Alex Wagner

Alex Wagner was an American journalist, television host, and political commentator born in Washington, D.C. The daughter of Burmese immigrant Tin Swe Thant and Democratic Party political consultant Carl Wagner, Alex grew up while her father co-chaired Bill Clinton's successful 1992 campaign. Wagner attended Woodrow Wilson High School, and went to college at Brown University, from which she graduated in 1999 after studying art history and literature. A self-described progressive, Wagner worked as a cultural correspondent for the John Podesta-founded Center for American Progress. Shortly afterward, she became the editor-in-chief of music and culture magazine The Fader, a position she held from 2004 to 2007. Wagner served as the executive director of Not On Our Watch, an advocacy group focusing on mass atrocities and human rights founded by celebrities like Don Cheadle, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt, before becoming the White House correspondent for AOL's "Politics Daily." The magazine was shuttered when AOL purchased The Huffington Post, but Wagner transferred there while appearing as an analyst on MSNBC shows like "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" (MSNBC, 2003-2012) and "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" (MSNBC, 2010-). In 2011, she received her own MSNBC show in the form of "Now with Alex Wagner" (MSNBC, 2011-15). "Now" was a weekday show that featured panels typical of political talk shows, but it also featured breaking news and pop culture segments. The show was cancelled in 2015 due to MSNBC's transition away from pundit-based shows and a greater focus from the network on breaking news. The year prior, Wagner married Sam Kass, the former White House nutrition policy advisor and assistant chef. Their wedding was attended by President Barack Obama and his family, to whom Kass is close. After her show was cancelled, Wagner left MSNBC to become a senior editor at The Atlantic in 2016. She was quickly offered the co-anchor position on "CBS This Morning Saturday" (CBS, 2012-), replacing Vinita Nair. Wagner also continued to serve as a contributing editor for The Atlantic while replacing Mark Halperin as co-host of political series "The Circus" (Showtime 2016-) following Halperin's sexual harassment scandal.