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Old article but interesting: A Day in the Life of Rachel Maddow
Her Thursday night show was so moving that I wanted to know more about her and stumbled on this article about how her day is structured. It's from late 2011 and some things might be different now. Just thought it might be of interest to other Maddow fans:
The MSNBC host explains her day, or what her day should look like; she has a time-management issue.
8 a.m.: Get up. I try to do some sort of exercise, meaning I lie in bed and think about exercising. That counts as trying.
9-11 a.m.: Work on book (Drift, due in March from Crown].
Noon: Arrive at MSNBC office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Read "The Note," internal staff memo of aggregated news stories prepared by producer Tricia McKinney. [It's] "here's what's going on in the news. Here's the most interesting takes about what's going on. Here's stuff that could possibly make our show because of our special interest [in it]. Here's characters in the news that have become favorites on the show." If there's something interesting about Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder [a foe of labor unions], it will probably make our note if it's not otherwise making national news because we like talking about Rick Snyder because he's astonishing.
1:30 p.m.: Editorial meeting. It's supposed to happen at 1:30 but usually never happens until 2. It's a little self-indulgent. We like talking about what's going on in the world. We talk about a lot of stuff that really has no hope of getting on the show. But I think that's really useful. I think it's helpful to not control it too much. I like that it's a little freewheeling. And we're frantic all day long because of it.
3 p.m.: Reading. Researching.
3:30 p.m.: Intensive one-on-one meetings with segment producers. Actually, it would be nice if they started at 3:30. But often they do not start until after 3:30, which is trouble when you have six segments to produce. If I'm meeting with the first person starting at 4 o'clock and meeting with the last person starting at 7, what's the poor 7 o'clock segment producer supposed to do? These poor kids. I'm going to kill them all. They're all going to die of bleeding ulcers by the time they're 28.
8 a.m.: Get up. I try to do some sort of exercise, meaning I lie in bed and think about exercising. That counts as trying.
9-11 a.m.: Work on book (Drift, due in March from Crown].
Noon: Arrive at MSNBC office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Read "The Note," internal staff memo of aggregated news stories prepared by producer Tricia McKinney. [It's] "here's what's going on in the news. Here's the most interesting takes about what's going on. Here's stuff that could possibly make our show because of our special interest [in it]. Here's characters in the news that have become favorites on the show." If there's something interesting about Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder [a foe of labor unions], it will probably make our note if it's not otherwise making national news because we like talking about Rick Snyder because he's astonishing.
1:30 p.m.: Editorial meeting. It's supposed to happen at 1:30 but usually never happens until 2. It's a little self-indulgent. We like talking about what's going on in the world. We talk about a lot of stuff that really has no hope of getting on the show. But I think that's really useful. I think it's helpful to not control it too much. I like that it's a little freewheeling. And we're frantic all day long because of it.
3 p.m.: Reading. Researching.
3:30 p.m.: Intensive one-on-one meetings with segment producers. Actually, it would be nice if they started at 3:30. But often they do not start until after 3:30, which is trouble when you have six segments to produce. If I'm meeting with the first person starting at 4 o'clock and meeting with the last person starting at 7, what's the poor 7 o'clock segment producer supposed to do? These poor kids. I'm going to kill them all. They're all going to die of bleeding ulcers by the time they're 28.
More at link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rachel-maddow-a-day-life-244471
She wakes up thirteen hours before she goes on TV.
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