How Trump Has Made History in the Worst Way

Donald Trump's recent claim that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again' is not just a reckless tweet—it's a chilling public declaration of genocidal intent, according to journalist Anand Giridharadas. In a searing analysis, he argues that Trump has abandoned decades of bipartisan U.S. policy that framed Iran as a great civilization hijacked by a bad regime, instead targeting the entire culture, history, and people as unworthy of revival. This shift, Giridharadas contends, is not accidental but reveals a deeply calculated psychological strategy rooted in the abuser’s psyche—knowing exactly what words will cause maximum pain. The episode then pivots to the Epstein files, where Giridharadas unveils a previously overlooked email exchange between German philosopher Joschka Bach and Jeffrey Epstein. Bach, a 'kept scholar' paid by Epstein to provide intellectual flattery, delivers a devastating, blunt assessment: Epstein is widely known as a sex offender, and the elite rationalize him as an 'ephebophile'—not a pedophile—because they can't bear the moral weight. Bach even suggests Epstein could rehabilitate himself by claiming he was abused as a child, framing himself as the real victim. This email exposes a grotesque system where brilliance is commodified, morality is compartmentalized, and power protects predators.