In the spring of 2019, I hosted Bill Gates on my show. For years, I’ve referenced that interview as a high-water mark—because it was. If you run an interview show long enough, there are a few moments that feel like you’ve climbed a mountain and finally gotten to take in the view.
But time has a way of changing what a view looks like.
Over the past few weeks, as new tranches of “Epstein files” have been released and the news cycle has churned through the names inside them, I’ve found myself thinking about what I owe my community in terms of clarity, context, and simple honesty about how my own perspective has shifted.
This post is my attempt to “clear the air”—not by relitigating every headline, and not by implying things that haven’t been proven, but by naming what seems true, what seems important, and what I’ve learned.
The factual context
In the newly released Epstein materials, Bill Gates’ name appears frequently—in the thousands. My personal search of the files quic…