@Maddow declares #GEEK WEEK!!
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Chiquita Doesn't Want a Banana: Erin P. Capuano
Rachel Maddow is our geek savior; just ask any nerd from the East to the West coasts and they will tell you Maddow is the bees knees. Kicking off her "Geek Week" this Monday on her MSNBC cable news show, The Rachel Maddow Show she plans to highlight some of our geekiest peeps in government, science and anything nerd related. Of course that brings tears to my little nerdy eyes to think that someone out there gets us someone in mainstream media understands our need for facts, figures, progression, technology and basically everything that our government just doesn't get.
Rachel Anne Maddow was born on April 1, 1963 April Fools Day, of course that quirky fun attitude had to come from somewhere it all makes sense now! Born and raised in Castro Valley, California Rachel brings her West coast laid back attitude to people's living rooms each night. She's a graduate of Stanford University with a post-graduate study at Lincoln College, Oxford and earned her doctorate in philosophy in politics from Oxford University so I'd say she makes Sarah Palin look like she never graduated High School and by the way that’s still up for debate. Most of us are still scratching our heads as to how Palin graduated from diaper training let alone an accredited school. Maddows gift for gab earned her spots in talk radio from a young age where she felt pretty comfortable laying out the facts and putting top officials in government in their place. Most known for her two hour long radio show on Air America the countries first and most known Liberal radio station she held her own with the big guests that would appear on her show and made a name for herself as a no holds barred journalist.
While she is a self-professed Liberal she has said, "I'm not partisan, not a Democratic party hack. I'm not trying to advance anybody's agenda." Rachel holds the spot of 9pm eastern time on MSNBC following the acclaimed Keith Olbermann has primetimes dynamic duo. Since Rachel has graced the station they've seen a jump in ratings and a significant number of diehard fans returning to a cable station that at one time seemed like it was pretty irrelevant. I've always said if Keith and Rachel had a love child it would take over the world, too bad she's gay. Oh did I mention our Geek Savior is a proud member of the LGBT community? She lives in Manhattan and western Massachusetts with her partner, artist Susan Mikula, Maddow and her partner met in a very Desperate Housewives sort of way. They met while Maddow who was then working on her doctoral dissertation was hired by Mikula to do yard work around her home. What can I say when we see a hot girl doing yard work we swoon.
Geekdom as we all know and love it can be a love for anything but usually it’s a love for all things that most people think are dry and boring in my case its my undying passion for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all things Literature. Ah yes some of my days are best spent reading a good classic story, a lovely sonnet, or a deep dark short story by the great Poe but alas we are not alone there are others like us. Maddow's Geek Week is showing us that we do matter and that sometimes we are sadly overlooked at great sources of knowledge. She believes geeks can save us from the disasters that have occurred in both our government and around the world and this is shown with her first guest Energy Secretary Steven Chu, highest ranking geek in the Obama Whitehouse. She believes that geeks like him can rescue us from America's dependence on foreign oil. Have no fear though there are plenty of geeks to go around, her other guests will include Robert Wallace, a former CIA agent who reveals the secrets of a once-classified CIA manual written by a former magician; a tour of the Iwo Jima helicopter carrier in honor of Fleet Week here in New York City; a geek-level tour of the massive rebuilding project underway at Ground Zero; geek-rapper Baba Brinkman, whose most recent project is "The Rap Guide to Evolution; Infrastructure!" a trip underground with the sandhogs to tour the construction of the Second Avenue subway line, an infrastructure project more than 50 years behind schedule; and Dr. Jim Mead of East Tennessee State University, who oversees the largest collection of prehistoric dung in the world. Rachel manages to add fun and flare to her show by doing short comedic segments such as the Cocktail Moment and various other skits.
For those of us who think Dr. Who is the original end all be all of doctors and know that Firefly was canceled entirely too soon you will love what Geek Week has to offer. Rachel Maddow has not been without controversy and my guess is she's going to drum up some more as her career continues to grow. The cable news race to be the best in politics has taken some nasty turns and they are not above cutting each other down for ratings. Rachel has certainly put a thorn in the side of those characters over at Fox News with whom she's repeatedly traded barbs with. Between Rachel and Keith MSNBC has quite a few faces adorning Bill O'Reily's bulls eye in his dressing room. Whether you agree with her politics or not Rachel is one of the best when it comes to fair and balanced always asking the hard questions. Whether they're playin for the blue or red team she equally makes pundits and government officials shake in their hush puppies.
The GOPs newest Tea Party member Dr. Rand Paul recently won the primary to run as the GOP nominee in one of the Kentucky Senate seats. Rand chose the Rachel Maddow show to announce his candidacy and after he won came back for a first interview as the nominee. During his interview he was asked to explain colorful comments he'd made on NPR earlier in the day regarding his stance on the Civil Rights Act and that he would have changed parts of it before voting. The particularly disturbing stance was that private businesses should have the right to say whether they will or will not serve black people. During his discussion with Rachel she had asked him repeatedly to set the record straight on how he truly feels about the act and would he have voted for the bill back when it was passed. The interview ignited a firestorm of controversy and made Rand Paul's candidacy start off with a loud boom. To Rachel's defense she did the right thing as a journalist it is her responsibility to ask the tough questions and in this day and age of social media, audio and video at everyone's disposal it's easy to be caught in an unfavorable light. Paul has since tried to act as if he'd been played by mainstream "liberal bias" media and that Maddow tortured him over his choice of words on the matter.
Our Queen Geek Rachel Maddow continues to ask the tough questions get the right answers and fact check all the others who insist on trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Every generation needs a journalistic leader and I truly believe Rachel Maddow is ours. The Rachel Maddow Show airs on MSNBC at 9pm Eastern Standard Time and then rebroadcasts again at 11pm and 2am. Check Rachel out your inner geek will not be disappointed.
(Love note from Jen Friel: Oh and PS. what is the difference between a nerd and a geek? A nerd is a product of a genetic predisposition, geeks are raised. Thx for the article, Erin!!)
Follow Erin on Twitter @SnogVlog
