Abby Ellin is an expert in today's “uncomfortable” issues: trust and treachery, underdogs, duplicity, and gaslighting. Abby summarizes her brand tongue-in-cheek as the “sturm und drang” that people don't like to talk about. In constant demand for her writing and social commentary, she is a regular contributor to the Washington Post and the New York Times, where she was formerly a business columnist. Abby recently collaborated on the Apple Original podcast “Big Time,” a weekly show about larger-than-life criminals whose schemes almost worked, hosted by Steve Buscemi.
Serving as a co-writer, co-producer, and co-narrator for “Big Time,” Abby recounts the story of John Looker, the man who faked brain cancer for over a decade and raised millions for his cancer “treatments” through bikeathon fundraisers.
As a modern woman with varied Renaissance-worthy talents, Abby has gathered accolades with everything she's touched—acclaimed books, award-winning journalism, and Oscar and Emmy-nominated film work.
She was an Executive Producer on the documentary SPEAK, an Official 2025 Sundance Selection, as well as a Producer on Hulu's Emmy-nominated documentary To Live and Die in Alabama, which was co-produced by The NY Times Presents and Left/Right Media. was an Executive Producer and a Host of “Impostors: The Commander,” the second season of the #1 Spotify original podcast series.
Possessing the rare sense of a zeitgeist bloodhound, Abby's finger is often on the pulse well before the mainstream can recognize any shift. She is a regular contributor to the NY Times and profiles the lives and works of con-artists, (actual) artists, actors, politicians, “narcissists,” as well as the latest iteration of dating, women and aging, and the ever-toxic diet culture.
Her book, Duped: Double Lives, False Identities and the Con Man I Almost Married, lays bare her cautionary tales as she urges others to develop a keen sixth sense for trust. She details the path to trusting others, trusting yourself, and finding truth in the balance. Abby knows well the pitfalls when trust goes off the rails, including messy chunks of hope, denial, and embarrassment. Now she passionately gives voice to others who can't recognize or tell their own stories.
Abby chooses to see the hope possible by sweeping away the narcissists, con men, charlatans, gangsters, and just plain bad people dominating headlines, lauded rather than vilified. Why does The Sopranos get more notice than The Good Place? What are the policy implications of normalizing government fraud and deception? Where are we going as a society—Heaven Can Wait or Idiocracy?
Funny, engaging, and insightful, Abby captures audiences with relatable tales of certainty and self-discovery during strange times. Compelling yet relatable stories are the underpinnings of Abby's work as she chronicles life with honesty, wit, and wisdom for all.
Gaslit: Why We're Obsessed With Fraud, Schemes & Con Artists. Everywhere you look these days, another major scam has come to light. Consider the Fyre Festival (2017 and 2025), Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX, Fake heiress Anna Delvey, Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, the Tinder Swindler, every Catphish on dating apps… You get the idea.
Abby Ellin has firsthand experience with fraud\mdash;having been engaged to a real-life Tinder Swindler, so-called “Navy doctor,” and subject of her best-selling book, Duped: Double Lives, False Identities and the Con Man I Almost Married.
In this topical discussion, Abby questions the fundamentals of trust, lying, and self-deception: What makes a good liar? Why do some people lie for no real reason? What's the difference between pathological lies and white lies? And why do we glorify fraudsters over truth-tellers? With questions of truth in the digital age and the shady nature of politics, this talk is needed now more than ever, especially when deception has never been so easy, and the truth never stays hidden for long.
Culture Shock: Taking the Pulse of America. There's no greater way to determine where a society is going than to look at where it's been. And few journalists have had their fingers on the pulse of change as consistently as Abby Ellin.
A regular contributor to the New York Times and Washington Post, Abby offers much-needed insight and sound commentary on our strange and shifting world. In this broad discussion, Abby divulges on the lives and works of con-artists, (actual) artists, actors, politicians, psychics, “narcissists,” as well as the latest iteration of dating trends, women and aging, and the ever-toxic diet culture.
As a Gen Xer, part-time podcaster, on-and-off dieter, and longtime journalist, her experiences provide honesty and humor, wit and wisdom, and much-needed laughs and lessons for all.
Keywords: Whistle blower, deception, lying, false identity, women's issues, lying in social media, double lives, deception and relationships, gaslighting