Hi, I’m Michael Ellsberg. Currently, I’m writing Ishtar’s Angels: A Comedic Erotic Memoir Novel, about a neo-pagan erotic rebellion against Christian nationalism in America. I’m also a purveyor of “heart-connected spicy raunchy stand-up comedy,” mostly performing at private events in the SF Bay Area sex-positive party scene. See my comedy here (and on all my socials, linked below).

I am the co-editor (with Jan Thomas) of Truth and Consequence: Unpublished Writing of Daniel Ellsberg, 1971-2021, forthcoming from Bloomsbury, December 2025.

Previously, I wrote three books on personal and career development: The Education of Millionaires: Everything You Won’t Learn in College About How to Be Successful (Penguin, 2011); The Last Safe Investment: Spending Now to Increase Your True Wealth Forever co-authored with Bryan Franklin (Penguin, 2016); and The Power of Eye Contact (HarperCollins, 2010).

I was born in San Francisco in 1977, grew up in Berkeley, and graduated from Brown in 1999 with a degree—that I’ve never used—in International Relations. I now live back in Berkeley.

Find me and my comedy on social media here: Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and SoundCloud.

Other Stuff I’ve Done:

• The most widely-read thing I’ve ever written is How I Overcame Bipolar II (and Saved My Own Life) on Forbes.com. (1M+ views)
• I wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, Will Dropouts Save America?
• I’ve spoken at Google twice, the first time about The Education of Millionaires, and the second time about The Last Safe Investment. I’ve also spoken at Dartmouth, at Awesomeness Fest, at the Thiel Fellows Retreat, at TEDxSF, at the Wanderlust festival, and at the Commonwealth Club of California, among other places.
• While I’m proud of all my talks, the best one I’ve given, in my opinion, and on the stage of Jazz @ Lincoln Center, for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
• I collaborated with Dr. Marc Gerstein on Flirting With Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental (Union Square Press, 2008)
• Before my books, I was the creator of Eye Gazing Parties, a series of singles events based on eye contact, which attracted press coverage from the New York Times, Elle, CBS News, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco magazine, Nerve.com, the Washington Post, and on Tim Ferriss’s blog.

Projects:

• I am an advocate and activist for the civil liberties, free speech, labor rights, human rights, decriminalization and destigmatization of adult, consenting sex workers, and erotic professionals. I’ve written about these issues on my blog here and for the Daily Beast.
• I’m the archivist for independent singer-songwriter-pianist Adey Bell. Her first studio album is Silver Wheel. Listen and weep.
• I edit and maintain my father’s website Ellsberg.Net