Celebrate Puck's 3rd anniversary! Take 20% off your first year of Puck today with code THREESAPARTY.

  • Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Gift Puck Careers

Rachel Maddow

ronna mcdaniel
Dylan Byers • March 27, 2024

Ronnaghazi & The Hunger Screams of Late-Stage Linear

Inside 30 Rock, the dueling narratives over the lengthy courtship and rapid firing of the 2020 election-denying former R.N.C. chair highlight a behind-the-scenes blame game over the network’s conflicted vision of political diversity, and itself.
Dylan Byers • August 16, 2023
CNN’s Deck Chairs & An End to “The Neeraj Problem”
CNN’s post-Licht leadership quadrumvirate announced a new primetime lineup that will see Abby Phillip and Laura Coates taking over the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. hours, respectively.
News and notes on the cable news trade—CNN’s shakeup, the youth double-down, and CBS News’ new chapter.
Dylan Byers • October 5, 2022
MSNBC’s Wagnerian Opera
MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner.
Alex Wagner’s early ratings suggest that the MSNBC audience may be actively tuning her out. It’s an invitation for Tapper and Licht to quit the apparent mutual disarmament pact around 9 p.m. and take back the hour.
Alex Wagner
Dylan Byers • June 29, 2022
Is There Life After Maddow?
Alex Wagner is, by all accounts, a brilliant and seasoned anchor. The TV insiders I speak to sing her praises while simultaneously scratching their heads about the hire and what it suggests about MSNBC’s future.
Rachel Maddow
Dylan Byers • April 15, 2022
The Maddow Iceberg
Maddow’s non-surprise surprise announcement has been foreshadowed for months. So why doesn’t the network have a viable solution? Is 20 percent Maddow at 1.25x or so the price really better than nothing? And at what cost?
Jen Psaki
Dylan Byers • February 23, 2022
Is Jen Psaki the Next Rachel Maddow?
Biden’s spokesperson, who plans to leave the White House this year, is being feverishly courted by CNN and MSNBC, among others. And Psaki has ambitions to become a marquee star. Is she the next Maddow or Anderson?
Chris Cuomo
Dylan Byers • December 8, 2021
Notes on the Cuomo Scandal
The existential crisis of cable news extends beyond the firing of Chris Cuomo and the exit of Rachel Maddow. Their replacements in the 9 p.m. hour will indicate how CNN and MSNBC can reposition their brands in the streaming era.
Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper on CNN
Dylan Byers • December 3, 2021
Can Jake Tapper Get 9 P.M.?
Inside the post-Cuomo, post-Maddow primetime parlor game at CNN and MSNBC as the talent well runs dry amid the new streaming order.
Brian Williams
Dylan Byers • November 10, 2021
The Brian Williams Guessing Game Begins
By sticking around to write a second act at MSNBC, Williams has positioned himself to write a third act somewhere else, and seemingly everything is on the table—except the CBS Evening News.
Chris Cuomo
Dylan Byers • September 24, 2021
More Maddow-Mania—and an Update on the Cuomo Scandal
A few high-level NBC sources have told me that Maddow's departure will likely have ripple effects across the network, and could precipitate an overhaul of the entire evening lineup.