Rachel Maddow is a favorite of most liberals and since Donald Trump was elected president, she’s enjoyed some much-deserved success for her coverage of the Trump/Russia scandal. From Adweek:
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow had the most-watched cable news show among younger viewers in Q2 2017. The network was No. 2 overall, behind Fox News, and saw +86 percent viewer growth in prime time and +73 percent growth for full day viewing.
How much do we know about her? There’s a lot more to this amazing woman than most of us know! Read on to feed your Rachel obsession.
1. She was outed as a lesbian when she was a freshman at Stanford University.
She gave an interview, but the school paper published the story before she had a chance to tell her parents.
3. Her parents initially struggled to reconcile her sexuality with their Catholic faith.
“It took a while for them to get over it. My family’s very, very Catholic, so that was part of the initial upset. But I actually think that having a really strong faith is part of the reason they got over it—despite Catholic teaching being very anti-gay. Having a faith tradition was helpful for them and gave them the strength to get over this difficult thing.”
2. She isn’t concerned about her physical appearance.
“I’m not an anchorbabe, and I’m never going to be. My goal is to the physical appearance stuff in such a way that it’s not comment-worthy.”
I can sooooooooo relate to this.
3. And she’s a California girl who doesn’t think she’s pretty.
“I’m not that pretty. Women on television are over-the-top, beauty-pageant gorgeous. That’s not the grounds on which I am competing.”
We think she’s gorgeous, and judging from her high school photo below, always has been.
4. In fact, you can use her to reassure your kids that popularity isn’t everything. (it’s true)
5. She really really really wants to interview former Vice President Dick Cheney.
She is so eager to interview Cheney that she actually dedicated her book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, to him.
6. She has a black lab.
Poppy. 🙂
And so many books….
7. She has a PhD in politics from Oxford University.
Specifically, her degree is Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in politics. Most people know this, but a list of Maddow facts isn’t complete without this, right?
8. She has a BA in public policy from Stanford.
While at Stanford, she won the John Gardner Fellowship for public service.
9. She got her first broadcasting job when she won a contest.
She became a sidekick to the host of “The Dave In The Morning Show.” The show was a radio show in Massachusetts and Rachel served as a morning radio D.J. She eventually got her own show on Air America Radio, a network that specialized in progressive/liberal talk radio. Here she is as a guest on Reliable Sources in 2007.
10. Her partner Susan Mikula is an accomplished artist.
From Heavy:
Susan takes photographs on her SX-70 Polaroid camera, which was last manufactured in 2007. As you can imagine, she has a hard time finding film for her camera, but she finds instant film on eBay and at yard sales and junk stores, according to SF Gate.
If her art’s greenish-yellow hue looks unusual to you, it’s because the color often drops out of old film.
13. She and Susan have been together since 1999.
When Rachel was working on her doctoral dissertation, Susan hired her to do some yard work. These flaky gay relationships, eh? They never last! (ha)
14. It appears that Fox News profiled her as an expert on girl-on-girl kissing…
“The one time Fox News ever asked me to be a guest was when Madonna made news by kissing another famous female, Britney Spears. They thought I had expertise, maybe. I said, ‘No, duh’.” (The Guardian)
15. Rachel and Susan’s first date was at an NRA event: “Ladies’ Day on the Range.”
“My first date with Susan was at an NRA ‘Ladies Day On The Range’ event, and that is as close as I have ever gotten to the NRA.”
11. Rachel is a lifelong sufferer of cyclical depression.
She says: “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.”
16. She is an avid fisherman.
Have caught all fish in sea. Sorry! Ready to think politics again soon: http://tinyurl.com/heeeeerefishiefishiefishie
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) July 2, 2009
21. She enjoys shooting.
17. Her parents are brainy peeps, too.
Robert Maddow is an attorney and former Air Force captain, and mom Elaine is a school administrator. (see a pic of the ‘rents down below)
11. She reads comic books and goes to monster truck rallies.
10. She’s had a Simpson’s cameo.
She described it as “a thrill of a lifetime.”
“I’ve had a great life, I have the best job in the world, but being drawn on “The Simpsons”— I sort of feel like, ‘I quit, I’m done, this is it!” Maddow said. “This is the pinnacle of my existence.” (HuffPo)
12. She has one brother, David.
18. She considers herself an “Eisenhower-era Republican.”
“I’m undoubtedly a liberal, which means that I’m in almost total agreement with the Eisenhower-era Republican party platform.”
19. But she’s not a partisan.
“I am a liberal. I’m not a partisan, not a Democratic Party hack. I’m not trying to advance anybody’s agenda.”
19. It was Keith Olbermann’s idea for MSNBC to hire her.
Olbermann suggested that the network give Rachel a show after she had been a regular host on MSNBC shows and guest-hosted for Olbermann.
Watch below, but fast forward to 3:01 minutes.
20. Her paternal grandfather was from an Eastern European Jewish family.
Her paternal grandmother was of Dutch (Protestant) background; her mother, originally from Newfoundland, Canada, is of English and Irish ancestry. (Wikipedia)
21. She’s a huge Howard Stern fan.
And he’s equally enamored by her. She says: “I love Howard Stern.” and he is “one of the best interviewers.” Stern says: “I think she’s sexy.” (we agree)
22. Greta Van Sustern thinks Rachel should replace Brian Williams.
23. She won an Emmy for “Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis.”
24. Scott Brown feared her.
The former Massachusetts senator actually insisted that she was running against him in the Senate race he ultimately lost to Elizabeth Warren.
25. She got Rand Paul to admit he would have been against the Civil Rights Act.
26. She’s a Roman Catholic and grew up in a “very conservative” community.
27. She was nominated for a Grammy.
Her spoken word version of Drift, her book about the role of the military in postwar American politics, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
28. And she’s won lots of other awards. (ThoughtCo)
- 2010 Walter Cronkite Faith & Freedom award. Past recipients include Tom Brokaw, Larry King, and the late Peter Jennings.
- 2009 – Nomination for “Outstanding Achievement in News and Information” by the Television Critics Association, the only cable news program accorded the honor
- 2009 – Gracie Award by the American Women in Radio, Television
- March 28, 2009 – Proclamation of Honor from the California State Senate
Maddow has also been lauded for her work by myriad gay and lesbian organizations, including GLAAD, AfterEllen, and Out magazine.
28. Roger Ailes gave her a blurb for the back of her book — and they were friends (sort of).
“Drift never makes the case that war might be necessary. America would be weakened dramatically if we had underreacted to 9/11. However, Rachel Maddow makes valid arguments that our country has been drifting towards questionable wars, draining our resources, without sufficient input and time. People who like Rachel will love the book. People who don’t will get angry, but aggressive debate is good for America. Drift is a book worth reading.”
most interesting scene at White House reception: Rachel Maddow engrossed in deep conversation with… Roger Ailes
— Sam Feist (@SamFeistCNN) December 16, 2009
Maddow describes the late Fox News chair as “charming and friendly.”
Now, Maddow has told Howard Stern that, despite his mistreatment of women at Fox, Ailes was “really, really kind” to her when she reached out to him for constructive criticism about her role as a cable news host on a competing network. Maddow said she approached Ailes in almost a “joshing” manner, not expecting him to take her seriously, but was surprised when he offered his sincere support. (The Daily Beast)
OK then. Moving right along…
30. And Ailes knew that Rachel was wayyyy too good for Fox News.
When the Hollywood Reporter asked him if there was any talent he admired:
“I think Rachel Maddow has been a surprise to a lot of people. She wouldn’t really work at this network because she wouldn’t even come in the door, but on a personal level, I like her. I don’t want to hurt her career, so I won’t say we get along, but I’ve had dialogue with her, and she’s very smart. She has adapted well to the television medium.”
31. But that didn’t keep him from offering her a job.
To NOT work.
“He once told me that he wanted to hire me at Fox,” she said. “And actually, this was not that long ago, within the last few years. He told me wanted to hire me at Fox and then he told me he’d never put me on the air.”
Essentially, Ailes wanted to prevent any of his competitors from broadcasting Maddow’s show. As she put it, he wanted to “put me on ice.” (The Daily Beast)
29. She once filled in for David Gregory as host of Race for the White House.
Watch:
30. She’s not a fan of Pres. Barack Obama.
She did not endorse Pres. Obama (or anyone) in the 2008 presidential election. Her quote: “I have never and still don’t think of myself as an Obama supporter, either professionally or actually.”
31. She was a high school athlete.
She participated in competitive volleyball, basketball, and swimming in high school. (Wikipedia)
32. But never played softball.
33. She considered herself to be “a cross between the jock and the antisocial girl” in high school.
34. She was a Rhodes Scholar.
35. She’s a really good bartender.
She actually calls herself an “amateur mixologist.”
“I love most rye, but if I had to pick a desert-island one, I would probably pick Michter’s. There’s a great one called ‘Pikesville’, too, but it’s really hard to find. I wouldn’t kick Sazerac 6 or Rittenhouse out of bed for eating crackers, though.”
(I’ve never heard of any of that stuff….I’m so unrefined)
36. Her middle name is Anne.
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I have an “Anne” bias? But doesn’t Anne seem an unlikely middle name for Rachel Maddow. “Anne” seems so beige, doesn’t it? OK I’ll stop. I don’t even know what I mean by that. Nothing wrong with the name Anne. Please Liberal America Annes, don’t flame me.
37. She puts her socks on before her pants.
How odd. But honestly? I’ve never thought about that before. I put my pants on first, then my socks. How do you guys do it?
38. She is also the first openly gay anchor to host a major primetime news program in the U.S.
39. She was also the first openly gay Rhodes Scholar.
40. Her thesis was titled HIV/AIDS and Health Care Reform in British and American Prisons.
41. She doesn’t watch TV on the weekends.
From People:
The MSNBC host, 37, and her artist girlfriend Susan Mikula spend each weekend at their quaint home three hours north of New York in Western Massachusetts, and it doesn’t have cable – or even a television.
“We realized that the two of us have the TV Disease,” explains Mikula, 52. “Rachel can’t have one because she’d watch it all the time!” Instead, they enjoy the solitude and home-cooked meals Mikula prepares.
Maddow does have a small TV in their tiny New York City apartment, but Mikula only uses it “so that I can watch her on Friday nights before I come pick her up.”
42. She worked in some of the early AIDS programs. (ThoughtCo)
After a year in San Francisco working for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and with ACT-UP, an AIDS non-profit, Rachel Maddow was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study political science at Oxford University.
42. She’s an April Fool’s baby.
42. She is quite good at juggling.
