The Intelligence from The Economist Check in the mail: our analysis of Epstein’s correspondence
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Feb 16, 2026 
Tom Standage, deputy editor and wine aficionado, introduces blouge, a chillable red-white blend built for warmer vintages. Tom Wainwright, media editor, debates proposed bans on under-16s and design-focused alternatives. Dan Rosenheck, data editor, describes leading the large-scale analysis of Jeffrey Epstein’s email archive and how the team searched and prepared the data.
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Epstein's Wide And Varied Network
- Jeffrey Epstein's email archive shows a broad, elite network spanning finance, science, law and more.
- Most disturbing emails were with non-public figures, while public names largely exchanged mundane scheduling messages.
ML Helped Find The Worst Messages
- A large-language model scored 1.4 million emails to surface 1,500 highly disturbing threads.
- The majority of alarming content involved obscure, non-public correspondents rather than famous figures.
High-Frequency Correspondents
- Catherine Rümpler exchanged over 11,000 emails with Epstein, appearing on five out of seven days.
- Ariadne Rothschild and Larry Summers also showed unusually frequent contact.