Rachel Maddow in the New York Times
She appeared on her way to a career as an AIDS-policy advocate when a funny thing happened: on a lark she auditioned to be the news reader and sidekick on a wacky FM morning radio program in the area. She got the job, which had her occasionally donning an inflatable calculator costume at a local Ford dealer. She acknowledged that the work was not exactly what she had in mind when she graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and from Oxford University, which she attended on a Rhodes Scholarship and where she earned her doctorate.
In 2004 she somehow parlayed her varied academic and drive-time radio experiences into a job as a co-host on a new morning program on Air America. That put her onto the booking lists of any number of cable news programs desperate for a fresh liberal voice.
“If you want a left-right fight, in 2004 or today, there’s this roster of dozens, if not hundreds, of conservative talk-show hosts to book,” she said. “On the left there’s Alan Colmes. Oh, wait a minute, he’s taken. I think I got booked, initially, by default.”
- FILED UNDER: Editor Posts
- July 17, 2008
I've been listening since Unfiltered
And continue to listen to AAR mostly because of Rachel. She is far and away the best thing to come out of the whole Air America experiment.
The people who took a chance on this relative unknown four years ago should pat themselves on the back for an excellent decision.
Those at the helm of AAR who chose to keep her on board should be congratulated for at least one smart move (setting aside the boneheadedness of the Morning Sedition and Sam Seder moves).
When Rachel Maddow's career takes her away from the radio machine to the toob, I will always remember how it all started - with a cranky, shaky liberal oasis in a sea of right wing wackos.
Go Rachel!
- parent
By ShelaghCJuly 17, 2008 - 2:55pm