by Brittney Melton

February 22, 2026

Good morning. This week, Tennessee Volkswagen workers got their first union contract, the U.S. women's hockey team won Olympic gold, and authorities in Weld County, Colo., found 427 pounds of marijuana in trash bags.

The faces behind the Epstein files

by Ava Berger, All Things Considered & General Assignment Desk intern

It’s so easy to get caught up in the idea of the Epstein files.

We all want to hold powerful people to account. I get it, I’ve read many of the documents. The details are horrifying.

But in our mad dash to point fingers, sometimes we run the risk of losing sight of the women at the center of these documents. They are real people who are no longer the teenage girls that Epstein abused. After talking to one of them, I realized their perspective can never be overlooked in our reporting.

The collage shows photos of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on a plane, as well as black-and-white photos of students playing in an orchestra and a girl near a cabin. There are also fragments of documents showing over $350,000 in donations from Epstein to the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Department of Justice, Getty Images and Library of Congress/Collage by Emily Bogle/NPR

I’ve spent the last few weeks working with my colleague Scott Neuman to dig deeper into one thread of the Department of Justice documents – Interlochen Center for the Arts. The prestigious art school pops up hundreds of times in the Epstein files. Epstein was a camper in the summer of 1967 and would go on to donate more than $400,000 from 1990 to 2003.

I attended a summer camp growing up, and it felt like the safest place in the world. So, as Scott and I sifted through the documents referencing Interlochen I was hoping to understand for myself: How did Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell gain access to an idyllic, well-known, and beloved camp?

This sorting of the documents was the part of the job that was not very glamorous. We spent literal days reading document after document. And then more days re-reading documents to make sure we understood them the first time.

We didn’t know if the story would lead anywhere, but it's that legwork that the whole deep dive is based on.

What Scott and I found was the documents told half the story.

Epstein and Maxwell wormed their way into Interlochen’s world using his money. Epstein donated an on-campus lodge, lent his private plane to a high-profile musician, and set up a scholarship fund. All to buy the title of a trusted donor.

In accepting these donations, Interlochen unwittingly allowed Epstein and Maxwell free reign of the campus. It’s there that the pair met a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old on separate occasions, leading to long term relationships with both girls.

Beyond the documents, Scott and I needed to understand what was happening at the camp in the 1990s. So after reading the documents, we reached out to former administrators and talked to two who provided insight into the openness of the campus.

These administrators helped us understand the nuance of the story. It’s not a simple blame-game. The school didn’t know about Epstein’s predation at the time - and on a campus where hundreds of guests visit for concerts and events, it’s hard to keep tabs on every interaction.

Finally, the most important part of the article was the woman who agreed to tell us more about her time with Epstein and Maxwell. She asked to remain anonymous and NPR does not name victims of abuse.

Over several phone calls, she laid out a gut-wrenching narrative. One where she says Epstein and Maxwell used a small dog to lure her at 14 years old into their lives, and after years of grooming, cut her off without a second thought when she didn’t comply with their requests.

We spent hours making sure we told this woman’s story fairly. This was her story to tell and no one else's.

She told me how some survivors never want to be named and seeing Epstein and Maxwell’s faces in the headlines over and over again is a daily reminder of the suffering they caused. As much as we want to understand the Epstein files, talking with this woman reminded me that there are real faces and traumatized people behind every document.

Check out more great reads from the NPR network you may have missed:

➡️ House Republicans and a lone Democrat narrowly cleared the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act recently. The legislation is poised to transform voter registration and voting. Its approval comes around 10 months after House Republicans last passed the SAVE Act. The new iteration mandates strict proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, for new registrations. But it doesn’t stop there. Check out these four updates packed into the new SAVE Act.

➡️ Nearly 80,000 people could face eviction under a newly proposed Department of Housing and Urban Development rule, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis. The rule would require local housing authorities to report any tenant not eligible for rental aid to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Undocumented individuals don’t receive aid, but they can currently live with eligible relatives.

➡️ Your spit holds a microbial goldmine. A few drops of saliva can already detect COVID-19 and HIV, and can also assess genetic risks of breast cancer. Driven by a federal spending bill, companies are now racing for FDA approval for salivary tests to diagnose diabetes, prostate cancer and more. The recent act of Congress mandates that Medicare cover breakthrough multicancer tests.

➡️ Beyond the rink and the slopes, some Winter Olympians are earning a different kind of gold: big money or fame. While most competitors never win large funds, athletes like Eileen Gu and Chloe Kim have mastered the art of earning millions. From telegenic looks to savvy social media strategies, these are some of the ways athletes have turned their ambitions into wealth.

Newsletter continues after sponsor message

Pod Club

An illustration of a man looking bored as he eats a bowl of food while he thinks about a steak.

Aleksei Morozov/Getty Images

Thanks for tuning in last week to the Throughline episode "The Man Who Took On The Klan." In it, listeners were taken back to 1871, when growing Ku Klux Klan violence in South Carolina escalated, leading the governor to telegram President Ulysses S. Grant and warn that the state faced war. NPR listener Herbert Lapp says the episode was eye-opening for him. “I now know much more about another tragic happening in our nation's history,” Lapp said. “My understanding of our civil rights has become much clearer as it makes me sad.”

Today, we’re listening to It’s Been A Minute. The episode, "Has the vegan business bubble burst?” examines whether plant-based foods are in a flop era. In the early 2010s, veganism began its boom with Beyoncé's plant-based diet. It reached its height in 2020, when the retail plant-based meat market exceeded a billion dollars in sales. Then, the culture shifted, prioritizing protein and a "meaty" new food pyramid. NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben guest hosts this episode, where she discusses veganism with writer Rachel Sugar and longtime food journalist Mark Bittman, both of whom have written about the topic. Listen to the episode, or read the transcript.

Do you think the vegan business is losing its luster? Listen to this episode and share your thoughts with us here. You could appear in next week's Sunday newsletter.

Love podcasts? For handpicked episode recommendations every week, check out Pod Club — a newsletter written FOR podcast fans BY podcast fans. Subscribe here!

And on The Sunday Story from Up First, NPR’s culture correspondent Mandalit Del Barco discusses the changing movie industry through the lens of VistaVision technology. This conversation comes as filmmakers revive the visually stunning but finicky film format from the 1950s while movie theaters struggle to attract audiences.

TransformeR

The words "Sunday Puzzle" over a white background. The name "Will Shortz" is under the Sunday Puzzle title, etched into red dice.

NPR

It's time for the Sunday Puzzle! For this week's on-air challenge, puzzle master Will Shortz will provide you with clues for two four-letter words. Put an "R" between them to complete a common nine-letter word. For example, the clues “world's fair” and “tiny bell sound,” refer to the four-letter words EXPO and TING. Add an "R" to get the answer EXPORTING. Test your skills here. Check the page later to hear the answers, or catch them live on Weekend Edition at 8:41 a.m. ET.

This week's online challenge comes from Greg VanMechelen, of Berkeley, Calif. In two words, name something you don’t want to have at night. The first word has three letters and the second word has five letters. Shift each of the letters of the second word nine spaces later in the alphabet. If your count reaches the end of the alphabet, continue counting from the start. The result will name a famous singer. Submit your answer here, and you could win a chance to play next Sunday's on-air puzzle.

Stream your local NPR station.

Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here.

Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more!

You received this message because you're subscribed to Up First emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy