Rachel Maddow's podcast uses Japanese American incarceration as a lesson versus today's Trump policies

Japanese American groups, remembering their own history of unjust mass incarceration during WWII were among the first to condemn  the Trump administration's immigration policies, viewing similarities in rhetoric and actions, particularly mass detention and family separation, as echoing past injustices to their families.

The similarities between their incarceration and this administration's attitudes toward immigrants is largely unknown by most Americans. All that may change as their struggle is the subject of a podcast by progressive media host Rachel Maddow.

 "Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order" is a new, six-episode narrative podcast that tells the story of the executive order that authorized the roundup and incarceration of innocent Japanese Americans during World War II. The podcast was released on December 1, 2025.

"Rachel Maddow’s new series lays bare one of the most shocking decisions in American history," posts the Manzanar Committee on social media. "It’s a story that reveals how an executive order authorizing the mass roundup of innocent Japanese Americans came to be, the powerful players who engineered it, and the burn order that tried to erase it from history."

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

Japanese Americans were among the first to protest Donald Trump's immigration policies.

The series investigates one of the most shocking decisions in American history, focusing on the powerful figures who engineered the policy, those who tried to stop it, and a "burn order" that attempted to erase the official report from history. A copy of the crucial government memo was discovered decades later, despite orders for its destruction.

"I'm angry, I'm angry," said 81-year-old Satsuki Ina to CBS. "It's frightening. It's terrifying that this is happening again."

"It is a replication of our own history," explains Inak, a survivor of the Tule Lake Ssegregation Center. "They're using the same legal false justification, removing people without due process."

Rachel Maddow

Maddow is arguably the most in-fluential voice in progressive media. She is the highest paid host on MSNBC, now rebranded as MS NOW. Maddow has approximately 9.4 million followers across her primary social media accounts, with nearly 9.4 million on X (formerly Twitter) and 2.5 million on the Facebook page for The Rachel Maddow Show. Her podcasts are highly popular, often reaching number one on the Apple Podcasts charts.

In her podcast Burn Order, Maddow draws several parallels to today's political climate beyond mass detentions. The podcast focuses on the manipulation of information, government accountability, and the targeting of groups.

FYI: Listen to the podcast on various platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and MSNBC's website.  

The key parallels Maddow highlights are:


• Targeting of "the Other": The government used "brazen lies and stereotypes" to turn the public against a whole group of people. This can be seen today with the divisive political rhetoric labeling certain groups as a threat.

Lack of Accountability for Influential Figures: Maddow points to figures operating without accountability. This can be seen as a parallel to situations where powerful individuals seem untouchable and operate outside public scrutiny.

Attempts to Suppress Truth: The podcast is titled after a "burn order"—a deliberate attempt to destroy documents and suppress the truth. This can be compared to modern discussions about mishandled records, government cover-ups, and the fight for transparency.

Public Indifference: Maddow suggests the public back then was "determined to look the other way". Today, with a constant stream of news, there is a danger of public fatigue and indifference, potentially allowing those in power to act unchecked.

Abuse of Power: The historical event involved the abuse of executive power and the stripping of citizens' rights through an unconstitutional executive order. This serves as a warning about unchecked power and the importance of constitutional checks and balances.

It's amazing how many Americans have never heard of this shameful chapter of US  history. Even less known is how Japanese Americans fought for the federal government to admit any wrongdoing.

The podcast also explores how the persistence of the Japanese American community was able to get the federal government to issue an apologizy to Japanese Americans for the wartime internment through the Civil Liberties Act of 198..The apology not only acknowledged that the incarceration was based on "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership," it also provided a $20,000 cash payment to each eligible survivor.

Maddow will host a live event in Los Angeles tied to Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order sponsored by MS NOW. It will take place at 5 p.m. PT on Dec. 14 at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. The event also will air as a MSNOW primetime special on Dec. 29. Tickets for the event are available for purchase via Ticketmaster.

Japanese Americans, informed by its painful history, largely reacted with alarm and opposition to Trump's immigration crackdowns, advocating for compassion and constitutional rights for all immigrants. Their perspective matters.


“Doing the right thing doesn't always pay off in the short run, but your country will ultimately get this right,” Maddow tells Time magazine. “The good guys will be rewarded and the bad guys will be punished or forgotten. Having faith in those kinds of moral outcomes is really a nice guiding light to have in dark times like these.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

MSNBC picks Alex Wagner to fill Rachel Maddow's time slot

Veteran. journalist Alex Wagner will host news show for MSNBC.

Asian American journalist Alex Wagner has been named to take over MSNBC host Rachel Maddow's prime time slot on the news network starting August 16.

Wagner, 44, who has worked at CBS News, as a co-host of Showtime's “The Circus” and as an editor at The Atlantic, is on her second stint at MSNBC. She rejoined MSNBC as a fil-in host and commentator in February after hosting a show on the network a decade ago.

“I'm honored to be anchoring a key hour of television in such a critical time for American democracy,” Wagner said. In taking over the 9 p.m. slot, she will be one of  the most high-profile Asian American journalists in the country.

“In many ways, the stakes have never been higher, and there’s no better place to explore this moment than MSNBC," she said. "I’m thrilled to be coming home.”

A first-generation Asian American whose mother emigrated to the U.S. from Myanmar, Wagner wrote a book about her experiences, “FutureFace: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest and the Secret to Belonging.”

Since leaving MSNBC 10 years ago, she has been an editor at The Atlantic, an economics reporter for HuffPost and the White House correspondent for AOL's Politics Daily. She was also the editor-in-chief of The Fader, a culture-oriented magazine, and was executive director of an advocacy organization that aimed to stop mass atrocities.

“Her unique perspective, built on more than two decades in journalism, and tenacious reporting in the U.S. and abroad will help our audiences contextualize what matters,” said MSNBC president Rashida Jones.

"Alex Wagner in the 9 PM hour was a clear choice. Her unique perspective—built on more than two decades in journalism—and tenacious reporting in the U.S. and abroad will help our audiences contextualize what matters,” Rashida Jones said in a statement. “I am looking forward to watching Alex thrive in MSNBC’s primetime lineup.”

Wagner returns to MSNBC to shore up its prime time lineup. Ratings without Maddow, the network's most popular news host, has flagged since she went to Monday nights only. 

Wanger is not a newbie. She has operated in the Washington, DC area for two decades during which she has met and interviewed the movers and shakers of the Capitol. In addition, she has a ready-made fan base from her previous daytime news-oriented show and her numerous media jobs, including her latest Showtime gig, The Circus. that follows candidates in their campaigns.

Maddow will continue to work Monday nights with Wagner working Tuesday through Friday. Maddow signed a reported $30 million per year contract extension with NBC, which gives her “the freedom to pursue a range of formats including film and TV series.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

MSNBC documentary spotlight's 'Dragon Lady' Anna Chennault' & Nixon's 'Betrayal'

WHITE HOUSE FILE

Anna Chennault hobnobbed with the rich and powerful.

IF NOT FOR an Asian American businesswoman, dubbed by some as the Steel Butterfly or the Dragon Lady, Richard Nixon would never have become president -- and hundreds of thousands of lives, including the lives of 20,000 American soldiers -- would have been spared.

The role of Anna Chennault, widow of a WWII hero, in Nixon's 1968 campaign has almost been forgotten, thanks to President Lyndon Johnson's deep patriotism of putting country over partisanship, according to a recent television special Betrayal: The Plot That Won the White House, hosted by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

Maddow painted Chennault as a behind the scenes political wheeler-dealer and noted Washington socialite, who used her sex appeal and government connections to become the key figure in scuttling the peace talks between North and South Vietnam, thus continuing the Vietnam War for another six years.

Chennault, also known as Chen Xiangmei who came from a wealthy Chinese family, in 1947 married American war hero Gen. Claire Chennault, the dynamic and charismatic leader of the Flying Tigers, famous for its raids against the Japanese in Southeast Asia and China wuring WWII.

After the death of Gen. Chennault, she settled in Washington, D.C., where she became prominent among elite social circles, hosting lavish parties in her Watergate penthouse attended by “cabinet members, congressmen, diplomats, foreign dignitaries and journalists.” She was named vice president of the Flying Tigers, an air cargo company rumored to have dies with the CIA.

Long-time readers of Views From the Edge, have known about Chennault's infamous role from a two-part posting way back in 2014: Part 1: Nixon was worst that I thought and Part 2: Nixon - The Traitor.

Nixon knew that if Johnson was able to broker peace, the Democrat nominee Hubert Humphrey would win the election. After losing the Presidency twice in 1960 and 1964, Nixon was determined to win this time and he would do anything to win the White House.

That was when he decided to use his nuclear option: Anna Chennault. He asked Chennault's widow, who headed anan airline, to use her contacts in the South  Vietnam government. The message she delivered was, don't take part in the peae talks and when Nixon wins, he would give South Vietnam more favorable terms.

But it was not until this year, 50 years after Nixon's 1968 campaign, that Johnson's personal notes on his conversations with Nixon and his knowledge of Chennault's role  have become public. Johnson's handwritten notes have been locked away in President Johnson's Library. On the file was a note not to open for 50 years.

Hoping to fend off Nixon's interference in the peace process, Johnson talked to Sen. Everett Dirksen, who led the Republicans and described what Chennault had done under orders of Nixon. "It's treason," said Johnson.

Johnson knew of Nixon's and Chennault's role in sabotaging the peace talks and threatened Nixon that he would go to the press with his knowledge days before the election. 

On Meet The Press, Nixon denied the rumors of his interference -- an out-and-out lie.

Upon the advice of his close associates and his own belief that if he went public with the subterfuge, it would send the country into a downward spiral it might not be able to recover from. For the sake of the overall well-being of the country, Johnson chose to not reveal what he knew. A few days later, Nixon was elected president

A few years later in in the midst of Nixon's re-election campaign, the Nixon's win-at-any-cost outlook resulted in the Watergate scandal and ultimately, his resignation. The Presidency was toppled off its pedestal and ever since then, government has never regained the respect and trust of the people.

Betrayal: The Plot that Won the White House special is available online here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: U[dated Nov. 25 to clarify that Chennault was born in China.
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