And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles, with your

host, David Axelrod.

Anyone who watches CNN regularly or reads the pages of USA Today knows that Kirsten Powers

is a really thoughtful commentator, someone who thinks before she speaks and is willing

to test her own assumptions as well as those of others.

I sat down with her recently in Washington to talk about her own interesting journey and

her own struggles with anxiety and personal trauma.

Here's that conversation.

Kirsten Powers, it's so good to see you.

It's great to be here.

I always do a little reading before these conversations.

And I know your folks were academics, Matt and Madison were constant, but you grew up

in Alaska.

I did.

Yeah.

Yeah, that tell me about that.

Well, you know, people always ask what was it like to grow up in Alaska?

And it's just all I really knew.

So it seemed completely normal.

Looking back on it, it actually wasn't normal at all because it's, I grew up in Fairbanks,

Alaska too, which is really hardcore Alaska.

It's not, you know, it's pretty far north.

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