Nprs Planet Money
Nprs Planet Money
@planetmoney·84.8K subscribers·350 videos

Should colleges accept money from bad people? | The Indicator

Posted

March 12, 2026

Views

321

Likes

6

Engagement

1.87%

Search the Record

Indexed

Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.

Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.

Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line

YouTube Description

as posted by the channel

At a dinner in 2010, physicist Sean Carroll is handed a phone. On the other end: A wealthy patron looking to potentially fund his research. Months later came an invite to a conference. It would take place on an island. The caller was Jeffrey Epstein. Sean declined. Many others didn’t.

On today’s show, why did so many academics say yes to Epstein’s invites and money? And what Epstein’s ability to ingratiate himself with them reveals about how science research is funded.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! Twelve cities. Details and tix here

Related episodes:

What an Epstein recording reveals about how elites get jobs ()

American science brain drain ()

For sponsorfree episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org () . Factchecking by Sierra Juarez () . Music by Drop Electric () . Find usTikTok () , Instagram () , Facebook () , Newsletter () .

See pcm.adswizz.com () for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy ()

Guests & Subjects Covered

Sean CarrollJeffrey Epstein SeanPlanet MoneyApril TwelveThe IndicatorApple PodcastsSierra JuarezDrop Electric

Sentinel Indexing in Progress

Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.

All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.