Literary agent John Brockman knows everybody who’s anybody in science. Thanks to him, so did Jeffrey Epstein

By Sam Kahn

It’s one of the more baffling aspects of a story with no shortage of them: What was Jeffrey Epstein, a college dropout and convicted sex offender, doing with all those intellectuals, scientists, and Nobel laureates? It’s fairly obvious what was in it for him. But why these luminaries would have chosen to associate with him has perplexed even seasoned Epstein-watchers.

Their presence in Epstein’s circle makes a great deal more sense when one understands the role played by John Brockman, a leading publishing agent—though he seems to have preferred the term “cultural impresario”—who has been variously described as Epstein’s READ ON