What the Epstein Network Tells Us About Power, Complicity, and the Psychology of Betrayal
Losing Our Heroes: The Epstein Files, Elite Complicity, and the Psychology of Looking Away
Host Leslie Poston discusses the psychological impact of seeing the names of people you once admired or trusted in the Epstein files. Poston examines why revelations connected to the Epstein files can feel psychologically destabilizing, especially when they involve admired public figures and trusted institutions. Drawing on research in power and social perception, implicit cognition, moral disengagement, parasocial relationships, and betrayal trauma, the episode explores how people and systems can minimize harm, avoid accountability, and sustain “looking away,” and discusses grief, anger, and disillusionment as part of responding clearly to what the files document.
00:00 Welcome + Content Warning: Losing Our Heroes in the Epstein Revelations
00:50 What the Epstein Files Really Represent (Not a ‘Scandal’)
02:30 The Eugenics Ideology Behind the Network’s Power
03:34 Why It Went On for Decades: Power, Attention, and Elite Blindness
05:11 Implicit Cognition & ‘Motivated Not Knowing’ Among Ethical Public Figures
08:25 How Media & Religion Train Us to Soften Abuse (Moral Disengagement)
11:25 Parasocial Grief, Cognitive Dissonance, and Identity Shame
13:57 Betrayal Trauma: Survivors, Institutions, and Why Accountability Matters
16:02 Recovering After Disillusionment: Grief, Anger, and Clear-Eyed Demands
18:06 Closing
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Host Leslie Poston discusses the psychological impact of seeing the names of people you once admired or trusted in the Epstein files. Poston examines why revelations connected to the Epstein files can feel psychologically destabilizing, especially when they involve admired public figures and trusted institutions. Drawing on research in power and social perception, implicit cognition, moral disengagement, parasocial relationships, and betrayal trauma, the episode explores how people and systems can minimize harm, avoid accountability, and sustain “looking away,” and discusses grief, anger, and disillusionment as part of responding clearly to what the files document.
00:00 Welcome + Content Warning: Losing Our Heroes in the Epstein Revelations
00:50 What the Epstein Files Really Represent (Not a ‘Scandal’)
02:30 The Eugenics Ideology Behind the Network’s Power
03:34 Why It Went On for Decades: Power, Attention, and Elite Blindness
05:11 Implicit Cognition & ‘Motivated Not Knowing’ Among Ethical Public Figures
08:25 How Media & Religion Train Us to Soften Abuse (Moral Disengagement)
11:25 Parasocial Grief, Cognitive Dissonance, and Identity Shame
13:57 Betrayal Trauma: Survivors, Institutions, and Why Accountability Matters
16:02 Recovering After Disillusionment: Grief, Anger, and Clear-Eyed Demands
18:06 Closing
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