The Rachel Maddow iPhone app is much like the MSNBC political pundit herself, smart, quirky, and decidedly left wing. If you’re a fan of Maddow, you will like this app.
The app opens to a main page with a patriotic red-white-and-blue background. The app’s various categories scroll horizontally on the page, and include photos of Maddow, recent media mentions, and a list of upcoming guests. The design is a nice respite from the colorless lists of categories found on some news-related apps.
The mainstay of the app, however, is dozens of video clips, both of Maddow’s own show, as well as those of other political talk shows. These are not the 60-second clips you find on other apps, but rather full-length segments – some as long as six minutes – taken right from television broadcasts.
The subjects of the various video clips range from the serious, such as President Obama’s health-care-reform plan, to silly distractions like the International Birdman Competition.
There was one surprise component of the app that I nearly overlooked. At the bottom left of the main page is a tiny sketch of a cocktail glass. Click on it, and up pops a category titled “Mixology.” In five different clips, including one from “The Martha Stewart Show,” Maddow reveals her talent for mixing a mean cocktail.
Hey, who wouldn’t need a drink after trying to rebut Rush Limbaugh all day?
