I am up at 3:30, reading the op-ed pages and getting ready to be on the air by 6 A.M. on the set of ’Morning Joe ’ and after three hours of TV and two hours on the radio, it is only 12 noon.

Brzezinski is describing the compressed, high-intensity schedule of live broadcast journalism—particularly morning television—where preparation begins hours before airtime and the “workday” is front-loaded into the early morning. The quote underscores how much unseen labor (reading, briefing, and readiness) precedes on-camera performance, and how media work can feel like multiple jobs stacked back-to-back (TV plus radio) before midday. It also functions as a rebuttal to the idea that television hosting is merely a few hours of talking on set, emphasizing stamina, discipline, and the relentless pace of news cycles.