David Axelrod makes "The Axe Files" podcast exclusive to Luminary

• "The Axe Files" will continue to air once a month on CNN in a televised version.

Axelrod told me, as he headed to El Paso to interview Beto O'Rourke, that the podcast is a return to his roots as a political reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

• "I realized when I was writing my memoir that my whole life has been about storytelling, as a journalist or as a strategist," he said.
• "Now I get to explore people's stories and try and convey to the listener a better sense of who it is I'm talking to. ... So I'm loving it."