Madeleine Brand is an American
broadcast journalist
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
and radio personality. Brand is the host of the news and culture show ''Press Play'', on
KCRW-FM
KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...
(89.9), one of Los Angeles' two
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR) affiliates. The show made its debut in January 2014.
[KCRW biography](_blank)
[Ryan Faughnder]
Madeleine Brand returns to radio with 'Press Play' debut on KCRW
''Los Angeles Times'', January 28, 2014. Brand broadcasts from the basement of the cafeteria of Santa Monica College.
Education
A Los Angeles native, Brand grew up in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.
[Deborah Vankin]
Madeleine Brand talks KCET, leaving KPCC and the future
''Los Angeles Times'', November 5, 2012.
Brand attended the University of California, Berkeley, beginning her radio career on college radio station
KALX
KALX (90.7 FM) is an FM radio station that broadcasts from the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California, United States. KALX, a community and student-run radio station licensed to the university, broadcasts in stereo with 500 ...
; she earned a B.A. in English, with honors, in 1988. She later received a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she later returned to teach documentary radio.
[Tessa Stuart]
How KPCC's Quest for Latino Listeners Doomed The Madeleine Brand Show
''LA Weekly'', November 1, 2012.
Career
Brand reported and anchored for NPR for thirteen years at various affiliates across the country:
KQED, San Francisco;
WBUR
WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed program ...
, Boston;
WBGO
WBGO (88.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Jazz 88") is a Public broadcasting, public radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. Studios and offices are located on Park Place in downtown Newark, and its transmitter is located at 4 Times Square in Manh ...
, Newark, and
WBFO, Buffalo.
[Madeleine Brand Joins Alex Chadwick as Host of "Day to Day," NPR Midday Newsmagazine](_blank)
NPR, February 1, 2006. She served as
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
correspondent and occasional substitute host for ''
Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'' and ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
''.
In 2006, she began co-hosting the radio program ''
Day to Day
''Day to Day'' (''D2D'') was a one-hour weekday American radio newsmagazine distributed by National Public Radio (NPR), and produced by NPR in collaboration with ''Slate''. Madeleine Brand, Alex Chadwick, and Alex Cohen served as hosts. Topics ...
'' with
Alex Chadwick
Alex Chadwick is an American journalist best known for his work on National Public Radio, and as a former co-host of the radio newsmagazine ''Day to Day''. He was a part of the development of NPR's ''Morning Edition'' in the 1970s and was an o ...
, which broadcast from NPR West studios in Los Angeles.
In 2010, Brand became host of the new daily
Southern California Public Radio program ''The Madeleine Brand Show'' on the public radio station
KPCC, which aired between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Pacific Time.
The show broadcast from the Mohn Broadcast Center in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
.
The show was popular for its first 23 months, and was the station's most-listened-to in-house program (with the highest
Arbitron
Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
rankings), and won a number of radio journalism awards.
However, the show came to an "abrupt end" after KPCC paired Brand with longtime ESPN sports reporter A Martínez in an attempt to attract Latino listeners and fulfill the requirements of a $6 million
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
grant.
The pairing of the two hosts, under the name ''Brand & Martínez'', debuted August 13, 2012, but lasted just four weeks and was a failure, in part because the two had met only twice before the program began.
Brand left the station in September 2012 and was replaced by
Alex Cohen (the show was renamed ''Take Two'').
Following her time at NPR, Brand was briefly at the Los Angeles
public television
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
station
KCET
KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...
as a special contributor to the fifth season of ''SoCal Connected'', hosted by
Val Zavala
Val may refer to: Val-a
Film
* ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo
Military equipment
* Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies
* AS Val, a Sov ...
.
In Summer 2013, Brand occasionally substituted for longtime broadcaster
Warren Olney IV
Warren Olney IV is an American broadcast journalist. He was the host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated Public Radio International weekday afternoon program '' To the Point'', which originated at Santa Monica, California public r ...
on his show ''
To the Point
''To the Point'' was an hour-long public affairs radio program co-produced by KCRW in Santa Monica, California and Public Radio International. The program originated at KCRW at 1 pm Pacific Time each weekday. Award-winning journalist Warren Oln ...
'' on KPCC's rival KCRW.
In September 2013, Brand moved to KCRW and began to develop ''Press Play'', which debuted in January 2014, becoming the first new daily program on KCRW since 2001.
''Press Play'' competes against
Larry Mantle
Larry Mantle (born January 12, 1959) is a radio interview call-in show host in Southern California. He has been the host of ''AirTalk with Larry Mantle'' on NPR-member station KPCC (radio station), KPCC, 89.3 FM, since April 1, 1985. ''AirTalk' ...
's ''AirTalk'' on KPCC.
Personal life
Brand is married to filmmaker Joe DeMarie, and together they have two children. She lives in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
References
External links
KCRW.org: "Press Play with Madeleine Brand"— ''current LA news + culture broadcast—podcast''.
NPR.org: KCRW's Press Play with Madeleine Brand— ''NPR podcasts links''.
Twitter.com: Madeleine Brand (@TheMadBrand)Facebook.com: KCRW Press Play - Home
* [http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/making-radio-waves-the-surprisingly-messy-end-to-kpccs-the-madeleine-brand-show/ Los Angeles Magazine.com: "Making Radio Waves: The Surprisingly Messy End to KPCC's The Madeleine Brand Show" (November 2013)]
NPR.org: "Madeleine Brand Joins Alex Chadwick as Host of ''Day to Day'', the NPR Midday Newsmagazine." (February 2006)
''Notebook on Cities and Culture.org: An interview with Madeleine Brand''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Madeleine
American radio journalists
American television journalists
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Journalists from California
NPR personalities
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni
UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
People from Silver Lake, Los Angeles
21st-century American women writers
21st-century American journalists
American women television journalists
American women radio journalists