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Vibe Check

Epstein Files and the American Psyche

Vibe Check

SiriusXM

Society & Culture

4.91.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Vibe Check, Saeed and Zach wrestle with the emotional weight of the Epstein files and the aftershocks that follow each new revelation. Then, they examine America’s growing literary crisis – declining reading skills, shrinking attention spans, and what it all means. Plus, they share their picks for “the vibes are on, the vibes are off”. ------------------------------------------------------ Saeed’s Poem of the Week: “The Problem with Early Warnings” by Charles Rafferty Namwali Serpell’s Book On Morrison is out now!

Transcript

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0:00.0

Girl?

0:04.2

Girl.

0:05.7

It's a cranes in the sky kind of morning.

0:08.7

I agree.

0:12.8

It is the anniversary of that record.

0:15.7

It's feeling that way.

0:17.3

Ten years later, she's still right.

0:19.2

Salange was right.

0:20.1

The lyrics only are more profound, actually. I feel like as we go.

0:26.3

Well, let's get into it. I'm Sayy Jones. And I'm Zach Stafford, and you are listening to Vychek.

0:48.8

And And today, we've decided to dedicate a lot of time to discussing the ongoing Epstein files.

0:52.3

You know, we as a show have discussed this for a long time.

1:12.6

And Saeed, you and I have been talking about Jeffrey Epstein since we began as journalists. People forget he, I think he was arrested the first time in 2006. So, you know, high school, college, you know, a whole lot. This has been a long time coming. Long time. And a lot of what he represents, represents a lot of what this country is about. And, you know, we're going to get into that today.

1:14.9

That's probably why a lot of you are feeling really overwhelmed.

1:18.5

So we hope to kind of relieve you of some of that.

1:21.8

Psychosis you may be feeling, but also find some grounding in all of it.

1:28.6

Yeah, because it's just, it is, on one hand, it's important for this information to come to light.

1:34.9

On the other, as we've talked about before, especially for survivors of sexual violence,

1:40.6

it can be really fraught, having this become media fodder and all of that, too. And then third, now I think we've entered this phase where it's like, well,

1:46.2

where's the action based on this? Where's the accountability? And that is a new kind of crazy making.

1:54.0

And so I hope we can kind of lift some of the heaviness of people who feel like alone. They're

2:00.2

like looking around like,

...

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