Music

And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN Audio, the Ax Files, with your host David Axelrod.

I sat down recently with Rick Stangle, who is not only one of the most distinguished journalists of our time,

but also one of the most outspoken voices about the menace of disinformation in the modern media age.

He's the former managing editor of Time Magazine. He was a chief executive of the National Constitution Center.

And he served as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs under President Obama in that role.

He spent a great deal of time trying to counter Russian disinformation and ISIS propaganda,

and that gave rise to his latest book, Information Wars, how we lost the global battle against disinformation,

and what we can do about it. Here's our conversation.

Rick Stangle, it's good to see you again.

Great to see you.

In these very interesting, tumultuous times.

Before we get to all of that, because you're right in the middle of a discussion that's so important about how we communicate with each other.

And how information is disseminated and misinformation is disseminated.

I want to have a factual discussion about Rick Stangle.

And not the myth.

And your life.

We're here in New York City having this conversation. You were born and raised here and in the suburbs.

Yes. Yes. I was born on the upper east side.

My family, actually, my mother and father were the first and their respective families to make the move from Brooklyn into Manhattan.

Your grandparents were immigrants?

Yes. I had neither of my grandparents graduated from high school.

...