I agree with Walter more often than not. That said, I feel encouraged that Matt has chosen to steer the ship away from opinions and toward presenting more in-depth, "just the facts" reporting. While I'm sure that I'll continue to seek out Walter's narratives from time to time (just for comfort), I'm looking forward to honest stories, presented without bias, to inform my positions.
Agreed. Enjoying a journalist's work isn't as much about the topic of the article, as it is the quality of the work. When I look back at those wonderful days when The Atlantic, for instance, was an actual magazine and not an anus crapping out propaganda, it didn't really matter what the story was about. I read the stories I liked first, but I usually read that darn magazine from cover to cover. Everything in it was well-researched and well-written.
I think I speak for many subscribers when I say you've never let me down, and I believe those that may have felt let down over the years, felt that way because of their politics, not because of the work Racket has produced. That was their loss. I read Racket News cover to cover!
Ollo Gorog - Wow, what you say about The Atlantic is so true that it almost startled me as I compared it then and now. I truly relished reading it because The Atlantic was entertaining, informative, and left me with a feeling of betterment because of being in the presence of a very high standard of expression in writing. That was so many decades ago, and so far from what the magazine is now that the difference seems surreal.
I have had the same disappointing experience, and out of principle, simply canceled my subscription. I'm looking for more than propaganda! Good luck Matt.
The Atlantic Monthly started in 1857, fought for abolition and showcased the best literary minds of its age. Now, it’s a Tiger Beat-level trowel for prog propaganda and elite, managerial class hysterics, whether about Trump, America or the state of the world in general. The neurotic whinging of butt-plug elitists is not an area of interest for me. So many revered cultural publications have been exiled to my STFU block-list that I’ve lost count. Is it really so hard to write the truth?
There's an actual person to blame for what happened to The Atlantic. Her name is Laurene Powell Jobs, ex-wife of Steve Jobs. Another rich, self-loathing American woman who lives a miserable life and wants everyone to be as miserable as she is.
The Atlantic changed tack long before Ms Jobs arrived.
I was a subscriber back in the '70's & early '80's, I look back upon that era and what The Atlantic was at the time with some nostalgia as well as recollections of dismay over what our future looked like even back then. Same with The New Yorker and Harper's, neither of which I've touched since maybe the late '90's.
Never read much of Rolling Stone, having thought it was mostly about pop music and entertainment more broadly, topics that held little interest for me. That I regret, as I might have become aware of what Matt was giving us there long before I discovered him on-line.
The Atlantic, like many things, seemed to me to begin it's final descent around the turn of the 21st century. And I feel the same as you about Rolling Stone. My nephew always subscribed but I never bothered. I discovered Matt when he published Griftopia.
Supposedly she exerts no influence over editorial matters. Not sure I believe that, but whatever. Just read The Atlantic is still profitable, not losing money since 2025. NGO revenue? CIA cut-out? It’s scary to think echo chamber agit-prop is reader supported.
I imagine that Jeffrey Goldberg played a bigger part in its turn toward nonsense, but I doubt she exerts no influence. She's an American woman, aka control freak extraordinaire, and a rich one at that. These women are obsessed with exerting influence.
The Atlantic is profitable? Yeah, sure. A good businessman can make anything look profitable, all that's needed is some good lies, and today's Atlantic is no stranger to telling good lies.
Wait ‘til a leftist admin takes the White House. The world will suddenly transform into a hopeful, flawed-but-improving place where decent people strive for the best outcomes. Contrary evidence will be ignored, like the plight of secular Iranian protestors was until very recently.
I don't know why exactly, but I'm afraid of losing Racket the same way I/We lost The Atlantic. Such a great publication, and it was destroyed in a handful of years by a strictly enforced hive-mind mentality. Can someone please give me something, even a little something, to change my dread about Racket 2.0? I understand it's unfounded and precognitive, but I cannot help but feel that an old friend is slipping away towards... I don't know, but I'm feeling sorrow, and it runs deep.
Ollo Gogol And I am afraid of losing Racket the same way we lost The Free Press. It went the main stream way, and all the excitement gradually evaporated. It was refreshing as the original Common Sense, but somehow lost its luster and fairness. I will miss the podcasts, which added so much needed calmness and sanity to my life. I hope Walter stays, with his unique perspective, wisdom and charm, but I am apprehensive that there will be too many changes and Racket will turn into something unrecognizable. It may be inevitable but still breaks my heart.
ATW was great, but it was increasingly little journalism. In recent weeks I actually felt like speaking up on that, but held my tongue in the hopes that Matt would naturally be pulled to getting back to basic journalism...
"In most commercial media, however, forcing staffers to adopt slates of positions has become the standard, another pattern we hope to break, not that there’s much risk of falling into it with Kopp."
Well alright! This is why i signed up in the first place.
One ask though. Please don't turn into the FP or the Bulwark or the Dispatch with all these new contributors. Or dog forbid the NYT circle jerk format of the op-ed section now. I'm here for investigative journalism, not hot takes and opinion "journalism".
True, but I think Racket's new invigorated staff should, as a normal function of reporters and editors, make an effort to review and clean up the transcripts for public consumption.
Indeed they are ai and they are often full of mistakes! I’m the editor for two podcasts using Otter.ai generated transcripts - I wish I had kept a list of the mistakes that made me laugh out loud! I’ve done almost 400 transcripts over the past 5 years and although ai is better now it’s definitely not good enough to publish as is. Humans needed!
02/09/26: Agree, 100%. Having seen 150,000 of them, I've become allergic to videos. Creating transcripts does take more time and incurs additional expense. How to compensate?
Aside from this one, my other favorite Substack is The Liberal Patriot (full disclosure - they're close to my sweet spot politically). 5 or 6 guys who keep the focus on working class economics.
Most definitely. The FP tried to become a broadsheet with broad topics and many subsections and lost my interest. Too much Joe Nocera (any is too much), too many random Douglas Murray musings, too little of things like the deep JK Rowling trans issue profile they once did.
I want the news rather some rando contributor on theFP dive bomb in on an occassion. I rather read investigative reporting. If I want opinion piece, I would read NYT, or other big national newspaper. But then I don't read opinion pieces, I can form my own. I need real news.
You know what? When the Guardian tries to do US politics, even with US journalists, they suck. But they do some deep dive reporting into some obscure stories that you don't see elsewhere. And some of them are really very good.
The Guardian does some biased "deep dive" stories, I agree, but they are few and far between. It seems to have devolved into a woke opinion piece rag, although the crossword puzzles are ok. Will not continue to subscribe, it has become a parody of a good newspaper.
02/09/26: In the respect to the U.S., the Guardian never learns from its mistakes. It is astonishing how far they have descended from their esteemed reputation that existed decades ago. It is as if they WANT to fail. And it is possible that whatever they are today is financially subsidized by the UK's and America's enemies (in which case, they can't $$$ fail).
Don Reed - How true. When I took university political science classes 60+ years ago (yes, I'm that ancient), more than one of my professors cited The Manchester Guardian as a reliable source of unbiased, informative, and trust-worthy journalism.
02/10/26: Reading the Guardian today is a daily reminder of how Arnhem (September 17-26, 1944) went wrong from the word "Go." And they EXPORT it to America, as if our daily intake of domestic swill isn't sufficiently poisonous .
02/09/26: The thought of those 13 "climate change reporters" out in the cold produced the most pleasant feeling. Thank you for mentioning the subject! How many of the 300 will end up being "beer donkeys" in Amazon warehouses?
With you on the decline of the other new alts. I can't put my finger on it, why are they slacking? Is it that in the attempt to surpass their previous rivals, they ate the poison parts?—the tainted writers.
I never even got into reading them. It seemed to me that they sort of coalesced around a viewpoint - ie pro-Israel and anti- woke/trans for the FP, or Republicans who hate Trump for the others .
I think Yuri above put a finger on it - slop for clicks and paychecks.
02/09/26: My cherished alibi is that my first priority is reading books. Which is why verbose internet writers at this address are given the bum's rush.
I would add to this request to not feel like you need to cover ANY story du jour. Honestly I could care less about your (Matt's) take on Israel, or whatever. I'd MUCH rather have unexpected muckraking stories like the Minnesota fraud stuff. Anything that reveals the puppet strings and actually has an impact on how we understand the world, versus more hot takes on whatever the internet is freaked out about starting 5 minutes ago.
But I DO like the long form discussions. I like Walter a lot but he tended to steam roll you and I was ALWAYS wanting to hear more from you during ATW. Maybe rotating conversations between you and members of your new staff?.. Written pieces are good of course, but I really like the oral tradition and watching how people reason and navigate in real time, I feel like there's more of a "transmission" there than the polished written word. At least for me.
That's a good point, I'd also agree with you here as well. I mean I'd rather just have many more hours of all Racket based content. I like learning about what's going on via podcasts while I'm doing other things and it's hard to find reliable, interesting, non vitriolic sources.
Isn't it true now tho that it's expected for news to have a bias? So much so that ground news exists.
I don't think anyone can be superhuman enough to be unbiased. So if you do think you're unbiased, it's likely you are not.
The new landscape is news that confesses to its bias. Disclosure is maximum truth, your take + your bias = your story. Disclose your bias and you are telling more of the truth.
We didn't believe the legacy and cable outlets of being unbiased anyway, but hearing them claim they are is, at best, trying to the reader.
Icare about both. I also care about proposed solutions. No single source can do all three things with clarity - so, yes, start with and hold to the truth. Without the truth, there can be neither a reason why nor a solution forward. When reporting strays from the truth, it lands in opinion, however well or badly argued, and truth gets lost in the dust.
Very exciting. My view is you and your operation, Catherine Herridge, and Michael Shellenberger are the true investigative reporters today. Without all of you, real news stories would never see the light of day.
Matt, in all seriousness, I hope that you are taking ample care of yourself and getting enough brain rest following your concussion.
I had one in a car accident decades ago when I was younger, and it had a significant — and continued impact on my memory and cognitive function. Forced me into taking notes on everything.
02/09/26: I entirely agree and thank you for bringing up this subject, which hadn't occurred to me. We need a take-your-time, quality Matt Taibbi, not a Frequent Flyer concerned with or even prioritizing quantity.
I'm excited for Shelly-B's new book. The title sounds a little stock-Ann Coulter/David Horowitz-y, though, and is likely to turn off precisely those who need it most.
Ages ago, ie a few years ago in these modern times lol, I praised your reporting as reporting. While seemingly everywhere else had moved to editorials as news, basically propaganda, you did not. What, when, where, who; that's reporting. The new moto is music to my ears. Thanks Matt!
I love the idea of both sides, if one side isn’t sarcastic and snarky while the other side sounds “reasonable.” I see this in TFP too much. The suggestion of being able to find the money behind every story is awesome! When I see “facts” I want to know who is paying for that particular list of facts. Looking forward to it.
Looking forward to the reboot. I am so sick of “why” journalism; and I hate “truthiness”. Leave it to the NYT and NPR whose audience just wants to know what to say to their friends.
So disappointing that Walter Kirn has suddenly, and at the last minute, announced he's not participating with Matt, and thus ends America This Week, one of the highlights of my week. Sad.
Matt is an incredibly talented writer and all around brilliant guy. Great athlete too. However, when God was giving out his gifts, great oratory skills were left out. He’s ok. But not brilliant.
Yeah, plus his voice has a rather annoying timbre, and he uses trite words like "folks" (as in "the folks who murdered so-and-so") and "multiple.". He's got all the talents you list but he's only tolerable to me opposite Walter, who STANDS FOR SOMETHING. It's very upsetting
Matt employs vocal fry like Jessica Tarlov on "The Five" and other young people. It is not a. pleasant sound and should not be used by broadcasters or podcasters. Matt did not show any inclination to improve his voice, however. Matt is a witty and intelligent writer and was made for Racket News. Walter graciously and kindly helped the young pup to make ATW on Racket work. Oh and I refuse to ever use the term "folks."
Looks like we know what happened Walter did get sandbagged. They wanted to cut atw down to one time a week, cut Walter's pay, just for starters. And they just announced this without any warning. So like any person with self-respect, he said no way Jose
I recently asked a youngste if she had received "an invitation," and she looked at me like I had told her I was pregnant. A receptionist told me the doctor would be with me "momentarily," and I replied, "and then what shall we do?"
Yes, whatever the disagreement is, I think it was really bad form for Walter to quit abruptly, in a huff, and leave Matt to face the viewers and cancel the show. I must say Matt initially looking bewildered but quickly moved on to calmly and professionally carry on alone. My admiration for Matt went up several notches. As for Walter, disappointed.
Honestly, I was sick of him constantly interrupting Matt in the podcast. I was listening less and less as it was becoming more the Walter Kirn show where he gets to draw a comparison to everything happening in the real world to fiction or screenwriting. The book discussions had become more interesting than the discussion of current events for me.
Walter is a partisan hack and Matt's connection to him ruined his credibility. Couldn't be more happy to see him go. Every "take" he had inevitably led to "Trump is right about everything after all!" They too often talked about things they didn't know anything about.
Yes, and if her bailiwick is Covid origins, it would be nice to know why clowns like Peter Daszak, Ralph Baric, and their pals haven’t been investigated criminally. Reckless indifference at a minimum. Who the hell tinkers with viruses to make them more lethal and transmissible knowing full well of the potential consequences? And why? Let’s rule out scientific curiosity. These people turned our lives upside down for years and it would be nice to know why.
Yes. Doing investigations and reporting facts is fine but if nothing concrete happens as a result, it's like howling into the wind. There have been so many exposes of criminality, corruption and morally bankrupt people/institutions yet here we are. I hope the new Racket helps move the needle from inaction to accountability. Good luck.
I feel that we are in the Golden Age of No Accountability. It’s, like, an art form or something. A thing terrible in its perfection, like a great white shark, or Hillary Clinton.
02/09/26: PD. RB & Co. should have been indicted by now for accepting bribes from Fauci's government funds ("Lie about the origin of Covid and get your projects funded. Do not = no dough"). Fauci's been "pardoned" but the takers of bribes haven't been.
Baric is apparently a genuinely top-notch scientist.
He specializes in a field (virology) that has clear strategic and defense importance.
As such, it's hardly surprising that he's had "intelligence community" contact for some time.
That being said, I'm fine with our best scientists cooperating with the strategic goals of our country -- defense-related or otherwise.
But what happened with COVID is another matter.
If Baric was simply caught up in "development" and either didn't know or wasn't curious about "policy", I can handle that, but if he was used to help what now clearly appears to have been a disaster-on-wheels-with-coverup, then we should know what his involvement was.
Baric was, from what I can tell (and Kopp would be the person to corroborate or refute), directly involved with the Wuhan Institute for Mircobiological Shenanigans.
I am confident there's a bunch of stories there. Serious, nasty, deep-state stories.
And, of course, there are the clear, ultra-nasty policy decisions:
They didn't commit any legally recognizable crimes because their culpability is likely too indirect. A mock trial might be educational, but they would never participate. What should happen is that those who facilitated the COVID disaster should be named and shamed, the evidence for culpability laid out in as much detail as possible, so that their names will live on in infamy.
Fauci would be the top name. People don't realize how influential he was in the creation and sustainment of the gain-of-function (GoF) research after the experiments of Fouchier and Kawaoka created such a concern and a subsequent schism in the scientific community. Fauci was a pro-GoF guy, and he controlled the biggest pot of money, so his point of view won the day. After a moratorium (which Fauci appears to have ignored by playing with the definition of GoF), GoF research resumed, and the worst fears of the scientists who opposed it came true.
Art, this is pretty well documented, although not by Matt. Gain of function research has gone on for many years and Baric and Daszak acted only at the direction of Tony Fauci and Francis Collins at the NIH. There is also heavy involvement by the military and military intelligence. It’s actually a pretty long and complicated story, but you can find it. I think they’ll escape without jail time bc they were working FOR the government. What all of them deserve in spades is blame and condemnation. I think people in the know do blame them, but nothing will happen to them. Biden even pardoned Fauci.
Yes, but it’s not splitting hairs to say that they were not obligated to act at the direction of anyone. Daszak for example applied for grants I.e. Project Diffuse. Ecohealth Alliance wasn’t a government agency, although who knows how much spook involvement made them somewhat like agents or puppets of government. Baric was a professor at UNC and not obligated to create pandemic agents. I don’t see any legal reason they aren’t subject to prosecution. Fauci did get something like a pardon from persons unknown, but that’s a different story. I honestly don’t know why a gallows shouldn’t be erected on the White House lawn by the current administration for the individuals who did this to the world, and can’t imagine anything else in my lifetime that doesn’t rise to this level of a crime against humanity.
It's not that I disagree with you, I just don't see it happening. And I think RFK is such a giant wrecking ball throughout government science that the dirty cabal behind it all is mostly gone. RFK as head of HHS is the very best thing anyone could ever hope for as he has upended the NIH, FDA, CDC & has served notice to medical slime like the AMA & APA, who both backed gender care for minors. Sorry, off topic. Daszak is definitely in the IC loop, and he got enormous funding for Ecohealth which he used to further GoF & supported the Chinese lab. Baric is not only a UNC scientist, he's the #1 coronavirus researcher in the world, and Art, remember that ALL university scientific funding has come from the NIH for forever. So, basically they come to you to create a GoF humanized coronavirus to defend the US from biological attack, and your funding is on the line, and you've collaborated with the govt before, and you do it for nat'l defense. The crime of setting up the NIH like this was it's an enormous insiders' club and no alternate ideas are allowed, which is how we've not cured cancer nor have an effective dementia drug despite Pharma hoovering up billions of taxpayer dollars following a cold trail. From my understanding, GW Bush appointed Fauci after 9/11 bc the big fear after that was a biological terrorist attack, and GoF becomes legal again, and they're off to the races. And further, remember the military really runs operations of defense, I"ve read that we not only created Covid19 & then outsourced it to China once Obama banned GoF, but that the military then created the vaccine that would be upramped if necessary, and this is the disastrous mRNA vax that has killed & maimed many. Think the MSM will ever tell you that story?
Bummer. You and Walter have been destination TV for me for a good long while. I’m not sure you fully understand how important the show has been for a great many people in these confusing and often dark times.
The podcast provides a level of intimacy with your audience that written journalism simply can’t, and this seems important. Not to mention its stood as an accessible gateway for the wary or initiated to learn of the quality of your work.
I’d also add that your televised commentary seems to complement the written articles on your platform quite well, often inspiring deeper penetration into key issues for both, as you and Walter talk matters thru. The added humour will also be missed.
It sounded to me like this was as much Walter's decision as Matt's. These sort of partnerships (like music bands) are hard to maintain, for many reasons. I am just glad I got to enjoy its run.
Count me in! I care, in this order, The Truth, and whose money is behind the sources. Also, never let Walter escape, even to the point of hand cuffing him to his chair and only feeding him in exchange for his commentary. ;-)
I renewed my subscription with you at a time when I was eliminating and cutting back on all my bills. I am so happy I did, and I did it BECAUSE I TRUST YOU!
I'm with you all the way, and if I waiver I'll let you know why. You're a top tier go-to news reporter, and we welcome your new associates with open arms! Congratulations!
Yes - I have pared back subscriptions and streaming services, but unsubscribing to Racket didn't even occur to me. Not an option - Matt's writing reminds me that either I am really not crazy, or if I am in the best of company.
Ellen E. - ". . .reminds me that either I am really not crazy, or if I am in the best of company." Exactly. It just can't be expressed any more succinctly than that.
This is excellent news. My hope is that there will be a sincere effort to track down where and to whom our tax money goes. It does not go to anything that benefits the tax payers and there is so much that is stolen from us that it has essentially created an alternate world for an entirely different class of people to exist in what seems to hover above us. While there are so many noble truths to chase after, I cannot think of one that will literally be as world-shattering as finding the truth about where the largest amount of money in human history disappears to
I'm sure I speak for many subscribers when I say I couldn't care less about pacing. Just keep up the good work.
I really like hearing Walter’s perspective on current news so hope that can continue.
I agree with Walter more often than not. That said, I feel encouraged that Matt has chosen to steer the ship away from opinions and toward presenting more in-depth, "just the facts" reporting. While I'm sure that I'll continue to seek out Walter's narratives from time to time (just for comfort), I'm looking forward to honest stories, presented without bias, to inform my positions.
Same.
I think Walter has his own Substack, so you can look for him there.
He posts fiction pieces their.
Facts, if sorted, are often boring. I hope this doesn’t become boring. Good luck going forward.
Agreed. Enjoying a journalist's work isn't as much about the topic of the article, as it is the quality of the work. When I look back at those wonderful days when The Atlantic, for instance, was an actual magazine and not an anus crapping out propaganda, it didn't really matter what the story was about. I read the stories I liked first, but I usually read that darn magazine from cover to cover. Everything in it was well-researched and well-written.
I think I speak for many subscribers when I say you've never let me down, and I believe those that may have felt let down over the years, felt that way because of their politics, not because of the work Racket has produced. That was their loss. I read Racket News cover to cover!
Ollo Gorog - Wow, what you say about The Atlantic is so true that it almost startled me as I compared it then and now. I truly relished reading it because The Atlantic was entertaining, informative, and left me with a feeling of betterment because of being in the presence of a very high standard of expression in writing. That was so many decades ago, and so far from what the magazine is now that the difference seems surreal.
I have had the same disappointing experience, and out of principle, simply canceled my subscription. I'm looking for more than propaganda! Good luck Matt.
Is what happened at/to The Atlantic a good story?
The Atlantic Monthly started in 1857, fought for abolition and showcased the best literary minds of its age. Now, it’s a Tiger Beat-level trowel for prog propaganda and elite, managerial class hysterics, whether about Trump, America or the state of the world in general. The neurotic whinging of butt-plug elitists is not an area of interest for me. So many revered cultural publications have been exiled to my STFU block-list that I’ve lost count. Is it really so hard to write the truth?
There's an actual person to blame for what happened to The Atlantic. Her name is Laurene Powell Jobs, ex-wife of Steve Jobs. Another rich, self-loathing American woman who lives a miserable life and wants everyone to be as miserable as she is.
The Atlantic changed tack long before Ms Jobs arrived.
I was a subscriber back in the '70's & early '80's, I look back upon that era and what The Atlantic was at the time with some nostalgia as well as recollections of dismay over what our future looked like even back then. Same with The New Yorker and Harper's, neither of which I've touched since maybe the late '90's.
Never read much of Rolling Stone, having thought it was mostly about pop music and entertainment more broadly, topics that held little interest for me. That I regret, as I might have become aware of what Matt was giving us there long before I discovered him on-line.
The Atlantic, like many things, seemed to me to begin it's final descent around the turn of the 21st century. And I feel the same as you about Rolling Stone. My nephew always subscribed but I never bothered. I discovered Matt when he published Griftopia.
Supposedly she exerts no influence over editorial matters. Not sure I believe that, but whatever. Just read The Atlantic is still profitable, not losing money since 2025. NGO revenue? CIA cut-out? It’s scary to think echo chamber agit-prop is reader supported.
I imagine that Jeffrey Goldberg played a bigger part in its turn toward nonsense, but I doubt she exerts no influence. She's an American woman, aka control freak extraordinaire, and a rich one at that. These women are obsessed with exerting influence.
The Atlantic is profitable? Yeah, sure. A good businessman can make anything look profitable, all that's needed is some good lies, and today's Atlantic is no stranger to telling good lies.
Wait ‘til a leftist admin takes the White House. The world will suddenly transform into a hopeful, flawed-but-improving place where decent people strive for the best outcomes. Contrary evidence will be ignored, like the plight of secular Iranian protestors was until very recently.
I don't know why exactly, but I'm afraid of losing Racket the same way I/We lost The Atlantic. Such a great publication, and it was destroyed in a handful of years by a strictly enforced hive-mind mentality. Can someone please give me something, even a little something, to change my dread about Racket 2.0? I understand it's unfounded and precognitive, but I cannot help but feel that an old friend is slipping away towards... I don't know, but I'm feeling sorrow, and it runs deep.
Ollo Gogol And I am afraid of losing Racket the same way we lost The Free Press. It went the main stream way, and all the excitement gradually evaporated. It was refreshing as the original Common Sense, but somehow lost its luster and fairness. I will miss the podcasts, which added so much needed calmness and sanity to my life. I hope Walter stays, with his unique perspective, wisdom and charm, but I am apprehensive that there will be too many changes and Racket will turn into something unrecognizable. It may be inevitable but still breaks my heart.
I think the old friend had slipped away and is coming back.,
Totally agree!!!!
ATW was great, but it was increasingly little journalism. In recent weeks I actually felt like speaking up on that, but held my tongue in the hopes that Matt would naturally be pulled to getting back to basic journalism...
02/09/26: Agreed!
"In most commercial media, however, forcing staffers to adopt slates of positions has become the standard, another pattern we hope to break, not that there’s much risk of falling into it with Kopp."
[Matt's the Good Cop and she’s the Bad…]
Well alright! This is why i signed up in the first place.
One ask though. Please don't turn into the FP or the Bulwark or the Dispatch with all these new contributors. Or dog forbid the NYT circle jerk format of the op-ed section now. I'm here for investigative journalism, not hot takes and opinion "journalism".
Oh, and please write or at least provide transcripts. I'm tired of heads that talk too.
YES. Thank you. There's a time for video, but sometimes I just want to skim a transcript and see what's going on.
Yes, this 👆👆please! Despite the pleasure of seeing your handsome face and that of the silverest of foxes, Walter, I like reading print vs. listening.
Yes, and please do a better job of proofreading those transcripts. The errors in the ATW transcripts range from the confusing to the comical.
My guess is that they're AI generated. Which is better than no transcript.
True, but I think Racket's new invigorated staff should, as a normal function of reporters and editors, make an effort to review and clean up the transcripts for public consumption.
02/09/26: This will cost more money. Where do we volunteer to pay for it?
Indeed they are ai and they are often full of mistakes! I’m the editor for two podcasts using Otter.ai generated transcripts - I wish I had kept a list of the mistakes that made me laugh out loud! I’ve done almost 400 transcripts over the past 5 years and although ai is better now it’s definitely not good enough to publish as is. Humans needed!
02/09/26: Agree, 100%. Having seen 150,000 of them, I've become allergic to videos. Creating transcripts does take more time and incurs additional expense. How to compensate?
Seconded. Don’t join the human centipede of slop. The larger Substacks rtj mentioned are no different from MSM.
Aside from this one, my other favorite Substack is The Liberal Patriot (full disclosure - they're close to my sweet spot politically). 5 or 6 guys who keep the focus on working class economics.
A bit too liberal for me but I’ll give them points for not being insane.
As an early subscriber, I agree. I suspect you will be very successful, because almost no one else is doing this.
Almost?
As in none?
Most definitely. The FP tried to become a broadsheet with broad topics and many subsections and lost my interest. Too much Joe Nocera (any is too much), too many random Douglas Murray musings, too little of things like the deep JK Rowling trans issue profile they once did.
02/09/26: Writers without a sense of humor. A decent headstone inscription.
I want the news rather some rando contributor on theFP dive bomb in on an occassion. I rather read investigative reporting. If I want opinion piece, I would read NYT, or other big national newspaper. But then I don't read opinion pieces, I can form my own. I need real news.
Right? Guardian we do not want.
You know what? When the Guardian tries to do US politics, even with US journalists, they suck. But they do some deep dive reporting into some obscure stories that you don't see elsewhere. And some of them are really very good.
The Guardian does some biased "deep dive" stories, I agree, but they are few and far between. It seems to have devolved into a woke opinion piece rag, although the crossword puzzles are ok. Will not continue to subscribe, it has become a parody of a good newspaper.
02/09/26: In the respect to the U.S., the Guardian never learns from its mistakes. It is astonishing how far they have descended from their esteemed reputation that existed decades ago. It is as if they WANT to fail. And it is possible that whatever they are today is financially subsidized by the UK's and America's enemies (in which case, they can't $$$ fail).
Don Reed - How true. When I took university political science classes 60+ years ago (yes, I'm that ancient), more than one of my professors cited The Manchester Guardian as a reliable source of unbiased, informative, and trust-worthy journalism.
02/10/26: Reading the Guardian today is a daily reminder of how Arnhem (September 17-26, 1944) went wrong from the word "Go." And they EXPORT it to America, as if our daily intake of domestic swill isn't sufficiently poisonous .
WaPo 'journalists' looking for jobs....
02/09/26: The thought of those 13 "climate change reporters" out in the cold produced the most pleasant feeling. Thank you for mentioning the subject! How many of the 300 will end up being "beer donkeys" in Amazon warehouses?
Bwahahahahaha!
They are damaged goods.
ew.
With you on the decline of the other new alts. I can't put my finger on it, why are they slacking? Is it that in the attempt to surpass their previous rivals, they ate the poison parts?—the tainted writers.
I never even got into reading them. It seemed to me that they sort of coalesced around a viewpoint - ie pro-Israel and anti- woke/trans for the FP, or Republicans who hate Trump for the others .
I think Yuri above put a finger on it - slop for clicks and paychecks.
02/09/26: My cherished alibi is that my first priority is reading books. Which is why verbose internet writers at this address are given the bum's rush.
I would add to this request to not feel like you need to cover ANY story du jour. Honestly I could care less about your (Matt's) take on Israel, or whatever. I'd MUCH rather have unexpected muckraking stories like the Minnesota fraud stuff. Anything that reveals the puppet strings and actually has an impact on how we understand the world, versus more hot takes on whatever the internet is freaked out about starting 5 minutes ago.
But I DO like the long form discussions. I like Walter a lot but he tended to steam roll you and I was ALWAYS wanting to hear more from you during ATW. Maybe rotating conversations between you and members of your new staff?.. Written pieces are good of course, but I really like the oral tradition and watching how people reason and navigate in real time, I feel like there's more of a "transmission" there than the polished written word. At least for me.
That's a good point, I'd also agree with you here as well. I mean I'd rather just have many more hours of all Racket based content. I like learning about what's going on via podcasts while I'm doing other things and it's hard to find reliable, interesting, non vitriolic sources.
Plan sounds great, Matt (and Emily!). And yes, it was time for Matt to be less of a one-man band.
Those who don't see journalism as a quest for truth should not be in the profession.
Those who view as advocacy work belong in the 1st or 3rd estate, but nowhere near the 4th.
Agree with this.
Isn't it true now tho that it's expected for news to have a bias? So much so that ground news exists.
I don't think anyone can be superhuman enough to be unbiased. So if you do think you're unbiased, it's likely you are not.
The new landscape is news that confesses to its bias. Disclosure is maximum truth, your take + your bias = your story. Disclose your bias and you are telling more of the truth.
We didn't believe the legacy and cable outlets of being unbiased anyway, but hearing them claim they are is, at best, trying to the reader.
exactly
Ditto!!
"We care if it's true. We don't care why" Not many journos out there who adhere to this, so hoping you continue.
Icare about both. I also care about proposed solutions. No single source can do all three things with clarity - so, yes, start with and hold to the truth. Without the truth, there can be neither a reason why nor a solution forward. When reporting strays from the truth, it lands in opinion, however well or badly argued, and truth gets lost in the dust.
I agree. Matt, looking forward to the new Racket. Best wishes for success!
Very exciting. My view is you and your operation, Catherine Herridge, and Michael Shellenberger are the true investigative reporters today. Without all of you, real news stories would never see the light of day.
I would add Sharyl Attkisson to that list.
Agree. They don’t report every day, so don’t have that added pressure. Katherine just put out an excellent article about the Clintons today.
She did. I read it this morning. Highly recommend
Matt, in all seriousness, I hope that you are taking ample care of yourself and getting enough brain rest following your concussion.
I had one in a car accident decades ago when I was younger, and it had a significant — and continued impact on my memory and cognitive function. Forced me into taking notes on everything.
It needs a lot more rest than I’d given it.
02/09/26: I entirely agree and thank you for bringing up this subject, which hadn't occurred to me. We need a take-your-time, quality Matt Taibbi, not a Frequent Flyer concerned with or even prioritizing quantity.
👍🏻thanks for highlighting this!
Where can I find that article?
CatherineHerridgeReports.com
Or on @X Catherine Herridge
Thank you
Also Alex Berenson and Julie Kelly.
I've recently found Alexander Muse as a good source. I've also been reading Chris Bray for years. He just accepted a position with the Federalist.
02/09/26: Please add Emerald Robinson, Chris Rufo and Julie Kelly, among others, to that list.
I'm excited for Shelly-B's new book. The title sounds a little stock-Ann Coulter/David Horowitz-y, though, and is likely to turn off precisely those who need it most.
Ages ago, ie a few years ago in these modern times lol, I praised your reporting as reporting. While seemingly everywhere else had moved to editorials as news, basically propaganda, you did not. What, when, where, who; that's reporting. The new moto is music to my ears. Thanks Matt!
Thank you Matt. Racket is the best and most honest journalistic reporting on Substack and you sir, are a national treasure.
Truly a national treasure with the courage, honesty, and patriotism of Lincoln!
Hear, Hear!
I love the idea of both sides, if one side isn’t sarcastic and snarky while the other side sounds “reasonable.” I see this in TFP too much. The suggestion of being able to find the money behind every story is awesome! When I see “facts” I want to know who is paying for that particular list of facts. Looking forward to it.
I think the money angle needs to be looked into more.
Absolutely! The money angle is the key to a lot of our problems.
Very Scott Adams
Looking forward to the reboot. I am so sick of “why” journalism; and I hate “truthiness”. Leave it to the NYT and NPR whose audience just wants to know what to say to their friends.
And Fox, et. al. on the other hand.
truer words were never spoken: just wants to know what to say to their friends
Love the idea Matt! Your Russiagate reporting was stellar so I have no doubt this well be great too!
Lying to the public is not a crime actually...
So disappointing that Walter Kirn has suddenly, and at the last minute, announced he's not participating with Matt, and thus ends America This Week, one of the highlights of my week. Sad.
Indeed. It must have gotten ugly if it ended like that. Damn shame. Walter was half the reason I subscribed.
Yes, I really want to know what happened
My guess is that despite holding himself out as not having an ego, Matt probably got tired of Walter being the alpha male in the duo.
Matt is an incredibly talented writer and all around brilliant guy. Great athlete too. However, when God was giving out his gifts, great oratory skills were left out. He’s ok. But not brilliant.
Yeah, plus his voice has a rather annoying timbre, and he uses trite words like "folks" (as in "the folks who murdered so-and-so") and "multiple.". He's got all the talents you list but he's only tolerable to me opposite Walter, who STANDS FOR SOMETHING. It's very upsetting
Matt employs vocal fry like Jessica Tarlov on "The Five" and other young people. It is not a. pleasant sound and should not be used by broadcasters or podcasters. Matt did not show any inclination to improve his voice, however. Matt is a witty and intelligent writer and was made for Racket News. Walter graciously and kindly helped the young pup to make ATW on Racket work. Oh and I refuse to ever use the term "folks."
Looks like we know what happened Walter did get sandbagged. They wanted to cut atw down to one time a week, cut Walter's pay, just for starters. And they just announced this without any warning. So like any person with self-respect, he said no way Jose
I recently asked a youngste if she had received "an invitation," and she looked at me like I had told her I was pregnant. A receptionist told me the doctor would be with me "momentarily," and I replied, "and then what shall we do?"
Yes, whatever the disagreement is, I think it was really bad form for Walter to quit abruptly, in a huff, and leave Matt to face the viewers and cancel the show. I must say Matt initially looking bewildered but quickly moved on to calmly and professionally carry on alone. My admiration for Matt went up several notches. As for Walter, disappointed.
And I really enjoyed Walter's literary take on events. His commentary was refreshing. Always stimulating give and take between two sharp minds.
All we can safely assume is that Walter was going to do the show he was scheduled for, and Matt changed something without telling Walter.
I agree. Something tells me Walter got ambushed.
Honestly, I was sick of him constantly interrupting Matt in the podcast. I was listening less and less as it was becoming more the Walter Kirn show where he gets to draw a comparison to everything happening in the real world to fiction or screenwriting. The book discussions had become more interesting than the discussion of current events for me.
Walter is a partisan hack and Matt's connection to him ruined his credibility. Couldn't be more happy to see him go. Every "take" he had inevitably led to "Trump is right about everything after all!" They too often talked about things they didn't know anything about.
Wait. I must have missed it. What happened and when?
Emily Kopp is an excellent addition! Kudos and all the best to Emily!
Yes, and if her bailiwick is Covid origins, it would be nice to know why clowns like Peter Daszak, Ralph Baric, and their pals haven’t been investigated criminally. Reckless indifference at a minimum. Who the hell tinkers with viruses to make them more lethal and transmissible knowing full well of the potential consequences? And why? Let’s rule out scientific curiosity. These people turned our lives upside down for years and it would be nice to know why.
It would be nice if they were held accountable.
Yes. Doing investigations and reporting facts is fine but if nothing concrete happens as a result, it's like howling into the wind. There have been so many exposes of criminality, corruption and morally bankrupt people/institutions yet here we are. I hope the new Racket helps move the needle from inaction to accountability. Good luck.
I hope so too.
I feel that we are in the Golden Age of No Accountability. It’s, like, an art form or something. A thing terrible in its perfection, like a great white shark, or Hillary Clinton.
02/09/26: PD. RB & Co. should have been indicted by now for accepting bribes from Fauci's government funds ("Lie about the origin of Covid and get your projects funded. Do not = no dough"). Fauci's been "pardoned" but the takers of bribes haven't been.
Baric is apparently a genuinely top-notch scientist.
He specializes in a field (virology) that has clear strategic and defense importance.
As such, it's hardly surprising that he's had "intelligence community" contact for some time.
That being said, I'm fine with our best scientists cooperating with the strategic goals of our country -- defense-related or otherwise.
But what happened with COVID is another matter.
If Baric was simply caught up in "development" and either didn't know or wasn't curious about "policy", I can handle that, but if he was used to help what now clearly appears to have been a disaster-on-wheels-with-coverup, then we should know what his involvement was.
Baric was, from what I can tell (and Kopp would be the person to corroborate or refute), directly involved with the Wuhan Institute for Mircobiological Shenanigans.
I am confident there's a bunch of stories there. Serious, nasty, deep-state stories.
And, of course, there are the clear, ultra-nasty policy decisions:
https://www.rationalground.com/p/six-years-ago-today-they-chose-the
There is an entire chapter on Ralph Baric's involvement in RFK Jr.'s book, The Wuhan Cover-Up.
They didn't commit any legally recognizable crimes because their culpability is likely too indirect. A mock trial might be educational, but they would never participate. What should happen is that those who facilitated the COVID disaster should be named and shamed, the evidence for culpability laid out in as much detail as possible, so that their names will live on in infamy.
Fauci would be the top name. People don't realize how influential he was in the creation and sustainment of the gain-of-function (GoF) research after the experiments of Fouchier and Kawaoka created such a concern and a subsequent schism in the scientific community. Fauci was a pro-GoF guy, and he controlled the biggest pot of money, so his point of view won the day. After a moratorium (which Fauci appears to have ignored by playing with the definition of GoF), GoF research resumed, and the worst fears of the scientists who opposed it came true.
Art, this is pretty well documented, although not by Matt. Gain of function research has gone on for many years and Baric and Daszak acted only at the direction of Tony Fauci and Francis Collins at the NIH. There is also heavy involvement by the military and military intelligence. It’s actually a pretty long and complicated story, but you can find it. I think they’ll escape without jail time bc they were working FOR the government. What all of them deserve in spades is blame and condemnation. I think people in the know do blame them, but nothing will happen to them. Biden even pardoned Fauci.
Yes, but it’s not splitting hairs to say that they were not obligated to act at the direction of anyone. Daszak for example applied for grants I.e. Project Diffuse. Ecohealth Alliance wasn’t a government agency, although who knows how much spook involvement made them somewhat like agents or puppets of government. Baric was a professor at UNC and not obligated to create pandemic agents. I don’t see any legal reason they aren’t subject to prosecution. Fauci did get something like a pardon from persons unknown, but that’s a different story. I honestly don’t know why a gallows shouldn’t be erected on the White House lawn by the current administration for the individuals who did this to the world, and can’t imagine anything else in my lifetime that doesn’t rise to this level of a crime against humanity.
It's not that I disagree with you, I just don't see it happening. And I think RFK is such a giant wrecking ball throughout government science that the dirty cabal behind it all is mostly gone. RFK as head of HHS is the very best thing anyone could ever hope for as he has upended the NIH, FDA, CDC & has served notice to medical slime like the AMA & APA, who both backed gender care for minors. Sorry, off topic. Daszak is definitely in the IC loop, and he got enormous funding for Ecohealth which he used to further GoF & supported the Chinese lab. Baric is not only a UNC scientist, he's the #1 coronavirus researcher in the world, and Art, remember that ALL university scientific funding has come from the NIH for forever. So, basically they come to you to create a GoF humanized coronavirus to defend the US from biological attack, and your funding is on the line, and you've collaborated with the govt before, and you do it for nat'l defense. The crime of setting up the NIH like this was it's an enormous insiders' club and no alternate ideas are allowed, which is how we've not cured cancer nor have an effective dementia drug despite Pharma hoovering up billions of taxpayer dollars following a cold trail. From my understanding, GW Bush appointed Fauci after 9/11 bc the big fear after that was a biological terrorist attack, and GoF becomes legal again, and they're off to the races. And further, remember the military really runs operations of defense, I"ve read that we not only created Covid19 & then outsourced it to China once Obama banned GoF, but that the military then created the vaccine that would be upramped if necessary, and this is the disastrous mRNA vax that has killed & maimed many. Think the MSM will ever tell you that story?
02/09/26: From now on, each time we add something here, it's an Emily post.
Bummer. You and Walter have been destination TV for me for a good long while. I’m not sure you fully understand how important the show has been for a great many people in these confusing and often dark times.
The podcast provides a level of intimacy with your audience that written journalism simply can’t, and this seems important. Not to mention its stood as an accessible gateway for the wary or initiated to learn of the quality of your work.
I’d also add that your televised commentary seems to complement the written articles on your platform quite well, often inspiring deeper penetration into key issues for both, as you and Walter talk matters thru. The added humour will also be missed.
It sounded to me like this was as much Walter's decision as Matt's. These sort of partnerships (like music bands) are hard to maintain, for many reasons. I am just glad I got to enjoy its run.
Count me in! I care, in this order, The Truth, and whose money is behind the sources. Also, never let Walter escape, even to the point of hand cuffing him to his chair and only feeding him in exchange for his commentary. ;-)
I'm in. I really appreciate this site.
Dear Matt Taibbi,
I renewed my subscription with you at a time when I was eliminating and cutting back on all my bills. I am so happy I did, and I did it BECAUSE I TRUST YOU!
I'm with you all the way, and if I waiver I'll let you know why. You're a top tier go-to news reporter, and we welcome your new associates with open arms! Congratulations!
Susan in Moscow PA
Yes - I have pared back subscriptions and streaming services, but unsubscribing to Racket didn't even occur to me. Not an option - Matt's writing reminds me that either I am really not crazy, or if I am in the best of company.
Ellen E. - ". . .reminds me that either I am really not crazy, or if I am in the best of company." Exactly. It just can't be expressed any more succinctly than that.
This is excellent news. My hope is that there will be a sincere effort to track down where and to whom our tax money goes. It does not go to anything that benefits the tax payers and there is so much that is stolen from us that it has essentially created an alternate world for an entirely different class of people to exist in what seems to hover above us. While there are so many noble truths to chase after, I cannot think of one that will literally be as world-shattering as finding the truth about where the largest amount of money in human history disappears to