The!New!York!Times!Magazine! http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/meghanHmccainHsexterHtruthHtellerHandHnowHtalkH showHhost/?_r=0! !
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who’s!the!biggest!troublemaker!in!the!McCain!family?!There!are!some!days!it!could!be!argued!that!it’s! still!Senator!John!McCain,!Republican!of!Arizona,!but!more!frequently!that!title!falls!to!his!daughter! Meghan!McCain.!A!28HyearHold!author,!blogger,!media!personality!and!proud!nonconformist,!Meghan! is!about!to!take!center!stage!in!her!own!television!series,! “Raising!McCain.”!The!program,!which!makes!its!debut!on!the! Pivot!cable!channel!on!Sept.!14,!is!a!hybrid!talk!show!and! reality!show!in!which!she!and!her!friends!and!colleagues!tackle! a!different!issue!each!week,!including!the!loss!of!privacy!in!an! increasingly!online!world,!and!the!abundance!of!sex!—!but!lack! of!romance!—!in!the!lives!of!twentyHsomethings.! Meghan!McCain!is!the!subject!of!this!weekend’s!Big!Profile,!and! in!these!extended!excerpts!from!that!interview,!she!talks!about! her!political!evolution,!her!famous!parents!and!why!she!says! she’ll!never!run!for!elected!office.! How'are'you'holding'up'in'the'days'before'your'show'has' its'premiere?! I’m!so!nervous.!I!don’t!have!children,!but!it’s!the!way!I!imagine! getting!ready!to!have!a!baby!is!like.!I!just!want!people!to!think! my!baby!is!beautiful.!I’ve!written!three!books,!and!this!is!a! level!of!anxiety!that!I!haven’t!experienced!in!a!long!time.!
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It’s'very'timely'that'your'first'episode'is'all'about'online'privacy.! When!we!shot!that!episode,!the!Edward!Snowden!scandal!hadn’t!happened!yet.!After!I!did!that! episode,!I’m!so!scared!of!everything!I’m!doing!now!and!I’m!a!lot!more!conscious!of!things!I’m!eH mailing.! You'make'a'few'surprising'admissions'about'yourself'in'that'episode.! I!admitted!to!sexting!pictures.!I!haven’t!done!naked!pictures,!but!there’s!pictures!I!wouldn’t!want!out! in!the!ether.!I’m!28!and!I!think!the!average!girl!has!probably!taken!a!picture!she!doesn’t!want!put! someplace!and!sent!it!to!somebody.!I!would!rather!be!more!honest!about!the!things!I’ve!done!and! mistakes!I’ve!made.!I!think!it!makes!the!episode!better!than!pretending!I’m!perfect!and!have!never! done!anything!I!regret.! I'have'nothing'but'respect'for'your'coOhost,'Michael'Moynihan.'But'I'don’t'believe'him'when'he' says'he'has'nothing'embarrassing'in'his'online'history.! He’s!so!not!being!truthful.!He’s!just!married.!He!has!a!child.!I!have!so!much!love!for!him,!but!I!think!he’s! lying!too.![laughter]!He’s!a!little!bit!of!a!wild!guy,!too.!He!lived!in!Amsterdam.!Who!is!he!kidding?! Do'your'parents'have'to'give'you'their'blessing'before'you'do'a'project'like'this?! My!parents!have!seen!the!first!episode!and!they!loved!it.!My!parents!really!know!who!I!am.!They!just! want!me!to!be!happy,!and!as!long!it’s!not!a!Kardashian!situation!or!a!“Jersey!Shore”!show,!I!think! they’re!cool.!Not!that!that!was!really!going!to!happen.!My!parents!are!always!a!little!nervous,!but!we! filmed!the!final!episode!in!Sedona,!and!I!interviewed!both!of!my!parents!there.!Our!cabin!in!Sedona!is! kind!of!a!family!retreat!but!journalists!have!been!coming!for!years.!It!was!very!odd!for!me,!having! spent!my!whole!life!seeing!my!dad!bring!journalists!home!and!political!people!home,!and!now!I! brought!my!people!home.! Anyone'watching'your'show'has'probably'at'least'posted'a'tweet'with'location'data'on'it,' without'thinking'about'all'the'ways'it'could'come'back'at'them.! And!I!am!the!queen!—!or!I!used!to!be,!in!my!wilder!days!—!of!drunk!tweeting!and!drunk!FacebookHing.! I!think!about!our!leaders!in!20!years,!that!are!going!to!run!for!office.!We’re!just!going!to!have!to!get! over!the!fact!that!everybody!is!going!to!have!an!embarrassing!picture!posted!someplace,!documenting! their!youth.!Me,!more!so!than!anyone.! Do'you'think'that'will'make'it'harder'for'you'to'run'for'office'someday?'! I!don’t!see!myself!ever!running!for!office.!Ever.!I!don’t!think!in!America!we!should!have!this!dynastic! culture.!I!don’t!think!because!your!parents!are!great!politicians,!it!would!necessarily!make!me!a!great! politician.!I!just!can’t!put!on!some!kind!of!a!facade!that!I’m!a!perfect!person!or!my!life!is!100!percent! putHtogether.!God!love!people!that!have!it!all!figured!out!and!do!that.!But,!everything!from!my!weight! fluctuation!to!my!terrible!dating!experience,!I’m!open!about!everything.!I!know!I!don’t!like!perfect! people.!I!think!it’s!very!dated.!But!I!don’t!see!myself!running!for!office!any!time!soon.! But'don’t'you'think'people'want'political'leaders'who'are'relatable,'and'understand'their' problems,'rather'than'people'who'are'perfect?! Obviously,!I!voted!for!Mitt!Romney!in!the!last!election.!I!can!remember!watching!Mitt!Romney!and! Paul!Ryan!on!stage!and!thinking,!having!this!thought:!Did!they!ever!do!anything!bad!in!high!school?! Did!they!ever!cut!class?!Did!they!every!smoke!pot!just!once?!I!think!the!perfection!of!Mitt!Romney!and!
Paul!Ryan!had!adverse!effects!for!a!lot!of!voters.!The!Obamas!are!very!relatable!in!many!different! ways.!I!do!think!politics!is!shifting,!that!people!have!to!be!a!little!bit!more!threeHdimensional.! You'say'on'your'show'that'you'voted'for'John'Kerry'in'the'2004'presidential'election.'Did'your' parents'know'that'already?! Oh,!my!parents!knew!that.!I!was!at!Columbia,!scary!liberal!school,!I!was!19,!and!I!didn’t!know! [anything]!about!politics!or!what!I!wanted.!I!just!knew!that!George!W.!Bush!and!my!dad!had!had!a!very! tumultuous!history.!Even!at!that!age,!I!thought!the!Republican!party!was!obsessing!too!much!over! social!issues.!I!think!I!was!doing!that!just!to!be!rebellious.!And!my!dad,!ever!a!supporter,!was!like,!“I’m! just!glad!you’re!thinking!for!yourself.”!I!know!it’s!not!interesting!to!say!I!have!a!great!relationship!with! my!parents!and!they’re!very!supportive,!but!it’s!true.!I!love!my!parents,!and!I!think!they!secretly!live! vicariously!through!me.!Especially!my!mom![laughs].! How'did'your'latest'stay'in'New'York'treat'you'while'you'were'working'on'the'series?! I’ve!lived!in!New!York!on!and!off!for!almost!10!years,!since!I!was!18,!with!a!little!stint!living!in!Phoenix! for!about!six!months,!and!obviously!I!was!on!the!road!with!my!dad.!I’ve!become!a!slave!to!my! neighborhood,!but!I’m!actually!thinking!about!moving!from!the!West!Village.!It’s!a!little!touristy!on!the! weekends.!I’m!thinking!about!moving!to!TriBeCa,!just!because!it’s!quieter.!And!I’m!such!an!old!lady.!I! feel!like!I’m!at!that!age!where!I!want!it!to!be!quieter!on!the!weekends.!I’m!pushing!30!at!this!point.! We’ll!see.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !