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, he is an author of several books, co-host of Useful Idiots, and publisher of the newsletter Racket News (formerly TK News) on Substack.

Meet Mike Taibbi and Siobhan Walsh

Matt Taibbi was born in 1970 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Taibbi’s father, Mike Taibbi, is an NBC television reporter of mixed Filipino and Native Hawaiian descent who was adopted by an Italian-American 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 descent through his mother.

His parents separated when he was young and he was largely raised by his mother. Because Taibbi was troubled with behavioral and academic problems, his parents sent him to Concord Academy.