Who is Rachel Maddow?
Rachel Maddow is an American journalist working as a news host and political commentator. She hosts the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC News. She was born on April 1, 1973, in Castrol Valley, California.
Robert B. Maddow, her father, is a former captain in the United States Air Force. The year before she was born, he quit his job as a captain and became a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Elaine, her mother, was in charge of school programs. David is her only older brother.
Her paternal grandfather was from a Jewish family that came to the United States from the Russian Empire. The family’s original surname was Medvedof. Her paternal grandmother came from the Netherlands. Maddow’s mother is from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and she is English and Irish.
Maddow has stated that her family is “very, very Catholic” and that she was raised in a “very conservative” community by her mother. Maddow competed in swimming, volleyball, and basketball while she was in high school. Maddow has said that she was “a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl” in high school, referring to John Hughes films.
She attended Stanford University after earning her high school diploma from Castro Valley. She came out as a lesbian as a freshman when the college newspaper published an interview with her before she could tell her parents. She earned a degree in public policy at Stanford in 1994.
She received the John Gardner Fellowship at graduation. She started her postgraduate studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1995, after receiving a Rhodes Scholarship. In the same year, she also received a Marshall Scholarship, but she declined it in favor of Rhodes.
She became the first openly lesbian Rhodes Scholarship winner as a result. She graduated from Oxford University with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in politics in 2001. HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons is the title of her thesis; Lucia Zedner was her boss.
Rachel Maddow Date of Birth/Age
She was born on April 1, 1973, in Castrol Valley, California. She is 50 years old as of 2023.
Rachel Maddow Height
She stands at an approximate height of 5 ft 11 in / 180 cm tall.
Rachel Maddow Parents and Siblings
Robert B. Maddow, her father, is a former captain in the United States Air Force. The year before she was born, he quit his job as a captain and became a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Elaine, her mother, was in charge of school programs. David is her only older brother.
Her paternal grandfather was from a Jewish family that came to the United States from the Russian Empire. The family’s original surname was Medvedof. Her paternal grandmother came from the Netherlands. Maddow’s mother is from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and she is English and Irish.
Maddow has stated that her family is “very, very Catholic” and that she was raised in a “very conservative” community by her mother. Maddow competed in swimming, volleyball, and basketball while she was in high school. Maddow has said that she was “a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl” in high school, referring to John Hughes films.
Rachel Maddow Spouse/Wife
She has her partner, Susan Mikula, who is an artist. The two met in 1999 when Rachel was working on her doctoral dissertation. She came out as a lesbian as a freshman when the college newspaper published an interview with her before she could tell her parents.
Rachel Maddow Kids/Children | Rachel Maddow Daughter
Maddow does not have any biological child of her own due to her sexuality as a lesbian.
Rachel Maddow Education
She attended Stanford University after earning her high school diploma from Castro Valley. She started her postgraduate studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1995, after receiving a Rhodes Scholarship. In the same year, she also received a Marshall Scholarship, but she declined it in favor of Rhodes.
She became the first openly lesbian Rhodes Scholarship winner as a result. She graduated from Oxford University with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in politics in 2001. HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons is the title of her thesis; Lucia Zedner was her boss.
Rachel Maddow Career
In 1999, Maddow began her career as a radio host at Holyoke, Massachusetts’ WRNX (100.9 FM), which was then home to “The Dave in the Morning Show.” She participated in and won a contest that the station held to find a new second lead for Dave Brinnel, the show’s primary host.
She left the WRNX show in 2004 to join the new Air America, where she hosted Big Breakfast for two years in Northampton, Massachusetts. Up until the show’s cancellation in March 2005, she co-hosted Unfiltered with Chuck D, a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy, and Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show.
The Rachel Maddow Show, Maddow’s weekday two-hour radio program, began airing two weeks after Unfiltered was canceled in April 2005; It added a third hour in March 2008, broadcasting from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. EST, with David Bender filling in for Maddow while she was on TV assignment for the call-in segment.
Maddow launched a nightly MSNBC television program in 2008, bringing the show’s duration back to two hours. After signing a new contract with Air America in 2009, Maddow returned to the hour-long 5:00 a.m. slot. Maddow began participating on the MSNBC show Tucker, which Tucker Carlson hosted, on a regular basis in June 2005.
She appeared as a guest on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now before and after the election in November 2006; She also worked as a correspondent for The Advocate Newsmagazine, a short-form LGBT newsmagazine for Logo based on articles from The Advocate.
Maddow joined MSNBC as a political analyst in January 2008, and she appeared frequently as a panelist on MSNBC’s Race for the White House with David Gregory, MSNBC’s election coverage, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Maddow hosted Countdown with Keith Olbermann as a substitute host in 2008, marking her debut on MSNBC.
On air, Maddow described herself as “nervous.” After Keith Olbermann praised her work, she was invited back to host Countdown the following month. She hosted the news program with the highest rating among people between the ages of 25 and 54. In the “World’s Best People” segment of his show, Olbermann ranked Maddow third because of her success.
Maddow once more substituted for several broadcasts in July 2008. Additionally, Maddow took over as host of Race for the White House in place of David Gregory. Olbermann started pushing for Maddow to get her own MSNBC show, and he got Phil Griffin to give her Dan Abrams’ time slot.
How Much Does Rachel Maddow Earn?
Maddow’s annual MSNBC salary was $7 million. In August 2021 she signed a new contract with MSNBC that reportedly upped her salary to $30 million annually.
How Much is Rachel Maddow Worth?
Maddow has an estimated net worth of $90 million.
Rachel Maddow Show MSNBC
The Rachel Maddow Show took over from Dan Abrams on MSNBC’s 9:00 p.m. slot the following month, the network announced in August 2008. The show consistently topped Countdown as the highest-rated MSNBC program after its debut. The audience for Maddow’s program doubled that hour after airing for more than a month. Maddow became the first host of a primetime news program in the United States who was openly gay or lesbian thanks to this show.
The show received favorable initial reviews. According to Matea Gold, a journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Maddow “finds the right formula on MSNBC,” and The Guardian declared that Maddow was now the “star of America’s cable news.” David Bauder, a columnist for the Associated Press, described the Olbermann-Maddow shows as a “liberal two-hour block,” describing her as “Olbermann’s political soul mate.”
Maddow stated that she does not wish to discuss her friendship with Fox News’s Roger Ailes, whom she sought out for technical advice, because “I don’t want anybody else to use it.” He did something nice for me, and it has been helpful to me; it enabled me to gain an advantage over my rivals.”
MSNBC surpassed CNN and Fox News in terms of news ratings in the middle of May 2017, when there were a number of controversies involving the Trump administration. The Rachel Maddow Show was the No. 1 program for the week of May 15. for the first time, a program other than sports on cable. Rolling Stone has referred to her as “America’s wonkiest anchor” who “cut through the chaos of the Trump administration – and became the most trusted name in the news.” She has received this description.
“These are the most serious scandals that any president has ever faced,” Maddow has argued. The goal of Maddow’s show is to “increase the amount of useful information in the world,” she has stated. She stated that this is her policy for covering the Trump administration: Focus on what they do instead of what they say because it’s easier to cover a story that’s moving quickly when you’re not distracted by the White House denials.” On air,
Maddow has referred to this long story as the “A-block,” and she frequently begins a broadcast with one that is longer than 20 minutes. This frequently begins with movie clips and other media from previous years or decades that she eventually links to the current news.
She has mentioned this procedure: When it comes time to speak, having something to say is what determines whether or not you are good at this job. Since you must say something when that light continues … I need to have a comment that individuals don’t definitely know each and every evening, each and every section, and that makes it hard to get the cycle right since that is the main thing I care about.” Between February and April of 2022, Maddow took a break from her show to coincide with the filming of Bag Man. Her show will now air on Mondays once a week beginning in May 2022.
Rachel Maddow Ultra Podcast
In October 2018, Maddow started the podcast Bag Man created with MSNBC and zeroed in on the 1973 political embarrassment encompassing VP Spiro Agnew. In 2022, it was announced that a movie based on the podcast would be made.
Ben Stiller would be the director, Lorne Michaels would be the producer, and Rachel Maddow would be the executive producer. Ultra, a podcast about right-wing extremism in the United States during the 1940s and World War II, including the 1944 sedition trial, was launched in October 2022 by Maddow and MSNBC.
Rachel Maddow Hiatus
When MSNBC host Rachel Maddow returned to her show after a five-week absence, she jokingly reintroduced herself to her viewers. From that time on, Maddow will only host her MSNBC show on Monday nights. She signed a new contract with the network that allows her to work on other projects for MSNBC and NBC, including a Ben Stiller-directed film adaptation of her award-winning podcast Bag Man.
For MSNBC, where Maddow has been hosting her popular show for nearly 14 years, it is, in some ways, the end of an era. It has grown to become the network’s most popular show, drawing more than 2 million viewers on a regular basis, competing with Fox News host Sean Hannity on most nights (CNN is still a distant third).
Ratings fell during Maddow’s absence earlier that year, which is not surprising. At 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, MSNBC has yet to announce a permanent host to take Maddow’s place. However, on those nights, they are renaming the show MSNBC Prime, a further indication that Maddow’s move is permanent.
Rachel Maddow Leaving MSNBC | Rachel Maddow Replacement
MNSBC named Alex Wagner as Maddow’s new replacement after an intermittent hiatus during which she concentrated on her podcast and other projects. While Maddow takes over on Monday nights and devotes her remaining time to other projects, Wagner will host the show four days a week.
“That is the plan at this time, but we will see how things go,” Maddow informed viewers. “Like late-night hosts sometimes go on hiatus on their shows, I’m going to go on so that us here for a little bit from this show, so I can work on some of those other projects,” Maddow stated on her show in February. Alex Wagner has previously held a daytime position for MSNBC.
She went on to write for CBS News and The Atlantic, but she came back to MSNBC in 2021. She has replaced Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, and other prominent personalities as hosts since her return. The New York Times reports that MSNBC President Rashida Jones spoke about Wagner’s political background and demeanor.
Rachel Maddow Long Hair
Rachel Maddow Awards and Honors
- 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.
- Maddow was voted “Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year (American)” in AfterEllen’s 2008 Visibility Awards.
- Maddow won a Gracie Award in 2009, presented by the American Women in Radio and Television.
- In 2009, Maddow was nominated for GLAAD’s 20th Annual Media Awards for a segment of her MSNBC show, “Rick Warren, Change To Believe In?”, in the Outstanding TV Journalism Segment category.
- On March 28, 2009, Maddow received a Proclamation of Honor from the California State Senate, presented in San Francisco by California State Senator Mark Leno.
- In April 2009, she was listed as No. 4 in Out magazine’s Annual Power 50 List.
- Maddow placed sixth in the “2009 AfterEllen.com Hot 100” list (May 11, 2009) and third in its “2009 Hot 100: Out Women” version.
- Maddow was included on a list of openly gay media professionals in The Advocate’s “Forty under 40” issue of June/July 2009.
- In 1994, Maddow received an Honorable Mention in the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Prize in Ethics.
- In June 2009, Maddow’s MSNBC show was the only cable news show nominated for a Television Critics Association award in the Outstanding Achievement in News and Information category.
- In March 2010, Maddow won at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in the category of Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine for her segment, “Uganda Be Kidding Me”.
- In May 2010, Maddow was the 2010 commencement speaker and was given an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
- In July 2010, Maddow was presented with a Maggie Award for her ongoing reporting on 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.
- In February 2012, Maddow was presented the John Steinbeck Award by the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University.
- Maddow was named Outstanding Host at the 2012 Gracie Allen Awards
- On October 5, 2017, her MSNBC show won two Emmy Awards, for coverage of the tainted water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and for Maddow’s interview with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
- 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.
Rachel Maddow Books
- Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House
- Blowout (book)
- Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
Rachel Maddow Twitter
MSNBC News
Rachel works at MSNBC News where she serves alongside her fellow anchors, reporters, and meteorologists such as;
- Brian Williams
- Craig Melvin
- Tamron Hall
- Kasie Hunt
- Stephanie Ruhle
- Katy Tur
- Ali Vitali
- Alicia Menendez
- Steve Kornacki
- Alex Witt