Zoe Schiffer: Yes, that was another executive order that came out. I think its literal title was about eliminating data silos. Another thing that sounds good on the surface: data silos sound inefficient, bad, but there’s actually a good reason for keeping this information separate. You don’t necessarily want the federal government to be able to know your financial data, your health data, your whereabouts, all of this, to track you on any platform and tie it all together.
Brian Barrett: Yes. I mean, the Trump administration now wants to investigate what five years of social media is if you’re coming into the country just to see what you’re saying. And they are also considering taking away the citizenship of more and more foreign-born Americans. They are moving towards denaturalization. The predictions for 2026 and immigration are not great. It’s like it’s about to get worse. Or let’s say if you are an engineer born in another country and you have the option to go to America or Canada or China or somewhere else in Europe, I think this question is much harder to answer now than before all this happened.
Zoe Schiffer: Yes, I think that’s absolutely correct. And I think, we’re going to have some really good reporting on that in 2026. So we’re nearing the end of our 2025 recap, and we can’t forget to mention the Jeffrey Epstein saga. So it’s a story that involves many lives over the course of many years, but it felt like it really came to a boiling point this year, politically speaking. So Brian, I guess, can you refresh our memories as to what happened this year?
Brian Barrett: I got an easy job. Without knowing the whole Jeffrey Epstein thing for so many reasons. Apparently he’s a disgraced financier, a convicted sex offender, and the center of numerous conspiracy theories ranging from QAnon to the White House and its supporters. What we saw this year was a real movement toward releasing the so-called Epstein files, which Donald Trump originally drove. He said, “Look, if I get into that office, I will release the Epstein files. As soon as I get there, you’ll turn them over.” And then we got to that point and he got there and he said, “You know what? No problem.” And people were saying there were no Epstein files. In fact, the Epstein files are a hoax. Actually, no, they are here. It’s been a mess.
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