EMERSON LEGER: On today’s episode: the relationship between former Prof. Schank and Jeffrey Epstein, a look into the initial report released by the Illinois Accountability Commission and a highlight of spring sports at Northwestern.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Emerson Leger. This is The Weekly, a breakdown of the top headlines from the past week.
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EMERSON LEGER: I’m here with Daily Reporter and Development and Recruitment Editor Sophie Baker, talking about former Northwestern professor Roger Schank’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Sophie, to start, can you give listeners the background context on former McCormick Professor Roger Schank’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein?
SOPHIE BAKER: Yeah, so Roger Schank, who passed away in 2023, seemed to maintain close contact with Epstein, based on these newly released files from the Department of Justice. Schank also issued public statements throughout his life that were in support of Epstein, even after he was convicted by a Florida State Court of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. Schank’s name appears over 1,500 times in the newest batch of files related to Epstein that was released by the Department of Justice on Jan. 30.
EMERSON LEGER: Speaking of that, that article states that his name does appear over 1,500 times in the Department of Justice files. What do those documents reveal about the nature and the length of their relationship?
SOPHIE BAKER: Yeah, so there were mentions of Roger Schank in the files and correspondence between the two from roughly April 2009 to April 2017, so over an extended period of time. The released files also document several meetings throughout that time period. There were kind of specific mentions that, when framing the article we kind of pulled from in one email, Schank appeared to help protect Epstein’s interest regarding his sexual activity. He sent an email in June 2009 where he appeared to tip off Epstein that two 15-year-olds were considering action that would give them legal grounds to sue the sex offender. And then Epstein tells Schank to, quote, ‘find out who they were.’
In May of 2011, Schank emails Epstein saying that ‘Annie gone,’ which refers to a brief separation he had with his wife. Epstein replies, ‘I have a girl for you. What would you like me to do?’ And then Schank asks, ‘Where is said girl?’ So from that, we can see that Epstein offered Schank access to what he called a girl.
EMERSON LEGER: What was their relationship like after Epstein’s 2008 conviction?
SOPHIE BAKER: There were several articles and obituaries that we found that kind of reference this public relationship between Epstein and Schank. Even after that conviction, Schank was quoted in Slate Magazine saying that Jeffrey Epstein was not actually a bad guy, and that was in 2019, so definitively after his conviction. We found a few emails that seemed to show that Schank was a little concerned at certain points with what was happening. He forwarded Epstein an email in 2013. Bray Entertainment had reached out to Schank regarding Epstein’s criminal investigations, and Schank forwarded that message to Epstein and asked, quote, ‘What the f is this?’ Later, Schank found in a Spanish newspaper article that basically said that the Duke of York was connected to Epstein’s escapades. And Schank emailed Jeffrey Epstein to ask if that was something serious or if Epstein was worried about the situation.
So there were a few times that he expressed concern with what was happening, but he also publicly seemed to support him. It seemed that they had an extended correspondence, and coming from a University professor who was a pioneer in his field, that might be concerning. And also, from what we could tell, Epstein maintained kind of an interest in AI, Artificial Intelligence, generally, and he seemed to be kind of connecting all of these researchers, like Roger Schank, and had this, like extensive network of researchers that were kind of working in the field together. It seemed like he was increasingly connected in academics.
EMERSON LEGER: I read that their relationship was not only about girls, but it was also helped Professor Schank in his personal life.
SOPHIE BAKER: A lot of their communication was not just about that part of it, it was also advice that they shared about work, finances and health. Schank was kind of known for criticizing traditional educational curriculum, and he would repeatedly share book chapters with Epstein and blog posts that he wrote, asking for feedback or getting feedback from Epstein. Epstein was also frequently emailing Schank with questions relating to AI and the prospects for AI research. Schank also forwarded emails to Epstein from wealth management associates asking for advice about what to do with his money. He also appeared to use Epstein’s apartments a few times, or at least requested to do so, and sometimes asked for medical advice too, particularly for his wife.
EMERSON LEGER: What was the University’s response?
SOPHIE BAKER: We reached out to the University for comment on the story, and they essentially said that they were aware of the documents relating to Schank, but they didn’t want to comment further. Going forward, I think it would be interesting to see if the University acts in any particular way in relation to this, especially considering that Schank seems to pioneer major curriculum that is to have taught here, learning sciences. So going forward, it’ll be interesting to see how they respond to this.
EMERSON LEGER: Thank you, Sophie, for joining me on The Weekly.
SOPHIE BAKER: Thank you for having me.
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EMERSON LEGER: I’m here with Daily Reporter Isabella Jacob to talk about the initial report released by the Illinois Accountability Commission documenting alleged violence of federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz. To start, Isabella, can you talk about what the Illinois Accountability Commission is and what prompted them to release this report on federal agents’ actions during Operation Midway Blitz?
ISABELLA JACOB: The Illinois Accountability Commission was started by an executive order that Governor Pritzker signed in October of last year, and basically its goal was to create a public record of the impact that Operation Midway Blitz was having on the Chicagoland area.
Operation Midway Blitz is Homeland Security/the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts in Chicago and in Illinois. Their purpose was to really just create this public record where they could get as many eyewitness testimonies as possible, so they can really dive deep into the impact of what this operation had on the community.
EMERSON LEGER: And what are some key findings in the initial report, and does that differ from the public’s prior understanding of Operation Midway Blitz?
ISABELLA JACOB: The initial report … the purpose of it was more to answer the question of, ‘how do we get here?’ So there was a lot of context within the report, there were timelines and kind of past testimonies by different officials from the Trump administration. There was some like immigration policy sprinkled in there. So it more was trying to lay the groundwork for the final report that’s going to come out no later than April 30 of this year.
They also launched a portal online where they’re trying to gather more witnesses, eyewitnesses and testimony. So far, all they’ve had are two public hearings. They are investigating, and they’re in the process. So I would say that the majority of the findings that they’ll hopefully have in the final report were not in the initial report. It was more to lay the groundwork.
EMERSON LEGER: Can you explain former federal Judge Ruben Castillo’s role in this and what he says the next steps are?
ISABELLA JACOB: Judge Castillo is a Pritzker law grad, first off, and he’s the chair of the commission. He oversaw the report; he kind of pioneered the report. He oversaw the two public hearings that I mentioned previously as well. And he said, I think he summed it up pretty well, when he said that they’re doing this to not just document history, but to also make sure it never happens again.
And he kind of talked about their process, so they’ve been collecting videotapes, interviewing witnesses, hearing testimony from experts, and kind of still searching for eyewitnesses of federal immigration enforcement and going through what they’ve got in the online portal as well. And their next steps are basically to continue gathering testimony for that final report. The initial report was around 70 pages, and he said that the final report is going to exceed that by a lot. And so the final report is really, I think, going to have the meat of what they’re looking for. It’s going to really be the documentation that the EO was set out to have.
EMERSON LEGER: Speaking of that, what are the Commission’s future plans in regards to the lead about that final report that’s expected to come out no later than April 30?
ISABELLA JACOB: They want to have more hearings leading up to the port so they can get more expert testimony, and kind of get the community to these hearings so they can have and gather more testimony. And that’s kind of it. They’re just, they’re still collecting. They’re really in the process of getting as much as they can and contributing to the report as much as they can. And leading up to that, they’ll have more hearings, and then they’ll release the report and see what they find.
EMERSON LEGER: Thank you, Isabella, for joining me on The Weekly.
ISABELLA JACOB: Thank you for having me.
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EMERSON LEGER: I’m here with Daily Reporter and Multimedia Managing Editor Jonah McClure to talk about Northwestern’s 2026 Spring Sports Highlight. Jonah to start off, women’s golf is coming off their first-ever national title after upsetting Stanford last year. What are the biggest challenges they face this season while defending that crown?
JONAH MCCLURE: Well, I’d say the biggest factor is the fact that senior Lauryn Nguyen graduated after last season, and she was one of their top players, so simply just like losing one of your best players, obviously, very hard to come off of. They do have Dianna Lee, who’s a senior now, and she’s very good. And of course, Emily Fletcher has run a spectacular program. They’ve made 15 straight NCAA tournaments, and they’ve made three straight championship finals, and they’ve won one of those three. So, of course, it’s very difficult to win back-to-back titles. That’s just the biggest key.
EMERSON LEGER: Women’s lacrosse senior attacker Madison Taylor has been an avid player during her time at Northwestern. How is Taylor and the team approaching the season differently after falling in last year’s national title game?
JONAH MCCLURE: I feel like, at least from talking to the players and talking to Kelly Amonte Hiller, sounds like they’ve kind of buffed up their attack unit with the transfers they’ve gotten this season with Olivia Adamson, along with Taylor and Maddie Epke. I think that group is going to try to rely less on Taylor as their primary scorer. Simply put, through the season, she’s scored a ton of goals already, but I think ideally they’d have her focus more on passing when she can, to be able to distribute the scoring and just have the team flow better as a whole.
EMERSON LEGER: The spotlight mentions women’s track returning after a 38-year hiatus. What does this mean for the athletes and the Northwestern community?
JONAH MCCLURE: I think it’s just spectacular to have more sports under the spotlight from Northwestern and all of the people that follow our athletic programs. So, especially, for like, it being not one of the more popular sports generally, I think putting themselves on the map, and they’re having a very good season so far. So I think the fact that they are now sanctioned and more under the spotlight is just great for the school and great for the athletes.
EMERSON LEGER: Men’s baseball is looking to build on last season’s momentum. What’s actually different about this team compared to last year?
JONAH MCCLURE: Well, they have seen departures from a number of key players, including graduating Crawford Wade and Preston Knott and the departure of Trent Liolios in the transfer portal to Tulane. So I think some of their kind of key players from last year are gone, but they have a young core coming up, and they’ve got older stars like Jack Lausch, and I think much of this team is going to maintain this momentum that they haven’t seen in past years, and the power strike that they’ve had with most home runs they’ve hit in program history last year will hopefully carry over to this year. So I think just mainly the momentum that they have from last year is what they’re bringing in.
EMERSON LEGER: What’s your biggest takeaway about Northwestern athletics heading into 2026?
JONAH MCCLURE: I think Northwestern athletics is in a very good place right now. I think a number of programs are thriving, winning national titles, and many other programs are just hitting levels that we haven’t seen of late, like from baseball, from volleyball, from track coming back. So I think just the fact that it seems like most programs are taking strides that we hadn’t seen recently. I think other coaches and teams are channeling it within themselves, like we see what these other teams are doing. So we’re going to try to rise up with them.
EMERSON LEGER: Thank you for joining me on The Weekly, Jonah.
JONAH MCCLURE: Yeah, no problem.
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EMERSON LEGER: Here are the other top headlines from the week:
Evanston is for lovers: 14 local businesses offer Valentine’s Day specials and events
From dates to Galentine’s, students celebrate Valentine’s Day at NU
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Emerson Leger.
Thank you for listening to another episode of The Weekly. This episode was reported by Emerson Leger, Sophie Baker, Isabella Jacob, Jonah McClure, and produced by Emerson Leger, Eliza Martin and Allegra Lief.
The Audio Editor is Ruby Dowling. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Femi Horrall, Yong-Yu Huang and Jonah McClure. The Editor in Chief is Emily Lichty.
Our theme music is “Night Owl” by Broke for Free, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
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