The Epstein Files have revealed social and financial relationships throughout the beauty industry - and a toxic veneration for youth. Is it time for the public to reckon with what the powerful tell us is and isn't "beautiful?"  Host Brittany Luse wonders: can society let go of decades old obsession with youthfulness? Luckily, <a href="https://www.jessica-defino.com/"target="_blank" >Jessica DeFino</a>, reporter, critic, and author of the <a href="https://jessicadefino.substack.com/"target="_blank" >FLESH WORLD substack</a>, joins the show to answer that question and unpack how we’ve made beauty our God. Want more about beauty and power? Check out these IBAM episodes:<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5728208/looksmaxxing-is-teaching-men-that-pretty-hurts"target="_blank" >"Looksmaxxing" is teaching men that pretty hurts</a>.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/09/nx-s1-5670240/chinese-peptides-ozempic-biohacking"target="_blank" >Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body</a><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/29/nx-s1-5653652/is-it-wrong-to-want-to-be-thin"target="_blank" >The privilege of being "skinny"</a> Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="http://npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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