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Matt Taibbi vs. transgender people

Matt Taibbi is an American author and podcaster. Taibbi frequently platforms and supports anti-trans media figures.

Background

Matthew Colin “Matt” Taibbi was born on March 2, 1970 in New Brunswick, New Jersey and grew up in the Boston area. Following academic and behavior problems, Taibbi attended the private Concord Academy. Taibbi briefly attended New York University before transferring to Bard College, which included a year studying in St. Petersburg, Russia. Taibbi earned a bachelor’s degree from Bard in 1992 and moved to Uzbekistan. Taibbi was deported later that year for an article critical of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, and moved to Mongolia. Taibbi returned to the US for surgery after contracting pneumonia.

In Moscow, Taibbi and Mark Ames co-edited eXile, a free publication for expats living in Russia. The two co-authored the 2000 book The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia, which was criticized for its crude and misogynistic content.

In 2002, after returning to the US after writing for numerous Russian publications, Taibbi founded satirical publication The Beast based in Buffalo, New York. Taibbi left a year later and continued freelancing for The Nation, Playboy, New York Press, Rolling Stone, and New York Sports Express. In 2005 Taibbi left the New York Press after a piece mocking the impending death of the Pope led to protests and the dismissal of Taibbi’s editor.

Taibbi is best known for work at Rolling Stone from 2004 to 2014, which included financial and political reporting of domestic and international issues. In 2010, Taibbi physically attacked writer James Verini while being interviewed for Vanity Fair.

Taibbi and spouse Jeanne Taibbi married in 2010 and have three children.

Anti-transgender activism

What is a Woman? review

Anti-trans group blog Daily Wire spent approximately $40,000 promoting Taibbi’s review of their anti-trans film What Is a Woman?, with the ad reading: “Old School Liberal Taibbi Reviews ‘What is a Woman?’ And Pans The Radical Left.”

In 2024, Andrea Long Chu noted Taibbi’s role in uplifting anti-trans media:

The Times is not alone; it is one of many respectable publications, including The Atlantic and The Economist, engaged in sanitizing the ideas promoted by TARLs in the more reactionary corners of the media landscape. Here one finds journalists like Singal, Matthew Yglesias, Matt Taibbi, Andrew Sullivan, Helen Lewis, Meghan Daum, and, of course, former Times staffer Bari Weiss. Many of these writers live in self-imposed exile on Substack, the newsletter platform, where they present themselves as brave survivors of cancellation by the woke elites. But they are not a marginal force.

Chu (2024)

Substack

Taibbi’s group blog Racket News (formerly TK News) is one of the most financially successful accounts on Substack.

On March 19, 2026, Racket News contributor Rav Arora posted “How To Treat Gender Dysphoria In Kids Without Sex Changes: An interview with Kenneth Zucker.”

Contributors include Rav Arora, Emily Bivens, Matt Bivens, Jane Burn, Jillian Butler, Greg Collard, Ford Fischer, Walter Kirn, Emily Kopp, Ryan Lovelace, Andrew Lowenthal, Daniel Medina, Steven Middendorp, Jared Moore, Caden Olson, Matt Orfalea, Eric Salzman, Michael Tracey, and Justin Robert Young.

Podcasting

Taibbi co-hosts the Useful Idiots podcast which has included conservative and anti-trans guests, including Erica Anderson, Jesse Singal, and Katie Herzog. Taibbi also appears on anti-trans podcasts, including Andrew Sullivan.

The Twitter Files

Taibbi was tapped by Elon Musk to report on The Twitter Files, a series of releases of select internal documents proir to Musk’s purchase of the platform. The releases were published from December 2022 through March 2023. Anti-trans writers chosen by Musk also included Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger.

References

Harris, Malcolm (July 6, 2022). The Right’s Dangerous ‘Just Asking Questions’ Anti-Trans Campaign Is Working. New York https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/07/the-just-asking-questions-anti-trans-campaign-is-working.html

Chu, Andrea Long (March 11, 2024). Freedom of Sex: The moral case for letting trans kids change their bodies. New York https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trans-rights-biological-sex-gender-judith-butler.html

Anti-trans coverage

Wilson, Greg (June 10, 2022). Matt On Matt: Old-School Liberal Taibbi Reviews ‘What Is A Woman?’ And Pans The Radical Left. Daily Wire https://www.dailywire.com/news/matt-on-matt-old-school-liberal-taibbi-reviews-what-is-a-woman-and-pans-the-radical-left

Selected writing by Taibbi

Taibbi, Matt (August 28, 2025). Note on the Minnesota Shooting: Media coverage of the latest tragedy hits another new low. Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/note-on-the-minnesota-shooting

Taibbi, Matt (June 20, 2025). The Great Disappearing Trans Freakout. The Supreme Court drives a stake in the transgender controversy, and neither party says much. Is this chapter in American politics headed for the dustbin of history? Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/the-great-disappearing-trans-freakout

Taibbi, Matt (June 17, 2022). The World’s Most Taboo Legal Case: While the media world wept over Amber and Johnny, a lawsuit filed by a feminist group over prison sexual abuse remained earth’s most ignored scandal. Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/the-worlds-most-taboo-legal-case

Taibbi, Matt (June 10, 2022). On the Blowback to “What is a Woman?” and the Difference Between Debate and Bigotry: As short a response as I could manage, to a lot of criticism. Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/on-the-blowback-to-what-is-a-woman

Taibbi, Matt (June 8, 2022). Meet the Censored: Kara Dansky. Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/meet-the-censored-kara-dansky

Taibbi, Matt (June 8, 2022). “What is a Woman?” A Movie That Should Be Reviewed More, For One Thing. Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/what-is-a-woman-a-movie-that-should

Taibbi, Matt (December 9, 2020). Meet the Censored: Abigail Shrier. Where is the line between boycott-based activism and corporate censorship? Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/meet-the-censored-abigail-shrier-db7

Media

Daily Wire / The Matt Walsh Show with Matt Walsh and Matt Taibbi (June 29, 2022). Reporter Loses Friends Over What Is A Woman? Review (Headline). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hh4INB7WVY

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Rolling Stone (rollingstone.com)

Penguin Random House (penguinrandomhouse.com)

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