Epstein's America: How modern corruption works

There’s a gnawing feeling in America and the West that a self-serving elite has corrupted society’s rules in its favour.

The Epstein Files have finally pulled back the curtain on hidden ways that powerful people network together to advance their own interests and evade accountability.

Sarah Chayes, who lived in and studied the world’s most corrupt nations, warns that the US is walking the same path. She tells host Jon Bateman why systemic corruption looks nothing like how we picture it, how anti-corruption advocates are co-opted as enablers, and what to say if someone asks you for a bribe.

Chapters

00:00 The Epstein Files expose elite networks 01:30 What is corruption, really? 02:14 The ‘gift economy’ of power 04:03 Inside Trump’s web of connections 07:21 Why it’s almost impossible to prosecute corruption 09:35 Has the Supreme Court legalised it? 11:06 Trump: Aberration or inevitable? 15:08 The anti-corruption movement… that isn’t 16:46 Why anger at corruption fuels extremism 20:06 Why we excuse corruption on ‘our side’ 23:03 The fatal flaw of partisan loyalty 26:02 ‘Everyone’s corrupt’ – the dangerous lie 28:14 The enablers: Banks, think tanks and museums 30:23 Do institutions want to win – or survive? 32:44 The gilded age is back? 33:11 When America actually reduced corruption 35:29 The revolving door problem 38:03 Do disasters reset corruption? 41:53 Do elites need to suffer too? 42:33 What you can do about corruption

Produced by: Carnegie Endowment