The journalism bug bit early for Alex Wagner. Never mind that the MSNBC anchor says her mother remembers her initially wanting to be a makeup artist. Wagner proudly recalls creating her first dream job—designating herself as restaurant reviewer for her elementary school newspaper. “I was not getting paid to review Armand’s Pizzeria,” she tells Glamour, laughing at the memory.
That came later for the host of Alex Wagner Tonight, the prime-time cable news program in which she delves into some of the days’ headlines and conducts on-set and field interviews with newsmakers (Governor Gavin Newsom, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and comedian Trevor Noah), as well as those impacted by current events (election officials facing security threats, relocated asylum seekers, and teachers adjusting to new curricula). The show that launched in mid-August, and that Wagner describes as “a work in progress,” has made her the only Asian American host of a prime-time cable news program.
“It’s a huge honor,” the 44-year-old broadcaster says about her ground-breaking achievement. “It’s also a little bit overwhelming and incredibly frustrating because I shouldn’t be the only one.”
Before assuming the weeknight seat previously occupied by one of cable news’ biggest stars, Rachel Maddow (who retains her Monday slot), Wagner sought out her predecessor’s advice. “Just because you’re inheriting the mantle doesn’t mean you should start from scratch,” she reasons. “If you can learn the lessons your predecessor has already figured out, it’s foolish not to try and do that. Then be true to yourself. Make the show that reflects you. Do the job in a way that feels authentic, but that doesn’t ignore the wisdom of the person who came before.”
Wagner’s eclectic CV offers a lesson in successful career curation. She pursued her interest in journalism, landing staff jobs at art and music publications. She also honed policy messages for a think tank and oversaw a humanitarian organization’s advocacy strategy and grant-making, occasionally fundraising with the now defunct charity’s high-profile founders—actors Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. Appearances on MSNBC’s Countdown With Keith Olbermann while a White House reporter for a website led to her own network show. Later, she joined The Circus, Showtime’s weekly political series, before being tapped for her current position.
Going forward, the married mother of two young boys hopes to add art and culture stories to the show’s mix because “people in those worlds often have a way of synthesizing what this moment is all about that can be really useful to an audience grappling with a political landscape that seems so fractured and overwhelming.”
Ahead of participating in MSNBC’s midterm Election Day coverage, we spoke to Wagner about her hands-on reporting approach, mom guilt, never taking success for granted, and more for Glamour’s latest installment of Doing the Work.
Glamour: What time do you get up in the morning?
Alex Wagner: Ugh, anywhere from 5:45 to 6:30 a.m., depending on how obedient my children decide to be. I try and keep them in bed until at least 6:30. Sometimes I’m successful, and sometimes I’m not.
How do you take your coffee, if you drink it?
Oh, it’s so embarrassing. I take it with a scoop of collagen powder and lots of whole milk. And it’s decaf, if you can believe it! The collagen powder is for bones, joints, skin—everything. The inevitable effects of aging. [Laughs.] I don’t know—it makes me feel like I’m doing something good as I do something bad, which is consume.
What’s your typical morning routine?
Get up with the kids, make them breakfast. Make sure that they are in relatively clean clothes. [Laughs.] Get their teeth brushed. Take them on the subway to school. Come home. Try and take a really fast nap to make up for just my inevitable and continual sleep deprivation. Then start reading in. Sometimes I exercise—if I can time it correctly—and then start reading in. We [she and her producers] have our first call at about 1 p.m.
What was your first paying job?
I started babysitting local kids when I was probably 12 or 13. After that, I was one of the to-go attendants at a local burrito chain, which meant that I had the glorious and sexy job of packaging hot sauce and utensils for to-go orders.
Have you ever faced rejection in your field? If so, how did you deal with it?
Oh my gosh, I feel like I face rejection all of the time. Part of being on television is being aware that it’s a privilege, not a right, and you’re constantly grappling with criticism and naysayers. Part of the work as a human being is to take the good criticism and listen to it, and throw off bad criticism that’s just hurtful. It’s a constant balancing act. Over the years I’ve gotten tougher skin about all of it. But I think it’s important to listen to the constructive criticism when it does come to make you better at what you’re doing.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever gotten?
Try and set aside mom guilt as much and as often as you can. Because what you’re doing for your family as a working mother—not just financially, but in terms of role modeling for your kids—is equally as important.
How would you describe your reporting process? Do you do a lot of research? Having been an editor, do you focus on the writing?
I’m definitely very hands-on when it comes to the show and the scripts. I meet with all of my segment producers, and we discuss each segment inside and out, which elements we want to bring to our audience. Whether it’s a quote or a piece of videotape, I look at all of that. I am intimately involved with the words that I say every night. So I’m definitely editing and play a part in writing some of the scripts. I do a ton of research. I think anybody in this job who does it well takes the research part really seriously because you’ve got to know the subject you’re talking about. In order to do that, you have to be really prepared. Have a thorough knowledge of the material before you go on-air and convey it to your audience. I take that responsibility seriously. I’m basically cramming for finals every single day.
What stories are you personally drawn to? Is interviewing people in the field your best skill?
I love interviewing people in the field. We try to do a fair amount of it, relatively speaking, given the rigors of having to be at the desk four days a week. But I would love to do more. I would love to do more climate coverage. It’s a difficult thing to get audiences excited about and interested in because it’s fundamentally heartbreaking and terrifying. But it’s really important to cover because it is the great existential threat that faces not just America, but the entire globe. So we’ll aim to continue environmental coverage as best we can.
What’s the best parenting advice you’d give a new mom?
[Laughs.] There is nothing to prepare you. It’s the hardest job in the entire world every single day of the year and also the best thing ever.
What’s the last great book you read?
For pleasure, I read Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, which I’ve recommended to a lot of people. It’s just a super-fun read. The last really great book that I read was The Art of Fielding, but that was a while ago.
What’s your go-to thank-you gift for colleagues and friends?
I love sending people balloons. They make everybody smile. For friends, I am a big fan of giving them really nice, expensive bottles of booze.
Whose Stories will you never skip over on Instagram?
Honestly, my friends. It’s my way of keeping in touch with them just because I so rarely get to see them at night. I find out what they’re doing in their lives largely on Instagram. That’s such a boring answer, but it’s true.
Fill in the blank: People would be happier doing their work if…
If they were in jobs that they really liked. The big challenge, especially when you’re just starting out, is knowing what you want to do and what’s going to make you happy. It sometimes takes a few years and a few jobs to get there.
Lisa Liebman is an experienced journalist with bylines in New York magazine, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, and more.
