It’s Monday, February 16. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Marco Rubio’s wake-up call to Europe. The shifting debate over youth gender medicine. Why you may no longer be the smartest type of thing on earth. And much more.
But first: Is the Epstein story spiraling out of control?
All the Epstein files have been released. That was what Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche said in a letter to Congress on Saturday. The list of names caught up in the Epstein story is long. Some have suffered embarrassment; others have faced far more serious consequences. And while many are getting their long overdue just deserts, is that true of everyone embroiled in the saga?
No, says Joe Nocera, who, in his essay for The Free Press today, argues that the Epstein fallout is spiraling out of control.
Consider the case of Casey Wasserman. On Friday, the Hollywood mega-agent and chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee put his agency up for sale. Why? Because his clients had been fleeing in recent days after he became part of the Epstein story. But there’s no evidence to suggest Wasserman had anything to do with Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell after their criminal conduct came to light. The story, Joe argues, is “a big, fat nothingburger.” And it is far from the only example of “guilt by association” in the Epstein saga.
Has the righteous hunt for justice for Epstein and his enablers descended into something else? Read Joe on how “distinctions between the truly culpable and those who are merely bystanders are being lost in the lust to point fingers.”
—The Editors
Marco Rubio’s Minor Diplomatic Miracle |
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The Trump administration isn’t exactly popular in Europe, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled off what Eli Lake calls a “minor diplomatic miracle” at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Even after sharply criticizing Europe’s failures and urging the continent to undertake a “political and cultural reset,” he was met with a standing ovation. Why? Because, Eli writes, “the bitter truth for Europe is that they are out of options.” | | |
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They Questioned Trans Medicine for Kids. The World Is Just Catching Up. |
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In just a few years, the consensus around pediatric transgender medicine has transformed, thanks in part to those who questioned it before it was popular to do so. Whistleblower Jamie Reed, journalist Jesse Singal, and Free Press senior editor Emily Yoffe join Rafaela Siewert to discuss how they challenged a once-dominant orthodoxy, the backlash they endured, and how the broader debate over medical transition for minors will continue to evolve. | | |
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You Are No Longer the Smartest Type of Thing on Earth |
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We are at a remarkable moment in human history. For as long as humankind has existed, we have been the most intelligent thing on the planet. But at some point in the next year or two, that will no longer be true. In fact, it might no longer be true right now, writes Noah Smith in a piece making sense of the extraordinary recent advances in AI. As of now, there are still some things that humans can do better than artificial intelligence. What will it mean when we are no longer in the driver’s seat of the universe? | | |
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Is Your Life Morally Ambitious Enough? |
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On this episode of Conversations with Coleman, Coleman Hughes sits down with Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman to discuss “moral ambition,” and whether our culture nudges talented people toward prestige instead of solving real problems. From the legacy of abolition to the case for universal basic income, they examine what it truly means to aim high, and do good, with your life. | | |
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