Rachel Maddow Gives Her First Interview as She Steps Back From the Nightly Grind and Revs Up for Her Next Act

Trump Wins CPAC Straw Poll • Alex Jones Fined $50M • Indiana’s Abortion Ban [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Rachel Maddow Gives Her First Interview as She Steps Back From the Nightly Grind and Revs Up for Her Next Act Good morning from the Hive newsroom! Joe Pompeo [takes us]( through three seasons of conversations with Rachel Maddow in her first interview as she steps back from the nightly grind.“What I asked for, and I realize it’s a really hard thing to ask for from a big corporate entity, is flexibility, fluidity, and forgiveness,” Maddow says of approaching NBC. Maddow now has a multimillion-dollar contract to not be on the air five nights a week, and to pursue projects of multiple formats under the banner of Surprise Inside, her newly minted independent production company. Elsewhere, Donald Trump [won]( a straw poll at the CPAC in Texas on Saturday, with 69% of the attendees polled preferring Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Caleb Ecarma [says]( Kari Lake executed Trump’s election theater playbook perfectly in winning the GOP gubernatorial primary in Arizona. Kelly Rissman [reports]( on Indiana becoming the first state to pass a near-total abortion ban post-Roe on Friday. Plus, Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones will have to [pay]( the parents of a Sandy Hook victim nearly $50 million. Thanks for reading! [Image may contain: Clothing, Apparel, Human, Person, Pants, Rachel Maddow, Denim, Jeans, Outdoors, and Tree Stump]( [Exclusive: Rachel Maddow Gives Her First Interview as She Steps Back From the Nightly Grind and Revs Up for Her Next Act]( By [Joe Pompeo]( [The cable juggernaut signed a multimillion-dollar contract to not be on the air five nights a week. Now, Maddow opens up about why she’s changing gears, her upcoming projects, her health scares, the Steele dossier, and her surprisingly amiable rapport with Tucker Carlson.]( [Read more button]( [“He’s More Popular Than Ever”: Former President Donald Trump Handily Beats Gov. Ron DeSantis in CPAC Straw Poll For 2024]( By [Kelly Rissman]( [The twice-impeached president garnered 69% of the vote compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 24%.]( [Read more button]( [What Happens When an Election Denier Wins Their Race? Kari Lake Executed the Playbook Perfectly]( By [Caleb Ecarma]( [Lake was declared the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona Thursday after days of questioning the election process and alluding to possible voter fraud.]( [Read more button]( [“Not Her Body, Not Her Choice”: Indiana Passes Near-Total Abortion Ban]( By [Kelly Rissman]( [The Hoosier State legislature approved the first sweeping abortion ban in the country, the first state post Roe v. Wade decision.]( [Read more button]( [“Stop Alex Jones”: Sandy Hook Conspiracy Theorist Ordered to Pay Nearly $50 Million in Damages To Victim’s Parents]( By [Kelly Rissman]( [The Infowars host had repeatedly called the 2012 massacre a “giant hoax.”]( [Read more button]( Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2022 Condé Nast