
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


"Why are you in the Epstein files?"
It is a question Rushkoff received from his own daughter, and in this raw monologue, he gives the full answer.
His name appears in the CC field of emails from his former literary agent alongside Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, and yes, Jeffrey Epstein. But the story of why those names were grouped together reveals something much darker than a mailing list.
Rushkoff recounts a disturbing mid-90s dinner party where he was physically grabbed by a host and scolded for "wasting his plus-one" on a brilliant female intellectual instead of "eye candy" to decorate the room for the male elites. He traces the lineage of this misogyny directly to the "scientism" of figures like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, whose theories of humans as "meat machines" and "survival vehicles for genes" provided the perfect philosophical cover for sociopaths like Epstein to commodify and abuse women.
This is not just a story about a predator; it is an indictment of the "permission structure" built by the scientific and tech elite. A worldview that dismisses human soul, consent, and morality as mere delusions.
Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth.
Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/
Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/
Cobi Dryer Sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/
Use the code “rush10” to receive 10% off of Cobi Dryer sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/
Support Team Human:
Team Human is a listener-supported project. To get ad-free access to this episode, join our quarterly Zooms, and support this work, please visit https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman
By Douglas Rushkoff4.8
364364 ratings
"Why are you in the Epstein files?"
It is a question Rushkoff received from his own daughter, and in this raw monologue, he gives the full answer.
His name appears in the CC field of emails from his former literary agent alongside Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, and yes, Jeffrey Epstein. But the story of why those names were grouped together reveals something much darker than a mailing list.
Rushkoff recounts a disturbing mid-90s dinner party where he was physically grabbed by a host and scolded for "wasting his plus-one" on a brilliant female intellectual instead of "eye candy" to decorate the room for the male elites. He traces the lineage of this misogyny directly to the "scientism" of figures like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, whose theories of humans as "meat machines" and "survival vehicles for genes" provided the perfect philosophical cover for sociopaths like Epstein to commodify and abuse women.
This is not just a story about a predator; it is an indictment of the "permission structure" built by the scientific and tech elite. A worldview that dismisses human soul, consent, and morality as mere delusions.
Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth.
Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/
Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/
Cobi Dryer Sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/
Use the code “rush10” to receive 10% off of Cobi Dryer sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/
Support Team Human:
Team Human is a listener-supported project. To get ad-free access to this episode, join our quarterly Zooms, and support this work, please visit https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman

9,238 Listeners

10,747 Listeners

1,460 Listeners

1,590 Listeners

6,122 Listeners

600 Listeners

1,635 Listeners

577 Listeners

205 Listeners

2,080 Listeners

215 Listeners

16,525 Listeners

446 Listeners

398 Listeners

595 Listeners