49. Harvey Weinstein Is Guilty, But of What?

The Los Angeles trial of Harvey Weinstein ended with jurors proclaiming the disgraced movie mogul alternately guilty, not guilty, and [shrug emoji]. Nancy and Sarah plumb deeper on the trial, centered on the allegations of four Jane Does (including one spouse of a California governor). The two-month trial gained little traction in the press, perhaps because Weinstein was convicted in the court of public opinion five years ago. People are done with him, the monster in his cage. But not Nancy and Sarah! The latter goes deep on Weinstein’s childhood, his bullying mother, the forces that shaped him. Nancy reminds us how much young women will sacrifice to step into the Hollywood magic machine.

They discuss Ken Auletta’s book Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence, and Ronan Farrow’s HBO docuseries Catch and Kill.

In the paid-subscribers-only content: Why are people talking about “nepo babies”? Also: Twitter, twittered, twittering. What we gain (and maybe lose) when we step away from social media, and why it’s always better to complicate the picture.

Two days until Christmas, and so much left to do! If only there were two smokin’ elves making it easy to complete your gift-giving …

Or splurge on yourself, guilt-free …

Episode Notes:

The studio in Chinatown NYC where Nancy records is also where the podcasts “The Fifth Column” and “Ask a Jew” record. Both are worth your time!

“Harvey Weinstein Jurors Explain Mixed Verdict: ‘Nothing Was Black and White’,” by Gene Maddaus, Elizabeth Wagmeister (Variety)

“Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyers Say Everyone Had ‘Transactional Sex’ in Hollywood Before #MeToo,” by Elizabeth Wagmeister (Variety)

“The Harvey Weinstein Trial: Unfiltered” podcast, with Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney

Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes, trailer:

“The Harvey Weinstein Trial and the Myth of the Perfect Perpetrator,” by Dana Goodyear (New Yorker)

“Lost Hills” podcast, with Dana Goodyear

“How The 'Molineux Rule' Permits Certain Witnesses In The Harvey Weinstein Trial,” by Rose Friedman (NPR)

“Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence,” by Ken Auletta, which Sarah highly recommends on audiobook

“Beauty and the Beast,” Ken Auletta’s 2002 profile of Harvey Weinstein (New Yorker, paywalled)

The movie that made brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein want to get into the film business:

The movie that put Harvey and Bob Weinstein’s company Miramax on the map:

“The Biggest Dick in the World,” by Nancy Rommelmann

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