Will her future projects inspire the same loyalty? 1 star, is taking a hiatus. She led me to a second-floor annex that doubles as Mikulas art studio and Maddows home office, with stacks of archival documents neatly arranged on the floor and a whiteboard scribbled with plot points. Rachel Maddow plans to step away from her show for a few weeks beginning this Friday, with plans to use the time to develop other projects for NBCUniversal, the MSNBC host announced on her show . It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public profile via her frequent appearances as a progressive pundit on programs aired by MSNBC. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit . MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has reached a new deal with NBCUniversal, one that will continue her employment at the network for several more years. Rachel told the magazine. The second quarter also featured Maddow scaling back her workload to once a week, as she began hosting "The Rachel Maddow Show" only on Monday nights last month. The first show I worked on was his 11 oclock show on MSNBC that nobody remembers. Thats how I feel. It was Carlson who gave Maddow her first paid TV gig when she began appearing on MSNBCs Tucker back in 2005. The industry chatter is that NBCUniversal gave Maddow an enormous raise only to cede her in the key prime-time block that remains incredibly vital to ratings, advertisers, and cable subscriptions. Maddow hosted her weekly show "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC. Theres 20 inches of ice out here, youre not gonna fall through, Maddow promised. During the host's lengthy absence, MSNBC continued to brand its 9 p.m. hour as "The Rachel Maddow Show." She stated, Were giving her the time and space to grow. He added that Wagner is "arguably the best available option" at this point, but that does not mean she will draw viewers. She is a comedian, whose schtick is "conservatives . But for me, success is doing work that Im proud of. But for all the political theatrics, the crux of the dispute comes down to dollars and cents. Kari Lake Might Have Lost Her RaceBut She Isnt Going Anywhere. In October 2010, after a particularly rollicking broadcast from a historic Delaware tavern, where the Maddow Show was covering a Senate showdown between Chris Coons and Christine ODonnell (remember her? The news comes after a several-month absence. Carlson spoke admiringly of her in a 2019 New York Times Magazine profile, and when his name came up as we fished, Maddow recalled bumping into him at an event for the first time in a long time. "The widespread conventional wisdom among 30 Rock insiders and TV news veterans is that, when it comes to Maddow, MSNBC never had a bench.". Maddow lives for this stuff, even as someone who grew up in sunny Castro Valley, California. Maddow announced last month that she would host her show only on Monday nights beginning this week, as she focuses on other projects like a planned MSNBC podcast and producing a Ben. But right now, there were fish to catch. MSNBC named Alex Wagner as Rachel Maddow's timeslot replacement for the four days a week the network's biggest star is not on the air, but insiders have questioned why executives would attempt. Theres a sort of, like, respecting the game, in terms of people who are doing well and people who are good at it. In 2014, when Wagner was still hosting a daytime show on MSNBC, she married then-White House chef Sam Kass in an elaborate ceremony attended by President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia. Alex Wagner, during her time as co-host of "The Circus" on Showtime. This help content & information General Help Center experience. Change is difficult. Maddow, you might say, sets the networks ideological agenda, a signifier for the entire MSNBC brand. MSNBC reportedly faces a "crisis" if Maddow decides to permanently abandon the coveted timeslot, according to Puck's Dylan Byers. Of course, Maddow being great on TV cant neutralize Trump conspiracy theories or save democracy. Thats how it works in retrospect, she countered, but in the moment, its much harder to see. A day after The Daily Beast reported MSNBC almost brought back ex-host Keith Olbermann to replace Rachel Maddow, Olbermann has weighed in, filling in more . Now lets never speak of this again.. MSNBC 's star primetime host is making it official: She is cutting back on her hosting hours. Her answer, this time, was short and to the point: I wanna be proud of my life., Vanity Fairs 2023 Hollywood Issue Welcomes You to the After-Party of Our Dreams, Inside the New Rights Next Frontier:The American West, The Strange, Sexually Charged Genesis of Gloria Swansons Legendary Memoir, King Charles Reportedly BeganEvicting Harry and MeghanAfterSpare, NetflixsMurdaugh Murders Team Say Theyve Uncovered New Crimes, Trumps Relationship With Jared and Ivanka Is About to Get a Lot More Awkward, The Cringey Sexcapades of a Horny Billionaire, What Is Cinema? ET. Maddows other projects include another podcast, another book, two potential movies and two potential TV shows, one of which actually sounds a little more than potential. Ad Choices, The cable juggernaut signed a multimillion-dollar contract to. The 'Rachel Maddow Show' garnered millions of viewers for MSNBC. Its about journalism and journalistic ethics, and the ability of powerful people to manipulate American systems. (She sold an accompanying book to Crown.). Trumps Relationship With Jared and Ivanka, Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime. We reeled in the first one before too long. Todays day one, she said. The popular political commentator had been absent from her show since February as she went on sabbatical to work with NBCUniversal on new projects. Legal Statement. Slates TV critic diagnosed a case of Conspiracy Brain. The Posts Wemple, in a blistering series about media coverage of the unverified dossier, excoriated Maddow for a pattern of misleading and dishonest asymmetry. Michael Isikoff, a longtime Maddow guest and fellow Russiagate chronicler, asked on his podcast, Do you accept that there are times that you overstated what the evidence was?, By mid-2019, as I reported back then, Maddow had become too hot for the newsroom management of The New York Times. Exclusive: Rachel Maddow Gives Her First Interview as She Steps Back From the Nightly Grind and Revs Up for Her Next Act The cable juggernaut signed a multimillion-dollar contract to not be on. She tossed me something that looked like a cross between a bike lock and a telephone cord and told me to put it around my neck: safety picks. Last August,Business Insiderreported that Maddow would be staying at MSNBC after reaching an agreement on a new contract. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Im still working! " The Rachel Maddow Show " airs on MSNBC at 9:00 pm Eastern on Monday nights and is rebroadcast at midnight Eastern. Plaintiff Devin Nunes, a former Member of the House of Representatives, alleges that he was defamed by defendant NBCUniversal Media, LLC. (Getty Images). 'Alex Wagner Tonight' is the new show four nights a week in Rachel Maddow's slot. It has sort of been like Chronicle of a Death Foretold the whole time Ive been doing cable news, she told me. And thats not a fatalistic thing. She will only host the show on Monday nights from May 2. "I'm sure Alex Wagner is a fine permanent host for the four days Rachel Maddow won't be in the chair, but that's sort of the problem - the bizarre arrangement where Rachel Maddow hosts a weekly show that also happens to be a weekday primetime hour seems entirely untenable," Krakauer told Fox News Digital. Like, this is high stakes, really important and determinative of our future as a country. None of us could have ever guessed this trajectory., Local radio led to Air America, which led to regular appearances on MSNBC, which led to a political analyst gig, which led to substitute hosting for Countdown With Keith Olbermann, and, finally, just two months before Barack Obamas historic election, Maddows own hour as Olbermanns lead-in. Market data provided by Factset. "The Rachel Maddow Show" finished the first quarter of 2022 as MSNBCs most-watched program despite the namesakes extended absence, but finished behind 10 different Fox News offerings. She was set to be back on the show by April of 2022. Rachel's MSNBC show's schedule has changed. It was the Daily Beast that pegged her annual compensation at $30 million. Like, Tuckers doing great right nowas in Carlson of Fox Newsbut look at Tuckers career. THATS WHERE CABLE NEWS IS. Theyd wanted to sign her for a while, and they were even more motivated to do so after Bag Man became a hit. For years, millions of people tuned in to The Rachel Maddow Show as nightly appointment viewing. Jones noted that Wagner is a left-leaning individual on many issues, but also said that viewers wont merely receive preprogrammed Democratic talking points when they tune in to her show. Byers feels one explanation is that MSNBC "got complacent with [Maddows] success and her ability to carry the primetimelineup and didnt bother to do the hard, years-long work of cultivating her replacement.". ET. Give this article. In March 2017, as she was settling into middle age, it all finally caught up with her. It is not a new concept, she said, her voice rising as she peered into the camera. All rights reserved. Is it the number of streams? (They keep an apartment in Manhattan.) Offers may be subject to change without notice. (Someone else with direct knowledge of the matter told me Maddows full package is worth more when you add a separate overhead and development deal.) This is gonna be a disappointing answer, she says. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Like, Ill be totally miserable and thatll make me want to get outta here! But Maddow fell in love, first with the landscape and the seasons, which she had never experienced growing up in California, and then with Mikula, who had hired her to do odd jobs in the same house where they live to this day. The talks unfolded in two stages. October 2, 2019. Market data provided by Factset. She needed a place to hunker down and finish her dissertation without any distractions, and she knew someone who had a spare room in a former B&B. MSNBCs Rachel Maddow only hosts the networks 9 p.m. God and country, thank you very much., Maddows highly rated 9 p.m. showlong the crown jewel of MSNBC prime time, if not the entire networkdebuted on September 8, 2008, with a handoff from then superstar Keith Olbermann, whose subsequent defenestration elevated Maddow to queen bee status. It was a "dealbreaker" for Maddow to have a schedule allowing more time for family, according to three people involved with the deal. The eleven people, speaking on the condition of anonymity with CNN , said the move is a "significant challenge" that will leave MSNBC looking for a new plan for the 9 . MSNBCs nearly two-decade low in the critical category came during a jam-packed stretch of news that included Russias ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, and the beginning of the January 6 committee hearings. There was a document that was involved. This popularity has, naturally, made her a target. That Friday, she called me with an invitation to go ice fishing. Im gonna be here every night working for the next few weeks or so. I reframed the question: What does she want her legacy to be? Brad Adgate, an industry analyst, told the Post that a challenge will be getting viewers to feel the urgency to watch Wagners show that they felt for watching Maddow. Over the next few months, we would talk a lot about what was at stakefor her health and well-being and career trajectory, for her continued cultural relevance, and for the network that has long depended on her massive nightly audience. Her broad progressive appeal and singular approach to anchoringstory-driven monologues that run as long as 30 minutes, connecting dots you never knew existed and dragging viewers down any number of rabbit holeshave made her MSNBCs number one celebrity and perennial ratings champ, the only figure in non-Murdochian cable news who can play in the same sandbox as the fire-breathers at Fox. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Maddow had been in the business for about a decade by the time she truly began to cultivate an audience. Critical acclaim? Brian Flood is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Extremists are ascendant, authoritarianism is en vogue, and with two years to go until the 2024 election, our system of government faces arguably its biggest crisis since the founding of the republic. On a practical level, her thoroughly complex monologues simply arent for everyone, and the payoff doesnt always justify the windup. There was a much bigger opportunity on the table: SiriusXM was poised to offer Maddow closer to $40 million plus a first-look deal, sources told me. The Rachel Maddow Show would eventually go weekly and she would continue to do specials for the network, but she would have a lot more flexibility. In March 2017, Maddow took blowback for hyping what seemed like a holy graillevel scoop about Trumps taxes, which she teased out in a suspenseful 20-minute opener. The stakes of this competition are significantly higher than a World Series ring. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, What Happened To Rachel Maddow In 2022, Where Is She Now? The lawsuit against Maddow was brought by OANN, a news network that Maddow falsely accused on her show as being controlled by the Kremlin. Then there are the requisite recriminations from the right, which regards her with the same contempt that liberals harbor for personalities like Hannity and Tucker Carlson. The new lineup for MSNBC will keep Maddow hosting her show on Monday nights. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Maddow will host her show one night per week as she continues to pursue other endeavors. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. Rachel lives in New York City and Western Massachusetts with her partner, artist Susan Mikula. What does she do on her off days? In October, MSNBC president Rashida Jones said the network was in "no immediate rush" to find Maddow's successor. I think, writ large, if they ended up with, like, a hit award-winning podcast, and a hit movie, and a docuseries, and a serial TV show, and Im covering the State of the Union, and some of the time Im doing The Rachel Maddow Show, thats probably a better deal for them long-run than me just doing TRMS and killing myself and not being able to do anything and, ultimately, having a shorter career because Im burning myself out. She has been the biggest promoter of every anti-Trump crackpot conspiracy theory. The Rachel Maddow Show airs Mondays at 9pm ET on MSNBC, and shortly thereafter in this feed. The statements purported to describe Nunes's conduct . Typical criticisms are that she can be snarky, obnoxious, pedantic. But Maddows agents balked at the proposed salary, in the $10 to $15 million range, according to people who know the numbers. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. ET program on Monday evenings after scaling back her workload. But in this environment, where we know the cable universe is changing, this allows us to get more Rachel in more places., Changing indeed: With viewers increasingly unmoored from their traditional cable packages, MSNBCs linear television business was in a dicey position even without the headache of losing a ratings powerhouse four nights a week. MSNBCs Rachel Maddow only hosts the networks 9 p.m. The Emmy awards recipient Rachel has won multiple awards for her broadcasting work, including a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for her book Blowout (2019) in 2021. The Rachel Maddow Show has been a staple on the network after it debuted on MSNBC in September 2008. Going from five days a week with Maddow to one day must feel like a bit of a bummer. During Maddows absence, her show averaged 1.6 million viewers compared to 3.1 million for Fox News "Hannity," which airs in the same 9 p.m. 2024 is gonna be, um, you know, not a dress rehearsal, Maddow said. Wagner rejoined MSNBC this past February as a senior analyst and substitute anchor, which positioned her for the elevation to 9 p.m. To say shes got a tall order would be an understatement, but MSNBC president Rashida Jones doesnt see it that way. Rachel Maddow's Parents Were Very Catholic, and She Grew up "Very Conservative". MSNBCs Rachel Maddow is expected to return to her show Monday on the heels of a hiatus that saw her program collapse as the network struggled to replace its only primetime star. I had no interest in New England, no interest in the country, no interest in winter, no interest in snow, Maddow said. But it is an old idea. That was super scary, she told me, but it resolved, and I started doing a new kind of physical therapy that ended up being really effective. She said the new work routine has been a significant life improvement. November 11, 2021. Shes not necessarily a predictable voice.. She went to the hospital, where they determined she was having a rare, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. And the whole thing became a Dan Rather scandal. Before we set off, she showed me the cozy lakefront fixer-upper shed purchased weeks earlier with her longtime partner, the photographer Susan Mikula, about 30 minutes from the couples 164-year-old farmhouse. She is reportedly worth $25million according to Celebrity Net Worth. Fourth Watch editor Steve Krakauer, a former CNN producer who now covers the media industry, feels the "bizarre arrangement" is not going to solve the networks ratings issues. This is a long investment because I think Alex is incredibly talented., Wagner said, MSNBC has given me a lot of support to craft an hour of television that is reflective of my experience as a journalist, my values as a journalist, and my personality.. "I'm going to. Change is absolutely terrifying, but in this case, its good. Rachel Maddow returned from an extended hiatus on Monday, but her return to nightly hosting will be . Shes been doing the job long enough that it supremely messed up her back, which now has seven herniated or bulging discs that she manages with physical therapy. CNNs long-struggling 9 p.m. offerings hosted by Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon even managed to beat "Maddow" in the critical category, averaging 293,000 demo viewers during her hiatus. The last time she and I caught up before my final deadline in mid-June, it was the thick of the January 6 hearings. The sort of constant echo chamber of breaking news is now everywhere, he said, offering hope that perhaps Wagner will change her shows format in effective ways. The journalist has received several Emmy Awards for her broadcasting. Wagners debut as the official new host during Maddows old time slot took place on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Maddow typically finished among the most-popular cable news programs during her glory days when the Russian collusion narrative dominated liberal media in the early years of former President Donald Trumps presidency. Maddow, at 49, has been behind the desk for almost a decade and a half. Were used to producing for Rachel. It doesnt mean this is easy or idyllic, but its different, and thats what I needed. Rachel Maddow. Story tips can be sent tobrian.flood@fox.comand on Twitter: @briansflood. Previously, a panel-style show airing at 12 noon ET, its set-up was changed and moved to 4 p.m. in 2014, following the resignation of host Martin Bashir for his vitriolic remarks about Sarah Palin. The fact that it didnt last long, Maddow told me of the informal ban, when I paid a second visit to her neck of the woods, and they just quietly changed their minds without ever saying why they changed their minds was, to me, sort of just sad on their part, and telling., It was three months after our ice fishing trip, and I was back in Western Mass, this time sitting with Maddow on her screened-in porch, eating sandwiches on a rainy spring day. Former President Donald Trump's eldest son on Tuesday appeared to suggest there was something more nefarious about Maddow's break from hosting duties when, in reality, she will spend the time. In 2016, MSNBC tossed out a planned weekend show Wagner was slated to host even before it began. Then Jimmy Horowitz, who oversees global dealmaking for NBCUniversals film and television portfolio, negotiated the salary. MSNBC named Alex Wagner as Rachel Maddows timeslot replacement for the four days a week the network's biggest star is not on the air, but insiders have questioned why executives would attempt to replace Maddow with a previously canceled host who "never moved the needle on television.". FOX NEWS CRUSHES CNN, MSNBC TO FINISH WITH CABLE NEWS LARGEST AUDIENCE FOR 81ST STRAIGHT QUARTER. As for Rachel Maddow herself? When The Rachel Maddow Show is off the air, viewers will be able to watch the network's primetime lineup called "MSNBC Prime," at 9 p.m. As for Rachel Maddow herself? Nine years earlier, shed retreated from London to Western Massachusetts to finish her dissertation for Oxford, where shed been a Rhodes Scholar. Like, Im not becoming a painter., Such is the might of Rachel Maddow that it was better for the company to lose her four nights a week than not to have her at all. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Are Brice and Elizabeth From '7 Little Johnstons' Still Together? In 2015, MSNBC canceled her dayside program "Now" after a four-year run. The staunchly liberal Wagner has also worked at CBS News. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. Rian Johnson, Halle Berry, and More Share Their Inspiration, From the Archive: The Man Who Kept Marilyns Secrets (1991), Listen toVFsLittle Gold MenPodcast for Unrivaled Awards-Season Coverage, 2023 Cond Nast. Visit the MSNBC Rachel Maddow Blog for more news with updated blog posts and video daily. The podcast, scheduled to debut this fall, was her first pitch under the Surprise Inside umbrella. This is, like, a typical-size, perfect pickerel. She released it back into the hole. Before long, news broke that Maddow, after months of discussions quarterbacked by her superagents at Endeavor, would be sticking with NBCUniversal after all. ET program on Monday evenings after scaling back her workload. The Rachel Maddow Show MSNBC News 4.4 31.2K Ratings; SPECIAL TO THIS FEED: The January 6th hearings and corresponding analysis from Rachel Maddow and other MSNBC panelists beginning Thursday . Now go with Democrats and Trump and Carlson with what happened and the defining would absolutely occur. "Conde must be hoping this will give him some social cache with Michelle Obama because otherwise this hire is nonsensical," the former NBC News staffer said. Sources close to the presenter have previously stated that she wanted to have time and space for her personal life and other projects. Dan Harmon's Still-Unreleased NFT TV Show 'Krapopolis' Gets Third Season The Fox animated comedy series has yet to air a single episode and has made about $650,000 from NFT sales so far. or redistributed. Fans of the MSNBC nightly news-focused show hosted by Rachel Maddow have had to adjust since she left the five-day-a-week format in May. The week of April 4 through 8 is on pace to be the lowest-rated week for "The Rachel Maddow Show" since 2016, averaging only 1.3 million viewers through Thursdays episode. From 2005 to 2010, her syndicated discussion radio show of the same name ran on . I feel like Im on the edge of my seat, and Im convinced of the IMPORTANCE OF THIS MOMENT., Back on her porch, Maddow talked about the physical toll her work had taken over the yearsschlepping back and forth between Manhattan and Massachusetts every week, feverishly toiling at a desk 10 hours a day, every day, with bad posture and a dash of scoliosis. Rachel Maddow returned to MSNBC on Monday night following a two-month hiatus and shed some light on what the future holds for her nightly program, The Rachel Maddow Show. Mark McKinnon, a political consultant, said that Wagner might be able to bring a refreshing shift to the cable news format. ET primetime weeknight slot has been mired in a ratings slump. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Broadcasting from home Monday night due to a close contact with a COVID-19 case, Maddow said she will step away after Thursday night's show and return in April, confirming news reports from a. Thats whats going on with the dossier., The property where Maddow and Mikula live spans 12 acres of woods and streams, lots of room for their two black Labs, Francis and Charms, to run free. But she might lose her show after saying something disgusting. The 152 episodes of "Now" that aired in 2015 before it was canceled averaged only 328,000 total viewers and 49,000 among the demo to trail Fox News by over 280% in each measurable. This wouldnt free Maddow from the daily grind, but it was a tempting proposition. According to Nunes, statements made on the March 18, 2021 broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC portrayed him in a false and defamatory light. Bullshit: Amid the Don Lemon Drama, Sources Knock Down CNN Sale Rumors, Chris Lichts morning-show reboot is making headlines for all the wrong reasons and fueling wild gossip. ", Change is good. Intrigue began swirling last summer with leaks that Maddow was thinking about leaving the network for new opportunities. It is the recipient of three Emmy Awards and Maddow has received six Emmy nominations. But he was always kicking around the business and has always been talented. On the extreme end of the spectrum, theres the hate mail and death threats, which she says havent abated even though shes no longer on TV as much. But look at Tuckers career. Maddow has signed a new multi-year deal with MSNBC's parent NBCUniversal, as Insider's. It revolves around a group of women in postWorld War II America in Washington, D.C., says Susan Rovner, the NBCUniversal executive who oversees the companys television entertainment portfolio. During the first week of her hiatus this past February, the 9 p.m. audience plummeted 26 percent and stayed down for weeks before soaring back above 2 million upon her April 11 return. We talked about pretty much everythingher spirituality and Catholic upbringing (I one hundred percent believe in the power of prayer), her history of depression (very much a chemical and biological process, which she manages with exercise and sleep), her media diet (no physical publications or, no joke, cable news; lots of digital subscriptions and The Great British Baking Show). But if you dig below the surface of her policy wonk and . You know what I mean? The brass surmised that having Maddow, from a liberal network, and Chris Wallace, from conservative Fox News, would give the platform a certain range. We also got into a back-and-forth about her dossier segments. Thats where cable news is. But just in case., It was a Monday in early February, on Maddows home turf of Western Massachusetts. The program, known as much for its historical wonkery and sweeping monologues as its lefty bona fides, was immediately successful. Brian Williams announced Tuesday night that he is leaving his MSNBC show and NBC News entirely by year's end. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. This news, while not totally shocking given the . "The Rachel Maddow Show" is on pace for its smallest weekly audience since 2016, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings. First Conde reached an agreement on the specifics of what Maddows job would entail. In 2021, she received a Grammy Award in the Best Spoken Word Album category for her 2019 book Blowout. Its hard to overstate Maddows value to MSNBC over the past 14 years. Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. MSNBC, CNN FACE GAPING HOLES IN PRIMETIME AFTER RACHEL MADDOW, CHRIS CUOMO SAGAS LEAVE 9 PM TIME SLOT UNSTABLE. The long-serving. Once the deal was a fait accompli, Maddows colleagues breathed a sigh of relief. MNSBC's Rachel Maddow reveals real reason her show is now on once a week as fans slam host for 'quietly quitting' Chris Bradford Published: 7:38 ET, Apr 12 2022 Updated: 11:29 ET, Apr 12 2022 PRESENTER Rachel Maddow will only host her show once a week from May following her two-month hiatus. I mean, I know 49 is old, she said with a hint of sarcasm, but Ive just done, like, eight hours of live prime-time television in the past week. Maddow was willing to hear them out because her beloved longtime agent, Jean Sage of the much smaller Napoli Management Group, had signaled her intention to retire. NBCUniversal will reportedly give Maddow $30million a year to keep her with the company through to the 2024 election, according to the Daily Beast.