people have said, oh, the suburbs are bad. they are homogenous. they are boring. they are, whatever. you don't have to go very far to find people to complain about the suburbs but this is the first time, i was surprised i did not have data i saw that was supporting this argument, and by the movement on behalf of home builders to find a solution. ..

>> booktv interview former mtv vj, kennedy, about her memoir, "the kennedy chronicles." the interview was recorded at

las vegas casino in las vegas that freedom is 2013. it is about 20 minutes. >> for those of a certain age on our screen now is a familiar face. this is kennedy. mtv vj. keyt is your history. what's your first name? >> guest: kennedy is my middle name. lisa kennedy might cover it was too long for the radio for a start in los angeles in 1991, so we shortened it to kennedy. it was actually the virgin kennedy. that was my name on air. >> host: how did you get to mtv? >> guest: my boss -- look at that. a lot of people give me a hard time for being on a horse. that's a donkey. backup, people. my boss at the radio station who hired me when i was an intern

went to mtv to be the senior vice president of programming. at the time, they were having a change in their changing the look of mtv. they wanted some new bj's. unfortunately i was at the right place at the right time. he got to sign off on it i became a dj in 1992. >> host: how did that change your life? >> guest: i moved to new york and i didn't know what to expect. i remember the night before i left for new york i was shopping at a grocery store in l.a. i was like at my going to be mopped the next time in a grocery store? i assumed it would be a light switch service to 10 people have following the screening. that didn't happen. it took a long time to be recognized. it is interesting and strange. i was far away from my family. at the same time it is a great had begun.

the matter what happen i was going to maximize every moment and take advantage of every interview and every experience. >> host: were you conservative at that time? >> guest: i was a self identified conservative at that time because i didn't know it at libertarian was. it was one of my coworkers who introduced me to libertarianism. i heard the term and knew it was something with great mystique that was strange and a little understood within politics. i wasn't sure i was a libertarian, so identified as a conservative republican. post-soviet out? >> guest: i wasn't not at first. i was careful not to offend people. i went for a 13 week trial. when i got to mtv and i didn't want to be fired. one of the things i try to do is keep politics to myself yet i also enjoy political discourse.net. if i heard someone talking who sounded uninformed, i'd like to

jump in and correct course. >> host: why did you keep your politics private? >> guest: mtv was known for being pretty reckless. a lot of our boss is where baby boomers. i came in in the middle of the chooser this campaign and the network had a lot of access to bill clinton. i'm not saying they're pushing bill clinton, but a lot of people excited about the idea of the clinton v. they did not try to hide their politics. so at some point, i was outed by lloyd grove of the "washington post." >> host: would have been nine? are you allowed to talk politics on the air? >> guest: i was encouraged because i wasn't the host of a political show. i was encouraged to talk about volleyball or auto repair. they want to talk about the music. i did have a lot of interviews with physicians who consider

themselves to be political and occasionally would get in heated discussions, including, rollout, rage against the machine. he has an ideology, which is very confining. in his world, if you don't agree with him, you are the enemy. there's little room for actual free thought. i found that to be critical. when i came across people like that, i would call them on it. tom and i got him into it on the air with merely meant in another artist. mostly trying to figure out the limits of their freedom because you would assume rock stars would have the screen is easy lifestyle, when in fact their views are really confined more than any group i come across at that point in my career. >> host: kennedy, how would you describe the power when you are on? >> guest: mtv was incredibly

powerful because they could tap into a generation of future voters and also this is a time when you're in your teens and late teens and early 20s when you're most passionate about things in your life. if you can turn the passion to politics, it would be an incredible force. regardless if i agreed or disagreed with politics of the people who served over me, i like the fact he wanted to engage people. i like the fact they want people to express and learn about their own political meaning and every once in have i would jump in and get a little lengthy and mix it up with them. i always thought that was for the benefit of all. it will make you a better person for it. >> host: you call to choose from an campaign. choose clinton on boost george bush. >> guest: they were excited to get rid of 12 years of

reagan-bush. you have to realize in 1992, it was economically pretty depressed. people as much as they did in 2001 at op to miss him. they wanted to turn the page. they want to see the country in a different direction. there was someone who presented the ideology is baby boomers. it seemed very natural that they would get us excited and caught up in that. >> host: in train to come read the entire time and mtv as alcohol and smoke for a committed vegetarian and a virgin. was that rare? >> guest: to have all of those things in the same person, yeah, that was pretty rare. some punk rockers would call that straight edge. there are an entire stream within the punk rock community that feel like they need control

of your body is the wisest thing you can do. i did not have that sort of intention are philosophy or foresight. it just so happened i had been sober. i didn't find drugs and alcohol did anything for me. i was worried i would be something impulsive and if i were under the influence. i honestly didn't need them. it was much more fun to document things for my friends who got lashed the night before. and tell them what they had then. >> host: you also talk about amounts of available. >> guest: that's a joke. her plastic surgeon sunk on the that reference the face. we didn't have it for this buffet at mtv. no one was going to foot the bill. that was a joke to illustrate what people might think would be the privilege and access for mtv

djs. >> host: kennedy, what happened when bill clinton and al gore came to visit the studios? and see if i could cause a little trouble. they would find a remote shoe for me when someone in real power was visiting the studio. >> host: why? >> guest: they were worried i would say something to them and not only would i embarrass the network, but i could get in trouble with the government. >> host: you have a chapter in here. we'll show it to our audience. what is his chapter about? >> guest: the 1993 mtv and not robot because the president had the great fortune of attending that night.

many were very nice. it's a play on words. go ahead and explain the chap there. >> guest: mtv was thrilled and giddy to be able to finally throw. it was a racquetball presidency. it was a rock 'n roll and not euro ball. this is the greatest concentration of power had ever seen. whether it's politicians, actors, and musicians. and not, the biggest people on earth were all at the mtv inaugural ball. if you are lobbyists, if you are a staffer, you would have punched a homeless person in the mouth in order to get a ticket to that event. >> host: by what you allowed to go? >> guest: i was one of the on-air people. bill bellamy and i were kind of the people they barely let into the event. i went in with a great deal of sadness because i felt the

country was still in the toilet and we were going down the tubes. >> host: when bill clinton and al gore went on stage can make you right in "the kennedy chronicles" that the grand old party boys and i instinctively started chanting, nixon now, nixon now! >> guest: we became nostalgic for the nixon presidency because we figured it couldn't get much worse. the reproach of bumper stickers circulated in 1992. acm, rested and ready. the former president was still alive at that point and we thought how ironic. >> host: kennedy, why are you here at freedom fast, a libertarian movement? >> guest: i am here as a proud contributor to reason tv. i've been working for a year and a half and i love it. i love to pieces. there's a ton of creativity. there is a solid message and i don't think libertarians should

allow anyone else to define them. being a libertarian means different things to many people. you should be the one to decide that for yourself. it brings so many types of people together, what is the function of government? a lot of gold here. a lot of precious metal. i like that, so i'm wearing it right now. >> host: have your politics changed over the years? >> guest: politics have not changed drastically. it's certainly evolved. when i moved to seattle, when i left mtv i really found and refine my voice is a libertarian. when i was at mtv, they say you're really a libertarian. it started sharp my lands and at the great fortune of doing talk radio, which is a political town. people think it's very leftist. if you get outside seattle,

people who don't know they are libertarian. that's when i started it teach in the discussion of bringing people, banning people realize for themselves that their belief is really about limited government and let people do what they do best. i've always felt that way. but now i think i just refine how i feel more about particular issues had been in talk radio, working for reasons it's all sort of helps us. >> host: what do you think about the political situation in america? >> guest: the current political situation is interesting. it is right for a libertarian leaning person or group of people to show them how you do it when you limit government and how people's life could be better. now we see in so many ways in which people would not imagine for five years ago that government can be not only a destructive force, but a

terrifying force. if you stop and think about it, in conspiracy theories start sounding rational, you know the government is in trouble. >> host: kennedy, you have another chapter in here. rudy can see how about mayor giuliani? >> guest: just. that chapter is about mayor giuliani and his young tenure in new york city in 1994 tried to bring the video music awards back to new york city. the last two years they been in los angeles. i attended the last three video music awards were mtv was going to build headquarters and take it out of times square. the mayor said no, we will throw out the red carpet for you. mtv took on the challenge and for the first year they said we are going to let her djs really be a part of the show. we will present the awards, walked the red carpet. we will treat you like stars. i was so excited.

it was my 22nd birthday. one of the first things i did on camera i was the low bellamy and the mayor of new york city. rudy giuliani was so excited for this moment. bill and i were about to go on live tv and saucer calls for the viewer's choice award. was the biggest award of the night. bill and i were going to resent that later on. as we were standing there, roseanne, the host started making fun of me and she called me out of the republican and said she'd seen me backstage doing something with an mouth to rush limbaugh and i've never met rush limbaugh. the crowd started booing and it freaked me out. so when bill and the mayor and i came on, they were booing loudly. i thought to myself, i have to get them back to i'm standing here with the mayor. so i did that thing with my mouth on the microphone but she said i did with rush limbaugh and the crowd started laughing.

i said this is great, this is fantastic. but what didn't occur to my brain and my 15 seconds of impulsivity is this could have severe ramifications not only for me and my job and mtv and their relationship with new york city. said judy mcgrath, president of mtv network, the owner viacom were all watching this, go and who this candidate? why she working? he literally wanted a fire that second. the fact i kept my job for three more years as a miracle beyond my own limited understanding. >> host: what do you think of mtv's role in american society? hasn't been positive? >> guest: by and large, i certainly think that our era that mtv was positive and that's one of the reasons i wrote the book. every generation has theiow utculture has its time in the sun and mine happen to be in

the 90s. it was so much fun and so different associate great contrast with the way the media is now. that's one of the reasons so many people, it's the music on tv. they felt there was a purity about it and artistry that we took for granted that you just don't see anymore. the women were per trade differently and i wanted to explore those things in a book it's a fun read, you can take to the beach and have your policy books and have your series biographies. that is heavy reading for nighttime so you dream about smart innings. then when you're at the beach with the kids, through the singer back in and whipped it and live in a time that will always remain for you. i want to take people back in experience that moment again because everybody knows the name. and now look at it in some insane detail. >> host: kennedy, what are you

doing now? >> guest: now i am a correspondent on the fox business network. i'm a contributor for recent tv in d.c., new york and l.a. and i also host a morning show on 98.7 in l.a. it is some alternative music show. so i interview bands and i also get to see young up-and-coming dance and how they fight to get attention and breakthrough in a crowded landscape, which is still totally possible. at the same time i talked to establish bands who've been around, like linkin park and no doubt and soundgarden and talk to them and see from their point of view how it's changed in how they have to struggle to breakthrough, even though they've got a catalog of hits spanning 20 years or more. postcode do you think your politics have limited your opportunities in your chosen field? >> guest: there is a limiting factor to that, but i can't be accessed about that. i have to be true to what i

believe. but obviously krona. i have a wonderful husband and two beautiful girls. >> host: user has been? >> guest: his name is dave lee. he's a retired snowboarder. he is a manufacturing plant in southern california, so he makes no boards and it's funny to hear my girls talk about their dad. he's really there crimean ports every day. he's an amazing person. they are the center of my life and i want my girls to know you can be true to who you wire. you can speak in your own voice and still have a good life. will people try and paint with their own brush? they certainly will. but you can't focus on that. >> host: dukas at the grocery stores today? >> guest: i do. i get stopped a variety of reasons. a lot of people see me in there that