have to raise this money for their leadership pacs because it's expected -- >> right. >> -- that you're going to raise so much money. and especially if you're a chair committee -- >> well, if you want to be a power broker, you want to raise money. yes, you are expected to deliver for the party. ..

>> booktv interviewed former mtv dj, kennedy about her memoir, the kennedy chronicles. it was recorded at plan net hollywood casone in las vegas in 2013. it is about 20 minutes. >> well for those of a certain age on your screen is a familiar face. and this is kennedy. >> hi, peter. >> mtv, vijay, erstwhile. kennedy what is your history. what is your full name? >> lesa kennedy montgomery. kennedy is my real name. lesa kennedy montgomery was too long for the radio when i started in los angeles in 1991. we started with kennedy. it was virgin kennedy. that was my name on the air at alternative station. >> how did you get to mtv.

>> my boss, look at that. a lot of people have given me a hard time on being naked on a horse. i'm not naked on a horse. that's a donkey. back off, people. it totally changes context. my boss at the radio station hired me when i was intern and went to mtv to be senior vice president of programing. >> that is andy schohn. >> andy schohn, exactly. they were having change of the guard. new look at mtv they wanted knee vjas. he was adventurous. i became a vjay in 192. >> how did that change your life? >> i moved to new york. i didn't know what to expect. the night before i left for new york i was shopping at a grocery store in l.a., and i said am i going to be mobbed next time i'm at a grocery store? i knew it would be a light

switch. hoards of people would follow me screaming. that didn't happen. it took a long time for me to be recognized. it was strange and lonely. i was far away from my family in oregon. at the same time i knew this great adventure had begun. i made a challenge no matter what happened i would maximize every moment and take advantage of every interview and every experience. >> were you a conservative at that time. >> i was self-identified conservative at that time because i didn't know what a libertarian was. in fact it was, one of my coworkers kurt moder introduced me to libertarianism. i heard the term and knew it was something with a great mystique that was, strange and little understood within politics but i wasn't sure i was a libertarian. so i identified as a conservative republican. >> why were you out? >> i was not out at first. i was very careful not to offend people because i went to a 13-week trial period when i first got to mtv and i didn't

want to get fired. i didn't know how easily i could be dismissed. so one of the things i tried to do is keep my politics to myself. i also enjoyed a little political discourse now and again. if i heard someone who was uninformed or underinformed i like to jump in and correct course. >> why did you keep your politics private? >> i kept my politics quiet because mtv was pretty leftist. it was new york 1992. a lot of our bosses were baby boomers. i came in the middle of the first truth or lose campaign. the network had a lot of access to bill clinton. i'm not saying they were pushing bill clinton but they were excited about a idea of bill clinton presidency. they did not try to hide their politics. at some point i was outed eventually by lloyd grove of "the washington post." >> what happened then? were you allowed to talk politics on the air? >> i wasn't encouraged to talk

about politics on the air because i wasn't the host of a political show. i also wasn't encouraged to talk about volleyball or auto repair. they wanted me to talk about the music but i, did have a lot of interviews with musicians who considered themselves to be very political and, you know, occasionally we would get into some heated discussions including with tom more rellow from rage against the machine. he has an ideology which is very confining and, in his world, if you don't agree with him, you are the enemy. there is very little room for actual free thought. i always found that to be very hypocritical. when i came across people like that i would call them on it. tom and i got into it on the air. got into it with marilyn manson and other artists to figure out mostly the limits of their freedom because you would assume rock stars live a free and easy lifestyle when in fact their views are really confined. more confining than any other

group of people that i had come across at that point in my career. >> kennedy, how would you describe the political power of mtv during the '90s when you were on? >> i think mtv was incredibly powerful because they realized that, you know, they could tap into a generation of future voters and also, you know, 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. they realize if you could turn the passion to politics it would be a really incredible force. now regardless if i agreed or disagreed with the politics of the people who served over me as my bosses i liked the fact they wanted to engage people. i liked the fact that they wanted people to express and learn about their own political leanings and feelings. then every once in a while i would jump in there and get a little bloodied and mix it up with them. i always thought that was for the benefit of all, when you challenge one another, when you learn what you believe and why

you believe it will make you a better person for it. not just politically but all >> you called the mtv choose or lose campaign, choose clinton and lose with george bush. >> that is what it felt like. they were excited to get rid of 12 years of reagan-bush. at love people in the country felt that way. in 1992 it was still economically pretty depressed. people, much as they did in 2008, they wanted optimism. they wanted to turn the page. they wanted to see the country go in a different direction and here was someone who represented the ideology of most baby boomers. since you have baby boomers running mtv, it seemed very natural they would get most excited and caught up in the conflagration. >> in "the kennedy chronicles quote you write i was entire time i was at mtv, drug, alcohol, smoke, free and a

virgin. is that rare? >> to have all the same things in the person was pretty rare. punk rockers would call that straight edge, there was a entire stream within the punk rock community that feel like being in total control of your body is the wisest thing you can do. i did not have that sort of intention or philosophy or foresight. it just so happens that, you know, i had been sober. i didn't find drugs and alcohol did anything for me. i worried for my job and do something impulsive and stupid if i were under the influence. i knew crazy things about drugs and i honestly didn't need them. it was more fun to document things with my friends who got sloshed the night before and tell them the next morning what "jackasses" they had been. >> you talk about the mounds of cocaine available. >> that's a joke? >> that was a joke. >> i said there were plastic surgeons on call and mountains

of cocaine at breakfast buffets. we didn't have breakfast buffets. it was basic cable. no one would fit the bill for mountains of cocaine. it might be privilege and access for mtv vijays. >> what happened when bill clinton and al gore came to the mtv studios. >> i don't know what happened at the studios because i wasn't allowed there. literally they would find the fartherrest place for me to travel and put me in a car and take me there and usually it was in a work environment with camera crews. it was not like i had a minder taking me to the zoo, if i was at zoo i would snuck on to a train and go back to the studio to cause a little trouble. they would find a remote shoot for me whenever someone in real power was visiting the studio. >> why? >> i think they were worried i would say something to them like i did rod stewart. not only would i embarass the network and i could get in

trouble with the government. >> you have a chapter in here. i will show it to our audience. what is that chapter about? >> that is about 199 3m tv inaugural ball. the president had the great fortune attending misdemeanor cotillions that night. many of emwere very nice. >> it is a play on words. >> go ahead and play the chapter. >> mtv was thrilled and giddy to finally throw -- >> rock and roll inaugural. >> it was a rock and roll presidency. it was rock and roll inaugural ball. this was the greatest concentration of power that i had ever seen. whether it was politicians, actors, musicians. in that moment, the biggest people on earth were all at the mtv inaugural ball. if you were a lobbiest, you were a staffer you would have punch ad homeless person in the mouth in order to get a ticket to that event. >> why were you allowed to go? >> i was allowed to go because i

was a vijay. i was on the air people. bill bellamy who was new we were the, people they barely led into the event. and i went in there with a great deal of sadness because i felt that the country was in the toilet much socialism and which were going down the tube. >> when al gore went on stage you write in the kennedy chronicles, the grand ol' party and i boys insting tiffly started chanting, anything son now. nixon now. >> we became no, sir tall i can for the nixon presidency and we figured it couldn't get much worse. there were bumper stickers circulating, he is tan, he is ready, rested, nix on now. the former president was still alive at that point. we thought, how ironic. >> why are you here at freedom fest, the libertarian group?

>> i'm here at libertarian fest proud contributor for reason tv. i've been working with reason tv for a year-and-a-half. i love the pieces. i love the pieces i do with them. there is ton much creativity and solid message. i don't think libertarians should allow someone to define them. libertarian meansthings to many people. whatever that means you should define that for yourself. freedom fest brings so many people together who are questioning what is the function of government? should we be on the gold standard a lot of gold here. a lot of precious metals, i like that. so i'm wearing it right now. >> have your politics changed over the years? >> i would say my politics have not changed drastically, but, how i feel about certain issues certainly has evolved. it was when i moved to seattle, when i left mtv that i really found and refined my voice as a libertarian. when i was at mtv, kurd roder

said to me you're a libertarian. he gave me ayn rand's object it. it sharped my lens. i fortunately had a to do talk radio in seattle. outside of seattle you find people more conservative and people that don't know they're libertarians. i started engaging in the discussion, bringing people to the light. letting people realize for themselves their beliefs are limited government. letting people do what they do best on their own. people are the best barometer for their own choices and actions. i've always felt that way but now i think i just refined how i feel more about particular issues and being in talk radio, writing, working for reason, it is all sort of helped that. >> what do you think about the current political situation in america? >> i think the current political situation in america is very interesting. it's ripe for a libertarian-leaning person or group of people to really show

them how you do it when you limit government and how people's lives can be better. now we're seeing in some ways, ways that people would not have imagined four or five years ago, that government can actually be not only a destructive force but a terrifying force. if you stop and think about it, when conspiracy theorists, when conspiracy theorists start sounding rational you know the government is in trouble. >> kennedy you have another chapter in here, rudy can fail. it is about mayor giuliani? >> yes, that it is about mayor giuliani. >> what is this chapter about? >> that chapter is about mayor giuliani in his young tenure in new york city in 1994, really tried to bring the video music awards back to new york city. for the last few years they had been in los angeles. i actually attended the last three video music awards at universal where mtv was going to build the headquarters. they were going to take it out of times square. the mayor said, no. we'll roll out the red carpet

for you. mtv took on the challenge. for the first year you we will let some of our vjays being part of the show. we will let you walk the red carpet. we'll treat you like stars. it was my 22nd birthday. so one of the very first things i did on camera, i was with bill bellamy and the mayor of new york city, and rudy giuliani was so excited for this moment and bill and i were kind of nervous. we were about to go on live tv and solicit calls for viewers choice award. it was the biggest award of the night. bill and i were going to present that later on. as we stand there, roseanne the host of that year, the '94 vmas she started to make fun of me. called me out as republican. she said she had seen me backstage doing with my, rush limbaugh. i had never met rush limbaugh. the crowd started booking. and it freaked me out. so when bill and the mayor and i came on they were booing very

loudly and i thought to myself, i have to get them back. i have to do something. i'm standing here with the mayor. and so, i did that thing with my mouth on the microphone she said he had done with rush limbaugh and crowd started laughing. oh, this is really great, this is fantastic. what didn't occur to my brain in that 15 seconds of impulsivity, this could have severe ramifications for me and my job and mtv and their relationship with new york city. so judy mcgrath, the president of mtv, tom preston, ceo of mtv networks and sumner redstone owner of viacom are watching this, and sumner is going who is this kennedy? who is this person? why is she working, he literally wanted me fired that second. didn't want to wait until the end of the show. the fact i kept my job for three more years is a miracle beyond my own limited understanding. >> what do you think of mtv's role in american society? >> i -- >> has it been positive?

>> i think by and large whenever, i certainly think that, our era at mtv was very positive. that is one of the reasons i wrote the book. because every generation has their own era. of the youth culture has its time in the sun. mine happened to be in the '90s. it was so much fun and it was so different and such a great contrast with the way media is now. so people miss music on tv. they felt it was purity about it and artistry we took for granted that you don't see anymore. women were portrayed differently. i wanted to explore. i wanted it a fun read to the beach. and at time r nighttime you dream about smart things. when you're at the beach throw it in the bag and whip through it and live in a time that will

always remain pristine. take you back and experience the moment again. everyone remembers the name and experience and time and now they get it in some insane detail. >> kennedy what are you doing now? >> now i'm a correspondent for john stossel on the "stossel" show on fox business network. i'm a contributor for reason tv and i do pieces in d.c. and new york and l.a. for reason and i also host a morning show on 98.7 in l.a. it is an alternative music show. an so i interview band and i also get to see young up-and-coming band and see how they fight to get attention and to break through in a very crowded landscape which is still totally possible but at the same time i talk to a lot of established fans who have bands who have been around 20 years like, no doubt and soundgarden and talk to them and see from their point of view how it's changed and how they have to struggle to break through, even

though they have a catalog of hits spanning 20 years or more. >> do you think your politics limited your opportunities in your chosen field? >> i think there is, there is a limiting factor to that i can't be obsessed to that. i have to be true to what i believe. i obviously have flown up. i have a wonderful husband and two beautiful girls. >> who is your husband. >> his name is dave lee. he is retired snowboarder. owns a snowboard company. actually has a manufacturing plant, a factory in southern california. sew makes snowboards and it is funny to hear my girls talking about their dad going to the factory and people think they're kidding. it is not a farce, really there grinding boards every day. he is pretty amazing person. they are the thrust of my life. they are the center of my life. i want my girls to know that you can be true to who you are. you can, you can speak in your own voice and still have a good life. will people try to paint you with their own brush? they certainly will, they always

will but you can't focus on that. >> do you get stopped in grocery stores today? >> i do. it is funny i get stopped for variety of reasons. a lot of people see me on "stossel." they love john sos see. they love his message. he is really pure libertarian. he is a great person and he is a wonderful mentor. so i get stopped for that a lot. that's, an older crowd, college-age students, a lost times see me on the reason videos. there are people who are my age, who remember me from mtv and those are the people i have a longest conversations with, talking about the good ol' days. i always tell them, i just wrote about that so, pretty fun. >> are there closet conservatives in hollywood? >> there are definitely closet conservatives in hollywood and they actually have well-organized meetings. and they get together. they talk about ideas. sometimes they include libertarians. sometimes they get frustrated by libertarians. they think libertarians are sellouts, people pleasers trying to make people happy. we all know libertarians are

politically the most consistent group around. >> we've been talking here on booktv. with kennedy. lesa kennedy montgomery. full name. "the kennedy chronicles, the golden age of mtv through the rose-colored glasses." this is booktv on c-span2. >> now i have been trying for, i guess the last 20 something years to stop writing books. [laughing] and i keep, you know, i, i totally get it, that i work for

the ancestors, and i, sometimes will feel very free. you know i finished something. i remember finishing the ""the color purple" 30 years ago and okay, i'm done. and i have had that scenario with myself many times. thinking i'm done, but anyhow, so this pock, i'm going to read first from the "the cushion in the road." i want to reed a little bit how that came about. how did i come to think of the life that lead with is very, when i'm not, you know, on the road somewhere, it is so quiet, it is so meditative, it is so contemplative, so happy with me and my sweetheart who is a musician. one of the ironies of life i love quiet so much that i fell

in love with a person that plays trumpet. [laughter] and so, you know, life, life is always, you know, telling us, who do you think is in charge? did you by some dream, did you imagine that you are in charge? well i'll just show you. so, this is, this is a very short introduction to this book "the cushion in the road." i've learned much from daoist thought. it has been a comfort to me since i read my first dao it poem, which was sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself. to me this is a perfect poem. but there is also from that

tradition this thought. a wanderer es home is in the road, a wanderer's home is in the road. this is proved very true in my own life. much to my surprise because i am such a home body. i love being home with my plants, animals, sunrises, and sunsets. the moon. it is all glorious to me. so when i turned 60 i was prepared to bring all of myself to sit on my cushion and in a meditation room i had prepared long ago and never get up. [laughter] it so happened, so happened, that i was in south korea that year, of course, and south koreans agreed with me. in fact, in that culture it is understood when we turn 60, when we turn 60, we become eggy. it sounds like eggy but perhaps

this is not how koreans spell it. this means we are free to become once again like a child. we are to rid ourselves of our cares, especially those we have collected in the world. and to turn inward to a life of ease, of leisure, of joy. i loved hearing this. what an affirmation of a feeling i was already beginning to have. enough of the world. where is the grandchild? where is the cushion? and so i began to prepare myself to withdraw from the worldly fray. there i sat finally, on a cushion in mexico with a splendid of a homemade stone fountain, with its softly-falling water, a perfect soothing backdrop to what i thought would be the next and perhaps final 20 years of my

life. unlike my great, great, great, great-grandmother who lived to be 125. i figure, 80 is doing really well. and then, a miracle seemed to be a happening, america, america, was about to elect, or not elect, a person of color as its president. what? my cushion shifted minutely. then too an unsuspecting guest left the radio on and i learned bombs were falling on the people of gaza. a mother unconscious herself had lost five of her daughterses. didn't i have a daughter? would i have wanted to lose her in this way? wasn't i a mother, even if reportedly imperfect in that role? well, my cushion began to

wobble. i had friends who became eggy and managed to say eggy. i envoyed them. for me the years following my 60th birthday seemed to be about teaching me something else, but yes, i could become like a child again and enjoy all the pleasures and wonder of child experiences. but i would have to attempt to maintain this joy in the vicissitudes of the actual world as opposed toed meditative universe i had created with its calming, ever-flowing fountain. my travels would take me to the celebrations in washington, d.c. where i knew president barack obama would be inaugurated. they would carry me the morning after those festivities to far-away burma, myanmar, which would lead to much writing about suchi. they would take me to thailand for a lovely trip up a long

river where i could wave happily at the people who smiled back when smiled upon. they would take me to gaza, yes, and much writing about the pal stein-israel impasse. to the west bank, to india, to all kind of amazing places. like for instance, petra in jordan. who knew? i would find myself raising a nation of chickens in between travel and visits to holy people in wood acre, and darmsalla. my cushion, fountain of peace, because of my attention to some of the deep suffering in the world sometimes seemed if far away. i felt torn, a condition i do not like and do not recommend. and, then, in a dream, it came to me, there was a long asphalt highway, like the one that passed by my grandparents place

when i lived with them as an eight and nine-year-old. my grandfather and i would sit on the porch in the still georgia heat and count the cars as they whizzed by. he would choose red cars. i would choose blue or black. it was a sitting on cushions of sorts i suppose, for the two of us because hours could go by and we were perfectly content. perhaps that is why in the dream the solution to my quandary was available. there in the middle of the long, perfectly straight highway with its slightly faded yellow center line that i had known and loved as a child sat my rose-colored meditation cushion. directly on the yellow line, right in the middle of the road. so what do i believe? that i

was born to wander and i was born to sit. to love home, with a sometimes almost unbearable affection. but to be lured out in into the world to see how it is doing as my beloved, larger home, and paradise. >> watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. next, helen gelso director of civil war era studies at gettysburg studies, recounts the battle of get at thisburg and which resulted in over 50,000 casualties. this year marks the 150th anniversary of the conflict. [applause]