Madeleine Brand | |
|---|---|
| Born | Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Education | Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism UC Berkeley |
| Occupation | Broadcast journalist |
| Notable credit(s) | Press Play,The Madeleine Brand Show (laterBrand & Martínez),Day to Day,Morning Edition,All Things Considered |
Madeleine Brand is an Americanbroadcast journalist and radio personality. Brand is the host of the news and culture showPress Play, onKCRW-FM (89.9), one of Los Angeles' twoNational Public Radio (NPR) affiliates. The show made its debut in January 2014.[1][2] Brand broadcasts from the basement of the cafeteria of Santa Monica College.[2]
A Los Angeles native, Brand grew up in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.[3]
Brand attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley, beginning her radio career on college radio stationKALX; she earned a B.A. in English, with honors, in 1988. She later received a master's degree from theColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she later returned to teach documentary radio.[1][3][4]
Brand reported and anchored for NPR for thirteen years at various affiliates across the country:KQED, San Francisco;WBUR, Boston;WBGO, Newark, andWBFO, Buffalo.[1][3][4][5] She served asWest Coast correspondent and occasional substitute host forMorning Edition andAll Things Considered.[1] In 2006, she began co-hosting the radio programDay to Day withAlex Chadwick, which broadcast from NPR West studios in Los Angeles.[5]
In 2010, Brand became host of the new dailySouthern California Public Radio programThe Madeleine Brand Show on the public radio stationKPCC, which aired between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Pacific Time.[2] The show broadcast from the Mohn Broadcast Center inPasadena.[2] The show was popular for its first 23 months, and was the station's most-listened-to in-house program (with the highestArbitron rankings), and won a number of radio journalism awards.[2][3][4] 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 millionCorporation for Public Broadcasting grant.[2][3] The pairing of the two hosts, under the nameBrand & 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.[3] Brand left the station in September 2012 and was replaced byAlex Cohen (the show was renamedTake Two).[2][3]
Following her time at NPR, Brand was briefly at the Los Angelespublic television stationKCET as a special contributor to the fifth season ofSoCal Connected, hosted byVal Zavala.[1][3][4]
In Summer 2013, Brand occasionally substituted for longtime broadcasterWarren Olney IV on his showTo the Point on KPCC's rival KCRW.[2] In September 2013, Brand moved to KCRW and began to developPress Play, which debuted in January 2014, becoming the first new daily program on KCRW since 2001.[2]Press Play competes againstLarry Mantle'sAirTalk on KPCC.[2]
Brand is married to filmmaker Joe DeMarie, and together they have two children. She lives in theSilver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.[6]
