Rachel Maddow is host of the Emmy Award-winning “The Rachel Maddow Show” which airs Mondays at 9pm ET on MSNBC. “The Rachel Maddow Show” features Maddow’s take on the biggest stories of the day, political and otherwise, including interviews with guests from all sides of the issues, in-depth analysis and more.
Maddow has written, produced and hosted four original podcasts for MSNBC – “Rachel Maddow Presents: Bag Man” in 2018, which won a DuPont Columbia Award and was nominated for a Peabody Award; “Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra” in October 2022, which received the first-ever Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism for a podcast in 2023 and was optioned in 2022 by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment to be made into a feature film; the six-episode series “Rachel Maddow Presents: Deja News,” which debuted in June 2023 at #1 on Apple Podcasts; and most recently, the eight-part second installment of “Ultra” which also debuted at #1 on Apple Podcasts in June 2024.
“Bag Man,” “Ultra,” “Deja News,” and “Ultra Season Two” were all chart-topping series, dominantly holding the #1 position on Apple Podcasts for multiple weeks in a row.
Maddow produced her first-ever documentary “From Russia With Lev” out of her production company, Surprise Inside, in 2024. The documentary, which was acquired by MSNBC Films, made its world premiere at the inaugural “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024” live event on Sept. 7, 2024 in Brooklyn, followed by a run of select screenings in New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC. The film had its wide release on MSNBC on Sept. 20, reaching 2.2 million viewers. The doc became the most-watched documentary on MSNBC in more than four years. “From Russia With Lev” was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy Award in the Outstanding Politics & Government Documentary category.
Maddow is the author of “DRIFT: The Unmooring of American Military Power,” which debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list in March 2012, as well as “Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth,” which was released in October 2019 and also #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. Her latest book, “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism,” debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list in October 2023.
When “The Rachel Maddow Show” launched in September 2008, it was the most successful show launch in MSNBC history, immediately boosting ratings in its time slot. “The Rachel Maddow Show” was named one of the top shows of the decade by the Washington Post in 2009. Maddow was also named a “Breakout Star of 2008” by The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times named her to the “Best of Television 2008” and she was named one of the “Top Ten Political Newcomers of 2008” by Politico.com.
“The Rachel Maddow Show” has won three Emmy Awards including for Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis (2011, 2017) and Outstanding Live Interview (2017). Maddow has received in total six Emmy nominations including for Outstanding Host – News Program – Individual Achievement (2009), Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis (2011, 2017 and 2018, 2019) and Outstanding Live Interview (2017). Maddow has been honored by the Interfaith Alliance with the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award and received the 2012 John Steinbeck Award from the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose University. She has received two Gracie Allen Awards including Outstanding Host – News/Non-fiction in 2012. “The Rachel Maddow Show” has been nominated twice by the Television Critics Association for the “Outstanding Achievement in News and Information” category and the show took home a GLAAD award in 2010 and 2017. In 2019, “The Rachel Maddow Show” won a Gracie Award in the "Interactive Media" category for “Bag Man,” and a Shorty Award for Best Branded Podcast. The podcast has also been nominated for a Peabody Award for Best Radio/Podcast.
Maddow was named an MSNBC political analyst in January of 2008. She first gained national prominence as a host on Air America Radio, where she worked from its inception in 2004. Prior to joining AAR she worked for WRNX in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and WRSI in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Maddow received a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford University. She earned her doctorate in political science at Oxford University, which she attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. She lives in New York City and Massachusetts with her partner Susan.