InStyle USA - 11.2019

Rachel Maddow is putting her feet up in her office. However,

this doesn’t denote complacency (not that anyone would

accuse Maddow of that). She has no choice. She fractured

her left ankle six weeks earlier when “getting on a boat in a

pair of boat shoes,” she grumbles while pumping up the

compression on the large boot covering her foot.

Maddow’s office is very on-brand: A wall functions as

a whiteboard (today, the word “opioids” is scrawled in big

letters, followed by other topics of inquiry). On the floor rest

chunky piles of manila folders and at least a dozen bottles of

whiskey, tequila, and assorted spirits. (“Utah makes a great

whiskey,” she says, grinning. “Who knew?”) On the wall fac-

ing Maddow’s desk stands a clothing rack filled with around

20 nearly identical black blazers, their rigidity tempered by

some racy beige and navy numbers farther down the rail.

Maddow, 46, is entering her 12th year as host of The

Rachel Maddow Show. When she started as anchor in 2008

(following a career in radio and a guest-hosting gig on

Countdown with Keith Olbermann), the country was enter-

ing the Obama years, which now seem like something of a

dream sequence. The left-leaning MSNBC was a comfy

place back then, but Maddow never rested on her laurels.

Alternately thorough and goofy but relentlessly curious

and armed with a ton of knowledge, she doubled the ratings

for the network’s 9 p.m. time slot in a matter of days.

Now, of course, we are in a different time. Maddow’s

stated mission—“To increase the amount of useful infor-

mation in the world”—is more vital than ever. And it’s a tes-

tament to her smarts and innate decency that she delivers

even the most traumatic news with a light hand (though

sometimes she has to pinch that hand to keep from crying).

And despite hosting a nightly news show for 50 weeks a

year, Maddow found time to write her second book, Blowout,

about big oil and gas, “the richest, most destructive industry

on earth.” Yet, rather than an eat-your-spinach obligatory

read, the book radiates zing, intelligence, and black humor.

Much like its author.

LAURA BROWN: So I have two questions and then you

can fill in the middle. How the hell do you wake up in the

morning, and how the hell do you sleep at night?

RACHEL MADDOW: I don’t sleep very well, but that’s

mostly because of my torn ligaments. But I have a wonderful

job. Everybody who’s stressed out about politics or who’s

feeling overwhelmed by the pace or progress of news these

days should be jealous of my job. I read the news all day

and then figure out what I think is important and useful to

convey about it, which is such a blessing. It’s also compli-

cated and challenging and upsetting at times, but you’ve

just got to push it all down.

LB: Is it somehow easier on your psyche to be the “great

distiller” and look at things analytically?

RM: We’ve got this internal mantra on the show—to increase

the amount of useful information in the world—and it’s a very

helpful guide. We don’t try to cover everything every day. We

try to read everything every day so we know everything that’s

going on, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to cover it all. We

cover stories that are a) important and b) to which we can

add something important. For me, that’s how to not be over-

whelmed, because you’re actually processing the information

and making sense of it. Yes, sometimes the amount and the

pace of it gets overwhelming. But my job is to catch up.

LB: Right. So run me through your standard day,

from eyes awaking.

RM: I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing. I don’t

look at my phone first thing when I wake up. I’m

not a morning person, but my girlfriend, Susan

[Mikula, a photographer], is. She’s up hours ahead

of me, so if something truly epic has happened,

she’ll either wake me up or tell me as soon as I get

up. When one of the first Trump administration

indictments happened, I remember I was having a

really good dream. I was dreaming as a puppy,

dreaming of bunnies. I had a puppy-eye view of

the bunnies. So I’m chasing a fluffy bunny, and it’s

a nice day, and then there’s this gentle shaking. “Honey,

honey, the national security adviser’s been indicted. Your

phone has been ringing.” And I was like, “OK, time to go.”

LB: Yanked from the puppy’s arms!

RM: I was the puppy! [laughs] I need to be gently drawn into

the day. Then I try to do something that’s not work-related.

These days it’s going to physical therapy before starting work

around 11:30. And then I read solidly without talking to any-

body. It’s a really important part of my day in terms of getting

my head on—and it’s fun. In my own coded shorthand I take

R

“I have Scotch, rye,

bourbon, Irish pot-stilled

whiskey, mezcal. In case

of the apocalypse, you

should come to my office.”

156 InSTYLE NOVEMBER 2019