Recently, the Department of Justice released millions of files from disgraced financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Since their release, part of the discussion has revolved around the way Jewishness appears in the files. Epstein and his friends make clannish jokes about Jews and “goyim,” many of them simultaneously self-deprecating and chauvinistic. Epstein himself is extremely interested in genetics, sending out a number of DNA Kits to Jews and non-Jews alike, and referencing a natural Ashkenazi intelligence. The files also show close—and sometimes criminal—relationships to a number of prominent Jewish men. These details, along with information about Epstein’s role as fixer for former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, have fueled conspiracy theories about Jewish power. But what do we do with a story whose real-life details are so fitted to antisemitic conspiracy? In this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with author, thinker, and activist Naomi Klein about how to make sense of the capitalist conspiracy outlined in the files, and the grave importance of holding our depraved elites accountable.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Media Mentioned and Further Reading

Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

Harsha Walia on Epstein and sexual violence

A collection of Epstein’s comments on “Jews” and “goyim” from Tikkun Olam

“Eugenics Isn’t Dead—It’s Thriving in Tech,” Julia Métraux, Mother Jones

“Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant ordered so many 23andMe kits, the company asked why,” Ariana Bindman, SFGate

“The Myth of the Chosen Nation: The Colonial Period,” Richard T. Hughes

“The crisis in modern masculinity,” Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian

Epstein in China

“Epstein tells ex-Israeli PM Ehud Barak to speak with Palantir founder Peter Thiel in released audio,” Middle East Eye

“Epstein celebrated Brexit and ‘return to tribalism’, newly released emails suggest,” Millie Cooke, Independent