Ep. 473 — Barton Gellman
The Axe Files with David Axelrod
CNN
4.6 • 7.7K Ratings
🗓️ 13 January 2022
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Journalist Barton Gellman has been questioning power and authority since, as editor of the school paper, he sued his high school for censorship. He has made a career of shining a spotlight on the use and abuse of power, most recently in a series of in-depth warnings for The Atlantic on Trump and threats to American democracy. He joined David to talk about how skepticism towards authority has shaped his career, grappling with the interests of national security versus self-government, and the potentially perilous future he sees for US democracy.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN Audio, the Axe Files, |
| 0:12.5 | with your host, David Axelrod. |
| 0:19.0 | As an old journalist, I may be biased, but I believe with every fiber of my soul that journalism |
| 0:23.8 | at its best is fundamental to a strong functioning democracy. |
| 0:27.9 | You can't rely solely on government or powerful institutions for absolute candor, or even |
| 0:32.6 | at times for the truth that citizens need and deserve to help make informed decisions. |
| 0:38.3 | That's why I so admire Bart Gelman of the Atlantic, a brilliant writer, probing reporter |
| 0:43.5 | and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, whose for decades penetrated the veil of secrecy |
| 0:48.3 | that too often hangs over Washington. |
| 0:50.9 | He shot many with a piece in September 2020, forecasting Donald Trump's feverish attempts |
| 0:56.8 | to overturn the election. |
| 0:58.3 | A piece that in the rereading appears eerily prophetic, and he recently published a sequel |
| 1:03.6 | entitled, Trumps Next Who Has Already Begun. |
| 1:06.7 | We sat down this week to talk about his reporting and the imminent threats to our democracy. |
| 1:11.7 | Here's that conversation. |
| 1:19.7 | Bart Gelman, it's good to see you. |
| 1:21.9 | Happy New Year to you. |
| 1:23.5 | Thanks for being here. |
| 1:24.5 | My pleasure, if I've been a fan of the show for a long time. |
| 1:27.7 | Well, I appreciate that. |
| 1:28.7 | Well, I've been a fan of yours, and I'm going to say what I say behind your back, which |
| 1:33.5 | is journalism is so essential to democracy because it's how we shine bright lights into |
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