Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 conviction was public. The people around him knew about it. And yet, many prominent, intelligent, and powerful people continued taking his calls, attending his dinners, accepting his introductions, and maintaining relationships with him.

Why?

In Part Three of The Epstein Files, we turn our attention to the people who stayed.

This is not an episode about treating every name in the Epstein files as evidence of wrongdoing. Being photographed with Epstein, appearing in an email, or being mentioned in the files does not prove that someone knew about or participated in his crimes.

Instead, we’re asking a more uncomfortable question: How do smart, successful people convince themselves that a questionable decision is reasonable?

Through the relationships surrounding Epstein, we explore truth default theory, cognitive dissonance, moral disengagement, motivated reasoning, social proof, reciprocity, moral licensing, escalation of commitment, psychological distance, and the ways power can distort judgment.

Because the mechanisms that allowed people to rationalize staying close to Epstein aren't unique to billionaires, politicians, scientists, or royalty.

They’re human.

And when someone we like, admire, depend on, or benefit from does something wrong, we may be far better at explaining away our choices than we realize.

Content Advisory: This episode discusses Jeffrey Epstein and the sexual abuse of minors. The abuse is not described in graphic detail.

Find The Human Pattern

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