For years, she’s been a trusted voice of liberal reason on network television, offering accessible, coolly skeptical reality checks on some of the nation’s most eye-popping headlines.

Now Rachel Maddow — a Castro Valley native, Stanford University graduate, trailblazing lesbian and multiple-time Emmy Award winner for MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” — is returning to the Bay Area on Oct. 21 in support of her latest book, “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism.”

Her appearance at the Golden Gate Theatre, co-presented byBroadwaySFand Book Passage, was announced Monday, Aug. 28, as part of BroadwaySF’s Unscripted series.

“Prequel,” Maddow’s fourth book, is based on research she did for her eight-episode podcast, “Ultra,” released in 2022. Both investigate past strains of American authoritarianism, making the case that fascism in our own era did not appear out of nowhere.

Each audience member to “Unscripted: Rachel Maddow,” whose tickets range from $69 to $150.50, receives a copy of “Prequel.” Other autumn speakers in BroadwaySF’s Unscripted series include San Francisco 49ers alums Harris Barton, Dwight Hicks, Brent Jones, Ronnie Lott and Steve Young in conversation with East Bay native and Olympic champion figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (Sept. 27); actor John Cusack (Nov. 18), complete with a screening of his 2000 rom-com “High Fidelity”; and actor Henry Winkler, best known for his role as “the Fonz” in the 1970s TV series “Happy Days” (Nov. 27).

Reach Lily Janiak:ljaniak@sfchronicle.com