name	Bill Maher
birth name	William Maher, Jr.
birth date	January 20, 1956
birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
alma mater	Cornell University
medium	Stand-Up, Television, Film, Books
nationality	American
active	1979–present
genre	Satire, Political satire, News Satire, Observational comedy
subject	American politics, current events, American culture, pop culture, freedom of speech, environmentalism, religion, human sexuality, recreational drug use, libertarianism, American liberalism, American conservatism
influences	Steve Allen, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Robert Klein, Don Rickles, Gore Vidal, Lenny Bruce
notable work	Elliot on Charlie HooverHost of Politically Incorrect Host of Real Time with Bill Maher''Religulous''
website	BillMaher.com
footnotes	}}

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. (; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called ''Politically Incorrect'' originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including: religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity of the electorate. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.

Early life and education

Maher was born in New York City, the son of Julie (née Berman), a nurse, and William Maher, Sr., a network news editor and radio announcer. He was raised in his Irish American father's Catholic religion, remaining unaware that his mother was Jewish until his early teenage years. Maher's family stopped attending church services when Maher was thirteen, due to his father's disagreement with the Catholic Church's position on birth control.

Maher was raised in River Vale, New Jersey, and graduated from Pascack Hills High School in Montvale in 1974. He received a B.A. in English and history from Cornell University in 1978.

Early career

Maher began his career as a stand-up comedian and actor. He was host of the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1979. Thanks to Steve Allen, he began appearing on Johnny Carson's and David Letterman's shows in 1982. He made limited television appearances including a recurring role in ''Sara'' (1985), appeared in ''Max Headroom'' (1987), two separate appearances on ''Murder, She Wrote'' (1989, 1990), a recurring role in ''Charlie Hoover'' (1991) and other productions. He has also appeared in several films, usually in a comic role. His feature film debut was in ''D.C. Cab'' (1983), and he also appeared in ''Ratboy'' (1986) ''Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death'' (1988) and ''Pizza Man'' (1991), among others.

Television career

''Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher''

Maher assumed the host role ''Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher'', a late-night political talk show that ran on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997 and on ABC from 1997 to 2002. The show regularly began with a topical monologue by Maher preceding the introduction of four guests, usually a diverse group of individuals from show business, popular culture, political pundits, political consultants, authors, and occasionally news figures. The group would discuss topical issues selected by Maher, who also participated in the discussions. Jerry Seinfeld, a regular guest on the show, stated that ''Politically Incorrect'' reminded him of talk shows from the 1950s and 60s "when guests interacted with each other as much as with the host."

''Politically Incorrect'' won an array of awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Direction, two CableACE awards for Best Talk Show Series, and a Genesis Award for Best Television Talk Show. Maher earned numerous award nominations for his producing, writing and hosting of ''Politically Incorrect'', including ten Emmy nominations, two TV Guide nominations, and two Writers Guild nominations. ABC decided against renewing Maher's contract for ''Politically Incorrect'' in 2002, after he made a controversial on-air remark shortly after the September 11 attacks. He agreed with his guest, conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza, that the 9/11 terrorists did not act in a cowardly manner (in rebuttal to President Bush's statement calling 9/11 hijackers cowards). Maher said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right." Maher later clarified that his comment was not anti-military in any way whatsoever, referencing his well-documented longstanding support for the American military.

In the context of the attacks, some corporate advertisers found the comment too insensitive and controversial. Several companies, including FedEx and Sears Roebuck, pulled their advertisements from the show, costing the show more than it returned.

The show was cancelled on June 16, 2002, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group had dropped the show from its ABC-affiliated stations months prior. On June 22, 2002, just six days after the cancellation of ''Politically Incorrect'', Maher received the Los Angeles Press Club president's award (for "championing free speech"). Maher was on the board of judges one year for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.

Maher's remarks after 9/11 were not the first time he had sparked controversy on ''Politically Incorrect''. In the same year, Maher was widely criticized for comparing dogs to retarded children. He apologized for his comments.

''Real Time with Bill Maher''

In 2003, Maher became the host, co-producer and co-writer of ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', a weekly hour-long political comedy talk show on the cable television network HBO. During an interview, Maher told Terry Gross (on NPR's ''Fresh Air'') that he much prefers having serious and well-informed guests on his program, as opposed to the random celebrities that fleshed out his roundtable discussions on ''Politically Incorrect''.

As with his previous show, ''Politically Incorrect'', Maher begins ''Real Time'' with a comic opening monologue based upon current events and other topical issues. He proceeds to a one-on-one interview with a guest, either in-studio or via satellite. Following the interview, Maher sits with three panelists, usually consisting of pundits, authors, activists and journalists, for a discussion of the week's events. In the segment "New Rules" at the end of each show, Maher delivers a humorous editorial on popular culture and American politics.

In late May 2005, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus sent a letter to Time Warner's board of directors requesting ''Real Time'' be cancelled after remarks Maher made after noting the military had missed its recruiting goals by 42 percent. Bachus said he felt the comments were demeaning to the military and treasonous. Maher stated his highest regard and support for the troops and asked why the congressman criticized him instead of doing something about the recruitment problem.

''Real Time'' has earned widespread praise. It has been nominated for more than ten Primetime Emmy Awards and six Writer's Guild awards. In 2007, Maher and his co-producers were awarded the Television Producer of the Year Award in Variety Television.

In early 2006, ''Real Time'' was released as an audio CD, along with another CD entitled ''Bill Maher's New Rules'' which features clips, segments and teasers from Real Time. Starting with Episode 67 (2-23-06), ''Real Time'' became available in the USA on iTunes as a free weekly audio podcast.

Maher holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a win, having been nominated on 22 occasions and not winning once. Eleven of the nominations were for ''Politically Incorrect'', while nine were for ''Real Time.'' The other two were nominations for two of his HBO comedy specials: ''Bill Maher: I'm Swiss'' and ''Bill Maher: The Decider.''

HBO announced in July 2011 the show was renewed for a tenth season.

Christine O'Donnell

On September 17, 2010, Maher aired a clip of Delaware Republican Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell from the October 29, 1999 episode of his old show ''Politically Incorrect'' on his current show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', where she discussed that she had "dabbled in witchcraft." This was one of the most notable of numerous controversial statements by O'Donnell that made her the most covered candidate in the 2010 mid-term election cycle.

Political commentator

Maher is a frequent commentator on various cable news networks, namely CNN, MSNBC, and HLN. Maher has regularly appeared on CNN's ''The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer'' and has also been a frequent guest on MSNBC's ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' and ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''. Maher has also appeared as a guest on HLN's ''The Joy Behar Show''.

Maher hosted the January 13, 2006 edition of ''Larry King Live'', on which he was a frequent guest. Maher appeared as a special guest on the June 29, 2010 edition of the show, on which CNN anchor Larry King announced his retirement. Maher co-emceed the final show of ''Larry King Live'' on December 16, 2010 with Ryan Seacrest.

Since May 2005, he has been a contributing blogger at ''The Huffington Post''.

Views and beliefs

Politics

Maher eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical". In the past, he has described himself as a libertarian and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".

Maher favors a partial privatization of Social Security, ending corporate welfare and federal funding of non-profits, and legalization of gambling, prostitution, and marijuana. Maher is a member of NORML's Advisory Board, an organization which supports regulated legalization of marijuana. He describes himself as an environmentalist, and he has spoken in favor of the Kyoto treaty on global warming on his show ''Real Time''. He often criticizes industry figures involved in environmental pollution.

Maher is a board member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has expressed his distaste for the pharmaceutical and health care industries in general, on the grounds that they make their money out of curing people who are made sick by consuming unhealthy food that corporations urge upon the public. He maintains that mass consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is a contributor to the rise in frequency of obesity in the United States. :" If you believe you need to take all the pills the pharmaceutical industry says you do, then you're already on drugs!"

Before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Maher became candid in his stated opposition to the re-election of George W. Bush and in his support for John Kerry.

Known for protesting against the demonization of the word "liberal", during the campaign Maher criticized Kerry for being ashamed of the word. On his show, the comedian has noted the paradox of people claiming they distrusted "elite" politicians while at the same time wanting elite doctors to treat them and elite lawyers to represent them in court. Maher supports the death penalty, the legality of abortion and euthanasia. Since the 9/11 attacks, he has endorsed the use of racial profiling at airports.

He was originally against the Iraq War, and has summarized his opinion by saying that the United States and the world have had to pay too high a price for the war. He is skeptical of Iraq surviving without civil war.

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Maher announced his support for Barack Obama. Although Maher welcomed Obama's electoral victory, he has subjected him to criticism once in office for not acting boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues.

Religion

Maher is highly critical of religion, and views it as not worth the bother. He has referred to himself as an apatheist, instead of an agnostic or atheist, on ''Scarborough Country'' on April 24, 2007, and again in July 2011. He has reiterated this stance in subsequent interviews, rejecting both the certitude of the existence, as well as the certitude of nonexistence of deities, concluding, "I'm saying that doubt is the only appropriate response for human beings." He is an advisory board member of author Sam Harris's The Reason Project, a foundation that promotes scientific knowledge and secular values within society.

Maher and director Larry Charles teamed up to make the feature film ''Religulous'' (2008), described by trade publication ''Variety'' as a documentary "that spoofs religious extremism across the world." It was released on October 3, 2008.

While Maher is critical towards Christianity, he is an outspoken critic of religion as a whole, including Islam. On October 29, 2010, during a Real Time segment, Maher commented on a news story saying that the name Mohammed had become the most popular baby name in the United Kingdom. He asked, "Am I a racist to feel alarmed by that? Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years? Sharia law is being institutionalized in England? Well, then I am right, I should be alarmed." He later defended his comments on CNN, saying, "And when I say Westerner, I mean someone who believes in the values that Western people believe in that a lot of the Muslim world does not. Like separation of church and state. Like equality of the sexes. Like respect for minorities, free elections, free speech, freedom to gather. These things are not just different from cultures that don’t have them. … It’s better. … I would like to keep those values here."

Maher received the Richard Dawkins Award for 2009 from Atheist Alliance International "for his efforts to further the values science and reason in the world."

Maher was ranked first by MormonVoices, a group associated with Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, on its Top Ten Anti-Mormon Statements of 2011 list for saying "By any standard, Mormonism is more ridiculous than any other religion".

Health care

Maher has stated that the AMA is a powerful lobbying group and one of the primary reasons why the United States had failed to enact health care reform.

On August 24, 2009, Maher was a guest on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' and on the topic of getting universal health care legislation passed, Maher stated that Obama should forget about trying to get 60 votes for it, "he only needs 51." "Forget getting the sixty votes or sixty percent — sixty percent of people don't believe in evolution in this country — he just needs to drag them to it, like I said, they're stupid; get health care done, with or without them."

Maher has expressed the view that most illness is generally the result of poor diet and lack of exercise, and that medicine is often not the best way of addressing illness. In an episode of his show about the 2008 presidential candidates' health plans, Maher stated that poor nutrition is a primary cause of illness, and that "the answer isn't another pill."

In a discussion with Michael Moore about the film ''Sicko'', Maher asks, "The human body is pretty amazing; it doesn't get sick, usually, for no reason. I mean, there's some genetic stuff that can get to you, but, basically, people are sick in this country because they're poisoned. The environment is a poisoning factor, but also, we gotta say, they poison themselves. They eat shit. People eat shit, and that's, to my way of thinking, about 90 percent of why people are sick, is because they eat shit. Would you agree?"

On October 9, 2009, on his HBO show, Maher debated the effectiveness of flu vaccinations with Bill Frist and stated, "Why would you let them be the ones to stick a disease into your arm? I would never get a swine flu vaccine or any vaccine. I don’t trust the government, especially with my health." Maher also expressed skepticism about the seriousness of the swine flu and whether completely healthy people could die from it. His comments have generated criticism, and his remarks have been called unscientific and even harmful.

Maher responded to the criticism, noting, "What I've read about what they think I'm saying is not what I've said. I'm not a germ theory denier. I believe vaccinations can work. Polio is a good example. Do I think in certain situations that inoculating Third World children against malaria or diphtheria, or whatever, is right? Of course. In a situation like that, the benefits outweigh costs. But to me living in Los Angeles? To get a flu shot? No." (see Vaccine controversy)

Criticism of 9/11 conspiracy theories

Maher has been a critic of 9/11 conspiracy theories. On October 19, 2007, Maher confronted several 9/11 truthers and had them ejected from his show audience after they interrupted the live show numerous times by calling out from the audience. The incident drew significant media attention and praise from Fox News talk show host and frequent critic John Gibson.

Personal life

Maher has never married. In 2003, he began dating former Playboy Cyber Girl Coco Johnsen. In November 2004, at the end of their 17-month relationship, she sued him for USD $9 million for "pain and suffering" for alleged "insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments." Her suit stated that Maher promised to marry her and father her children, support her financially, and purchase a Beverly Hills home. Her suit also alleged that she quit her job as a flight attendant and occasional model to be with him. Maher's lawyers in their response filed on November 23, 2004, in Los Angeles Superior Court said Maher is a "confirmed bachelor, and a very public one at that" who "never promised to marry [Johnsen] or to have children with her."

Maher's filing stated that "When the dating ended, [Johnson] (sic) launched a campaign to embarrass, humiliate, and extort ridiculous sums of money from Bill Maher." Johnsen accused another former boyfriend of rape and kidnapping in 1997, and the charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence. Her lawsuit against Maher was dismissed on May 2, 2005.

Maher enjoys his bachelor status and states that he does not want to get married. On his website, he is quoted as saying, "I'm the last of my guy friends to have never gotten married, and their wives — they don't want them playing with me. I'm like the escaped slave — I bring news of freedom."

In 2005, he began dating Karrine Steffans, best-selling author and former hip hop model. When commentators suggested there was a pattern to his dating because both his girlfriend and former girlfriend were black, Maher said, "People say I'm into black women. Robert De Niro is into black women. I'm just into women who are real, and they happen to be black."

Credits

Bibliography

''True Story : A Novel'', 1994 (ISBN 0-7432-4251-3)

''Does Anybody Have a Problem With That? Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits'', 1996 (ISBN 0-679-45627-9)

''Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect'', 1997 (ISBN 0-345-41281-8)

''When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism'', 2003 (ISBN 1-893224-90-2)

''Keep the Statue of Liberty Closed: The New Rules'', 2004 (ISBN 1-932407-47-2)

''New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer'', 2005 (ISBN 1-59486-295-8)

''The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass'', 2011 (ISBN 0-39915-841-3)

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Title	! Role
1983	''D.C. Cab''	Bob
	''Rags to Riches''	Freddie
''Club Med''	Rick
''Ratboy''	Party Guest
1987	''House II: The Second Story''	John
1988		Maxwell Taylor
1989	''Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death''	Jim
1991	''Pizza Man''	Elmo Bunn
1996	''Don't Quit Your Day Job!''	Comic's Table
1997	''Bimbo Movie Bash''	Unknown
1998	''EDtv''	Himself
2001	''Tomcats (film)''	Carlos
2005		Himself
		Himself
''Religulous''	Himself
2009	''New Rules: Best of''	Himself
2010	''Sex, Drugs & Religion (2010)''	Himself
HBO Specials
! Year	! Title	! Role
1989	''One Night Stand''	Himself
1992	''One Night Stand''	Himself
1995	''Stuff that Struck Me Funny''	Himself
1997	''The Golden Goose Special''	Himself
2000		Himself
2003	''Victory Begins at Home''	Himself
2005	''I'm Swiss''	Himself
2007		Himself
2010		Himself
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role
1985		Marty Lang
		Unknown
	Haskel
1989–90	''Murder, She Wrote''	(2 episodes)
1990	''The Midnight Hour''	Host
1991	''Charlie Hoover''	Elliot
1992	''Say What?''	Host
	''Married... with Children''	Adam Gold
''Roseanne''	Photographer
1997	''Dharma & Greg''	Himself
1993–2002	''Politically Incorrect''	Host
2002	''Just for Laughs''	Himself
2003–present	''Real Time with Bill Maher''	Host
2008	''True Blood''	Himself
2010		Himself
2010	''Family Guy''	Himself

References

External links

in 2004

HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" site

2006 Maher Interview with ''The A.V. Club''

2009 Maher Interview with writers at the ''Religulous'' DVD release

Category:1956 births Category:Writers from New York Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Writers from New Jersey Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American agnostics Category:American cannabis activists Category:American film actors Category:American libertarians Category:American satirists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Cornell University alumni Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from River Vale, New Jersey Category:Religious skeptics Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Actors from New York City Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:Animal rights advocates

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Mike Daisey (born 1973) is an American monologist, author, and actor best known for his full-length extemporaneous monologues. His breakthrough work ''21 Dog Years'' is an account of life as an Amazon.com employee during the dot-com boom. Since that time he has created monologues about Nikola Tesla, L. Ron Hubbard, the Department of Homeland Security, the history of the New York transit system, 9/11, the inventor of the neutron bomb, Wal-Mart and a variety of other topics, weaving together personal events from his own life alongside historical fact. Paper Magazine described him this way: "...his skill is that he is able to talk about the historical and make it human, the personal and make it universal, so that the listener is both informed and transformed." He is married to his director and collaborator, Jean-Michele Gregory. Currently, they reside in New York City.

Monologues

Wasting Your Breath (1997)

A monologue of the Great American Roadtrip, Daisey is crossing the country from Maine to Seattle or bust in a story that jumps back and forth between two autobiographical storylines: a crumbling relationship with a pregnant girlfriend and a cross-country exodus from New England. Originally produced by Open Circle Theater in Seattle in 1997, ''Wasting Your Breath'' was remounted and produced at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2004.

I Miss The Cold War (1998)

A monologue about Daisey visiting post-Soviet Warsaw and his father's counseling practice treating post traumatic stress disorder in war veterans, interwoven with the history of his father's time in Vietnam. Originally produced by 24/7 Productions in Seattle in June 1998.

21 Dog Years (2001)

''21 Dog Years'' began in Seattle’s Speakeasy Backroom in February 2001, where it received the attention of various media outlets, from Entertainment Weekly to South African Public Radio to David Letterman. Daisey then took the show Off-Broadway where it played for six months at the Cherry Lane Theatre before going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Intiman Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and numerous engagements around the world. In 2002, the Free Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) published Daisey’s book version of the tale under the same name, and in 2004 the BBC aired Daisey’s radio adaptation of his monologue on Radio Four.

The Ugly American (2003)

''The Ugly American'', a story of theater and its discontents that covers Daisey's life as a student in London torn between two very different worlds, has been produced by ACT Theatre, the 2005 Spoleto Festival, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre after receiving workshops at Manhattan Theatre Club, Intiman Theatre, and the Cape Cod Theatre Project. In 2005 the BBC aired a radio adaptation of this monologue on Radio Four.

All Stories Are Fiction (2004)

All Stories Are Fiction premiered at Performance Space 122 where Daisey performed new shows every Monday night for two seasons in 2004 and 2005. For this series Daisey makes no notes of any kind until one hour before the performance, and then creates a show extemporaneously onstage. Theaters that have produced Stories include ACT Theatre, Portland Center Stage, the Maui Cultural Arts Center and the Capitol Hill Arts Center among many more. There have been 31 different monologues produced in the series so far, each performed only one time for a live audience, and no two containing any of the same material or stories.

Monopoly! (2005)

Among other things, the piece deals with the board game, Nikola Tesla, Bill Gates, Wal-Mart, and the author's home town in Maine. Monopoly! was developed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and has been produced at the Ohio Theatre by Les Freres Corbusier, American Repertory Theatre, at the 2006 Spoleto and Bumbershoot Festivals, the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the Noorderzon Festival in The Netherlands, FirstWorksProv and many more.

Invincible Summer (2005)

''Invincible Summer'' is about the history of the New York City transit system, loss and democracy in our time. It has been produced at the Public Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, and the 2006 Spoleto Festival. Originally developed at ACT Theatre in Seattle.

Great Men of Genius (2006)

Four interlocking monologues about genius and megalomania in the lives of Bertolt Brecht, P.T. Barnum, Nikola Tesla, and L. Ron Hubbard which has been produced at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, Galapagos Art Space in New York City and the Capitol Hill Arts Center in Seattle. A book adaptation of the work is due soon.

TRUTH {the heart is a million little pieces above all things} (2006)

A monologue about James Frey, Oprah, lying and telling the truth. Ran Off-Broadway in New York City at Ars Nova Theatre.

Tongues Will Wag (2007)

A two-headed tale of love and loss, in which Daisey juxtaposes the tragedy of a young couple undergoing an unwanted pregnancy with the unlikely story of raising a puppy to adulthood. It has appeared at American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Ars Nova Theatre and the Cape Cod Theatre Project.

How Theater Failed America (2008)

Daisey explores the rise and fall of the American regional theater system, the death of the repertory companies and the declining power of an art form to matter by implicating himself and the American theater as a whole. This controversial monologue has appeared at the Under The Radar festival, the Capitol Hill Arts Center in Seattle, the Public Theater and the Barrow Street Theatre in New York City.

If You See Something Say Something (2008)

Daisey tackles a story at the heart of our world today: the surprising, secret history of the Department of Homeland Security. This is woven together with the untold story of the father of the neutron bomb and a pilgrimage to the Trinity blast site, where atomic fire rewrote history a half a century ago. It was performed in Santa Fe, Washington DC, Portland, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago before running in the Public Theater's 2008/2009 season in New York City. A feature film recording of the work by Steve Anderson was filmed yet remains unreleased.

Mysteries of the Unexplained (2009)

A three-part series of one-night-only performances similar to "All Stories are Fiction." Each performance "explores trivial elements of our modern world, in the belief that the things we honestly think about most of the time deserve time in the spotlight." All performances will be held at Joe's Pub. The three topics were Facebook, bacon mania and the boardwalk.

The Envoy's Dilemma (2009)

Daisey's rarely performed piece on his 2008 visit to Tajikistan with the United States State Department. It was most recently performed at the Yukon Arts Centre in September 2009.

The Last Cargo Cult (2009)

Daisey tells of a trip to the remote Pacific island of Tanna in which inhabitants are members of a cargo cult based around abandoned World War II bases. Stories of belief and trust from this “cargo cult” are woven against questions about the international financial crisis.

Barring the Unforeseen (2010)

A piece "about ghost stories and why we tell them." Played the IRT Theatre in downtown New York City the week of Halloween 2010.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs (2011)

Daisey's next monologue, which came to Berkeley Repertory Theatre in January 2011 and played in Seattle in April-May 2011, examined globalization by exploring the exploitation of Chinese workers through the lens of "the rise and fall and rise of Apple, industrial design, and the human price we are willing to pay for our technology, woven together in a complex narrative."

Audio Recordings

''21 Dog Years'', ''Monopoly'', ''Invincible Summer'', ''Great Men of Genius'' and seven ''All Stories are Fiction'' installments are available for purchase on Audible.com.

Plays

Daisey's first play ''The Moon Is a Dead World'' premiered at the Annex Theatre in Seattle, Washington on October 17, 2008. It was previous developed at Soho Rep as a part of their 2008-2009 Writer/Director Lab Readings in a workshop directed by Maria Goyanes.

Reception

Reviews

The ''New York Times'' said about his work: "The master storyteller...one of the finest solo performers of his generation. What distinguishes him from most solo performers is how elegantly he blends personal stories, historical digressions and philosophical ruminations. He has the curiosity of a highly literate dilettante and a preoccupation with alternative histories, secrets large and small, and the fuzzy line where truth and fiction blur. Mr. Daisey’s greatest subject is himself." The ''Boston Globe'' described his monologues, "Sharp-witted, passionately delivered talk about matters both small and huge, at once utterly individual and achingly universal."

Awards and honors

Daisey has received the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, three Seattle Times Footlight Awards, and a MacDowell Fellowship. Daisey was nominated for two 2009 Drama League Awards and a 2009 Outer Critics Circle Award for ''If You See Something, Say Something''.

''Invincible Summer'' walkout

The April 19th, 2007 performance of ''Invincible Summer'' at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was disrupted when over 80 audience members from a public high school in Norco, California, left the production mid-performance, with one audience member walking on stage to pour water over Daisey's hand-written performance notes. Daisey had this to say:

''Last night’s performance of INVINCIBLE SUMMER was disrupted when eighty seven members of a Christian group walked out of the show en masse, and chose to physically attack my work by pouring water on and destroying the original of the show outline.''

''I’m still dealing with all the ramifications, but here’s what it felt like from my end: I am performing the show to a packed house, when suddenly the lights start coming up in the house as a flood of people start walking down the aisles–they looked like a flock of birds who’d been startled, the way they all moved so quickly, and at the same moment…it was shocking, to see them surging down the aisles. The show halted as they fled, and at this moment a member of their group strode up to the table, stood looking down on me and poured water all over the outline, drenching everything in a kind of anti-baptism.''

Daisey later sought out and spoke with representatives of the group, including the member who destroyed his notes.

Further reading

See also

References

''Mike Daisey'', Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004.

External links

Mike Daisey official website

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:American atheists Category:American bloggers Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American memoirists Category:American public radio personalities Category:People from New York City Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:Colby College alumni Category:Writers from Maine

name	Meghan McCain
birth name	Meghan Marguerite McCain
birth date	October 23, 1984
birth place	Phoenix, Arizona
known for	Daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain, blogger, author of ''My Dad, John McCain'' and ''Dirty Sexy Politics''
occupation	Columnist at The Daily Beast
nationality	American
parents	John McCainCindy Hensley McCain
alma mater	Columbia University
party	Republican
website	McCain BlogetteMeghan McCain at the Daily Beast }}

Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American columnist, author, and blogger. She is a daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain and Cindy Hensley McCain. McCain first received media attention in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette, on which she documented life on the campaign trail and mused about fashion, music, and pop culture. In January 2009, she became a contributing author for ''The Daily Beast''.

Early life

McCain is the oldest of the four children of John and Cindy Hensley McCain. She has been a public figure for most of her life, appearing at the 1996 Republican National Convention.

She was raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended Phoenix Country Day School and Xavier College Preparatory, an all-girl Catholic high school. She attended Columbia University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in art history. McCain originally planned to become a music journalist and interned at ''Newsweek'' and ''Saturday Night Live''.

Political positions

McCain says that she is "a woman who despises labels and boxes and stereotypes." McCain has also described herself as a Republican who is "liberal on social issues". She registered as an Independent when she was 18 years old and she voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. She agrees with her father's positions on global warming and stem-cell research. At first she had doubts about the 2003 invasion of Iraq but subsequently supported her father's position regarding it. She has stated she is pro-life, in favor of sex education and birth control. She has chastised conservatives for hypocrisy regarding abortion: "They go on and on about how evil and wrong abortion is, but don't like to talk about how easy it is to ''not'' get pregnant."

McCain objected to the Arizona SB1070 illegal immigration law, which her father supported.

She has commented that the cause of the gay community for equality is "one of the ones closest to my heart". As such, she spoke at the Log Cabin Republicans convention in April 2009. There she encapsulated her cultural and political perspectives with the declaration: "I am concerned about the environment. I love to wear black. I think government is best when it stays out of people's lives and business as much as possible. I love punk rock. I believe in a strong national defense. I have a tattoo. I believe government should always be efficient and accountable. I have lots of gay friends. And, yes, I am a Republican." She supports same-sex marriage and gay adoption. In June 2009, McCain posed for the NOH8 Campaign, a celebrity photo project that protests California's Proposition 8 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, which her mother Cindy also posed for. She is in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell and allowing LGBTQ women and men to serve openly in the U.S. military.

In terms of economic policy, she has remarked on ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' that "I didn't even take Econ[omics] in college. I don't completely understand it so I'd hate to make a comment one way or the other. That's – truly of all the things – I keep reading and I just don't understand it."

2008 presidential election

On June 12, 2008, McCain wrote on her blog that she had changed her party registration to Republican. She said she did so "as a symbol of my commitment to my Dad and to represent the faith I have in his ability to be an effective leader for our country and to grow and strengthen the Republican party when he is elected President of the United States." In her book, ''Dirty Sexy Politics'', McCain talks about how she nearly overdosed on Xanax on the day of the elections.

In 2008, she published a book titled ''My Dad, John McCain''. In an interview on ''Larry King Live'' in September 2008, McCain stated that she has been too busy to have a romantic relationship while on her father's campaign trail. Although her blogging was devoted towards gaining support for her father among the Generation Z electorate, by October, Steve Schmidt and other McCain campaign staffers had banished her into semi-exile on the campaign.

Subsequent career

McCain is currently a blogger, and began writing for ''The Daily Beast'' in January 2009.

In March 2009, McCain wrote an article for ''The Daily Beast'' titled ''My Beef With Ann Coulter.'' In this article, she questioned Republican support for conservative author and columnist Ann Coulter. While Coulter did not respond, conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham challenged McCain's article by comparing her to a "Valley Girl." Ingraham also mocked McCain, stating, "Ok, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in ''The Real World'', but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models." McCain responded to Ingraham in a second article for ''The Daily Beast'' titled, ''Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham'' stating, "Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school." McCain also stated on ''The View'' that she thought the change in discourse towards her body was "terrible" and further argued: "When Tyra Banks went on her show in a bathing suit and said 'kiss my fat ass,' that's what I feel like. Kiss my fat ass!" Ingraham responded by calling McCain a "useful idiot." During a later interview on ''Larry King Live'', McCain said that as far as she is concerned, "with what's going on with Laura Ingraham, on my end, it's over." She also told King that Coulter never responded to her article, which she stated, "is fine with me. ... All I wanted to do is show women that you don't have to be Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham to have a place in the Republican Party. ... Supriya Jindal is a good role model, but a lot of people hadn't heard of her."

In April 2009, she signed a six-figure book deal with Hyperion. Some 18,000 people were following her on Twitter. She described her aims in this way: "All I am trying to be is a young, cool Republican woman for other Republican women." ''The Politico'' stated that while John McCain did not emerge from the 2008 election victorious, "his Bud Light-drinking, talk-show-appearing, insouciantly Twittering 24-year-old daughter" did. Speaking at the 2009 Log Cabin Republican Convention, McCain said there was "a war brewing in the Republican Party" between the past and the future, and that "Most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future." She followed that by saying her enjoyment of Twitter was diminished by the presence of top Republican strategist Karl Rove, saying "I can't shake the fact that Karl Rove is following me – it can be creepy" and "We need to take Twitter back from the creepy people."

Statements such as these led news reports and commentators including Rachel Maddow and Kathleen Parker to conclude that McCain had the same "maverick gene" as her father. Following the April 2009 party switch by Senator Arlen Specter from Republican to Democratic, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh suggested that many Republicans wished both John McCain and Meghan McCain would leave too. Meghan McCain's tweet in response was, "RED TIL I'M DEAD BABY!!! I love the republican party enough to give it constructive criticism, I love my party and sure as hell not leavin!" On a May 2009 episode of the ''Colbert Report'', she stated her support for sex education and criticized Bristol Palin's sexual abstinence campaign, saying it was "not realistic for this generation". McCain also stated her own desires for the Republican Party: "It can be a party for a 24-year-old pro-sex woman. It can be." After John McCain campaign fixture Joe the Plumber made some anti-gay remarks (saying he would not have “queers ... anywhere near my children”) in mid-2009, Meghan McCain took aim at him, saying "Joe the Plumber – you can quote me – is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing." In September 2009 and February 2010, McCain had repeat stints as guest co-host of ''The View''. In September 2010, she appeared on the NPR news quiz show ''Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'' and won a prize for a listener.

Her campaign memoir, ''Dirty Sexy Politics'', was published in September 2010. In it she finally unleashes her feelings about Sarah Palin and describes the ups and downs she experienced with the McCain campaign staff. She states that the Republican Party seemed "to have lost its way in the last ten years", that the conservative movement seemed "hell-bent on restricting our freedoms rather than expanding them", and that within the Republican Party, she felt a certain stress to take over the ideas of others, like Mitt Romney, especially regarding same-sex marriage, which was a danger for the existence of the party. The book also serves as a coming-of-age narrative about herself, where she comes across as genuine and candid, yet also naïve and brash. During the promotional tour for the book, McCain cancelled an appearance at Juniata College due to what she called, "unforeseen professional circumstances." However, according to her Twitter, she was actually in Las Vegas on a girl's weekend, as she got over a boyfriend ending their relationship via e-mail.

Bibliography

McCain, Meghan (2008), ''My Dad, John McCain'', Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 1-41697-528-4

McCain, Meghan (2010), ''Dirty Sexy Politics'', Hyperion. ISBN 1-40132-377-4

References

External links

McCain Blogette

Column archives at ''The Daily Beast''

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:American bloggers Category:American fashion designers Category:American political pundits Category:American women writers Category:Arizona Republicans Category:Columbia University alumni Category:American people of English descent Category:McCain family Category:People from Phoenix, Arizona Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:Writers from Arizona Category:American columnists Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States

de:Meghan McCain ja:メーガン・マケイン pt:Meghan McCain sh:Meghan McCain

name	Amy Holmes
birth place	Lusaka, Zambia
alma mater	Princeton University, economics
occupation	News anchor, former Republican strategist
employer	Mercury Radio Arts
home town	Seattle, Washington
residence	New York City
url	http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/holmes.amy.html }}

Amy M. Holmes (born in 1973 in Lusaka, Zambia) is a news anchor on Glenn Beck's GBTV. She formerly was an independent political contributor for CNN and has appeared on Fox News. She has also appeared on ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' several times. Holmes graduated from Princeton University with a BA in economics in 1994. She is an independent conservative.

Biography

Holmes was born to a Zambian father and a Caucasian American mother. She was raised in her mother's native Seattle, Washington after her parents divorced when she was three.

She has co-hosted ''The View'' and co-hosted Fox News' ''Glenn Beck'' while Beck was on the road with his "Unelectable" show. She has also appeared on the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher. She was an anchor of a morning radio program syndicated by the Washington Times newspaper called "America's Morning News". She has appeared with Cenk Uygur on MSNBC Live.

After working for several years for Independent Women's Forum, began to write Senate floor statements for Bill Frist, a two-term United States Senator from Tennessee and the Republican Majority Leader from 2003 until 2006.

{{as of |2011|8 |alt=Currently}} Holmes is employed by Glenn Beck to be the anchor of the news desk – branded ''The Blaze'' – of Beck's media outlet GBTV. Her first assignment will be to cover the rally in Israel for the newly established media outlet.

References

External links

CNN Anchor profile

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:African American television personalities Category:American political pundits Category:American speechwriters Category:Employees of the United States Senate Category:People from Lusaka Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:Princeton University alumni Category:American people of Zambian descent