At a moment when members of the opposite party rarely appear together on television, most political interviews are fleeting and the election may have doomed the last digital town square , David Axelrod’s podcast was an oasis.
Now, after a remarkable 605 shows over more than nine years, Axelrod is concluding his program by interviewing his fellow Chicagoan , Rahm Emanuel.
I’m sad to see “The Axe Files” go, in part because it’s more essential now than ever.
Yes, it was respectful and it generated more light than heat. There were no food fights. But I come to praise Axe, not bury him in a shroud of bygone-day nostalgia for civil discourse.
What made the program so compelling — and unique in this period — was that he had candid, deeply personal and extended interviews with the leading figures in both parties. Where else can that combination be found today?
I should disclose here that Axelrod also had on a range of figures from the media, along with other walks of life, and I sat for a session in 2016. That’s the right word because the show was always equal parts therapy session and journalistic inquiry.