Matthew Colin Taibbi (; born March 2, 1970) is an American author, journalist, and podcaster. He has reported on finance, media, politics, and sports. A former contributing editor for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', he is an author of several books, co-host of ''Useful Idiots'', and publisher of the newsletter ''TK News'' on

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...

. Taibbi began as a freelance reporter working in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, including a period in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, from where he was deported for criticizing President

Islam Karimov Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov ( uz, Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов, italics=no; russian: link=no, Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was t ...

. Taibbi later worked as a sports journalist for the English-language newspaper ''

The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...

''. He also played professional baseball in Uzbekistan and Russia as well as professional basketball in Mongolia. In 1997, he moved back to Russia to edit the tabloid ''Living Here'', but eventually left to co-edit rival tabloid ''

The eXile ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. Taibbi returned to the United States in 2002 and founded the Buffalo-based newspaper '' The Beast''. He left a year later to work as a columnist for the ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...

''. In 2004, Taibbi began covering politics for ''Rolling Stone''. In 2008, Taibbi won a

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

for three columns he wrote for ''Rolling Stone''. Taibbi became known for his brazen style, having branded Goldman Sachs a "vampire squid" in a 2009 article. His work often has drawn comparisons to the gonzo journalism of writer Hunter S. Thompson, who also covered politics for ''Rolling Stone''. In 2019, he launched the podcast ''Useful Idiots'', co-hosted by

Katie Halper Katherine Rose Halper (born July 11, 1980/1981) is an American comedian, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and political commentator. She is the host of the podcast ''The Katie Halper Show'' and co-host of the podcast ''Useful Idiots'' with Matt Tai ...

. In 2020, he began self-publishing his online writing on Substack. In recent years, Taibbi's writing has focused on

culture war A culture war is a cultural conflict between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal value ...

issues and

cancel culture Cancel culture, or rarely also known as call-out culture, is a phrase contemporary to the late 2010s and early 2020s used to refer to a form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles—whether it be online, on ...

. He has criticized mainstream media including its coverage of

Russiagate The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goals of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. Acco ...

. In 2022, Taibbi published the

Twitter Files The Twitter Files are a set of internal Twitter, Inc. documents such as screenshots, emails, and chat logs that were provided in December 2022 by CEO Elon Musk to journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, Lee Fang, and authors Michael Shellenbe ...

. Taibbi has authored several books, including '' The Great Derangement'' (2009); ''

Griftopia ''Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America'' is a 2010 book by American political journalist Matt Taibbi about the events that led to the financial crisis of 2008. It argues that the crisis was not a ...

'' (2010); '' The Divide'' (2014); '' Insane Clown President'' (2017); ''

I Can't Breathe "I can't breathe" is a slogan associated with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The phrase originates from the last words of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who was killed in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a New York C ...

'' (2017); and '' Hate Inc.'' (2019).

Early life and education

Matt Taibbi was born in 1970 in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Taibbi's father,

Mike Taibbi Mike Taibbi (born c. 1949) is an American television journalist best known for his work at NBC News. He retired in 2014, having covered, among other events, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his career, Taibbi also worked at CBS News. He ...

, is an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television reporter of mixed

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

and

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

descent who was adopted by an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

couple. According to Taibbi, his surname is a Sicilian name of Lebanese origin; however, he is of neither Sicilian nor Lebanese descent because his father was adopted. He has also claimed

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent through his mother. Taibbi grew up in the Boston suburbs. His parents separated when he was young and he was largely raised by his mother. Troubled with behavioral and academic problems, his parents sent him to

Concord Academy Concord Academy (also known as CA), established in 1922, is a coeducational, independent college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9-12. The school is situated in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1971, Concord Academy became t ...

. He first attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

but was "unable to deal with being just one of thousands of faces in a city of millions" and transferred after his freshman year to

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

, where he graduated in 1992. He spent a year abroad studying at Leningrad Polytechnic University, where he finished his credits for graduation from Bard.

Career

Uzbekistan

In the early 1990s, Taibbi moved from Saint Petersburg to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, Uzbekistan, where he began selling news articles more regularly. He was deported in 1992 for writing an article for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

that was critical of President

. At the time of his deportation, Taibbi was the starting left fielder for the Uzbek national baseball team.

Mongolia

Taibbi moved to

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

for a time in the '90s, where he played professional basketball in the Mongolian Basketball Association (MBA), which, he says, is the only basketball league outside the United States that uses the same rules as the US

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. Taibbi became known as "The Mongolian Rodman", was paid $100/month to play, and says he also hosted a radio show while there. He later contracted pneumonia and returned to Boston for surgery.

Russia

Taibbi moved to Russia in 1992. He lived and worked in Russia and the former USSR for more than six years. He joined

Mark Ames Mark Ames (born October 3, 1965) is a Brooklyn-based American journalist. He was the editor of the biweekly ''the eXile'' in Moscow, from its founding in 1997 until its closure in 2008. Ames has also written for the ''New York Press'', ''PandoDail ...

in 1997 to co-edit the English-language Moscow-based, bi-weekly free newspaper, ''The eXile,'' which was written primarily for the city's

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

community. ''The eXile''s tone and content were highly controversial. For example, a regular column reported on a member of staff at ''The eXile'' hiring a Russian prostitute and then writing a long "review" of the woman and the details of the sexual encounter. Its content was considered either brutally honest and gleefully tasteless or juvenile, misogynistic, and even cruel.''Rolling Stone'' Magazine, issue 800, November 26, 1998. (see als
Hamann's site
) In the US media during this time, ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine published pieces on Russia by Taibbi or by Taibbi and Ames. Taibbi's first book, '' The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia'', co-authored with Ames, was published in 2000. A film based on the book was under development by producers

Ted Hope Ted Hope (born 1962) is an American independent film producer based in New York City. He is best known for co-founding the production/sales company Good Machine, where he produced the first films of such notable filmmakers as Ang Lee, Nicole H ...

and

James Schamus James Allan Schamus (born September 7, 1959) is an American screenwriter, producer, business executive, film historian, professor, and director. He is a frequent collaborator of Ang Lee, the co-founder of the production company Good Machine, a ...

Good Machine Good Machine Productions was an American independent film production, film distribution, and foreign sales company started in the early 1990 by its co-founders and producers, Ted Hope and James Schamus. David Linde joined as a partner in the la ...

but did not materialize. He later stated that he was addicted to

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

while he did this early writing. In 2017, Taibbi was criticized for excerpts from a chapter in the book written by Ames that described sexual harassment of employees at ''The eXile''. In a Facebook post responding to the controversy, Taibbi apologized for the "cruel and misogynistic language" used in the book, but said the work was conceived as a satire of the "reprehensible" behavior of American expatriates in Russia and that the description of events in the chapter was "fictional and not true". Although the book includes a note saying that it is a work of non-fiction, emails obtained by '' Paste'' in 2017 include a representative of the publisher,

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

, saying the "statement on the copyright page is incorrect. This book combines exaggerated, invented satire and nonfiction reporting and was categorized as nonfiction because there is no category for a book that is both." Two women portrayed in the book told ''Paste'' magazine that none of the sexual harassment portrayed in the book "

ver Ver or VER may refer to: * Voluntary Export Restraints, in international trade * VER, the IATA airport code for General Heriberto Jara International Airport * Volk's Electric Railway, Brighton, England * VerPublishing, of the German group VDM P ...

happened" and that it was a "ridiculous passage written by Mark".

United States

In 2002, he returned to the United States to start the satirical bi-weekly '' The Beast'' in Buffalo, New York. He left that publication a year later, commenting: "Running a business and writing is too much." Taibbi continued as a freelancer for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', ''Playboy'', ''New York Press'' (where he wrote a regular political column for more than two years), ''Rolling Stone'', and ''

New York Sports Express The ''New York Sports Express'', sometimes abbreviated ''NYSX'', was a free publication distributed from April 2003 to July 2004 as a sister paper to the ''New York Press''. The New York City, USA publication was designed to take an entertaining l ...

'' (as editor-at-large). In 2004, Taibbi began covering politics for ''

''. A

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

, he wrote feature-length articles on domestic and international affairs. He also wrote a weekly political online column, "The Low Post", for the magazine's website. In March 2005, Taibbi's satirical essay, "The 52 Funniest Things About the Upcoming Death of

the Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

", published in the ''New York Press'', was denounced by

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

Matt Drudge Matthew Nathan Drudge (born October 27, 1966) is an American journalist and the creator/editor of the Drudge Report, an American news aggregator. Drudge is also an author and a former radio and television show host. Early life and education Drud ...

, Abe Foxman, and Anthony Weiner. He left the paper in August 2005, shortly after his editor

Jeff Koyen Jeff Koyen is an American journalist, editor, entrepreneur and investor. In 2017, Koyen was honored by the " Society of Professional Journalists"' Deadline Club and the ''Society of American Business Editors and Writers'' for his investigation in ...

was forced out over the article. Taibbi defended the piece as "off-the-cuff

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

of truly tasteless jokes," written to give his readers a break from a long run of his "fulminating political essays". Taibbi also said he was surprised at the vehement reactions to what he wrote "in the waning hours of a

Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol (also known as hydrocodone/acetaminophen) is the combination of the pain medications hydrocodone and paracetamol (acetaminophen). It is used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is taken by mouth. Recreational use is co ...

haze".

Taibbi covered the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

in ''Year of the Rat'', a special ''Rolling Stone'' diary. In February 2008, Taibbi contributed a three-minute segment to ''

Real Time with Bill Maher ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy Central and later on ABC, ''Real ...

'' in which he interviewed residents of

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

before the Ohio primary. He was invited as a guest on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

's ''

The Rachel Maddow Show ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...

'' and other MSNBC programs. He has also appeared on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

'' and ''

Chapo Trap House ''Chapo Trap House'' is an American left-wing political podcast founded in March 2016 and hosted by Will Menaker, Matt Christman and Felix Biederman with Amber A'Lee Frost as a recurring co-host. The show is produced by Chris Wade and formerly by ...

'', and served as a contributor on ''

Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...

''. Taibbi has appeared on the

Thom Hartmann Thomas Carl Hartmann (born May 7, 1951) is an American radio personality, author, former psychotherapist, businessman, and progressive political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, ''The Thom Hartmann Pro ...

radio and television shows, and the '' Imus in the Morning Show'' on the

Fox Business network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenu ...

. Journalist

James Verini James Verini is an American magazine journalist and book author. He is a contributing writer at ''The New York Times Magazine.'' He also writes for ''National Geographic'', ''The New Yorker'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''The Atavist'', ''Foreign Policy'', ...

said that while interviewing Taibbi in a Manhattan restaurant for '' Vanity Fair'', Taibbi cursed and threw his coffee mug at him, and followed him outside and halfway around the block as he tried to get away, saying "I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with you!", all in response to Verini saying that Taibbi's book, ''The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia'', was "redundant and discursive". The interview took place in 2010, and Taibbi later described the incident as "an aberration from how I've behaved in the last six or seven years". After conservative commentator

Andrew Breitbart Andrew James Breitbart (; February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American conservative journalist, and political commentator who was the founder of ''Breitbart News'' and a co-founder of ''HuffPost''. After helping in the early stages of '' ...

died in March 2012, Taibbi wrote an obituary in ''Rolling Stone'', entitled "Andrew Breitbart: Death of a Douche". Many conservatives were angered by the obituary, in which Taibbi wrote: "Good! Fuck him. I couldn't be happier that he's dead." He claimed that it was "at least half an homage", claiming respect for aspects of Breitbart's style, but also alluding to Breitbart's own derisive obituary of

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

. In 2018, Taibbi began publishing a novel, ''The Business Secrets of Drug Dealing: Adventures of the Unidentified Black Male'', as a serialized subscription via email and a website with an anonymous partner. The novel is fictional with true-crime elements. Since the mid-2010s, Taibbi's reporting has increasingly focused on

topics and

. He has also criticized

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Chomsky, Noam, ''"What makes mai ...

and their coverage of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goals of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. Acc ...

. His writing has since polarized readers and fellow journalists.

Ross Barkan Ross Elliot Barkan (born October 22, 1989) is an American journalist, novelist, columnist, and essayist. Early life and education Barkan grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He attended Stony Brook University and earned a master's degree from New Yo ...

wrote, "Taibbi's critics view him as a reporter turned red-pilled culture warrior chasing subscriptions — or worse, a middle-aged male no longer at the vanguard, aggrieved that younger journalists are now leading the fight for justice." Barkan continued, "The liberal-left especially loathes the way Taibbi equates the right- and left-wing media." In 2019, Taibbi self-published the book '' Hate Inc.'', a critique of the mainstream media landscape. Taibbi argues that both sides of the political media spectrum are complicit in dividing the country and fueling hate. The book includes a chapter, "Why

Is This Generation's WMD", comparing Russiagate to 2002–2003 allegations that Iraq had access to weapons of mass destruction, which were used by George W. Bush's administration as the

rationale for the Iraq War The rationale for the Iraq War, both the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent hostilities, was controversial. The George W. Bush administration began actively pressing for military intervention in Iraq in late 2001. The primary rationaliza ...

. Reviewing the book for '' Paste'', Jason Rhode called it a "brilliant indictment of American media", praising the majority of the book but criticized Taibbi for "

pending Pending is a district in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two ...

a section of his book both-sidesing both

and

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

". In October 2019, Taibbi argued that the

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

in the

Trump–Ukraine scandal The "Trump–Ukraine scandal" refers to efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to coerce Ukraine and other countries into providing damaging narratives about 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden, and giving misinformatio ...

was not a "real whistleblower" because the whistleblower would have had their life affected by prosecution or being sent to prison. Taibbi also quoted former CIA analyst

Robert Baer Robert Booker Baer (born July 11, 1952) is an American author and a former CIA case officer who was primarily assigned to the Middle East.Robert Bae"Don't Assume Ahmadinejad Really Lost" ''Time'' website, June 16, 2009 He is ''Times intellig ...

who argued that the whistleblower was part of a "palace coup against Trump." Taibbi won the

Munk Debates The Munk Debates are a semi-annual series of debates on major policy issues held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are run by the Aurea Foundation, a charitable foundation set up by Peter Munk, founder of Barrick Gold, and his wife Melanie Munk ...

on November 22, 2022: "Be it resolved, don´t trust Mainstream Media."

Financial journalism

In his reporting in the wake of the 2008

subprime mortgage crisis The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...

and subsequent

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

, Taibbi described

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

as "a great

vampire squid The vampire squid (''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', lit. 'vampire squid from hell') is a small cephalopod found throughout temperate and tropical oceans in #Habitat and adaptations, extreme deep sea conditions. The vampire squid uses its Biolumines ...

wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money". In financial and political media the expression "Vampire Squids" has come to represent the perception of the financial and investment sector as entities that "sabotage production" and "sink the economy as they suck the life out of it in the form of rent." Tackling the assistance to banks given in foreclosure courts, Taibbi traveled to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

to observe the "

rocket docket A rocket docket is a court or other tribunal that is noted for its speedy disposition of cases and controversies that come before it, often by maintaining strict adherence to the law as pertains to filing deadlines, etc. The term was originally ap ...

". He was brought in to observe a hearing with attorney April Charney. He concluded that it processed foreclosures without regard to the legality of the financial instruments being ruled upon, and sped up the process to enable quick resale of the properties, while obscuring the fraudulent and predatory nature of the loans. In February 2014, Taibbi joined

First Look Media First Look Media is an American nonprofit media organization founded by Pierre Omidyar in October 2013 as a venue for "original, independent journalism". Overview The project was started as a collaboration with Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, ...

to head a financial and political corruption-focused publication, ''Racket''. However, after management disputes with First Look's leadership delayed its launch and led to its cancellation, Taibbi returned to ''Rolling Stone'' the following October.

Sports journalism

Taibbi wrote a column, "The Sports Blotter", for the free weekly newspaper, ''

The Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' a ...

''. He covered legal troubles involving professional and amateur athletes.

''Useful Idiots''

In August 2019, Taibbi launched a political

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

, ''Useful Idiots'', co-hosted with

and released through ''Rolling Stone''. The podcast has since featured interviews with various guests including Liz Franczak, Andre Damon, David Dayen,

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, social critic, actor, and public intellectual. The grandson of a Baptist minister, West focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society an ...

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...

, and

Aaron Maté Aaron Maté is a Canadian writer and journalist. He hosts the show ''Pushback with Aaron Maté'' on ''The Grayzone'' and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the Useful Idiots podcast. Maté works as a reporter for ''The Grayzone'', a ...

. In March 2021, Taibbi announced that ''Useful Idiots'' would no longer be released by ''Rolling Stone'' and would be moving to Substack. With a few changes in program support staff, it is published by Substack as both audio and video that features both a free subscription and a paid subscription. In January 2022, he announced a sabbatical leave to write a book. In his absence friend of the show Aaron Maté will fill in for him.

''TK news''

In April 2020, Taibbi announced he would no longer publish his online writing through ''Rolling Stone'', and henceforth, would publish his online writing independently through the e-mail newsletter service Substack. He stated that he would continue to contribute print features for ''Rolling Stone'' and maintain the ''Useful Idiots'' podcast with Katie Halper. (In April 2021, ''Useful Idiots'', under its same name, but with some support staff changes, also would move to publication by Substack.) Taibbi stated that his decision to move his writing to the newsletter service was made independently and that he was not asked to leave ''Rolling Stone''. Taibbi branded his Substack newsletter ''TK news'', after a term used in manuscript preparation for publication and journalism, TK, that stands for '' "to come"'', indicating that ''more will follow''. After a period of publication with free subscriptions only, Taibbi introduced an additional, paid subscription featuring content that will not be provided as part of the free subscriptions. As of October 2021, TK News had more than 30,000 paying subscribers. On August 12, 2022, the podcast ''America This Week'' was added to ''TK news''. It is a weekly national news wrap-up with Taibbi and

Walter Kirn Walter Norris Kirn (born August 3, 1962) is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is the author of eight books, most notably '' Up in the Air'', which was made into a film of the same name starring George Clooney. Overview As ...

, novelist and literary critic, that is released on Fridays. A transcript of the podcast is also published at ''TK news''. It is also available on Apple Podcasts.

Twitter Files

On December 2, 2022, Taibbi began tweeting about and

screenshot screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is a digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by the operating system or software running on the device powering the display. Additionally, s ...

ing emails that executives of

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

sent each other concerning content moderation in 2020. The emails documented discussions between Twitter's communication team about how Twitter should handle a ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' article about a laptop computer that had been owned by

Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970) is an American attorney who is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife Neilia Hunter Biden. He is also a hedge fund, venture capital, and private-equity fund investor who for ...

. The documents, dubbed the "Twitter Files" and retweeted by CEO

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

, were selected from "thousands of internal documents obtained by sources at Twitter". Taibbi's report was in the form of a Twitter thread with screen shots of email exchanges between Twitter executives. Taibbi noted that "in exchange for the opportunity to cover a unique and explosive story, I had to agree to certain conditions" that he did not specify. Taibbi's presentation largely confirmed what was already known and did not contain any significant new revelations. Taibbi's thread included emails from

Ro Khanna Rohit Khanna (; born September 13, 1976) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic serving as the U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incu ...

to former Twitter executive

Vijaya Gadde Vijaya Gadde (born 1974) is an American attorney, who served as general counsel and the head of legal, policy, and trust at Twitter. Her role included handling issues such as harassment, misinformation, and harmful speech. She is known for her ...

, in which Khanna expressed concern about Twitter's decision to limit the circulation of the ''New York Post'' article about Hunter Biden. Khanna wrote that Twitter's actions violated "

1st Amendment The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, th ...

principles". Jeffrey Blehar, writing for ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'', said that Taibbi's reporting "contained few, if any, explosive revelations for people who have been tuned in to the debacle surrounding Twitter's suppression of the ''

'' story on Hunter Biden's laptop". The ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' editorial board wrote that the Twitter Files are "confirmation of the central role that former spies played in October 2020 in framing the Hunter Biden story in a way that made it easier for Twitter and Facebook to justify their censorship." In Commentary at the ''Wall Street Journal'' on December 5, 2022, Ro Khanna wrote, "Although Twitter is a private actor not legally bound by the First Amendment, Twitter has come to function as a modern public square. As such, Twitter has a responsibility to the public to allow the free exchange of ideas and open debate."

Personal life

Taibbi is married to Jeanne, a family physician. They have three children. Taibbi previously lived in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. As of 2021, he lives in

Mountain Lakes A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

, New Jersey. In a 2008 interview with Hemant Mehta for

Patheos Patheos is a non-denominational, non-partisan online media company providing information and commentary from various religious and nonreligious perspectives. Upon its launch in May 2009, the website was primarily geared toward learning about re ...

, Taibbi described himself as an "

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

".'Interview with Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi'
Friendly Atheist, April 29, 2008 (accessed May 10, 2008).

Awards

In 2008, Taibbi was awarded the

in the category "Columns and Commentary" for his ''Rolling Stone'' columns. He won a Sidney Award in 2009 for his article "The Great American Bubble Machine".

Bibliography

*
The eXile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia
' (). Co-authored with

, and published in 2000 with a foreword by

Eduard Limonov Eduard Veniaminovich Savenko ( rus, Эдуард Вениаминович Савенко, , ɨdʊˈart vʲɪnʲɪɐˈmʲinəvʲɪtɕ sɐˈvʲenkə, links=yes; 22 February 1943 – 17 March 2020), known by his pen name Eduard Limonov ( rus, Эд ...

. *''Spanking the Donkey: On the Campaign Trail with the Democrats'', (). A campaign diary from the 2004 US presidential election, published by New Press in 2005. *''Spanking the Donkey: Dispatches from the Dumb Season'', (). Published by Three Rivers Press (August 22, 2006). *''Smells Like Dead Elephants: Dispatches from a Rotting Empire'', (). Published by Grove Press, Black Cat in 2007. *'' The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire'', (). Published by Spiegel & Grau in 2008. *'' Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America'', (). Published by Spiegel & Grau (2010). *'' The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap'', (). Published by Spiegel & Grau (April 8, 2014). *'' Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus'', (). Published by Spiegel & Grau (January 17, 2017). *'' I Can't Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street'', (). Published by Spiegel & Grau (October 24, 2017). *'' Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another'', (). Published by OR Books (October 8, 2019). *

References

External links

TK News by Matt Taibbi
on

* * *
''In Depth'' interview with Taibbi, June 4, 2017

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taibbi, Matt 1970 births Living people People from New Brunswick, New Jersey People from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey Journalists from New Jersey Journalists from Massachusetts Writers from New Brunswick, New Jersey Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey Writers from Boston American atheists American agnostics American columnists American expatriate sportspeople in Mongolia American expatriate sportspeople in Russia American expatriate sportspeople in Uzbekistan American finance and investment writers American male journalists American media critics American online journalists American people of Irish descent American people of Native Hawaiian descent American podcasters American political writers American writers of Filipino descent People deported from Uzbekistan New York Press people Rolling Stone people The Moscow Times Bard College alumni Concord Academy alumni New York University alumni 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American newspaper founders 21st-century American non-fiction writers