Survivors Rush the NFL
  November 18, 2025 Greetings, Meteor readers, For the first time ever, I am making a pie from scratch for Thanksgiving (#humblebrag), and when I tell you it’s the most important thing in my life right now, I’m not exaggerating. If you’d like to see the end product and watch an hour-by-hour live cam of me breaking down over dough lamination, subscribe to my Pietreon.  In today’s newsletter, we’re looking at something bigger than any Super Bowl commercial you’ve ever seen. Plus, please stop lying to Michelle Obama. Slicing butter, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONImpossible to miss: Yesterday, during Monday Night Football—a broadcast that averages 15 million views per game—a video aired as part of a commercial break in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys-Raiders game. It featured several survivors who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein, speaking straight to camera. In the one-minute video, a group of eight women hold up photos of themselves as teenagers and repeat a chilling sentence: “This is me when I met Jeffrey Epstein.” The video was part of a campaign created by World Without Exploitation, an anti-trafficking group that is pleading with Congress to release all of the Epstein files and bring survivors one step closer to some semblance of justice. Today, they were heard: The House voted almost unanimously in favor of passing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would compel the Justice Department to make public all files relating to the Epstein investigation. Only one Republican, Rep. Clay Higgins (LA) voted against.  SOME OF THE WOMEN FEATURED IN MONDAY NIGHT'S PSA (SCREENSHOT VIA WORLD WITHOUT EXPLOITATION) “There was so much emotion and excitement, but we all also recognize that this is the beginning of another fight…as this heads to the Senate,” Rachel Foster, World Without Exploitation co-founder and board chair, tells The Meteor. “The survivors have gotten their hopes up many times only to see inaction, and they hope that this time there will be some accountability at the end of a long road.” At press time, senators have not yet committed to even bringing the bill to the floor, although this could change. Much of the debate and chatter over the files has been centered on the high-profile men who could potentially be named as complicit in Epstein’s crimes, and who popped up in the emails released last week (for an exhaustive look at everything and everyone there, don’t miss Sami Sage’s extremely deep dive). But seeing the faces of survivors so visibly has shifted the conversation. Football fans know that the nickname of the Dallas Cowboys is “America’s Team,” and it doesn’t escape notice that it was this game in particular that carried the PSA. The Cowboys organization as a whole is built on a certain interpretation of Americana culture—from its Texan cowboy iconography to its perfect cheerleaders and, of course, to its racist oil baron owner, Jerry Jones. Everything about “America’s Team” is designed to sell an American image that doesn’t exist. What does exist is a country that has turned such a determinedly blind eye to sex crimes against children that there needs to be a years-long national debate over whether it's more important to protect the people who knew about it than it is to stand up for those who were harmed. But Monday night’s PSA and this afternoon’s vote made it abundantly clear: the truth will find us, wherever we are. AND:
 SOME OF THE INDIGENOUS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS WHO GATHERED IN BELEM OVER THE WEEKEND TO PROTEST "FALSE SOLUTIONS" AT COP30 (VIA GETTY IMAGES)
 THE GLOW OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN UNBURDENED BY LIVING IN THE WHITE HOUSE. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)
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Survivors Want Accountability
  November 13, 2025 Greetings, Meteor readers, Please sign our petition to get villains back on Survivor because, honestly…we need them.  In today’s newsletter, we’re over the E word. Plus, a surprise from the conservatives on SCOTUS and your weekend reading list. The tribe is speaking, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONBut his emails: Folks, when I tell you I never thought such a large portion of my adult life would revolve around the emails of strangers. But here we all are! Yesterday, a new series of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails started dripping out like drops from a corroded faucet, and many of them mentioned Donald Trump. The emails are part of a dump of roughly 20,000 documents that the House Oversight Committee made public. Headlines are swirling and screenshots are being posted, but we are here to encourage you to read the available emails yourselves, because there is going to be a lot of spin in the coming days. When you do, you’ll see lines like, “of course he knew about the girls” and “I know how dirty Donald is.” Are these the mysterious Epstein Files we’ve all been waiting for? Not quite. The Department of Justice still has a ton more documents, and lawmakers are deciding what to do with the rest. After an intense pressure campaign from Democrats, Speaker Mike Johnson said he would be bringing the matter to a vote in the House next week. While a few Republicans are eager to have the Files nightmare be over and favor releasing them, the push would still face an uphill battle in the Senate, where the bill would need 60 votes to pass. So, where does that leave the public, and more importantly, where does this leave survivors of Epstein’s crimes? In the same position as usual, waiting for justice. Danielle Bensky, a young woman who was abused by Epstein, told CNN, “Survivors have been clear and consistent about our messaging, anyone who has done harm should face accountability….the only way we’re going to be able to do that is by releasing all of the files from the government.” AND:
  WEEKEND READING 📚On not going to work: Young people are getting beat out for entry-level jobs…by AI. (Intelligencer) On lust and legislation: Has the political upheaval of the last year changed how women feel about their bodies? Just a bit! (TCF Emails) On failing up: Remember Theranos founder and convicted girlboss Elizabeth Holmes? Well, the MAHA movement sure does. (Politico)  FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? |
