Should colleges accept money from bad people?

大学是否应该接受来自不良之人的钱财?

The Indicator from Planet Money

2026-03-12

8 分钟
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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: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour.  Related episodes: What an Epstein recording reveals about how elites get jobsAmerican science brain drain For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.   To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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  • NPR.

  • Sean Carroll's job is to ponder questions like, what is the fundamental nature of reality?

  • That's because he's a professor of physics and philosophy at Johns Hopkins University.

  • Sean has also advised on movies like Thor and Avengers Endgame.

  • And he's not a stickler for the details.

  • Yeah, it would be very hard to be a science consultant on Thor,

  • the movie, if you were really a purist about getting the physics right.

  • Yeah, so Sean has rubbed shoulders with notable scientists and Hollywood types.

  • And back in 2010, he and his wife got invited to dinner at someone's home.

  • That night, the host said to Sean,

  • I'm friends with this guy who is pretty wealthy and interested in science,

  • so why don't you chat for a few minutes and see if you hit it off?

  • The host got this guy on the phone, so Sean took the call.

  • On the other end of the line was Jeffrey Epstein.

  • This is The Indicator from Planet Money.

  • I'm Weilin Wang.

  • And I'm Darien Woods.

  • The Epstein Files give a glimpse into the extent of Epstein's network across business,

  • government and academia.

  • Today on the show,