Mark Ebner has lived every journalist’s dream. He’s a New York Times bestselling author, Hollywood insider and the guy behind some of the most notorious exposés in entertainment history. But behind the bylines and book deals is a story about an industry that chews up even its most fearless voices—and a writer who found a way to keep telling the truth anyway.

In this conversation, Mark and I talk about everything the publishing world doesn’t want you to know—from missing royalty checks and botched releases to what happens when AI starts scraping your life’s work. He opens up about his unlikely friendship with Andrew Breitbart, the chaos of the book business and how he went from bestselling author to private investigator—while somehow staying one of the funniest, most unflinchingly honest people I’ve ever met.

Episode Highlights

The truth about what it really means to hit the New York Times list (and why it doesn’t make you rich)
How HarperCollins mishandled his biggest book deal—and what it taught him about the industry’s dysfunction
The unexpected camaraderie between a radical leftist and a far-right pundit and how it produced Hollywood, Interrupted
Why bookstores literally killed one of his bestsellers by shelving it in the wrong section
The burnout and betrayal that pushed him to leave journalism and launch a private investigation firm
His take on AI, intellectual theft and the future (or end) of nonfiction writing
The celebrity scandals, lawsuits and cult investigations that defined his career—and why he’s done telling other people’s stories
The strange parallels between chasing leads as a PI and chasing truth as a reporter
The book he still wants to write—and why he might call it Dirtbag