The Hill’s Changemakers: Katie Phang, MSNBC host

It appears Katie Phang was made to weather a year that brought a perfect storm of legal and political news. 

“If there was ever a time when having a strong legal background with actual trial experience had super relevancy, it would be now,” MSNBC’s “Katie Phang Show” host said. 

Phang, a lawyer who also serves as the network’s legal contributor, had a front-row seat to history as she covered President-elect Trump’s hush money trial from inside the New York City courthouse where it was taking place. 

Using her trial experience to be “able to create these digestible moments for the viewers” and explore “the nuances of what are people thinking, what are they really trying to get to, what are the lawyers trying to navigate” was a key part of Phang’s coverage and analysis. 

“I feel like the greatest honor I get is when somebody tells me, ‘You made it so easy for me to understand.’ That is such a win for me,” Phang, 49, told The Hill. 

Another victory is continuing to use her platform to amplify Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voices: More than 40 have appeared on her show since last year. Phang said the current climate is a moment when certain “sidelined and marginalized” groups, including those in that community, are carving out “a seat at the proverbial table.” 

“To have an Asian name like mine, which is hard to spell and maybe sometimes hard to pronounce, and to have that be on a cable news platform, and for it to be my name, has been so humbling,” Phang, a first-generation Korean American, said.  

Despite the challenges and successes that 2024 brought, and nearly three years after launching her eponymous weekend show, Phang said she has no intention of slowing down: “I still feel like I’m working to hit my sweet spot.”