Rachel Maddow
Biography
Rachel Maddow (born April 1, 1973, in Castro Valley, California, U.S.) is an American political commentator, television host, and radio personality best known as the host of "The Rachel Maddow Show" (2008– ) on the cable news channel MSNBC. Maddow grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with her father, an attorney, and her mother, a school administrator. She attended Stanford University, where she earned a B.A. in public policy in 1994. As a senior she received the John Gardner Fellowship for public service, which allowed her to work with the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco and become involved in prison AIDS advocacy. During her time at Stanford she publicly came out as a lesbian by posting an open letter throughout her dormitory. In 1995 Maddow went to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She completed her doctorate (D.Phil.) in politics in 2001. Her dissertation examined HIV/AIDS and health care reform in British and American prisons. Before finishing her degree, Maddow returned to the United States and settled in western Massachusetts. While continuing her prison AIDS advocacy and completing her dissertation, she held a variety of jobs. Her broadcasting career began after she answered an open audition at a local radio station in Holyoke, Massachusetts, for a “news girl” on a morning program. She won the position and served as the host’s on-air sidekick before eventually receiving her own show on a Northampton station. In 2004 a friend passed recordings of Maddow’s work to producers at Air America, a newly formed liberal talk radio network. She was hired as a news reader and soon became co-host of "Unfiltered" with Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. After the program ended in 2005, she was given her own weekday program, "The Rachel Maddow Show," which later expanded from one hour to two. Through her radio work she developed a reputation as a knowledgeable and policy-focused commentator. While continuing on radio, Maddow began appearing on MSNBC in 2005 as a guest on Tucker Carlson’s political talk program, where she frequently debated conservative viewpoints. Over the following years she appeared regularly on various cable news and political discussion programs. After Carlson’s show ended in 2008, Maddow became a frequent guest host on MSNBC’s "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Her television program, "The Rachel Maddow Show," premiered on MSNBC on September 8, 2008, combining news coverage, political commentary, and interviews with figures from politics, culture, and academia. The program quickly became one of the network’s most prominent political shows. In addition to broadcasting, Maddow has written several books. Her first, "Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power" (2012), examined U.S. military policy since the Vietnam War. She later published "Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth" (2019), about the global oil and gas industry, and "Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House" (2020), written with Michael Yarvitz and based on her podcast about former U.S. vice president Spiro Agnew.
Known For

The Simpsons

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Daily Show

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Late Night with Seth Meyers
All Movies (23)
- The American Vice President: Rethinking a Political Afterthought2024 · as Self
- From Russia with Lev2024 · as Self (archive footage)
- Stormy2024 · as Self
- Serving in Secret: Love, Country, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell2023 · as Self
- Man on the Run2023 · as Self (archive footage)
- Red, White & Royal Blue2023 · as Rachel Maddow
- Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn2023 · as Self (archive footage)
- Feels Good Man2020 · as Self (archive footage)
- Pandemic: The People, The Conspiracy, The Journey2020
- The Fight2020 · as Self
- Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins2019 · as Self
- A Greater Society2018 · as Self (archive footage)
- RBG2018 · as Self (archive footage)
- The Occupation of the American Mind2016 · as Self (archive footage)
- The Muslims Are Coming!2013 · as Self
- All the President's Men Revisited2013 · as Self (uncredited)
- Greedy Lying Bastards2013 · as Self (archive footage)
- Hating Breitbart2012 · as Self
- The Ides of March2011 · as Rachel Maddow
- Day of Destruction, Decade of War2011 · as Host
- Miss Representation2011 · as Self
- The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist2010 · as Self
- Left of the Dial2005 · as Self
All TV Shows (29)
- Prime: Weekend2024 · as Self - Host
- Away2020 · as Rachel Maddow
- Visible: Out on Television2020 · as Self
- Batwoman2019 · as Vesper Fairchild (voice)
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self - Guest
- Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self
- Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self - Guest
- Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self - Guest
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self - Guest
- Alpha House2013 · as Rachel Maddow
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen2009 · as Self - Guest
- The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien2009 · as Self - Guest
- Late Night with Jimmy Fallon2009 · as Self - Guest
- RuPaul's Drag Race2009 · as Self - Special Guest
- The Rachel Maddow Show2008 · as Self - Hostess
- 30 Rock2006 · as Rachel Maddow
- Ugly Betty2006 · as Rachel Maddow
- The Colbert Report2005
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show2003 · as Self
- Real Time with Bill Maher2003 · as Self
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self - Guest
- The View1997 · as Self
- The Daily Show1996 · as Self
- Late Show with David Letterman1993 · as Self - Guest
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno1992
- The Simpsons1989 · as Rachel Maddow (voice)
- American Experience1988 · as Self