The Persistent Pull of Planet Epstein

"At an unsatisfying and admittedly pedantic level, the answer depends, of course, on how you define power. Is it a matter of audience size? The amount of revenue generated? The hearts and minds won to a particular view? But the question led me to another that is also worth asking: whether the establishment media and the algorithm upstarts are actually in competition with one another. Sure, they're both trying to get your attention, but are they describing and commenting on the same world?"

"In the past three months, I have been spending an unfortunate amount of time on TikTok and YouTube, and the algorithms have decided to split my attention between golf-swing tips and the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. I am there for the former, but the latter has become so ubiquitous on these platforms that avoiding content about him there would be like travelling to Greenland to get away from ice and snow."

Virally popular podcasters and video creators have influenced electoral outcomes and public opinion, raising questions about how to define power—audience size, revenue, or persuasive reach. Establishment media still provide foundational reporting, but social algorithms determine which scoops and context go viral through creators' interpretations. Video platforms distribute widespread content—ranging from benign tutorials to pervasive coverage of Jeffrey Epstein—making such material nearly unavoidable. Some creators repeatedly reuse mainstream reports to support singular narratives; for example, one commentator frames Epstein-related claims as central and alleges foreign involvement. Algorithmic amplification can rival traditional cable news in shaping public discourse.

Read at The New Yorker