Rachel Maddow

Rachel Anne Maddow (, ; born April 1, 1973) is an American television news program host and political commentator. Maddow hosts The Rachel Maddow Show, a weekly television show on MSNBC, and serves as the cable network's special event co-anchor. Her syndicated talk radio program of the same name aired on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. Maddow has received multiple Emmy Awards for her broadcasting work and in 2021 received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book Blowout (2019). Maddow holds a bachelor's degree in public policy from Stanford University and a doctorate in political science from the University of Oxford and is the first openly lesbian anchor to host a major prime-time news program in the United States. Early life and education Maddow was born in Castro Valley, California. Her father, Robert B. Maddow, is a former United States Air Force captain who resigned his commission the year before her birth and then worked as a lawyer for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Her mother, Elaine (née Gosse), was a school program administrator. She has one older brother, David. Her paternal grandfather was from Jewish family (the original family surname being "Medvedof"), who arrived in the United States from the Russian Empire. Her paternal grandmother was of Dutch descent. Maddow's Canadian mother, originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, has English and Irish ancestry. Maddow has said her family is "very, very Catholic" and she grew up in a community that her mother has described as "very conservative". Maddow was a competitive athlete and participated in high school volleyball, basketball, and swimming.