The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick joins David to discuss his upbringing in Chicago, his experience studying in Darfur, police-community relations, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Dickerson, host of “Face the Nation,” sits down with David at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to talk about the genesis of the Trump campaign, the death of real news, his new book, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Legendary musician Paul Simon sits down with David at the DNC in Philadelphia to chat about the 1970 breakup of Simon & Garfunkel, this fall's presidential election, and why he’s not retiring just yet.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SE Cupp, CNN commentator and conservative columnist, talks to David about why she won’t vote for Donald Trump in November, her time as a professional ballet dancer when she was a teenager, her battle with depression and an eating disorder, her views on the conservative movement in the U.S, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark McKinnon, a veteran GOP strategist who was chief media advisor for President George W. Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004, sits down with David at the Republican national convention in Cleveland to discuss his switch from the Democratic to the Republican Party, his media career and political reform projects, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hugh Hewitt, columnist and radio host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," talks to David about his time as a young researcher to President Richard Nixon, how he went from describing Trump as a “stage-IV cancer” to supporting his candidacy, his thoughts on Hillary Clinton and Judge Merrick Garland, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeffrey DeLaurentis, chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, sits down with David to discuss his career at the State Department, his three posts in Cuba, the Obama administration’s push to normalize relations between the two countries, and much more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Newton Minow, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sits down with David to discuss the clandestine role he and his agency played during the Cuban missile crisis, his personal reminiscences of Lyndon Johnson, Adlai Stevenson and others, the legacy of President Obama, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maggie Haberman, presidential campaign correspondent at The New York Times, chats with David about her family’s journalism background, her time on the City Hall beat, what it was like covering 9/11, the 2016 race, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Begala, adviser to the pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC Priorities USA, talks to David about his loss to Hank the Hallucination at the University of Texas, his years working for President Bill Clinton, his thoughts on the 2016 race, and more.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices