Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, that was one other govt order that got here out. I believe it was actually titled one thing round eliminating information silos. One other factor that on its floor sounds good: information silos, inefficient, sounds unhealthy, however there is a actually good purpose to maintain a variety of this info separate. You do not essentially need the federal authorities to have the ability to knit all of that collectively to trace you throughout any platform to know your monetary information, your well being information, your whereabouts, all of that.
Brian Barrett: Yeah. I imply, the Trump administration now needs to vet, what’s it, 5 years of social media should you’re coming into the nation simply to see what you’ve got been saying. And likewise they’re seeking to strip extra foreign-born People of citizenship. They’re shifting in the direction of denaturalization. The predictions for 2026 and immigration aren’t nice. It is that it will worsen and extra. Or for example should you have been an engineer born in a unique nation and also you had an choice of going to the US or Canada or China or some place else in Europe, it is quite a bit tougher query to reply now than it was earlier than all this occurred, I believe.
Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, I believe that is precisely proper. And we will have, I believe, some actually good reporting on that in 2026. So we’re nearing the tip of our 2025 recap, and we might be remiss to not point out the Jeffrey Epstein saga. So this can be a story that has had so many lives throughout many, a few years, however it felt prefer it actually got here to a boiling level this 12 months, politically talking. So Brian, I suppose, are you able to simply refresh our reminiscence on what even occurred this 12 months?
Brian Barrett: I get the simple job. With out going into the entire Jeffrey Epstein every part for thus many causes. Clearly he is a disgraced financier, convicted intercourse offender, additionally the locus of so many conspiracy theories from QAnon as much as the White Home and its supporters. What we noticed this 12 months was an actual motion in the direction of releasing the so-called Epstein recordsdata, which Donald Trump mainly ran on. He stated, “Look, if I get in that workplace, I’ll launch the Epstein recordsdata. You are going to have them proper as quickly as I get there.” After which we bought to that time and he bought there and he stated, “You realize what? By no means thoughts.” And there was folks saying there aren’t any Epstein recordsdata. Truly, the Epstein recordsdata are a hoax. Truly, no, they’re right here. It has been a large number.
