Michael Malice

Michael Malice (born Michael Krechmer) is a Ukrainian-American author, podcaster, and self-described anarchist without adjectives known for books on North Korea, the New Right, and anarchism. Born in Ukraine and immigrating to the United States as a child, Malice built a career as a ghostwriter and editor before establishing himself as an independent voice in political commentary. His notable books include Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il , a satirical exploration of North Korean dictatorship, and The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics , which examines non-mainstream conservative movements. Malice organized The Anarchist Handbook , compiling essays advocating stateless societies, and authored The White Pill: A Tale of Good and Evil , presenting optimism through historical triumphs over tyranny. As host of the podcast YOUR WELCOME with Michael Malice , he engages guests on topics from authoritarian regimes to domestic policy, emphasizing skepticism toward state power. He has co-authored New York Times bestsellers such as UFC fighter Matt Hughes's Made in America and contributed to celebrity memoirs, while founding the humor publication Overheard in New York . Malice's anarchism calls for abolishing all government institutions, including police and courts, which he argues inherently enable coercion rather than voluntary cooperation.

Michael Malice, born Mikhail Krechmer on July 12, 1976, in Lviv , Ukrainian SSR, grew up in a Jewish family under the Soviet regime. The USSR featured state-enforced atheism , economic shortages, suppression of dissent , and discrimination against Jewish citizens through quotas and restrictions.

In the early 1980s, his family emigrated to the United States as part of the Soviet Jewish refugee wave, settling in Brooklyn , New York. Malice has cited his experiences growing up under the Soviet system as shaping his skepticism toward centralized government authority.

Michael Malice attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he pursued undergraduate studies. During his freshman year, he switched to a business major, selecting it for its perceived practical credentials and employability rather than personal interest. While at Bucknell, Malice encountered libertarian thought through an article in New York magazine that described libertarians' principled consistency as "wacky," sparking his early interest in such ideas alongside formal coursework.

Malice graduated from Bucknell University with a bachelor's degree and did not pursue further formal education.

Malice established himself in media through ghostwriting and co-authoring celebrity books during the 2000s and early 2010s. He co-authored MMA fighter Matt Hughes's autobiography Made in America , which achieved New York Times bestseller status. Similarly, his collaboration with comedian D. L. Hughley on Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years also reached the New York Times bestseller list upon its 2016 release, reflecting work conducted in prior years. He further contributed to Concierge Confidential , a memoir by hotel insider Michael DiScala, which NPR ranked among the top five celebrity books of its release year.

In the mid-2010s, Malice ghostwrote conservative commentator Andrea Tantaros's anti-feminist book Tied Up in Knots: How Getting What We Wanted Made Women Miserable , published in October 2016. Under the agreement, Tantaros was to pay him $150,000 for the project, but Malice, using his legal name Michael Krechmer, filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in October 2016 alleging non-payment of approximately $120,000 owed. The dispute highlighted tensions in their professional relationship, with Tantaros denying full reliance on a ghostwriter while the court unsealed Malice's involvement in 2017.