Dec 19, 2024 - Business

David Axelrod ends "The Axe Files" podcast

Mike Allen

David Axelrod interviews former President Obama at the University of Chicago in 2018. Photo courtesy David Axelrod — David Axelrod interviews former President Obama at the University of Chicago in 2018. Photo: Courtesy of David Axelrod

David Axelrod — whose zeitgeisty "The Axe Files" podcast is a favorite of anyone obsessed with media and politics — is making a surprise exit, with Rahm Emanuel as his final guest.

"Today's podcast will be the 605th episode of The Axe Files, and, at least for now, the last," says Axelrod, who was a Chicago Tribune political reporter before he became the architect of Barack Obama's historic rise.

Why it matters: "I wanted this podcast to be one small antidote to the coarse nature of today's politics and social media culture that so often reduces people to negative caricatures and robs us of our common humanity," said Axelrod, a CNN senior political commentator, and founder of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

"I step away for now because I need to make more time for the next chapter of my own story — for my great and blessedly growing family, for friends and new adventures. But, trust me, I'll miss these conversations and I'll miss you. And I'm sure we'll meet again.
"But even without the Axe Files, let us continue to be seekers of each other's stories and penetrate the godawful silos that drive us apart."

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David Axelrod ends "The Axe Files" podcast

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