Introduction
Alexandra Swe "Alex" Wagner (born December 4, 1977) is an American journalist and liberal political commentator. She was the anchor of the daytime program Now with Alex Wagner on MSNBC. Currently, she is a co-anchor on CBS This Morning Saturday and a senior editor at The Atlantic.
Early life and education
Alex Wagner was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Her mother, Tin Swe Thant, is an immigrant from Rangoon, Myanmar, who became a naturalized American after marrying Alex's father. Her father, Carl Wagner, is from Iowa, and of German and Irish descent, and is a prominent Democratic Party political consultant who co-chaired Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. She attended Woodrow Wilson High School and graduated from Brown University in 1999, having studied art history and literature. Wagner was raised Roman Catholic.
Career
Wagner has worked as the cultural correspondent for the Center for American Progress. From 2003 to 2007, she was editor-in-chief of The Fader magazine, covering music and cultural movements from around the world. She also served as executive director of Not On Our Watch Project, an advocacy organization focused on mass atrocities and human rights violations.
Wagner then became the White House correspondent for Politics Daily, a political news magazine under AOL News. She moved to The Huffington Post after it was acquired by AOL.
As an analyst on MSNBC, Wagner appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.
On November 14, 2011, Wagner began hosting Now with Alex Wagner weekdays (originally at noon ET, but later at 4 PM ET). On July 30, 2015, MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced that the series had been cancelled in an effort to transition the network's daytime programming to more breaking news reporting and less political commentary and opinion. The next day the program aired its final episode. MSNBC later announced that Wagner would host a weekend program, but those plans were later abandoned.
On April 26, 2016, The Atlantic announced that Wagner was leaving MSNBC to join the magazine as a senior editor. In addition to writing for The Atlantic, Wagner will moderate events with AtlanticLIVE and help with developing video and TV projects with The Atlantic Studios.
In November 2016, Wagner replaced Vinita Nair on CBS This Morning Saturday.
Political views
She has described herself as progressive and believes that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution should be repealed. On matters involving Israel, she believes that there is an element of “trepidation that inhibits a robust discussion about Israel in the American media" due to fears of being falsely slurred as an anti-Semite.
Personal life
On August 30, 2014, Wagner married former White House nutrition policy advisor and assistant chef Sam Kass in a ceremony held at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a restaurant in Pocantico Hills, New York. The wedding was attended by President Obama and his family, as Kass is considered a family friend.