The Axe Files with David Axelrod
This week marks an important moment for AX files: our last episode. We hope you have found these conversations as revealing and inspiring as we are, and we will fail to share stories with you every week. For the last episode, David discussed with his friend, the American ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who ends his time abroad. Known for his impetuous and direct behavior, some questioned his place as a diplomat in a country known for order and politeness. However, amb. Emanuel had no problem…Show moreEm puts his own tour for work and also grew up to love Japan. He joined David to talk about his time in Japan, China and the importance of American relations in the Indo-Pacific region; his thought on the situation in the Middle East; where the 2024 presidential election is landslide; And what then comes once he returns home.
December 19, 2024
Scott Jennings is well known as a conservative brandard on CNN. To work for George W. Bush to be mentioned as a possible press secretary for Donald Trump, Scott has a deep experience in republican politics, but he considers himself a journalist in the soul. Scott joined David to talk about his first days in Radio News, his childhood in Rural Kentucky, his training relationship with Senator Mitch McConnell, his role in CNN and what he considers the need for conservative voice in the consumer media, and the friendship that Scott and David share.
December 12, 2024
Democratic representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez made waves – and won elections – by questioning who becomes an expert in the needs of daily Americans. She grew up in Texas and attended Reed College before settling in rural regions of Washington and opening a car repair workshop with her husband. Gluesenkamp representative Perez joined David to talk about her education as a girl in Sozimes at the Maison de Parents Évangeliques conservatives, her disdain for “Bros staff” with a limited living experience, the value of being immersed in her community and what Democrats can learn about the importance of respect in victory – and voters.
December 5, 2024
This Thanksgiving, we revisit a conversation with the historian and writer Jon Meacham on his book, “And there was light: Abraham Lincoln and the American struggle.” The book deeply plunges into Lincoln and the why behind the actions of the 16th American president, from staff to politics. Jon has joined David to talk about the anti-slavery roots of Lincoln, what Lincoln can teach us on the current political moment, the moral decisions we face as a country and what qualities make a great American president.
November 28, 2024
Chris Lacivita, Gop Campaign Pro and Mastermind behind some of the most ruthless but effective political advertisements in the party, says that he focuses on a simple mandate – which has been elected to his boss. In the weeks following his successful passage as co-management of Donald Trump’s campaign in 2024, the former navy joined David to talk about his education in the Pittsburgh region; How his military experience informs his campaign work; Which made the campaign in 2024 of Trump different from 2016 and 2020; And his point of view on the impact of trans, abortion and Joe Biden on the 2024 presidential race.
November 21, 2024
The democratic sounder John Anzalone wants the voters to know that the pollsters are not forecasts. Instead, they use their results to help develop the strategy and messaging, and John has advice for the Democratic Party after the 2024 elections. He joined David to talk about the excessive saturation of lower quality polls, the need for Democrats to reorganize their economic message and focus on the American dream, which has harmed the presidential campaign Harris and that Democrats can learn from their depth of future leaders.
November 14, 2024
This week, AX files are reaching an important step: 600 episodes. For this birthday program, Anderson Cooper from CNN sat with David to talk about the origins of AX files, some of the most memorable moments in the podcast, which David has learned about people and politics through the show, and what David will watch on the evening of the elections.
October 31, 2024
Charlamagne Tha God – born Lenard McKelvey – made his departure on the radio by chance, but once he started, he was hung. He now co-hosts the Breakfast Club, a nationally unionized morning program reaching millions of listeners each month. He spoke to David to grow up in a small town in South Carolina, to address her mental health and how it changed his relationship to his father, to make his way on the radio to his current role and to what makes the breakfast club work, and his reflection on the presidential election of 2024 and his frustration towards the story around black voters.
October 24, 2024
John King of CNN likes to be an anchor, but by looking back on the last presidential elections, he felt that something was missing from his Bulle de Washington, DC. He therefore decided to get back on the road, to travel from one state to another and to speak to people in the field before the 2024 elections with his card project everywhere. John joined David to talk about how Donald Trump uses immigration to try to strengthen support in the suburbs, if abortion on the ballot will lead to the ticket division, Washington disconnection from the rest of the country and where the elections are in 2024 today. (To find out more about the whole card, click here.)
October 17, 2024
Ilana Dayan, an eminent Israeli journalist, spoke with David last fall, just days after the October 7 massacre in Israel perpetrated by Hamas. A year later, David checked with Ilana to talk about the stay of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the next generation of Gaza, the recognition of the political calculations of the United States in her relations with Israel, the necessity of both war and diplomacy in the Middle East, and what is happening between Israel and Iran.
October 10, 2024
