DuJour! http://dujour.com/article/meghanHmccainHonHdatingHswearingHmethHgayHmarriage! !
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! Meghan!McCain!has!never!been!a!shrinking!violet.!The!28HyearHold!daughter!of!Arizona!Senator!and! oneHtime!Republican!Presidential!nominee!John!McCain!has!made!a!place!for!herself!as!a!cableHnews! personality,!writer!and!bodacious!blonde!embodiment!of!young!blood!in!the!fusty!political!spheres!in! which!she!travels.! In!recent!weeks!McCain!has!upped!her!profile!significantly!with!Raising-McCain,!her!new!series!on!the! upstart!television!network!Pivot.!Part!talk!show!and!part!news!magazine,!the!series!finds!McCain!and!a! group!of!friends!and!experts!exploring!topics—privacy,!sex,!spirituality,!civic!engagement—that! matter!to!the!young,!smart!viewers!the!network!hopes!to!be!pulling!in.! McCain!recently!stopped!by!DuJour!to!talk!about!life!as!a!public!figure,!the!topics!she!keeps!off!limits! and!what!she’s!done!to!make!her!parents!cringe.! What'made'you'want'to'do'TV?! I!had!done!a!lot!of!stuff!in!television!before!but!had!always!wanted!to!do!something!more!fun!and! directed!toward!young!people.!Luckily!Pivot!came!around!at!just!the!right!time,!when!I!was!ready!to! do!something!a!bit!wilder.! Pivot’s'a'brand'new'channel.'Why'is'that'appealing'to'you?! At!my!very!first!meeting!with!Pivot,!I!spoke!with!the!president!Evan!Shapiro.!Now,!I’m!not!easily! impressed!with!people—I!know!when!someone!is!BSHing!me—but!in!that!first!meeting!he!was!almost! fighting!with!me,!which!I!loved.!A!lot!of!people!are!scared!to!fight!with!me.!He!asked!whether!I!wanted! to!be!a!media!personality!or!a!voice,!and!that!was!the!first!time!someone!had!put!it!like!that!to!me.! Anyone!who!could!see!my!career!in!those!terms!was!someone!I!wanted!to!work!with.! You’re'not'known'to'be'shy,'but'were'you'at'all'nervous'to'put'yourself'out'there'in'this'way?! There!are!of!course!things!about!the!show!that!make!me!cringe—I!never!realized!quite!what!a!dirty! trucker!mouth!I!have—but!I!like!the!excitement!of!it!all.!I!grew!up!in!the!1990s,!and!MTV!News!was! such!a!force!to!be!reckoned!with,!but!I!am!meeting!kids!now!who!don’t!know!who!Kurt!Loder!is.!I!want! to!give!people!that.!
Is'there'anything'that’s'off'limits'for'you'on'the'show?! Anything!that’s!too!into!my!personal!life.!I!got!set!up!on!a!group!date!in!one!of!the!episodes,!and!that! was!the!hardest!thing!for!me!to!do!in!the!entire!season.!I!don’t!like!talking!about!the!guys!I’m!dating! publicly!because!it!invites!too!much!criticism!for!them!and!I!don’t!want!to!bring!my!bullshit!into!their! lives.! In'the'first'episode'of'the'season,'you'say'that'you'don’t'mind'giving'up'your'privacy'for'the' greater'good.'What'is'the'greater'good'you'think'you’re'serving?! I!grew!up!as!a!Republican!girl!in!Phoenix,!Arizona,!and!I!didn’t!know!there!was!a!bigger!world!out! there.!When!I!moved!to!New!York!City,!I!started!going!to!gay!bars!and!seeing!different!elements!of! life—anything!and!anyone!is!here!in!this!city.!I!want!conservative!kids!to!know!that!it’s!OK!to!disagree! with!their!parents.!As!long!as!you’re!respectful,!it’s!cool!to!see!what’s!out!there.!It’s!important!to!get! out!information!and!share!ideas.!And!by!the!end!of!that!episode,!I’d!changed!my!mind!a!bit.! Were'there'any'misconceptions'about'you'that'you'want'the'series'to'help'clear'up?! This!show!is!me,!it’s!who!I!am!around!my!friends!and!my!family,!even!with!all!the!swearing!and!the! drinking!and!the!ugly!parts.!But!I!like!that.!I!think!the!only!currency!that!matters!is!authenticity.! Are'there'issues'you’re'especially'interested'in'exploring?! We!did!an!episode!all!about!young!people!coming!out!and!what!happens!when!your!values!clash!with! your!families.!It!was!important!for!me!to!show!a!lot!of!Republicans!out!there!who!support!gay! marriage.!There!are!a!lot!of!issues!I!was!curious!about!but!some!of!this!just!happened!as!we!were! making!it.! Right!now!I’m!obsessed!with!the!meth!epidemic!in!America,!especially!in!Arizona.!This!is!an!issue!that! has!touched!my!life—I!know!people!who’ve!become!addicted.!I!definitely!want!to!do!an!episode!on! that.!There!are!so!many!things;!I!could!do!this!show!for!years.! Speaking'of'parents,'is'there'anything'you'do'to'avoiding'upsetting'your'own?! Oh,!no.!I!blew!past!that!a!long!time!ago.!I!talk!about!whatever!I!want!to!talk!about.!The!only!thing!that! they!cringed!about!was!when!I!did!an!interview!with!Playboy.!Now,!I!think!the!magazine!is!iconic!and!I! was!so!flattered!to!be!asked,!but!my!father!did!not!love!it.! Of'all'the'ways'you'could'have'ended'up'in'Playboy,'though…! I!know!!But!he!wasn’t!happy.!And!my!mother!doesn’t!love!it!when!I!talk!about!sex.! How'do'you'think'the'show'will'change'the'way'people'view'you?! I!want!people!to!think!outside!the!box!when!it!comes!to!young!people.!I!want!people!to!see!who!I! really!am!and!they!can!love!it!or!leave!it.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !