Rachel Maddow is a liberal political activist and the host of The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America Radio, which airs live weekdays from 5am to 6am Eastern Time.
From March, 2004 through March, 2005, she hosted the Air America show Unfiltered along with Chuck D and Lizz Winstead. Prior to that, she had her own radio show on WRSI in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is also a panelist on The Situation with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC.
In 2005, Maddow signed a two-year contract extension with Air America Radio parent company Piquant LLC. It provides for a year one base salary of $165,000, increasing to $200,000 in the second. This figure excludes additional compensation for promotional and endorsement activities.
Her political activism has focused on AIDS and prisoner's rights, especially the prevention of the spread of HIV and AIDS in prisons. She is also an outspoken advocate for gay and lesbian issues, including gay marriage.
A 1989 graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, Maddow later obtained a Stanford University degree in Public Policy and a doctorate in politics from Oxford University. She was the first openly gay American to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.