Groundbreaking moment for Native American broadcaster: Alyssa London hosts MSNBC Special   

KNBA Podcast: Rhonda McBride and Jill Fratis talk with Alyssa London

When Alyssa London became Miss Alaska USA in 2017, she was the first woman of Lingít (Tlingit) heritage to wear the crown. Since then, she’s launched her own media business, “Culture Stories.” The videos she produced caught the attention of the cable news network, MSNBC, which hired her as a regular contributor. One of her first assignments was to host a show in MSNBC’s “The Culture Is” series. KNBA's Rhonda McBride and Jill Fratis talk with London about how she charted her path for success and the milestones along the way.

Listen • 41:41

Alyssa London says she was very intentional in charting her path to success but says couldn’t foresee exactly where it would lead. She just wanted to be ready for whatever opportunity might come her way. And as it’s turned out, one opportunity has led to another.

One of her first milestones was winning the Miss Alaska USA title in 2017, to become the first woman of Lingít (Tlingit) heritage to wear the crown.

Most recently, London has hosted a one-hour special on the cable news network, MSNBC, where she was recently hired as a regular contributor, the first Native American to do so.

In one of her first assignments, MSNBC tapped her to host an episode in a four-part series called “The Culture Is,” highlighting women from Black, Latina, Asian and Pacific Islander, as well as Indigenous cultures.

MSNBC/The Culture Is: Indigenous Women

London’s program, “The Culture Is: Indigenous Women,” features a one-on-one conversation with Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola. The mainstay of the show is a roundtable with seven prominent Native American women, identified as trailblazers.

London says guiding the conversation is an experience that’s hard to describe.

“Pretty surreal sitting there with the seven trailblazing Indigenous women,” London said. “It is difficult to even get one of them in the room.”

Some of the topics on the program include: Native boarding schools, missing and murdered Indigenous women, Native identity and stereotypes.

MSNBC /The Culture Is: Indigenous Women.

The line-up of guests included Crystal Echo-Hawk, executive director of IllumiNative -- Amber Midthunder, the first Indigenous actress to lead an action franchise -- and Kimberly Teehee, Cherokee Nation’s first delegate to Congress. Also in the mix: Jhane Myers, an Emmy-award winning producer and Janee Kassanavoid, a 2024 Olympic hopeful. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also makes an appearance.

So how did London become a contributor to MSNBC? Her business “Culture Story” caught the attention of network producers. They liked her concept for producing videos that tell the stories of Indigenous cultures.

“Culture story is really a way for any person to explore their own culture story,” London said, “which is really their story of their culture and heritage, their identity as a human being, which seems to be an intrinsic need that everyone has know who they are and where they come from.”

London’s interest in telling the stories about culture comes from her upbringing in Seattle, where she found herself constantly having to explain what it means to be Lingít. Later, when she moved to Anchorage to take a marketing job, she embraced the role of a “professional explainer.” London’s Native roots are in Sitka.

If you missed her show, “The Culture Is: Indigenous Women,” you can watch online. The show streams on Peacock.