Matt Taibbi

Matt Taibbi
Taibbi in 2012
Taibbi in 2012
BornMatthew Colin Taibbi
(1970-03-02) March 2, 1970 (age 54)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
  • podcaster
Education
Subjects
  • American politics
  • media
  • finance
  • sports
Years active1991–present[1]
Notable works
SpouseJeanne Taibbi[2]
Children3
RelativesMike Taibbi (father)
Website
www.racket.news

Matthew Colin Taibbi[3] (/taɪˈiːbi/; 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, he is the author of several books, former co-host of the Useful Idiots podcast, and publisher of the Racket News (formerly TK News) on Substack.

Taibbi began as a freelance reporter working in the former Soviet Union. He later worked as a sports journalist for the English-language newspaper The Moscow Times. In 1997, Taibbi and Mark Ames co-edited the tabloid newspaper The eXile. In 2002, Taibbi returned to the United States and founded the Buffalo-based newspaper The Beast. He left a year later to work as a columnist for the New York Press.[4][5]

In 2004, Taibbi began covering politics for Rolling Stone.[5] In 2008, Taibbi won a National Magazine Award for three columns he wrote for Rolling Stone.[6] Taibbi became known for his brazen style, having branded Goldman Sachs a "vampire squid" in a 2009 article about the Wall Street firm's outsized role in the 2008 financial crisis.[7][8] His work often has drawn comparisons to the gonzo journalism of writer Hunter S. Thompson, who also covered politics for Rolling Stone.[1][9][10][11][12] In 2019, he launched the podcast Useful Idiots, co-hosted by Katie Halper. In 2020, he announced that he would no longer release his writing through Rolling Stone and had begun self-publishing his online writing on Substack.[13] In recent years, Taibbi's writing has focused on culture war issues and cancel culture. He has criticized mainstream media including its coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[14] In 2022–23, Taibbi released several installments of the Twitter Files.

Taibbi has authored several books, including The Great Derangement (2009); Griftopia (2010); The Divide (2014);[15] Insane Clown President (2017); I Can't Breathe (2017); and Hate Inc. (2019).

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference The Buffalo News was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference booktopia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Taibbi, Matthew. "Ancestry". NJ Marriage Index. Reclaim the Records. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "Matt Taibbi Decries Negative Campaigns". NOW on the News with Maria Hinojosa. PBS. Archived from the original on March 9, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ a b "Matt Taibbi". BillMoyers.com. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  6. ^ Verini, James (February 24, 2010). "Lost Exile". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference squid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Taibbi, Matt (April 5, 2010) [Originally published in the July 9–23, 2009, issue of Rolling Stone]. "The Great American Bubble Machine". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  9. ^ Carlson, Peter (December 6, 2005). "Fed Time for Gonzo at Rolling Stone". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  10. ^ "The Great Derangement by Matt Taibbi". Kirkus Reviews. March 15, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  11. ^ Appleford, Steve (May 12, 2008). "State of the Union? It's a state of panic, author says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  12. ^ Beiser, Vince (October 23, 2006). ""Worst Congress Ever"?". Mother Jones. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  13. ^ Taibbi, Matt. "Announcement to Readers: I'm Moving". www.racket.news.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barkan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Rampell, Ed. "Matt Taibbi." The Progressive, vol. 78, no. 7-8, July–Aug. 2014, pp. 65+.