{"podcast":{"title":"Breaking History","slug":"breaking-history-7169277","podcast_index_feed_id":7169277,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/RUNMED1049146638","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/fc45207a-cc97-11ef-9841-8bd73a0be712/image/c49635d185aa38c7dcae7201e60493ef.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Free Press","episode_count":55,"summary":"Sometimes the news moves so fast, you have to look closely to know if you’ve seen it before. And that’s what this show is about. Breaking History breaks down the news, by breaking down history. We cover everything from LBJ and the Roman Republic to Donald Trump and the chaos at Columbia. This twice a month show from The Free Press delivers the best historians, authors, and reporters by mining the archives of human experience to figure out the present. George Santayana wrote, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Tune in to Breaking History to resist the repetition.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T18:18:43.811453+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277"},"episode":{"title":"How Clinton, Trump, and Epstein Rewired America’s Moral Compass","slug":"how-clinton-trump-and-epstein-rewired-america-s-moral-compass","published_at":"2025-11-26T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277/how-clinton-trump-and-epstein-rewired-america-s-moral-compass","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VOdNgcECFk0maZgOJbmx/traffic.megaphone.fm/CBS3793359173.mp3?updated=1764163091","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VOdNgcECFk0maZgOJbmx/traffic.megaphone.fm/CBS3793359173.mp3?updated=1764163091","summary":"We revisit the scandal-soaked 1990s—Packwood, Thomas, Clinton—and explore how failing to enforce norms around abuse of power helped create the world in which the Epstein scandal could flourish. This episode traces the unraveling of political accountability from the Clinton impeachment to the Trump Access Hollywood moment, and finally the global Epstein reckoning. We show how feminists in the ’90s and evangelicals in the 2010s made parallel bargains—each excusing their champion’s abuses for political gain. The result is a culture that normalized impunity for the powerful, and primed America for a populist revolt against a ruling class that protects its own. ----- CREDITS Executive Producer: Poppy Damon Associate Producer: Adam Feldman Sound Designer and Composer: Tony Peer Original theme songs by Eli Lake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"We revisit the scandal-soaked 1990s—Packwood, Thomas, Clinton—and explore how failing to enforce norms around abuse of power helped create the world in wh…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3068,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/breaking-history-7169277/episodes/how-clinton-trump-and-epstein-rewired-america-s-moral-compass/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-history-7169277/how-clinton-trump-and-epstein-rewired-america-s-moral-compass.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}