson was probably the number two or number three most important person in the country at that point, sending private information to his friends. It is a remarkable scandal.

[Rosie Blore]

Duncan, as you say, Mandelson was appointed as Britain's Ambassador to the us, even though his links with Epstein were known. How was that possible?

[Duncan Robinson]

So Peter Mandelson was still a influential figure within Labour, but sort of behind the scenes. So he used to have this frontline where he was in government, but he's been a sort of advisor for the party for decades. And there are people within the Starmer government who really appreciated his advice and counsel. And among those was Keir Starmer's Chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who was one of the main advocates of Peter Manson having this role. And the argument for him having this role was that he was a former EU Trade Commissioner. He knew that that was going to be a big deal when it comes to relations between Britain and America over the coming years. And so he did have a relatively appropriate cv, but also on the CV was all the previous scandals. So they knew they were taking a gigantic risk by putting him into this high profile role.

[Rosie Blore]

So what happens now?

[Duncan Robinson]

Well, everything becomes rather messy. So Peter Manelsen has resigned from the Labour Party, so he technically has nothing to do with the party anymore. And he's also stepped down from the House of Lords, so he's no longer a legislator in Britain's unelected upper chamber, but he is still technically a peerage. He does still have the. And if the government want to strip him of that, they have to pass a law effectively stripping him of that. So everything becomes quite sort of medieval very, very quickly with sort of titles being removed. And most seriously of all, the police are now investigating whether what he did when he was in government broke the law. And so we could end up with Peter Mandelson in prison at some point in the future.

[Rosie Blore]

And what could all of this mean for Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister?

[Duncan Robinson]

Politically, it's a complete mess. Keir Starmer's entire selling point was that he is a clean broom, that he's a straight up person, that he's not like the other politicians. And so there's a strange irony that this guy who came in saying, I'm not like the others, then appointed this man who was very much like the others, who was one of the reasons why people have lost faith in politics in the past 20 years, because he's always had this dodgy CV, with instance, where he has had to step down for various scandals. And so to bring in this person who was so tainted was always a gigantic risk. And is blown up in Keir Starmer's face. So Peter Mandelson's career is now, this time definitely over.

[Rosie Blore]

Duncan, thank you for talking to me.

[Duncan Robinson]

Thank you.

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[Simon Wright]

Some of the kinder words spoken about Michael o' Leary down the ears are descriptions such as outspoken or controversial.

[Jason Palmer]

Simon Wright is our industry editor.

[Simon Wright]

Of late, the Ryanair boss has stepped a little bit back from the spotlight, but as Elon Musk recently discovered, he's still up for a fight. The world's richest man recently called Mr. O' Leary an idiot for not installing his Starlink satellite Wi Fi on Ryanair planes. Mr. O' Leary answered Mr. Musk by launching a big idiot sale and he also thanked Elon Musk for all the free publicity.

[Michael O'Leary (quoted)]

You know it is very good for our bookings and you know we love these PR spats that try bookings on Ryanair. I'm sure it does wonders for Elon Musk and his ex or whatever subscribers he has on X as well to.

[Simon Wright]

Be fighting with somebody as part of the ding dong. Elon Musk threatened to buy Ryanair because he's not a citizen of the eu. He can't do so, but if he could, it would be an excellent investment.

[Jason Palmer]

Well, tell me why you say that, why Ryanair is doing so well over.

[Simon Wright]

The past 30 years, Mr. O' Leary's built Ryanair from a tiny, barely profitable airline into one of the world's most successful carriers. It's the largest in Europe by some way. Has a fleet of over 640 planes and a fifth of the Continent's capacity. The latest quarterly results looked pretty good. Expects to carry 208 million passengers in the financial year ending in April. That's roughly double the amount of the big low cost competitors in Europe, EasyJet, and triple that of Wizz Air. Not only that, the net margin of around 15% compares very favorably with the worldwide average of just 4%. I mean, airlines are a way of losing money generally. And Ryanair makes some money and makes an awful lot of it. Since the start of 2023, its shares have risen by 130, 30%, far outpacing the global industry.

[Jason Palmer]

Now, some people might suggest that Mr. O' Leary has created this grand success by really, really pinching in a miserly and unfriendly way, all of his customers.

[Simon Wright]

I don't think that's unfair. Like Elon Musk, who didn't invent the electric car, Mr. O' Leary didn't invent the low cost model that was invented by Southwest Airlines in the US he borrowed that model and he refined it and perfected it. And to keep fares at bargain basement rates, Mr. O' Leary's laser like focus on costs, he's never stepped away from that. One of the upshots of that is that he has been re educating passengers about how they fly. And in some cases that's looked a little bit like taking them for a ride, as it were.

[Jason Palmer]

Yeah, like taking me to an airport that is allegedly in some capital city, but is actually in some airport that's 30, 40, 50, 60k away.

[Simon Wright]

Look, part of that model is using cheaper airports, the ones that the big carriers don't use. They're incentivized, particularly if they're owned by a local government who want to bring in tourists to make it worth Ryanair's while. But the reason you're getting these cheap fares is because you might have to go to an airport that's a little bit out the way. That's just how it goes. If you're not prepared to look at the map and find out where their airport is, perhaps you should have done so. I think that's probably what Mr. O' Leary would say.

[Jason Palmer]

No doubt. And yes, I do have maybe a little bit of an axe to grind here, but surely some of the financial success comes from squeezing passengers in ways they weren't expecting.

[Simon Wright]

In order to quote Dick Emery, a comedian whose heyday was probably in the 1970s in the UK, he had a catchphrase and it was, ooh, you are awful, but I like you. And it's that sort of tension between the incredibly low fares and perhaps not being treated quite as well as you might be if you travelled on a legacy airline like ba. The low cost model involves using a single type of plane, the Boeing 737, which keeps costs low for maintenance, pilot training and the likes. Because Ryanair is so big and so successful, and because it has so much cash, it can invest countercyclically. And what I mean by that is it can go to Boeing when Boeing needs to sell planes and it can make a big order for those planes and it can get a very good deal as a result of that. But also there's an opportunism involved. If it sees an area where an airline is struggling and the collapse of Alitalia a few years ago is a great example of that, it'll move in. It's allowed ryanair to take 40% of the share of the Italian domestic market because it stepped in where Alitalia was failing. The same thing with SAS and its troubles in the pandemic. Ryanair moved into Copenhagen and Stockholm as well.

[Jason Palmer]

What seems to me after years of watching Ryanair's success, but also lots of other airlines attempts to cut costs, is they've stolen Ryanair's tricks. The things that we used to just get for free, we now pay for as we first paid for on Ryanair. Is there a sense that the race to the bottom, if you will, is dragging lots of perhaps legacy airlines with it?

[Simon Wright]

Look, it's certainly true that Ryanair just operates in Europe. The legacy airlines have a completely different business model in that they make most of their money flying passengers from one airport to their hub airports and then on into international flights. But they to fill up their planes as well. And in order to do so, they've had to use some of the low cost tricks, because the only way of filling up those planes is to make fares at least reasonably competitive with the low cost competitors. Even on legacy airlines. Now you'll have to pay extra for your baggage and food and drink on board. I took a BA flight yesterday and their only concession to luxury, if you want to call it that, was to give me a tiny bottle of water and two biscuits. So you're absolutely right.

[Jason Palmer]

And so the model is paying off. Will continue to pay off, you reckon?

[Simon Wright]

I think absolutely. It's one of those things where even if something goes wrong in the airline industry and things have gone wrong in the past, what are people going to do? They're probably going to trade down and go for even cheaper flights. So I think long term it looks like they're insulating in that way. But also they've made a giant order for up to 300 larger, more fuel efficient versions of the Boeing 737, the Max 10. Those should start to arrive in 2027, which will keep costs low and also propel the airline towards its goal of shifting 300 million passengers by 2034. Mr. O' Leary said he's probably going to stick around until around then as boss. In the meantime, it's very unlikely Mr. Musk or anyone else will have any chance of unseating him.

[Jason Palmer]

Simon, thanks very much for your time.

[Simon Wright]

Thank you Jason.

[Bella King]

Same sex sexual behavior has been recorded across the animal kingdom. So far records exist for over 1,500 species.

[Jason Palmer]

Bella King works on the Economist's news desk.

[Bella King]

Evolutionary biologists have called this behavior a paradox. How is it that a trait that leads to non reproductive sexual is not eliminated by natural selection, but it's actually not a paradox at all? Same sex sexual behavior doesn't preclude different sex sexual behavior, but it is a puzzle. Something so widespread must presumably have some evolutionary function.

[Jason Palmer]

So what are the guesses as to what the evolutionary function might be?

[Bella King]

So far there hasn't been much research into the behavior. It's either not been taken seriously as a field of research, as a topic, or it's been too laden with human concern. Yielded much data A popular theory is that same sex sexual behavior has a social function, that it's used to facilitate bonding within groups to reduce conflict. But unfortunately data that would either support or refute this is still sparse and mostly anecdotal.

[Jason Palmer]

So how to go about supporting or refuting it though? What data would be better?

[Bella King]

Researchers at Imperial College in London looked for all recorded instances of same sex sexual Behavior in Anim, consulted over a thousand books and publications. Of those, 500 were of non human primates and of those, about 23 species had multiple recorded instances of this behaviour. They then compared this data set to data on environmental factors such as climate. Data pulled from satellites, such as data on how species are distributed on the number of predators in various and details on life history traits. Which means how different are males to females? How different do they look? Are males bigger than females? What are their lifespans? What are the group structures that they live in? Are they very Complicated. Are they very stratified or are they more simple?

[Jason Palmer]

So if the idea is that this same sex sexual behavior is sort of a bonding mechanism, these researchers reckon that the bonding should happen more strongly or weakly in different environments or indeed in different species where conflic is more or less likely, I guess.

[Bella King]

What did they find in harsher environments, in environments where social cohesion might be more necessary, they found that same sex sexual behavior was more likely to occur in areas where the climate was particularly extreme. For example in very dry parts of the world or very cold. They found that in that group same sex sexual behavior was more prevalent than in groups living in more temperate climates. They also found that in areas where there were more predators, species were engaging in more same sex sexual behavior. For example vervet monkeys, they rely on each other to issue warning calls when threats are near. That is contingent on good group cohesion, which is then, the researchers suggest, aided by same sex sexual behavior.

[Jason Palmer]

So that's the kind of environmental, I guess external forces that may be in play here. But what about the life history stuff you were talking about? What's sort of internal to specific to these species?

[Bella King]

So they also found that same sex sexual behavior was more likely to occur in species with certain life history traits. For example, they found that it was higher among those species with pronounced sexual dimorphism, which is when males are larger than females. They also found it was more common in species with longer lifespans. The researchers suggest that under these conditions, same sex sexual behavior may be being used to navigate these social dynamics over time. Social complexity was also a driver of this type of behavior. So species that lived in larger groups, groups did it more. Those that lived in more stratified hierarchies also had higher rates than those that lived in smaller, less complicated social groups. So this suggests that this kind of behaviour may be being employed by individuals within groups to relieve social tension, to reduce rank related conflict and just generally promote harmony within groups.

[Jason Palmer]

This is certainly a collection of interesting ideas and correlations, but it doesn't feel like proof proper. The paradox that is in fact a puzzle is still a bit of guesswork.

[Bella King]

Absolutely. I think one of the main takeaways from this study is that there just hasn't been enough research into this behaviour in non human primates. I think all that can be said for certain is that this behaviour is really widespread across the animal kingdom and it's an important part of primates social repertoires.

[Jason Palmer]

Bella, thanks very much for joining us.

[Bella King]

Thanks for having me.

[Rosie Blore]

That's all for this episode of the intelligence. See you back here tomorrow.

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