NEW YORK — Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is still mad at media coverage of her candidacy, particularly “anonymous, pathetic bloggers” who she says spread falsehoods about her.

The Alaska governor also says she’s addicted to Carmex lip balm, grew up playing flute and trombone, and says sports taught her everything she knows. She shared those and other insights in the March issue of Esquire magazine, scheduled to hit newsstands Feb. 16.

In the interview, Palin, who rocketed to fame as John McCain’s running mate in last year’s election, reiterated her complaints about media coverage of the campaign. She said reporters continue to question whether her 9-month-old son, Trig, is actually the child of her 18-year-old daughter Bristol from a secret previous pregnancy.

“I’ll tell you, yesterday the Anchorage Daily News, they called again to ask — double-, triple-, quadruple-check — who is Trig’s real mom,” Palin told Esquire. “And I thought, ‘OK, more indication of continued problems in the world of journalism.’”

Rumors that Bristol was Trig’s mother swirled on the Internet shortly after McCain chose Palin as his running mate. But the mainstream media did not report the story until the McCain campaign announced that Bristol was pregnant, in part to tamp down the rumors about Trig. Bristol delivered a baby boy in December.

In the interview, Palin also reiterated her wish that she had had more input on strategy during the campaign.

“If I were giving advice to myself back on the day my candidacy was announced, I’d say, ‘Tell the campaign that you’ll be calling some of the shots. Don’t just assume that they know you well enough to make all your decisions for you,’” Palin said.

On other topics, Palin said she hunts and goes fishing to provide “good clean healthy protein” for her family. Mooseburger is the secret to a good chili recipe, she said.

“I don’t know if you can get it commercially in New York,” Palin said. “Come up here to my home, and I’ll prepare it for you.”

Palin said she named Bristol in part for Bristol, Conn. — home of the sports network ESPN.

“When I was in high school, my desire was to be a sportscaster,” she said. “Until I learned that you’d have to move to Bristol, Conn. It was far away. So instead, I had a daughter and named her Bristol.”

On the Net

www.esquire.com