Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC

Liberal radio host and TV commentator Rachel Maddow is getting he own show on MSNBC.

Maddow is without a doubt the smartest person on MSNBC. I am absolutely thrilled that the network has decided to give her bigger platform.

Rachel has an easygoing manner and a finely tuned ear for bullshit. Definitely a talent to watch.

Comments

[The Phantom]

I swear to God--I thought you said that your buddy Rachel Marsden was getting her own show.

[TB]

Good for Rachel ... ever thought of a co-host slot Lindsay?

[Norman Costa]

Good news and congrats to Rachel. MSNBC, Keith Olbermann, and his producer did a great deal to get Rachel in front of the viewing public and let her shine. She still has to find her own TV voice that differentiates her from Olbermann's format, and yet stand out and apart. I hope she makes it.

I have to agree with you that she is head and shoulders above the others on MSNBC in terms of her intelligence, mastery of facts, incisive analysis, and the shear lightning speed with which she can deliver and counter punch. She is so comfortable with her competence and in going toe to toe with anyone. When I grow up I wanna be like Rachel Maddow.

[me]

That is great news :-)

[Uncle Kvetch]

She's a better Olbermann than Olbermann. Good news indeed.

[The Phantom]

--She's a better Olbermann than Olbermann. --

She doesn't chew the carpet the way KO does, true. But when I've seen her subbing for him, she was to a considerable extent following his schtick and his biases.

Here's hoping that she displays an identity that is her own going forward.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

You should check out Rachel's radio show, Phantom. She's got a voice and presence unlike anyone I've ever heard in talk radio. A real original.

[The Phantom]

That's on Air America?

To be honest, have not listened to it for some time. I will check it out.

It is very odd- many of my politically minded friends swing from the left-- but not one of them listens to Air America.

But they all watch Fox News( which they say that they hate! )

[cosmogenium]

Woohoo!!! I love Rachel! And you are absolutely right, Lindsay, she's super-smart and deserves her own show. I always look forward to her appearances on Olbermann. I hope she follows his show. That would be too cool. Where do I sign up for the podcast?!

[Eric Jaffa]

I hope that Sam Seder and Janeane Garofalo (who used to host a radio show together on Air America) are frequent guests.

[Alon Levy]

That's on Air America?

Yeah, but from what I hear, hers is one of the few gems. Apparently, one of the reasons Air America went bankrupt is that it stuck Maddow in an inconvenient time slot while giving prominence to Limbaugh-grade idiots like Sam Seder.

[Jim Harrison]

I'm delighted to hear about Maddow's new job. Once you get over the pleasure of finally hearing a non-Republican on a news show, Olbermann's snarky self-righteousness quickly becomes hard to listen to. Maddow doesn't just assume she's right. When she interviews a guests, you get the impression that she wants to learn something from them while Olbermann just coaches people to agree with him. My worry is that Maddow is too good for TV. The maximum permissible intelligence for a broadcast journalist is pretty low.

[The Phantom]

Olbermann to me is very much the same as Rush Limbaugh, and far more biased than Hannity or O'Reilly.

Shouting, demonizing the opposition, and ( from the times I have seen him ) never allowing an opposition voice to be heard. ( And totally obsessed by Fox, which is bizarre--he gives so much publicity to the opposition every night )

I'm interested in Maddow now, and will check her out. There's a need for a voice like what you describe on big media.

[Eric Jaffa]

"The Rachel Maddow Show" debuts on MSNBC on Monday, September 8 at 9PM Eastern.

[The Phantom]

Wowee

Just listened to Air America for the first time in way over a year. In the course of ten minutes, somebody named Richard Greene said

- John McCain's Vietnam service was "criminally wrong"

- progressives are "more evolved" than "regressives" and

spoke respectfully of those who believe 9/11 was an inside job.

The show's still on, so there may be more of this to be heard today. If this goes on every night, I can understand why the network's ratings remain nine miles below water.

Hope Rachel's not like this guy!

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

No, no, and no. I've never heard of Richard Greene. There are definitely some crackpots on Air America.

[Margalis]

So basically Air America is like all talk radio?

[The Phantom]

There's some thoughtful talk radio.

I am a fan of the John Batchelor Show...which is only on Sunday nights!

But most political talk radio, while partisan, at least does not give credence to crazy conspiracy tales. Now (while I'm very rusty about Air America ) I do know that they have two guys who say or who almost say that 9/11 was an inside job..this guy Richard Greene ( who is a regular ) and Lionel, who I know from a prior talk radio life.

Some of the right wing crazies speak of the same conspiracies, or similar. It is amazing that there is an audience for this.

[Alon Levy]

Air America's never gotten the hang of how to be shrill and profitable. I guess part of it is the lack of personalities. Conservatives don't listen to Clear Channel, but to Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh. Air America never cultivated similar personalities; instead, it tried to build loyalty to Air America as a channel. That's how TV works, not how talk radio works.

Another part of it could be the issues they emphasize. Michael Savage does conspiracy theories all the time (he believes black people have high asthma rates because they're all malingering), but he knows which buttons to press - namely, racism, and culture war rhetoric. Air America has never learned to press the right buttons. Its hosts took years to call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and I don't think they've ever talked about health care or poverty or any other things downscale Democrats like. They talk to upscale concerns, but upscale Democrats get their dose of partisan bullshit from Firedoglake, not Sam Seder. For a start, Firedoglake is funnier.

[cfrost]

Air America. Out here in the rural West among the tall trees and sagebrush, er, clearcuts and cheatgrass, it doesn't exist. Never has, never will. Good or bad programming, entertaining or not. This is Limbaugh, Hannity, G. G. Liddy territory. We'll tolerate a few Spanish language stations as long as they stick to that mariachi stuff, but that's it. (The communist government has forced NPR on us here and there, but nobody's listening.) No elitist, latte-sippin', queer-assed, tree-huggin', surrender monkeys on our radios. Ever.

[me]

cfrost, why do you hate America?

[The Phantom]

Actually, Savage is brilliant. Psychotic, ready to self destruct any week, but brilliant. He has a lot of listeners that are way outside what you may think too. A fairly large Muslim listenership for one.

[The Phantom]

cfrost

You sound like a good candidate for radio over satellite or for radio over the internet. The latter is great, and almost everybody streams now.

[Eric Jaffa]

Alon Levy -

Al Franken spent plenty of time talking about health care as a radio host.

As a Senate candidate, he still does.

To anyone thinking of donating to Al Franken: the polls have tightened (Franken trails 42-46 in the electoral-vote.com average)and he could use the help.

[Alon Levy]

Eric, I almost want Al Franken to lose. He has a Coulterian tendency to demonize anyone who disagrees with him and then say he's just making a joke. Who wants that in the Senate?

Phantom, I guess we have different definitions of brilliant. To me, someone who tells parents that they should stop loving their children if they turn gay, and who responds to someone who points out that Sanskrit has many words for love, "I guess they did so much love they forgot to build a civilization," isn't brilliant; he's insane. When I think of "brilliant but psychotic," I think of someone like Hannibal Lecter, who regards people as interesting playthings, but has insights into people like nobody else. Someone who just yells about how gays are evil is just psychotic, not brilliant.