Not the sort of hiring decision Roger Ailes would make

“The one time Fox News ever asked me to be a guest,” she said, “was when Madonna made news for kissing another famous female, Britney Spears.”

“They thought I had expertise, maybe,” she said. “I said no, duh.”

Implicit in the story is that Ms. Maddow is gay, something well known to listeners of her radio show. Her partner of the last decade is an artist named Susan Mikula, who had hired Ms. Maddow — during that period when she was doing odd jobs while finishing her dissertation — to do some landscaping.

“She opened the door, and we both went, ‘Aaaaah,’ ” Ms. Maddow said. “It was love at first sight.”

Which raises a question: Does she think America is ready for an openly gay host on cable news at night?

“Well, I think Ellen DeGeneres has shown people are ready for her,” Ms. Maddow said, using a morning-show analogy. “But I will not dance the way Ellen does.”

Stanford and Oxford alum Rachel Maddow- the Thinking Lesbian's Favorite New Show Substitute- will get her own show on MSNBC after Keith Olbermann, starting September 8.