The Epstein Files Book Club
We're reading together to make sense of the most sprawling scandal of our time. Comedian Jena Friedman and journalist Elise Hu break down the latest revelations from the trove of documents released about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his network of powerful people. We're trying to understand what’s real, what’s not and what we can do about it.
Recent Episodes
Prison Pals and The Final Hours
This week, lawmakers questioned one of the last people to see Jeffrey Epstein alive, correctional officer Tova Noel. Elise and Jena explore the final weeks of Epstein's life and the unanswered questions about his death by doi...
Eight Tons of Epstein Files
For a limited time only, all 3.5 million law enforcement documents related to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein are on display at a pop-up reading room in New York. David Garrett, one of the exhibition’s organizers, joins ...
Secrets Near Santa Fe with Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
We had more questions about Zorro Ranch, so New Mexico-based journalist Alisa Valdes Rodriguez joins the show to give us the lowdown on why investigators never seemed to look too closely at Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwel...
BONUS: Are Dentists Scamming Us? Cross-Post From No Such Thing
Elise and Jena will be sharing their Epstein reading as usual this Friday, but while you wait, we have a feed drop of another show you might like: NO SUCH THING is a show where three best friends and journalists settle dumb ...
Dude Ranch and Gates Keepers
This week, Jena and Elise each select a part of the sprawling Epstein network to do a little further reading. Jena explains what we know about Epstein’s former property in New Mexico, Zorro Ranch. Elise breaks down the connec...
Oversight Needs Oversight with Rep. Maxwell Frost
House Oversight Committee member Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-FL, joins the show to explain why (and who is responsible for) the holdup in getting former Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify about her handling of the Epstein files,...
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About the Hosts
Co-Host and Comedian
Jena Friedman is a comedian who cares about journalism. She is an Academy Award-nominated writer and comedian. She is the creator of SOFT FOCUS on Adult Swim and TRUE CRIME STORY: INDEFENSIBLE on AMC+. Her credits include writing on BORAT 2: Subsequent Movie Film, GOOD SPORTS WITH KEVIN HART AND KENAN THOMPSON on Amazon, NOBODY WANTS THIS on Netflix, THE CONNERS on ABC and THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.
She was also a producer on THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, through the end of his tenure in 2015, where she wrote and directed field segments.
She's a contributing writer to THE NEW YORKER and her first book, NOT FUNNY: ESSAYS ON LIFE, COMEDY, CULTURE, ETC., published by Simon & Schuster, is a national bestseller. Additionally, she has appeared on THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, CONAN on TBS, THE NIGHTLY SHOW WITH LARRY WILMORE, and in the Sundance hit movie PALM SPRINGS, now on Hulu. Here's Jena's Ted Talk on THE JOKES AI WON'T TELL.
Co-Host and Journalist
Elise Hu is a journalist who appreciates comedy. She's a reporter, podcast host and author who spent more than a decade at NPR as a correspondent and host, and worked as a television correspondent for VICE News Tonight. Today, in addition to this show, she’s the host of TED Talks Daily, one of the world’s most listened-to podcasts, Raising Us, a parenting podcast from A Kids Co, and a co-host of Forever35, a women’s focused show about the ways we take care of ourselves.
As an international correspondent, Elise reported from more than a dozen countries and opened NPR’s first-ever Seoul bureau in 2015. Her experiences in Seoul inspired her debut non-fiction book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital.
Prior to NPR, Elise helped found the nonprofit digital startup, The Texas Tribune, and spent more than a decade as a television news reporter. Her work has won the national Edward R. Murrow, Gracie, Webby, Signal, and duPont Columbia awards, among others. She’s an alum of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Journalism school.