Rachel Maddow

Rachel Anne Maddow ( ; born April 1, 1973) is an American television news program host and liberal political commentator. She hosts The Rachel Maddow Show, a weekly television show on MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), and serves as the cable network's special event co-anchor. Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010.

Maddow has received multiple Emmy Awards for her broadcasting work; in 2021, she also received a Grammy Award for the audiobook version of Blowout (2019).

Maddow holds a bachelor's degree in public policy from Stanford University and a doctorate in political science from the University of Oxford and is the first openly lesbian anchor to host a major prime-time news program in the United States.

Early life and education

Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father, Robert B. Maddow, is a former United States Air Force captain who resigned his commission the year before her birth and then worked as a lawyer for East Bay Municipal Utility District. Her mother, Elaine (née Gosse), was a school program administrator.

Maddow has said her family is "very, very Catholic" and she grew up in a community that her mother has described as "very conservative".

Referring to John Hughes films, Maddow has described herself as being "a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl" in high school. While a freshman, she was outed as a lesbian by the college newspaper when an interview with her was published before she could tell her parents.

She earned a degree in public policy at Stanford in 1994. She was the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship and began her postgraduate study in 1995 at Lincoln College, Oxford. She had also been awarded a Marshall Scholarship the same year but turned it down in favor of the Rhodes. This made her the first openly lesbian winner of the Rhodes Scholarship. in politics at the University of Oxford.

Radio

Maddow's first job as a radio host was in 1999 at WRNX (100.9 FM) in Holyoke, Massachusetts, then home to "The Dave in the Morning Show". She entered and won a contest the station held to find a new second lead for the show's principal host, Dave Brinnel. After the WRNX show, she hosted Big Breakfast on WRSI in Northampton, Massachusetts, for two years, leaving in 2004 to join the new Air America radio network.

Television

In June 2005, Maddow became a regular panelist on the MSNBC show Tucker, hosted by Tucker Carlson. in Rockefeller Center]]

Olbermann advocated for Maddow to host her own show at MSNBC, and he was eventually able to persuade Phil Griffin to give her Dan Abrams' time slot.

The Rachel Maddow Show

In August 2008, MSNBC announced The Rachel Maddow Show would replace Verdict with Dan Abrams in the network's 9:00 p.m. slot the following month.

The initial reviews for the show were positive. Los Angeles Times journalist Matea Gold wrote that Maddow "finds the right formula on MSNBC", She has been called by Rolling Stone as "America's wonkiest anchor" who "cut through the chaos of the Trump administrationand became the most trusted name in the news." Maddow has argued that these issues "are the most serious scandals that any president has ever faced." She encouraged people to get vaccinated, for the benefit of themselves and others.

Maddow took a hiatus from her show from February to April 2022 to coincide with production on the film adaptation of Bag Man. As of May 2022, her show has moved to a weekly broadcast on Mondays.

On January 13, 2025, MSNBC announced that Maddow would temporarily return to hosting her show five-nights a week to cover the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second presidency. Maddow returned to hosting on Mondays only again beginning on May 5, 2025.

Herring Networks, Inc. v. Rachel Maddow, et al.

On September 10, 2019, the One America News Network (OAN) filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California against Maddow for $10 million, after Maddow described the network as "paid Russian propaganda" on her program on July 22. Maddow had repeated a Daily Beast story which identified an OAN employee as also working for Sputnik News, which is owned by the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya, and has been accused of deliberately disseminating disinformation, and is often described as an outlet for propaganda. Also named in the suit were Comcast, MSNBC, and NBCUniversal Media.

On May 22, 2020, the case was dismissed by Judge Cynthia Bashant, who found that "the contested statement is an opinion that cannot serve as the basis for a defamation". OAN parent company Herring Networks said they planned to appeal.

After considering Herring's appeal, in August 2021, the decision in favor of Maddow was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. The Court of Appeals also affirmed a trial court ruling that requires Herring to pay Maddow's attorneys' fees.

Writing

Maddow wrote Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power (2012) about the role of the military in postwar American politics. Upon its release, Drift reached the first position of The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction.

In December 2013, The Washington Post announced that Maddow would write a monthly opinion column for the paper, contributing one article per month over a period of six months.

On March 2, 2018, The New York Times published Maddow's first crossword puzzle, in collaboration with Joe DiPietro. On the eve of its publication, she said: "This is kind of it, like there will never be a baby, but there's this freaking crossword puzzle, and I am very, very excited about it."

Maddow's second book Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth was published in October 2019. In March 2021, the audiobook version of Blowout, recorded by Maddow, won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Her third book, Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House, written with Michael Yarvitz, was published in December 2020.

Maddow's fourth book, Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism was published on October 17, 2023. It is based on her podcast Ultra.

Podcasting

In October 2018, Maddow launched the podcast Bag Man, produced with MSNBC and focusing on the 1973 political scandal surrounding Vice President Spiro Agnew. A film adaptation of the podcast was announced to be in production in 2022, with Ben Stiller attached to direct and Lorne Michaels to produce, with Maddow set to be an executive producer. A few months later, in December, famed filmmaker Steven Spielberg's company optioned film rights to the series.

Public image and publicity

thumb|upright|Maddow in 2008

A 2011 Hollywood Reporter profile of Maddow said she was able to deliver news "with agenda, but not hysteria". A Newsweek profile said, "At her best, Maddow debates ideological opponents with civility and persistence ... but for all her eloquence, she can get so wound up ripping Republicans that she sounds like another smug cable partisan". The Baltimore Sun critic Howard Kurtz accused Maddow of acting like "a lockstep party member". The editors of The New Republic similarly criticized hernaming her among the "most over-rated thinkers" of 2011, they called her program "a textbook example of the intellectual limitations of a perfectly settled perspective".

On awarding her the Interfaith Alliance's Faith and Freedom Award named for Walter Cronkite, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy remarked that "Rachel's passionate coverage of the intersection of religion and politics exhibits a strong personal intellect coupled with constitutional sensitivity to the proper boundaries between religion and government."

Distinguishing herself from others on the left, Maddow has said she is a "national security liberal" and, in a different interview, that she is not "a partisan".</blockquote>

During the 2008 presidential election, Maddow did not formally support any candidate. Concerning Barack Obama's candidacy, Maddow said: "I have never and still don't think of myself as an Obama supporter, either professionally or actually."

Maddow has suggested that the alleged Trump-Russia collusion has continued beyond the 2016 presidential election. Regarding the Trump-Russia investigation, Maddow said: "If the Trump presidency is knowingly the product of a foreign-intelligence operation, that is a full-stop national crisis."

In December 2018, Maddow criticized President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.

In July 2020, Maddow predicted that unemployment figures covering the previous month would be "absolutely terrible"; after the figures were released, showing the largest growth in employment in a single month in U.S. history, Politico named Maddow's prediction one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year".

In May 2021, former New York Times reporter Barry Meier published Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies, which cited the Steele dossier as a case study in how reporters can be manipulated by private intelligence sources. Meier named Maddow as one example.

Personal life

Maddow splits her time between Manhattan in New York City, and West Cummington, Massachusetts, with her partner, artist Susan Mikula. In a 2012 interview, she stated, "It doesn't take away from my joy or my work or my energy, but coping with depression is something that is part of the everyday way that I live and have lived for as long as I can remember." She has explained why she decided to speak about it in interviews: "It was a hard call ... Because it was nobody's business. But it had been helpful to me to learn about the people who were surviving, were leading good lives, even though they were dealing with depression. So I felt it was a bit of a responsibility to pay that back."

Maddow said, "There are three things I do to stay sane: I exercise, I sleepI'm a good sleeperand I fish."

In 2021, Maddow had surgery to remove a cancerous skin growth from her neck.

Honors and awards

2023 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism for her podcast, Ultra. “Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honored journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good. Recipients exemplify reportorial excellence, storytelling skill, and social justice impact.” This was the first time the prize has gone to a podcast.
2020 Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for her podcast, Bagman. The award “honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism.” It's "considered by some to be the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, another program administered by Columbia University."
2018 Peabody Award nomination for her podcast, Bagman (“In-depth investigation and historic look by Rachel Maddow and Mike Yarvitz at the forced resignation of Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, the brash politician who waged an all-out assault on the public officials who uncovered his criminal past and those who reported on it.”)
2017 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Live Interview category for The Rachel Maddow Show segment "One-on-One with Kellyanne Conway".
2017 Emmy Award in the Outstanding News Discussion & Analysis category for The Rachel Maddow Show story "An American Disaster: The Crisis in Flint".
2011 Emmy Award in the Outstanding News Discussion & Analysis category for The Rachel Maddow Show segments "Good Morning Landlocked Central Asia!".
Maddow was named in Out magazine's "Out 100" list of the "gay men and women who moved culture" in 2008.
In July 2010, Maddow was presented with a Maggie Award for her ongoing reporting of healthcare reform, the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and the anti-abortion movement.
In August 2010, Maddow won the Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom Award, which was presented by the Interfaith Alliance. Past honorees included Larry King, Tom Brokaw, and the late Peter Jennings.
Maddow was named Outstanding Host at the 2012 Gracie Allen Awards
In December 2017 The Advocate named her as a finalist for its "Person of the Year".
In 2021, Fast Company included her on their second Queer 50 list.
In late 2024, Maddow was named one of America's 10 best TV news journalists by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. The organization, purveyors of the Dorian Awards to mainstream and LGBTQ-themed content, said its "members clearly appreciate how Maddow lays out information and exposes disinformation in her fights against kleptocracy and fascism."

Grammy Awards

{|class="wikitable unsortable"

! Year

! Award

! Nominated work

! Result

| align=center| 2013

| rowspan="2"| Best Spoken Word Album

| Drift

| rowspan="2" align=center| <br /><br /> || Yes

Other honors

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"

! style="width:20%;"| Location

! style="width:20%;"| Date

! style="width:40%;"| Institution

! style="width:20%;"| Award

| California || February 2012 || San Jose State University || John Steinbeck Award

| New York || 2012 || Alliance for Women in Media || Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Host

In popular culture

Tracey Ullman played Maddow in her Showtime comedy series Tracey Ullman's State of the Union. Maddow invited Ullman on her show and interviewed her in January 2010.

Abby Elliott and Melissa Villasenor have both played Maddow in sketches on Saturday Night Live.

Maddow appeared as a character on the November 3, 2013 episode of The Simpsons, "Four Regrettings and a Funeral".

Maddow appeared at the start of "Trump: The Rusical" on RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 as the star of a mini-challenge where the contestants had to dress up as Maddow and read from a teleprompter.

Maddow is the voice of Vesper Fairchild in the television series Batwoman. In March 2010 she wrote the introduction to the Batwoman: Elegy trade paperback, in which she noted her appreciation for the work of writer Greg Rucka. She appeared as herself on the Netflix series House of Cards.

Maddow also makes a cameo as herself in the 2023 romance film Red, White & Royal Blue.